best medical biography books

50 Books to Read if You Love Medicine

Love medical science? Do you devour reruns of ER and House? If so, you'll love this list. These are the best medical books, both fiction and nonfiction.

Jaime Herndon

Jaime Herndon finished her MFA in nonfiction writing at Columbia, after leaving a life of psychosocial oncology and maternal-child health work. She is a writer, editor, and book reviewer who drinks way too much coffee. She is a new-ish mom, so the coffee comes in extra handy. Twitter:  @IvyTarHeelJaime

View All posts by Jaime Herndon

I wasn’t always a writer. As a preteen, I wanted to be a pediatric oncologist, a dream that continues today. My love of medicine and people propelled me toward psychology, then public health, where I could combine everything into fields like psychosocial oncology and perinatal psychology. My not-so-secret desire to be a doctor, though, has never really gone away. At this point, I have accepted that my graduate school loans are sizable enough, and my life no longer has room for the possibility of ever going to medical school – and besides, when I did take some prerequisites, although I love reading medical textbooks, my brain just does not like rote memorization…which is a problem in the biological sciences. But I still love reading about medicine, doctoring, and anything in the medical field in medical books.

Here, in no particular order, are 50 must-read and best medical books. I like to think that if you devour reruns of ER and House, that you’ll like these, too. They’re mostly books about medicine that are nonfiction, with fiction marked with a (*) and forthcoming books marked (**).

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

One of my favorites. “At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated.”

House of God * by Samuel Shem

The classic novel about doctors – Grey’s Anatomy before Grey’s Anatomy.

Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox. By signing up you agree to our terms of use

Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande

“In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel’s edge. Complications lays bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is―uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.”

The Intern Blues by Robert Marion

One of the truest books on medicine I’ve ever read. It should be required reading for anyone considering a career in medicine. “While supervising a small group of interns at a major New York medical center, Dr. Robert Marion asked three of them to keep a careful diary over the course of a year. Andy, Mark, and Amy vividly describe their real-life lessons in treating very sick children; confronting child abuse and the awful human impact of the AIDS epidemic; skirting the indifference of the hospital bureaucracy; and overcoming their own fears, insecurities, and constant fatigue. Their stories are harrowing and often funny; their personal triumph is unforgettable.”

The Anatomy of Hope by Jerome Groopman

The first time I read this, I kept it in my bag for months, carrying it around with me. “This profound exploration begins when Groopman was a medical student, ignorant of the vital role of hope in patients’ lives–and it culminates in his remarkable quest to delineate a biology of hope. With appreciation for the human elements and the science, Groopman explains how to distinguish true hope from false hope–and how to gain an honest understanding of the reach and limits of this essential emotion.”

My Own Country: A Doctor’s Story by Abraham Verghese

“Nestled in the Smoky Mountains of eastern Tennessee, the town of Johnson City had always seemed exempt from the anxieties of modern American life. But when the local hospital treated its first AIDS patient, a crisis that had once seemed an “urban problem” had arrived in the town to stay.”

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Read the book instead of seeing the movie. “Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. She was a poor black tobacco farmer whose cells—taken without her knowledge in 1951—became one of the most important tools in medicine, vital for developing the polio vaccine, cloning, gene mapping, and more. Henrietta’s cells have been bought and sold by the billions, yet she remains virtually unknown, and her family can’t afford health insurance. This phenomenal New York Times bestseller tells a riveting story of the collision between ethics, race, and medicine; of scientific discovery and faith healing; and of a daughter consumed with questions about the mother she never knew.”

Intern: A Doctor’s Initiation by Sandeep Jauhar

“Residency―and especially its first year, the internship―is legendary for its brutality, and Jauhar’s experience was even more harrowing than most. He switched from physics to medicine in order to follow a more humane calling―only to find that his new profession often had little regard for patients’ concerns. He struggled to find a place among squadrons of cocky residents and doctors. He challenged the practices of the internship in The New York Times , attracting the suspicions of the medical bureaucracy. Then, suddenly stricken, he became a patient himself―and came to see that today’s high-tech, high-pressure medicine can be a humane science after all.”

White Coat: Becoming a Doctor at Harvard Medical School by Ellen Rothman

“…Ellen Rothman offers a vivid account of her four years at one of the best medical schools in the country, and opens the infamously closed door between patient and doctor. Touching on today’s most important medical issues — such as HMOs, AIDS, and assisted suicide — the author navigates her way through despair, exhilaration, and a lot of exhaustion in Harvard’s classrooms and Boston’s hospitals to earn the indisputable title to which we entrust our lives.”

This Side of Doctoring: Reflections from Women in Medicine by Eliza Lo Chin

This is one of my all-time favorites. I could read this over and over and over. “Written over the last century and a half, this collection of personal stories, poems, essays, and quotations reveals the intimate lives of over a hundred female physicians. There are touching testimonies from early 19th-century medical pioneers like Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to graduate from medical school and Harriet Hunt, who had her own practice that catered to women and children yet was never formally trained, to modern-day medical students and doctors. Poignant and compelling, these narratives offer insights into the struggles and triumphs of women in medicine. Much like an American quilt, this book is a unique and richly textured patchwork of each woman’s extraordinary life and career. This assemblage of so many different voices exemplifies the varied paths that women have created within the medical profession. Together they stand as an enduring tribute to the dedication of all women physicians to both their patients and their families.”

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

As someone who used to study oncology, I’ve read many books on cancer. This remains one of my favorites – and in my opinion, one of the best. “Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years.”

A Not Entirely Benign Procedure: Four Years as a Medical Student by Perri Klass

“Acclaimed pediatrician, journalist, and novelist Perri Klass offers a provocative look at the ups and downs of medical school – from those first exams to the day she became a doctor. In a direct, candid style, Klass shares what it is like to be a first-time mother while attending med school; the unique lingo of the med student; how to deal with every bodily fluid imaginable; and the humor and heartbreak of working with patients.”

Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality by Pauline Chen

“When Pauline Chen began medical school, she dreamed of saving lives. What she could not predict was how much death would be a part of her work. Almost immediately, she found herself wrestling with medicine’s most profound paradox–that a profession premised on caring for the ill also systematically depersonalizes dying. Final Exam follows Chen over the course of her education and practice as she struggles to reconcile the lessons of her training with her innate sense of empathy and humanity.”

Becoming a Doctor: A Journey of Initiation in Medical School by Melvin Konner

One of my favorites, for sure. Konner went back to med school mid-career, and his observations on the med school experience are insightful, important, and much needed, even today.

