Totally agree with this list! (Also an MD who went to med school after attending liberal arts undergrad). I also loved Autism’s False Prophets by the amazing Paul Offit and The Mold in Dr.Florey’s Coat by Eric Lax.
I love this genre this list is EXCELLENT- me and my husband (who also went to med school after getting an English degree) read them all and loved them all (except Code Breaker! So excited to try that one)
Completely agree with this list too! Adding another plug for Far from the Tree, which was one of the books that got me interested in pediatrics, and anything by Atul Gawande. So excited to see all of the other recommendations.(Another MD, liberal arts college alum)
I would recommend Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan for your daughter. I actually don't read a lot of nonfiction but found both of those interesting. I also found Hidden Valley Road to be fascinating!
I have puff pastry and a big fat tomato so I think I'll make a tomato tart tonight!
1) Has she ready any of Mary Roach's books, I wonder? I would start with: STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (although all of her books are great.)
2) I'm guessing she's read Lab Girl by Hope Jahren? Not exactly in the genre you described, but nonfiction, and excellent!
Ha! Here’s another vote for Mary Roach and The Spirit Catches You. Also highly recommend Mountains Beyond Mountains - more of a biography, but very medicine and public health forward.
Trying to include some not already suggested below (but +1 for all of Mary Roach & the “spirit catches you and you fall down”).
“Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam” by Pope Brock (about Dr. Brinkley, whose story is WILD).
“Poisoners Handbook” by Deborah Blum (about the birth of forensic medicine in the 1920s & 30s)
I love this genre, too! I'd add to the list Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, The Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle by Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg. It's fascinating and reads like a novel.
As a science/math kid who is the child of English majors, your daughter might be REALLY intrigued by the intersection of the two - science communication. The book "Merchants of Doubt" talks about how powerful institutions have influenced the general public to doubt well-established scientific conclusions. Turns out, the very same strategies that were invented when tobacco companies were trying to obfuscate the truth about the terrible dangers to health caused by smoking have been used since then to obfuscate the truth about climate change (and sometime its the very same PEOPLE doing the obfuscating!). Thought the book was written in 2011, it is VERY relevant to today, and has a recently released update included in the newest edition: https://smile.amazon.com/Merchants-Doubt-Handful-Scientists-Obscured/dp/1608193942/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=merchants+of+doubt&qid=1625596265&sr=8-1
(Also, tell her to check out the Podcast "Sawbones" - she'll LOVE it!!!!
I second all of the Oliver Sacks and Mary Roach recommendations! I really loved Musicophilia and Stiff, respectively. Bad Blood is a fascinating read! I also loved The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, but it might too soon after last year…
Oooh! I love giving book recs. You listed a few of my recent favorites (Empire of Pain is amazing and devastating.) A few options for medical narrative non-fiction your daughter might enjoy:
- Five Days at Memorial is a devastating and brilliant account of New Orleans Memorial hospital in the five days after Katrina. Sherry Fink spent years investigating the hospital staff’s decision to give lethal injections of morphine to patients they believed wouldn’t survive the crisis.
- John Carreyou's Bad Blood is medical adjacent — it's a super readable (almost propulsive) breakdown of Elizabeth Holmes' time at Theranos.
She also might want to check out Mary Roach and Oliver Sacks.
Others beat me to it, Jenny. I'd echo any and all recommendations for Gawande, Verghese, and Sacks. I loved Verghese's My Own Country and The Tennis Partner. Fadiman's book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, is a must-read.
- Oliver Sacks and Atul Gwande! Anything and everything. Both wrote short stories for New Yorker so that’s an easy place to try it out
- 5 Days at Memorial by Sherry Fink: what happened at the New Orleans hospital when hurricane Katrina hit. I still think about this one and it’s from 2013
1) Anne Fadiman: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
2) Atul Gawande: Being Mortal, Complications
3) Oliver Sacks: anything
4) Abraham Verghese: Cutting For Stone (A Novel)
5) Walter Isaacson: The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna
6) Andrew Solomon: Far from the Tree
7) Sheri Fink: Five Days at Memorial
-An English major who went to medical school
Totally agree with this list! (Also an MD who went to med school after attending liberal arts undergrad). I also loved Autism’s False Prophets by the amazing Paul Offit and The Mold in Dr.Florey’s Coat by Eric Lax.
I love this genre this list is EXCELLENT- me and my husband (who also went to med school after getting an English degree) read them all and loved them all (except Code Breaker! So excited to try that one)
Completely agree with this list too! Adding another plug for Far from the Tree, which was one of the books that got me interested in pediatrics, and anything by Atul Gawande. So excited to see all of the other recommendations.(Another MD, liberal arts college alum)
I would recommend Being Mortal by Atul Gawande and Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan for your daughter. I actually don't read a lot of nonfiction but found both of those interesting. I also found Hidden Valley Road to be fascinating!
