Looking for New Reads

So, I just completed a book I found in my son's room as I was heading out of town and desperate for something other than work stuff to read on the plane. Was a book titled Disgrace written in the late 1990s by a South African born author, J M Coetzee. I often troll my now adult or semi-adult children's rooms for books when I don't have time to get to the bookstore or library. While required reading is no joy when it is required, the required books are generally really good when you are not required to write a paper after reading them. While I think I enjoyed Disgrace (it made me think, made me uncomfortable, and kept my interest), I am not sure it would roll off my tongue right away if someone asked me to recommend a book to them.
Which brings me to my question: Do you have a 'filter' for books you will recommend? For instance, I would recommend that everyone on our team read The Five Dysfunctions of a Team and Who Moved My Cheese? They are light, organizational-understanding type books that are somewhat humorous, but also quite insightful. I would also recommend those books to my three kids -- think it would help them as they prepare to enter the work world. Of course, I doubt that they would read them at this juncture of their lives (19, 22 and 26 and all still in some form or another of school). I have recommended them to my husband, but not to my mother. I have not recommended it to either of the women I walk with in the morning -- even though we sometimes talk books -- but different kinds of books.
Of course, on my shelves at work, I have all the 'right' business/organizational reads -- Built to Last, The 8th Habit, Health Care Trends, Every Business is a Growth Business. Would I recommend them to most people? Not so much.
A book I would recommend and have recommended to everyone is The Giver -- but you must have hankies (boy, am I old or what) handy. I learned so much from that story about what really matters and what is just memorex. Another is the book I read right before Disgrace, which is Game Change about the 2008 presidential campaign. Amazed at how much information people are willing to share 'off the record' and how colorful the language of all politicians. Back to the filters -- mine are generally based on what I know about the person or persons to whom I am recommending a book; if they are squeamish about language or situations; and if I think I will ever see or talk with them again. What filters do you use? And, what books would you recommend to me or other co-workers? I really am looking for a few more good reads this summer and want to save my kids' rooms for when I am absolutely desperate.

What do polls tell us?

In the most recent poll on www.makemedicinebetter.org, visitors are asked how satisfied they are with their hospital. Unfortunately, the choice with the highest number of 'votes' is "Very Dissatisfied." Trying to be optimistic, I added the two "Very Satisfieds" and "Somewhat Satisfieds" together, but still did not beat the "Very Dissatisfied" and "Somewhat Dissatisfied" totals -- which I am sure Angela C. would tell me is the only way to make the comparison statiscally valid. So, after being disheartened, I decided it was necessary to do what we say this site is intended to help us do -- Learn how to make medicine better.
So, I started to do a mindsweep of some of the things that dissatisfy me when I go to any hospital whether as a patient (fortunately few and far between and only at BJC facilities) or as a visitor (to lots of hospitals, since I obviously have not done a good enough job convincing my friends that the only place to go for care is a BJC facility). And, the number one dissatisfier for me is that I truly don't want to be there. If I am a patient, I don't want to be sick. If I am a visitor, I don't want my loved one to be sick. So, I start off with the glass less than half full.
Coming in a close second, is the lack of control I have over my environs and my environment. Generally, as a patient someone else is deciding what I wear (which for those of you who know me, know that matters a lot), when I eat (again, for those who know me....) and when I sleep. As a visitor, the environment makes me uncomfortable -- should I whisper, can I bring in my loved ones favorite food, is my visit too short, too long, should I leave the room when the nurse comes in, when the doctor comes in, when the dinner tray comes in? Again, feeling totally out of control.
At third is the lack of privacy. Again, lots of people get to come in and our of "my" room whether the door is closed or not.
Now, I admit that the last time I was a hospital patient was many years ago, but I have been a visitor and while some of these things have changed (for instance you can now bring your own jammies and at some hospitals order your food when you want it), a lot of what dissatisfies me is out of the hospital's control. But, what is within our control or perceived control, we should try to address. Poll results are a snapshot and can given us an indication of potential ways to spend our time and energy to, in the case of BJC, make medicine better.