The Real Grey’s Anatomy: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Real Lives of Surgical Residents by Andrew Holz

“How much of the medical drama seen in Grey’s Anatomy is pure entertainment, and how much is an accurate reflection of life both in and out of the OR? Here, a well-known medical journalist provides some answers. He examines a group of new surgical residents at a major teaching hospital in the Pacific Northwest as they tackle the roller-coaster ride of long hours, fascinating procedures, mundane office tasks, and emotional ups and downs that comprise the life of a student of surgery.”

Something for the Pain: One Doctor’s Account of Life and Death in the ER by Paul Austin

“In this eye-opening account of life in the ER, Paul Austin recalls how the daily grind of long, erratic shifts and endless hordes of patients with sad stories sent him down a path of bitterness and cynicism. His own life becomes Exhibit A, as he details the emotional detachment that estranges him from himself and his family. Gritty, powerful, and ultimately redemptive, Austin’s memoir is a revealing glimpse into the fragility of compassion and sanity in the industrial setting of today’s hospitals.”

On Call: A Doctor’s Days and Nights in Residency by Emily Transue

“During her first week as a student on the medical wards, Dr. Transue watched someone come into the emergency room in cardiac arrest and die. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before-it was a long way from books and labs. So she began to record her experiences as she gained confidence putting her book knowledge to work.”

One Doctor: Close Calls, Cold Cases, and the Mysteries of Medicine by Brendan Reilly

“In compelling first-person prose, Dr. Brendan Reilly takes readers to the front lines of medicine today. Whipsawed by daily crises and frustra­tions, Reilly must deal with several daunting challenges simultaneously. As Reilly’s patients and their families survive close calls, struggle with heartrending decisions, and confront the limits of medicine’s power to cure, One Doctor lays bare a fragmented, depersonalized, business-driven health care system where real caring is hard to find. Every day, Reilly sees patients who fall through the cracks and suffer harm because they lack one doctor who knows them well and relentlessly advocates for their best interests. Filled with fascinating characters in New York City and rural New England—people with dark secrets, mysterious illnesses, impossible dreams, and limitless courage— One Doctor tells their stories with sensitivity and empathy, reminding us of professional values once held dear by all physicians.”

Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab by Christine Montross

Another favorite of mine. “Medical student Christine Montross felt nervous standing outside the anatomy lab on her first day of class. Entering a room with stainless-steel tables topped by corpses in body bags was initially unnerving. But once Montross met her cadaver, she found herself intrigued by the person the woman once was and fascinated by the strange, unsettling beauty of the human form. They called her Eve. The story of Montross and Eve is a tender and surprising examination of the mysteries of the human body, and a remarkable look at our relationship with both the living and the dead.”

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

“For two thousand years, cadavers―some willingly, some unwittingly―have been involved in science’s boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.”

Direct Red: A Surgeon’s View of Her Life-or-Death Profession by Gabriel Weston

A beautiful book about what really happens in the OR.

Hospital by Julie Salamon

I have read this at least 5 times – the reporting and storytelling is so wonderful. “A warts-and-all exploration of the struggles suffered and triumphs achieved by America’s health-care professionals, Hospital follows a year in the life of Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn, which serves a diverse multicultural demographic. Unraveling the financial, ethical, technological, sociological, and cultural challenges encountered every day, bestselling author Julie Salamon tracks the individuals who make this complex hospital run-from doctors, patients, and administrators to nurses, ambulance drivers, cooks, and cleaners.”

Kill as Few Patients as Possible by Oscar London

“This oft-quoted all-time favorite of the medical community will gladden–and strengthen–the hearts of patients, doctors, and anyone entering medical study, internship, or practice. With unassailable logic and rapier wit, the sage Dr. Oscar London muses on the challenges and joys of doctoring, and imparts timeless truths, reality checks, and poignant insights gleaned from 30 years of general practice–while never taking himself (or his profession) too seriously.”

Cutting For Stone * by Abraham Verghese

“Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon. Orphaned by their mother’s death and their father’s disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution.”

How We Die by Sherwin Nuland

Another all-time favorite of mine. A compelling examination and explanation of how the body permanently shuts down in a variety of situations.

How We Live by Sherwin Nuland

“ How We Live is filled with gripping medical case histories: a woman is pulled back from the brink of death from inexplicable internal bleeding; another patient triumphs over breast cancer; the “routine” removal of a polyp triggers a nearly lethal medical crisis.  For Nuland, each of these cases serves to illustrate the extraordinary responsiveness and adaptability of the human organism.  We learn how the aorta’s baroreceptors monitor blood pressure and respond to its minutest fluctuations.  We follow the intricate chain of electrochemical command that makes us leap out of the path of a speeding car. We discover why the stomach—which is capable of breaking down everything from porridge to pizza—refrains from digesting itself.  Informed by sympathy for human suffering and an erudition that includes poetry and the Talmud as well as the medical canon, How We Live is science writing of the rarest kind—lucid, poetic, and genuinely uplifting.”

The Way We Die Now: The View from Medicine’s Front Line ** by Seamus O’Mahony

“Dying has become medicalized and sanitized, but doctors cannot prescribe a “good death.” The Way We Die Now asks us to consider how we have gotten to this age of spiritual poverty and argues that giving up our fantasies of control over death can help restore its significance.”

The Measure of Our Days: A Spiritual Exploration of Illness by Jerome Groopman

“In these eight moving portraits, he offers us a compelling look at what is to be learned when life itself can no longer be taken for granted.”

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman

“ The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia’s parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy.”

Wit * by Margaret Edson

“Margaret Edson’s powerfully imagined Pulitzer Prize–winning play examines what makes life worth living through her exploration of one of existence’s unifying experiences―mortality―while she also probes the vital importance of human relationships. What we as her audience take away from this remarkable drama is a keener sense that, while death is real and unavoidable, our lives are ours to cherish or throw away―a lesson that can be both uplifting and redemptive.”

Letters to a Young Doctor by Richard Selzer

“Highly candid, insightful, and unexpectedly humorous essays on both the brutality and the beauty of the profession in which saving and losing lives is all in a day’s work. A timeless collection by the “best of the writing surgeons” (Chicago Tribune).”

The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher by Lewis Thomas

“Elegant, suggestive, and clarifying, Lewis Thomas’s profoundly humane vision explores the world around us and examines the complex interdependence of all things. Extending beyond the usual limitations of biological science and into a vast and wondrous world of hidden relationships, this provocative book explores in personal, poetic essays to topics such as computers, germs, language, music, death, insects, and medicine.”