I have puff pastry and a big fat tomato so I think I'll make a tomato tart tonight!
Agree 1000% with Brain on Fire - amazing story!!
1) Has she ready any of Mary Roach's books, I wonder? I would start with: STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (although all of her books are great.)
2) I'm guessing she's read Lab Girl by Hope Jahren? Not exactly in the genre you described, but nonfiction, and excellent!
Thanks for the tip about simple syrup! I'm doing it!
(1) "The Big Fat Surprise - Why Butter, Meat & Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet" by Nina Teicholz
(2) "Apocalypse Never - Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All" by Michael Shellenberger
Ha! Here’s another vote for Mary Roach and The Spirit Catches You. Also highly recommend Mountains Beyond Mountains - more of a biography, but very medicine and public health forward.
Trying to include some not already suggested below (but +1 for all of Mary Roach & the “spirit catches you and you fall down”).
“Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam” by Pope Brock (about Dr. Brinkley, whose story is WILD).
“Poisoners Handbook” by Deborah Blum (about the birth of forensic medicine in the 1920s & 30s)
The Medical Detectives by Berton Roueche (going way back)
I love this genre, too! I'd add to the list Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, The Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle by Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg. It's fascinating and reads like a novel.
https://smile.amazon.com/Working-Stiff-Bodies-Medical-Examiner-ebook/dp/B00GEEB8GQ/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=working+stiff&qid=1625596789&sr=8-1
One of my absolute favorites.
As a science/math kid who is the child of English majors, your daughter might be REALLY intrigued by the intersection of the two - science communication. The book "Merchants of Doubt" talks about how powerful institutions have influenced the general public to doubt well-established scientific conclusions. Turns out, the very same strategies that were invented when tobacco companies were trying to obfuscate the truth about the terrible dangers to health caused by smoking have been used since then to obfuscate the truth about climate change (and sometime its the very same PEOPLE doing the obfuscating!). Thought the book was written in 2011, it is VERY relevant to today, and has a recently released update included in the newest edition: https://smile.amazon.com/Merchants-Doubt-Handful-Scientists-Obscured/dp/1608193942/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=merchants+of+doubt&qid=1625596265&sr=8-1
(Also, tell her to check out the Podcast "Sawbones" - she'll LOVE it!!!!
I second all of the Oliver Sacks and Mary Roach recommendations! I really loved Musicophilia and Stiff, respectively. Bad Blood is a fascinating read! I also loved The Hot Zone by Richard Preston, but it might too soon after last year…
Oooh! I love giving book recs. You listed a few of my recent favorites (Empire of Pain is amazing and devastating.) A few options for medical narrative non-fiction your daughter might enjoy:
- Kate Moore's new The Woman They Could Not Silence is about the forced institutionalization of women in the 19th century. I devoured it and wrote a bit more about here (https://whattoreadif.substack.com/p/youre-hoping-the-court-rules-to-freebritney)
- Susannah Callahan has written a few great books on mental illness.
https://bookshop.org/books/brain-on-fire-my-month-of-madness/9781451621389
https://bookshop.org/books/the-great-pretender-lib-e-the-undercover-mission-that-changed-our-understanding-of-madness/9781549103001
- Five Days at Memorial is a devastating and brilliant account of New Orleans Memorial hospital in the five days after Katrina. Sherry Fink spent years investigating the hospital staff’s decision to give lethal injections of morphine to patients they believed wouldn’t survive the crisis.
- John Carreyou's Bad Blood is medical adjacent — it's a super readable (almost propulsive) breakdown of Elizabeth Holmes' time at Theranos.
She also might want to check out Mary Roach and Oliver Sacks.
EVERYTHING by Atul Gwande- "The Checklist Manifesto" is a must read. Also rec The Great Influenza(John Barry) and The Organ Thieves (Chip Jones).
Others beat me to it, Jenny. I'd echo any and all recommendations for Gawande, Verghese, and Sacks. I loved Verghese's My Own Country and The Tennis Partner. Fadiman's book, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, is a must-read.
- Oliver Sacks and Atul Gwande! Anything and everything. Both wrote short stories for New Yorker so that’s an easy place to try it out
- 5 Days at Memorial by Sherry Fink: what happened at the New Orleans hospital when hurricane Katrina hit. I still think about this one and it’s from 2013
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks, so fascinating! ps- The tart looks amazing! I can't wait to make it!