Sorry to have been AWOL from the last two discussions, but sadly, my husband died in early April after dealing with colon cancer for four years, so my focus has been elsewhere (although I did manage to finish A Spool of Blue Thread, and read the comments here).
So it’s fitting that Gawande’s book should come up; I actually read it when we were in the thick of things at the end (by chance timing of the library waiting list). I didn’t find it scary, but I’m familiar with his writing and had already seen the PBS show he did on the subject, so his work wasn’t new to me–nor the topic, unfortunately. The beginning of the book is mostly about nursing home care, and I found that very interesting. But that’s a subject I haven’t had to deal with (yet) in my own life. I haven’t read Gilead, but I’d be interested.
I’m not a science fiction reader, either, but I’ve been surprised to enjoy other things here that I wouldn’t have thought I would, including Ender’s Game, War of the Worlds, Cloud Atlas and Station Eleven, so I’ll give Seveneves a try! I certainly wouldn’t be picking it up on my own! 
It’s nice to get pushed into trying something new.
Other summer reading includes Americanah for another book group (just started), and Epitaph, by Mary Doria Russell (about Wyatt Earp). I’ve been trying to read some of the “widow/widower books,” but so far I’m not finding them very helpful or illuminating.