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

A classic in the field of neurology. If you read one book by Sacks, make it this one.

The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition by Arthur Kleinman

“Based on twenty years of clinical experience studying and treating chronic illness, a Harvard psychiatrist and anthropologist argues that diagnosing illness is an art tragically neglected by modern medical training, and presents a compelling case for bridging the gap between patient and doctor.”

The Human Side of Cancer: Living With Hope, Coping With Uncertainty by Jimmie Holland

This book was my bible when I worked in psycho-oncology. Dr. Holland is the founder of the field, and she’s just brilliant.

When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales from Neurosurgery by Frank Vertosick, Jr.

“With poignant insight and humor, Frank Vertosick Jr., MD, describes some of the greatest challenges of his career, including a six-week-old infant with a tumor in her brain, a young man struck down in his prime by paraplegia, and a minister with a .22-caliber bullet lodged in his skull. Told through intimate portraits of Vertosick’s patients and unsparing yet fascinatingly detailed descriptions of surgical procedures, When the Air Hits Your Brain ―the culmination of decades spent struggling to learn an unforgiving craft―illuminates both the mysteries of the mind and the realities of the operating room.”

Dying Well: Peace and Possibilities at the End of Life by Ira Byock

“Through the true stories of patients, he shows us that a lot of important emotional work can be accomplished in the final months, weeks, and even days of life. It is a companion for families, showing them how to deal with doctors, how to talk to loved ones—and how to make the end of life as meaningful and enriching as the beginning.”

A Stitch of Time: The Year a Brain Injury Changed My Language and Life by Lauren Marks

“Lauren Marks was twenty-seven, touring a show in Scotland with her friends, when an aneurysm ruptured in her brain and left her fighting for her life. She woke up in a hospital soon after with serious deficiencies to her reading, speaking, and writing abilities, and an unfamiliar diagnosis: aphasia. This would be shocking news for anyone, but Lauren was a voracious reader, an actress, director, and dramaturg, and at the time of the event, pursuing her PhD. At any other period of her life, this diagnosis would have been a devastating blow. But she woke up…different.”

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee

“…In this biography Mukherjee brings to life the quest to understand human heredity and its surprising influence on our lives, personalities, identities, fates, and choices.”

How We Do Harm: A Doctor Breaks Ranks About Being Sick in America by Otis Webb Brawley

“…exposes the underbelly of healthcare today―the overtreatment of the rich, the under treatment of the poor, the financial conflicts of interest that determine the care that physicians provide, insurance companies that don’t demand the best (or even the least expensive) care, and pharmaceutical companies concerned with selling drugs, regardless of whether they improve health or do harm.”

Blue Collar, Blue Scrubs: The Making of a Surgeon by Michael Collins

“…taking readers from his days as a construction worker to his entry into medical school, expertly infusing his journey to become a doctor with humanity, compassion, and humor. From the first time he delivers a baby to being surrounded by death and pain on a daily basis, Collins compellingly writes about how medicine makes him confront, in a very deep and personal way, the nature of God and suffering―and how delicate life can be.”

I Knew A Woman: Four Women Patients and Their Female Caregiver by Cortney Davis

“A poet and nurse-practitioner with twenty five years’ experience, Davis reveals the beauty of the body’s workings by unfolding the lives of four patients who struggle with its natural cycles and unexpected surprises: pregnancy and childbirth, illness and recovery, sexual dysfunction and sexual joy. An abundance of solid medical information imbues every graceful line.”

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

“In medical school, Paul Farmer found his life’s calling: to cure infectious diseases and to bring the lifesaving tools of modern medicine to those who need them most. Kidder’s magnificent account takes us from Harvard to Haiti, Peru, Cuba, and Russia as Farmer changes minds and practices through his dedication to the philosophy that “the only real nation is humanity.” At the heart of this book is the example of a life based on hope and on an understanding of the truth of the Haitian proverb “Beyond mountains there are mountains”–as you solve one problem, another problem presents itself, and so you go on and try to solve that one too.”

What Doctors Feel: How Emotions Affect the Practice of Medicine by Danielle Ofri

“How do the stresses of medical life—from paperwork to grueling hours to lawsuits to facing death—affect the medical care that doctors can offer their patients? Digging deep into the lives of doctors, Ofri examines the daunting range of emotions—shame, anger, empathy, frustration, hope, pride, occasionally despair, and sometimes even love—that permeate the contemporary doctor-patient connection.”

God’s Hotel: A Doctor, a Hospital, and a Pilgrimage to the Heart of Medicine by Victoria Sweet

“San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital is the last almshouse in the country, a descendant of the Hôtel-Dieu (God’s hotel) that cared for the sick in the Middle Ages. Ballet dancers and rock musicians, professors and thieves—“anyone who had fallen, or, often, leapt, onto hard times” and needed extended medical care—ended up here. So did Victoria Sweet, who came for two months and stayed for twenty years.”

This Won’t Hurt a Bit (And Other White Lies): My Education in Medicine and Motherhood by Michelle Au

“It’s a no-holds-barred account of what a modern medical education feels like, from the grim to the ridiculous, from the heartwarming to the obscene. Unlike most medical memoirs, however, this one details the author’s struggles to maintain a life outside of the hospital, in the small amount of free time she had to live it. And, after she and her husband have a baby early in both their medical residencies, Au explores the demands of being a parent with those of a physician, two all-consuming jobs in which the lives of others are very literally in her hands.”

Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflections on Race and Medicine by Damon Tweedy

“…examines the complex ways in which both black doctors and patients must navigate the difficult and often contradictory terrain of race and medicine. As Tweedy transforms from student to practicing physician, he discovers how often race influences his encounters with patients. Through their stories, he illustrates the complex social, cultural, and economic factors at the root of many health problems in the black community. These issues take on greater meaning when Tweedy is himself diagnosed with a chronic disease far more common among black people. In this powerful, moving, and deeply empathic book, Tweedy explores the challenges confronting black doctors, and the disproportionate health burdens faced by black patients, ultimately seeking a way forward to better treatment and more compassionate care.”

Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink

“After Katrina struck and the floodwaters rose, the power failed, and the heat climbed, exhausted caregivers chose to designate certain patients last for rescue. Months later, several of those caregivers faced criminal allegations that they deliberately injected numerous patients with drugs to hasten their deaths. Five Days at Memorial , the culmination of six years of reporting, unspools the mystery of what happened in those days, bringing the reader into a hospital fighting for its life and into a conversation about the most terrifying form of health care rationing.”

Critical Care: A New Nurse Faces Death, Life, and Everything in Between by Theresa Brown

“…the powerful and absorbing memoir of Theresa Brown—a regular contributor to the New York Times blog “Well”—about her experiences during the first year on the job as an oncology nurse; in the process, Brown sheds brilliant light on issues of mortality and meaning in our lives.”

The Cancer Journals by Audre Lorde

“Literary Nonfiction. Memoir. African American Studies. LGBT Studies. Moving between journal entry, memoir, and exposition, Audre Lorde fuses the personal and political as she reflects on her experience coping with breast cancer and a radical mastectomy.”

What do you think are the best medical books? Want to learn even more about the subject? Check out “ 100 Must-Read Books About The History of Medicine .”

You Might Also Like

• Craft and Criticism
• Fiction and Poetry
• News and Culture
• Lit Hub Radio
• Reading Lists

• Literary Criticism
• Craft and Advice
• In Conversation
• On Translation
• Short Story
• From the Novel
• Bookstores and Libraries
• Film and TV
• Art and Photography
• Freeman’s
• The Virtual Book Channel
• Behind the Mic
• Beyond the Page
• The Cosmic Library
• The Critic and Her Publics
• Emergence Magazine
• Fiction/Non/Fiction
• First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing
• The History of Literature
• I’m a Writer But
• Lit Century
• Tor Presents: Voyage Into Genre
• Windham-Campbell Prizes Podcast
• Write-minded
• The Best of the Decade
• Best Reviewed Books
• BookMarks Daily Giveaway
• The Daily Thrill
• CrimeReads Daily Giveaway

The Medicine Memoirs That Every Aspiring Doctor Should Read

Robert meyer, md, and dan koeppel on the beauty and brutality of the human experience.

My cousin Rob Meyer and I have known each other all our lives. A shared history and love of baseball are what have kept us close. While studying to become an emergency room doctor, Rob was mentored by my late father, while I went on a different path, becoming a writer. Writing was something I never knew my father aspired to until, after he died, I found notebooks full of poetry hidden amidst his medical textbooks and financial records.

As a nonfiction writer, my choice of subject has always been the unusual, the off-center: I wrote a book about bananas and another about birds and bird watching. I’ve written about a man who ran around the world, partially duplicating his feat by running halfway across Australia myself. I wrote about a friend who vanished, leaving a wife and child behind, only to resurface with an entirely new identity as a legendary hiker on the Appalachian Trail. My obsessions often occupy the strange corners, not center stage.

Rob had never thought he’d write a book. Although, after more than two decades as a doctor in one of the country’s busiest emergency rooms, the idea has been suggested to him several times. But one other thing we share is a love of reading medical memoirs, procedurals, and other nonfiction stories of triumph and tragedy in hospitals, operating rooms, and research facilities. We were both astonished by When Breath Becomes Air , neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi’s moving story of his own death by metastatic cancer. Rob teaches young doctors-in-training at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and he often assigns Atul Gawande’s brilliant Being Mortal , perhaps the greatest modern meditation on life and death from a physician’s perspective. I can attest that Gawande’s book isn’t just for doctors. But when COVID hit, Rob felt he needed to vent, to talk about his experience, to document it. And he turned to me to help.

The book we ended up writing—a book neither of us thought we would write—is one of likely hundreds that will be published about the pandemic. But Rob and I both would like to say—and we really believe this—that the book isn’t really about the pandemic at all: like the medical memoirs we admire most, we hope that readers see that this book is about compassion, about sorrow, about the best parts of humanity: the way we bond together in crisis, the way we triumph over adversity, and the way we gain strength in loss as we mourn it together. Below is a list of books we think every aspiring doctor should read.

Siddhartha Mukherjee, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2011 history of cancer was a book I first read just after it came out, when a relative of mine was struggling with the disease. The history of the affliction, and humanity’s attempts to understand, fight, and cure it, are epic, inspiring, and grandiose. This was personally reinforced to me as I underwent my own unexpected cancer battle during the writing of Every Minute Is a Day .

Paul Kalanithi, When Breath Becomes Air

When Paul Kalanithi was a young man, he contemplated a literary life, before turning toward neurosurgery, where, he believed, he could do something even deeper: understand the nature of thought. Kalanithi’s skill with words is put to tragic but moving use in this book, as he chronicles his battle with metastatic lung cancer, a battle he will not survive. As sad as this book is, what comes through in the end is that Kalanithi’s life was filled with exploration, hope, and love. This is one, possibly the most heartbreaking book you will ever read, that we talked about constantly as we worked on our own book.

Atul Gawande, Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End

All doctors deal with death, but young physicians starting out during the pandemic experienced death in numbers that were traumatizing. Gawande, a surgeon at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a staff writer at The New Yorker , explains—with careful reporting and vivid anecdotes—how modern medicine has failed to modernize the way it approaches the inevitable, sometimes adding unnecessary misery to a patient’s final days and weeks. Medicine seeks to be humane but often falls short. Gawande calls for a rethinking of how doctors approach end of life. Rob considers this essential reading for every student entering medical school.

Pauline W. Chen, Final Exam: A Surgeon’s Reflections on Mortality

This book was recommended by Rob’s daughter, Bobbi Meyer, who was starting medical school as the pandemic took hold. It has become required reading for many medical students, and, like Gawande’s Being Mortal , it is about how doctors cope with death. Dr. Chen, a transplant surgeon, finds that modern medical training sometimes leads to an overly clinical approach to death, leaving patients and families feeling dehumanized as lives draw to a close. This book seeks a better way, reminding readers—doctors and patients alike—that one of medicine’s primary duties is to offer comfort and empathy.

Azra Raza, The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last

If Mukherjee’s Emperor is a broad biography of cancer, Raza’s book is a more intimate look at how people actually live with—and die from—this disease. One of the best things about this book is that it advocates that we see efforts to cope with the disease not in the context of war or battle, but from a more compassionate, scientific, and realistic point of view. The book is considered controversial by the traditional cancer-fighting establishment, but as a current cancer patient who has often felt worn out by that establishment’s well-meaning cheerleading and metaphors of hope, Raza’s genuine approach offered me authentic uplift (at the very least, it suggests a helpful alternate path to modern cancer conventions.)

Gabor Maté, MD, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction

Before my father—Dr. Richard Koeppel, who mentored Rob—became an emergency room physician, he specialized in addiction medicine, as does Dr. Gabor Maté. This book looks at addiction and its degrees, connecting it to behaviors, including those exhibited by the author himself, that feel less destructive, but which Maté argues are of a kind: “I believe there is one addiction process, whether it manifests in the lethal substance dependencies of my…patients, the frantic self-soothing of overeaters or shopaholics, the obsessions of gamblers, sexaholics and compulsive internet users, or in the socially acceptable and even admired behaviors of the workaholic,” Maté writes. It’s a provocative and compelling thesis.

Mark Silverman, Sir William Osler, and the American College of Physicians, The Quotable Osler

Sir William Osler may be the most influential doctor you’ve never heard of. Practicing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when medicine was beset by poor training, lack of scientific rigor, and nonexistent standards, Osler basically invented what today would be called patient-centered care. Osler was the first doctor to insist that medical students actually examine real patients (you read that correctly.) He also wrote essays and gave numerous speeches, and was, as this book demonstrates, able to turn a memorable phrase. We start Every Minute Is a Day with a quote from Osler, but here’s another: “The good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.”

__________________________________

Every Minute Is a Day: A Doctor, an Emergency Room, and a City Under Siege is available from Crown, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York. Copyright © 2021 by Robert Meyer, MD, and Dan Koeppel.

• Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)

Robert Meyer, MD, and Dan Koeppel

Previous article, next article, support lit hub..

Join our community of readers.

to the Lithub Daily

Popular posts.

A Day in the Life of an 11-Year-Old Spy in 1939 Berlin

• RSS - Posts

Literary Hub

Created by Grove Atlantic and Electric Literature

Sign Up For Our Newsletters

How to Pitch Lit Hub

Advertisers: Contact Us

Privacy Policy

Support Lit Hub - Become A Member

Become a Lit Hub Supporting Member : Because Books Matter

For the past decade, Literary Hub has brought you the best of the book world for free—no paywall. But our future relies on you. In return for a donation, you’ll get an ad-free reading experience , exclusive editors’ picks, book giveaways, and our coveted Joan Didion Lit Hub tote bag . Most importantly, you’ll keep independent book coverage alive and thriving on the internet.

Become a member for as low as $5/month

Get recommended reads, deals, and more from Hachette

By clicking ‘Sign Up,’ I acknowledge that I have read and agree to Hachette Book Group’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Use

Site Preferences

Shop now and save 20% on your back-to-school purchases & get free shipping on orders $45+ Use code: SCHOOL24

12 Memorable Medical Memoirs

For those of us on the outside of the medical world—who really only interact with it as patients—there’s something mystical and powerful and a little frightening about its practitioners. It’s hard to conceptualize for those of us who haven’t ever had that kind of knowledge. Their skills seem almost magical, for better or worse. For those readers who have spent time in hospitals and are all too familiar with the business ends of medical instruments, there’s an even more complex relationship to medicine. And for those of us who have not experienced either in any significant way, the whole field can be shrouded in mystery. Regardless of your position in relation to the subject matter, this list of medical memoirs will have a perspective with which you can engage.

The Open Heart Club

by Gabriel Brownstein

Gabriel Brownstein was born with the tetralogy of Fallot, a congenital heart defect that in 1966 (the year of his birth), doctors were just learning to operate on. This memoir tells the story of Brownstein's experiences as he frequently undergoes new procedures to save and extend his life. The second aspect of the book tells of medicine's history, its innovation, and the people who kept the author alive. If you're interested in the developing technologies of medicine and how it affects the people who interact with it, this medical memoir is the one for you.

• Audiobook Download (Unabridged)
• Trade Paperback

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around October 22, 2019. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Also available from:

• Apple Books
• Barnes & Noble
• Google Play

Ask Me About My Uterus

by Abby Norman

Though we as a culture would like to believe that women are treated as equals, when Abby Norman dropped 40 pounds, went gray at the temples, and was repeatedly hospitalized for excruciating pain, she was consistently diagnosed as having a urinary tract infection and then discharged with antibiotics. This protagonist takes matters into her own hands and tries to learn about her condition, and her ultimate goal, as the subtitle states, is to "make doctors believe in women's pain."

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around March 6, 2018. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

You Can Stop Humming Now

by Daniela Lamas

Daniela Lamas is a critical care doctor, which means she treats patients at their sickest. This medical memoir follows patients in the days, weeks, months, or years after they receive the treatment that allows them that extra time. Her memoir seeks to answer the question: What do survivors do with their time when they know it's coming to an end?

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around March 27, 2018. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Your Heart, My Hands

by Arun K Singh, MD

With John Hanc

Foreword by Delos Cosgrove, MD

This autobiography tells the underdog story of an Indian immigrant who came to America in 1967. He has now performed over 15,000 surgeries, which is more than nearly anyone alive. This book talks not only about medicine and education, but about immigrating to America during that time, overcoming classism, racism, and the obstacles of a major hand injury. It's a truly uplifting story.

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around April 16, 2019. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

by Stephen Westaby

Cardiac surgeon Stephen Westaby writes about what it's like to face death down on a daily basis, and though he was shocked the first time a patient died on the table and the other surgeons walked calmly away, this book illustrates how that kind of detachment preserves the self. His book, however, is written with utmost compassion when reflecting on his 11,000 surgeries.

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around June 20, 2017. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

by Mike Scardino

This memoir recounts Mike Scardino's life as an ambulance attendant in New York City in the late 1960s. Throughout it, we meet unforgettable characters and watch uncomfortable, unsettling situations unfold in the historical context of race riots, plane crashes, and personal lives. He tells all of the medical drama with a macabre sense of humor.

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around July 17, 2018. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi 

In this memoir, 36-year-old neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi is diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer. He was writing through the experience when he died from it in 2015, and some of the questions that he begins to answer in its pages include: “What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away?” The book is both inspiring and realistic, concrete in its dilemmas and moving for the reader.

The First Cell

by Azra Raza

This medical memoir is all about cancer, and in particular, how we have lost the war against it. In this book, Raza attacks the concept from every different angle: medical, scientific, cultural, and personal. She even talks about the unbearable role of being her husband's oncologist as he battled leukemia. Like  When Breath Becomes Air,  this book is as much about philosophy and psychology as it is about medicine.

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around October 15, 2019. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Complications by Atul Gawande 

Atul Gawande explores the imperfect science of surgery in these 14 essays. As a surgeon himself, he tells the stories of his personal experience, but more than that, he states that nearly always, doctors are presented as either heroes or villains. In this book, he shows that they are people despite that they can sometimes do heroic things, that surgery is complicated, decisions are complex, and there is no sure treatment for anything. This book provides new perspectives to those who are not in the medical field, and it provides validation to those who are.

by Caroline Elton

Similar to  Complications,  Caroline Elton's memoir illuminates the emotional wear on physicians whom she has counseled. Her occupation as a vocational psychologist provides her with the material that funds this book, and her main goal is to illustrate the humanity that doctor's experience, from work/life pressure to mortality and other personal problems.

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around June 12, 2018. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Creatures of a Day

by Irvin D. Yalom

If you enjoy medical memoirs like  Also Human,  then you will appreciate this book as well. Psychotherapist Irvin D. Yalom also describes his and his patients' struggles to find meaning in life and how to come to terms with its inevitable end.

This item is a preorder. Your payment method will be charged immediately, and the product is expected to ship on or around February 24, 2015. This date is subject to change due to shipping delays beyond our control.

Anyone who loves  reading about medicine , whether it’s from the perspective of the practitioners or the patients, should take a look at this list of medical memoirs. There’s bound to be something special for you here.

Mary Kay McBrayer is a horror enthusiast, sideshow lover, and prose writer from south of Atlanta. Her true crime novel,  America’s First Female Serial Killer: Jane Toppan and the Making of a Monster is available for pre-order, and you can hear her analysis (and jokes) about scary movies on the podcast, Everything Trying to Kill You. You can read her tweets @mkmcbrayer .

What to Read Next

7 Great Books for Art Lovers

5 Awesome Books by Women Challenging the Status Quo

Idol Hands: 15 Great Books About Music Icons

11 Books You Need to Read About Current Events

10 Must-Read Nonfiction Books for College Freshmen

10 Strong Female Reads

100 Best Medical Books of All Time

We've researched and ranked the best medical books in the world, based on recommendations from world experts, sales data, and millions of reader ratings. Learn more

When Breath Becomes Air

Paul Kalanithi, Abraham Verghese | 5.00

Bill Gates I don’t know how Kalanithi found the physical strength to write this book while he was so debilitated by the disease and then potent chemotherapy. But I’m so glad he did. He spent his whole brief life searching for meaning in one way or another -- through books, writing, medicine, surgery, and science. I’m grateful that, by reading this book, I got to witness a small part of that journey. I just... (Source)

Ryan Holiday Despite its popularity, When Breath Becomes Air is actually underrated. It’s make-you-cry good. (Source)

Bethany S. Mandel More Shabbat reading recommendations: This book was breathtaking and such a powerful advertisement for the joy of parenthood. https://t.co/V8BH97eiL9 (Source)

See more recommendations for this book...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot | 4.91

Yet Henrietta Lacks remains virtually unknown, buried in an unmarked grave.

Now Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey, from the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells; from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover, Virginia — a land of wooden slave quarters, faith healings, and voodoo — to East Baltimore today, where her children and grandchildren live and struggle with the legacy of her cells.

Henrietta’s family did not learn of her “immortality” until more than twenty years after her death, when scientists investigating HeLa began using her husband and children in research without informed consent. And though the cells had launched a multimillion-dollar industry that sells human biological materials, her family never saw any of the profits. As Rebecca Skloot so brilliantly shows, the story of the Lacks family — past and present — is inextricably connected to the dark history of experimentation on African Americans, the birth of bioethics, and the legal battles over whether we control the stuff we are made of.

Over the decade it took to uncover this story, Rebecca became enmeshed in the lives of the Lacks family—especially Henrietta’s daughter Deborah, who was devastated to learn about her mother’s cells. She was consumed with questions: Had scientists cloned her mother? Did it hurt her when researchers infected her cells with viruses and shot them into space? What happened to her sister, Elsie, who died in a mental institution at the age of fifteen? And if her mother was so important to medicine, why couldn’t her children afford health insurance?

Intimate in feeling, astonishing in scope, and impossible to put down, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks captures the beauty and drama of scientific discovery, as well as its human consequences.

Carl Zimmer Yes. This is a fascinating book on so many different levels. It is really compelling as the story of the author trying to uncover the history of the woman from whom all these cells came. (Source)

A.J. Jacobs Great writer. (Source)

Being Mortal

Medicine and What Matters in the End

Atul Gawande | 4.80

Malcolm Gladwell American medicine, Being Mortal reminds us, has prepared itself for life but not for death. This is Atul Gawande's most powerful--and moving--book. (Source)

Barack Obama President Obama is spending his Hawaiian vacation playing golf, getting together with high school friends and reading a handful of dark novels set in foreign lands, according to a book list released by the White House Wednesday. The presidential reading list includes [...] two works of non-fiction for the trip: [...] "Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End" by Dr. Atul Gawande. (Source)

Indra Nooyi Just finished "Being Mortal" by Atul Gawande. A beautifully written book. Captivating. (Source)

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales

Oliver Sacks | 4.79

Suzanne O'Sullivan I didn’t choose neurology because of it but the way Oliver Sacks writes about neurology is very compelling. (Source)

Tanya Byron This is a seminal book that anyone who wants to work in mental health should read. It is a charming and gentle and also an honest exposé of what can happen to us when our mental health is compromised for whatever reason. (Source)

Bradley Voytek I can’t imagine one day waking up and not knowing who my wife is, or seeing my wife and thinking that she was replaced by some sort of clone or robot. But that could happen to any of us. (Source)

Brain on Fire

My Month of Madness

Susannah Cahalan | 4.70

Joann Corleyschwarzkopf Need a fun boost for your team? Want to jump-start great problem-solving? >Book a 1-hour #creativethinking, virtual experience & get a complimentary pdf copy - Brain on Fire: Unleashing Your Creative Superpowers! for each attendee #teambuilding Info here: https://t.co/j6hOxMJrNH https://t.co/b9hAxV90Mf (Source)

Jessica Flitter The readability for me is probably the key element for students—and maybe for teachers as well—because it’s a book that you really can’t put down. If that’s what we need to make students readers, then I’m all for it. (Source)

The Emperor of All Maladies

A Biography of Cancer

Siddhartha Mukherjee, Fred Sanders, et al | 4.69

Bill Gates I loved [this] brilliant book about cancer. (Source)

Timothy J. Jorgensen A tremendous amount of cancer biology comes through in that book through the eyes of the victims and the people up close and personal. (Source)

The Hot Zone

Richard Preston | 4.68

Jon Najarian I believe both the corona virus and ebola have a bat connection. Scary, but great book on ebola: Hot Zone by Richard Preston https://t.co/jGEjbrB7pZ (Source)

Pierre Haski @ChuBailiang The hot zone, it made my days during SARS in Beijing, a great book! https://t.co/8E8AYgIhp7 (Source)

The Checklist Manifesto

How to Get Things Right

Atul Gawande | 4.67

The New York Times bestselling author of Better and Complications reveals the surprising power of the ordinary checklist

We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies‚neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists...

We live in a world of great and increasing complexity, where even the most expert professionals struggle to master the tasks they face. Longer training, ever more advanced technologies‚neither seems to prevent grievous errors. But in a hopeful turn, acclaimed surgeon and writer Atul Gawande finds a remedy in the humblest and simplest of techniques: the checklist. First introduced decades ago by the U.S. Air Force, checklists have enabled pilots to fly aircraft of mind-boggling sophistication. Now innovative checklists are being adopted in hospitals around the world, helping doctors and nurses respond to everything from flu epidemics to avalanches. Even in the immensely complex world of surgery, a simple ninety-second variant has cut the rate of fatalities by more than a third. In riveting stories, Gawande takes us from Austria, where an emergency checklist saved a drowning victim who had spent half an hour underwater, to Michigan, where a cleanliness checklist in intensive care units virtually eliminated a type of deadly hospital infection. He explains how checklists actually work to prompt striking and immediate improvements. And he follows the checklist revolution into fields well beyond medicine, from homeland security to investment banking, skyscraper construction, and businesses of all kinds. An intellectual adventure in which lives are lost and saved and one simple idea makes a tremendous difference, The Checklist Manifesto is essential reading for anyone working to get things right.

Bill Gates A great read. (Source)

David Allen Atul is really talking about how absolutely powerful checklists are, and I think he makes a very creative point: that checklist are not just some static, boring thing. They actually allow you to do excellent work and free up your brain by not having to keep remembering what you need to do when. That then allows your brain to be a lot more creative about whatever it is you’re doing. (Source)

Timothy Ferriss Ramit and I are both obsessed with checklists and love a book by Atul Gawande titled The Checklist Manifesto. I have this book on a shelf in my living room, cover out, as a constant reminder. (Source)

The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach | 4.60

Complications

A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

Atul Gawande | 4.60

Don't have time to read the top Medical books of all time? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

• Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
• Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
• Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.

A Surgeon's Notes on Performance

Atul Gawande | 4.55

Christina Reynolds Interesting book on medicine with broader applications for all of us. https://t.co/KUeHOPWMom (Source)

Elad Yom-Tov He has a way of explaining the medical world in a manner that is both compassionate but also very much data driven. (Source)

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor E. Frankl, William J. Winslade, et al. | 4.52

Tony Robbins Another book that I’ve read dozens of times. It taught me that if you change the meaning, you change everything. Meaning equals emotion, and emotion equals life. (Source)

Jimmy Fallon I read it while spending ten days in the ICU of Bellevue hospital trying to reattach my finger from a ring avulsion accident in my kitchen. It talks about the meaning of life, and I believe you come out a better person from reading it. (Source)

Dustin Moskovitz [Dustin Moskovitz recommended this book on Twitter.] (Source)

This is Going to Hurt

Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor

Adam Kay | 4.50

Quinn Cummings @lorapenza You might love @amateuradam's book. (Source)

Cutting for Stone

Abraham Verghese | 4.46

Barack Obama As a devoted reader, the president has been linked to a lengthy list of novels and poetry collections over the years. (Source)

Daniel Hamermesh This novel from a decade ago should be read by every American interested in immigration. While it deals with a lot of medical details, the essence of it is about urban life in developing countries and about the immigrant experience. It is both moving and thought-provoking. (Source)

Still Alice

Lisa Genova | 4.43

Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

John Carreyrou | 4.40

Bill Gates A bunch of my friends recommended this one to me. Carreyrou gives you the definitive insider’s look at the rise and fall of Theranos. The story is even crazier than I expected, and I found myself unable to put it down once I started. This book has everything: elaborate scams, corporate intrigue, magazine cover stories, ruined family relationships, and the demise of a company once valued at nearly... (Source)

Brad Feld Every entrepreneur and VC should read this book. John Carreyrou has done something important here. Maybe this book will finally put a nail in the phrase “fake it till you make it”, but I doubt it. The amount of lying, disingenuousness, blatant and unjustified self-promotion, and downright deceit that exists in entrepreneurship right now is at a local maximum. This always happens when... (Source)

Andrew Chen Finished “bad blood” on the Theranos scandal. Wow. Just wow. It’s a must read for everyone in tech and startups. Just 1-click buy it :) Amazing how far charisma and social proof got them. Here’s the NYT review of the book https://t.co/PyMGxfoG2R (Source)

Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery

Henry Marsh | 4.39

The Great Influenza

The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History

John M. Barry | 4.39

Greg Dworkin @heshsson yes1 brilliant book, which also explains flu better than most other things you will read (Source)

Kyle Bass @Holykisses Remember the Great Influenza of 1918 (amazing book by Barry)...40-50 million died at a 10% kill rate. The higher the rate, the faster it is likely to burn itself out. 10% is a global pandemic nightmare. (Source)

Dave Collum I guess it is a good time to point out that "The Great Influenza" is a great book. If you think modern medicine would have mitigate this one, you haven't read the book. https://t.co/t4uHPgfLE6 (Source)

Why We Sleep

Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams

Matthew Walker PhD | 4.38

Bill Gates Explains how neglecting sleep undercuts your creativity, problem solving, decision-making, learning, memory, heart health, brain health, mental health, emotional well-being, immune system, and even your life span. (Source)

Brad Feld Several friends, who know I both love to sleep and am intrigued with how sleep works, recommended that I read Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams. It was excellent. While my self-assessment of my sleep habits are very positive, I learned a few things. More importantly, I now have a much better understanding of the “Why” surrounding sleep, especially around sleep’s importance to... (Source)

Alexis Ohanian Sr. Agree! Best book I've read this year. Wasted so many hours just proving to myself I'd be the last one up working at @reddit and for what??? Stupid. Diminishing marginal returns after enough hours without sleep. https://t.co/cT7fDNBF3A (Source)

Mountains Beyond Mountains

The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World

Tracy Kidder | 4.38

Richard Branson Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. (Source)

Bill Gates [On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011.] (Source)

Roger Thurow Yes, and I have chosen this is in connection with social entrepreneurship and what Yunus does with social business. So, this is on the medical and health side, and poverty and hunger and malnourishment are distinctly a part of that. Mountains Beyond Mountains looks at the work of Dr Paul Farmer setting sail against the inequities in the healthcare world. It’s practical and inspirational. It’s... (Source)

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

Anne Fadiman | 4.37

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Kahneman | 4.37

Barack Obama A few months ago, Mr. Obama read “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” by Daniel Kahneman, about how people make decisions — quick, instinctive thinking versus slower, contemplative deliberation. For Mr. Obama, a deliberator in an instinctive business, this may be as instructive as any political science text. (Source)

Bill Gates [On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012.] (Source)

Marc Andreessen Captivating dive into human decision making, marred by inclusion of several/many? psychology studies that fail to replicate. Will stand as a cautionary tale? (Source)

The Fault in Our Stars

John Green | 4.36

Elon Musk Must admit to liking [this book]. Sad, romantic and beautifully named. (Source)

James Comey @johngreen You should not be. It is a great book. Was recently in Amsterdam and walked some of the scenes with your huge fan, my youngest daughter. Loved hearing from you and meeting you at Kenyon. (Source)

The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert B. Cialdini | 4.33

Charles T. Munger Robert Cialdini has had a greater impact on my thinking on this topic than any other scientist. (Source)

Dan Ariely It covers a range of ways in which we end up doing things, and how we don’t understand why we’re doing them. (Source)

Max Levchin [Max Levchin recommended this book as an answer to "What business books would you advise young entrepreneurs read?"] (Source)

The Ghost Map

The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic—and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World

Steven Johnson | 4.33

Seth Mnookin The Ghost Map is a book that I oftentimes give to people to show them how cool and exciting and accessible and gripping stories about scientific discoveries can be. (Source)

Alison Alvarez I read the Ghost Map, a book about 1854 London Cholera outbreak. The outbreak was stopped because of a map created by Dr. John Snow. You can see hints of this map in some of our customer discovery tools because it was such an effective way of pinpointing a solution to a seemingly insurmountable problem. (Source)

Stephen Evans Johnson looks at London during a specific moment in time, August 1854, and focuses on a particular incident, an outbreak of cholera in Soho, in Central London. (Source)

An Intimate History

Siddhartha Mukherjee | 4.32

Bill Gates "Mukherjee wrote this book for a lay audience, because he knows that the new genome technologies are at the cusp of affecting us all in profound ways," Gates wrote. Mukherjee is what Gates calls a "quadruple threat." He's a practicing physician, teacher, researcher, and author. (Source)

Amit Paranjape @vikramsathaye @DrSidMukherjee @kiranshaw Great book. (Source)

Bryan Johnson A great book. (Source)

Atomic Habits

An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

James Clear and Penguin Audi | 4.32

Cal Newport I recently read an advance copy of James Clear’s new book, Atomic Habits. His thesis is that small but carefully selected habits can, over time, create massively positive results — not just in terms of what you accomplish, but also in terms of the type of person you become. James’s exposition rings true with what’ve I learned hanging around interesting people and high achievers. I recommend you... (Source)

Mark Manson A lot of people email me asking about habits - how to form good ones, how to break bad ones, how to stop doing the dumb shit we always do. I've got a friend named James Clear. He's an accomplished author and business owner and is kind of a "habit guru." He's probably forgotten more habits research than I've ever brought myself to look at. He just launched his first book. It's called Atomic Habits... (Source)

Ryan Holiday This book is out on Tuesday and it's also very good. An atomic habit is a tiny habit or change that can have an enormous impact on your life. Getting up a little earlier, deleting social media from your phone, automating your savings, developing a system, these are atomic habits. Me personally, I don't feel like I am particularly talented or even that disciplined, but I have a number of atomic... (Source)

When the Air Hits Your Brain

Tales of Neurosurgery

Frank T Vertosick Jr. MD, Kirby Heyborne, et al | 4.32

How Doctors Think

Jerome Groopman | 4.31

Working Stiff

Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

Judy Melinek MD, T.J. Mitchell | 4.30

The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck | 4.30

Tony Robbins [Tony Robbins recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Bill Gates One of the reasons I loved Mindset is because it’s solutions-oriented. In the book’s final chapter, Dweck describes the workshop she and her colleagues have developed to shift students from a fixed to a growth mindset. These workshops demonstrate that ‘just learning about the growth mindset can cause a big shift in the way people think about themselves and their lives. (Source)

And the Band Played On

Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic

Randy Shilts | 4.28

Jonathan Rauch A harrowing vision of what a world without marriage finally looks like. (Source)

Clara Jeffery Book is great but the movie pretty great too and horrifying similar failure of politicized science, just a way shorter timetable now https://t.co/TRUiKs9WTR (Source)

Arthur Ammann He was concerned because his friends were infected and some of them were dying. (Source)

The House of God

Samuel Shem, John Updike | 4.28

An Unquiet Mind

A Memoir of Moods and Madness

Kay Redfield Jamison | 4.27

Jonathan Glover Kay Redfield Jamison is a psychologist who has co-authored the major psychiatric textbook on manic depression. It authoritatively covers every aspect of the science, from genetics to pharmacology, and also has chapters on the links with creativity and on what the illness feels like. The chapters on the subjective experience are enriched with vivid quotations from patients. In her autobiography,... (Source)

Tanya Byron This is a divine book. A patient of mine who suffers with a bipolar illness, an absolutely inspiring young genius, recommended it to me. So I read it, and then we discussed it in a lot of our sessions together. (Source)

The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell | 4.26

James Altucher Gladwell is not the first person to come up with the 10,000 hour rule. Nor is he the first person to document what it takes to become the best in the world at something. But his stories are so great as he explains these deep concepts. How did the Beatles become the best? Why are professional hockey players born in January, February and March? And so on. (Source)

Cat Williams-Treloar The books that I've talked the most about with friends and colleagues over the years are the Malcolm Gladwell series of novels. Glorious stories that mix science, behaviours and insight. You can't go wrong with the "The Tipping Point", "Outliers", "Blink" or "David & Goliath". (Source)

The Body Keeps the Score

Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma

Bessel van der Kolk M.D. | 4.25

Matthew Green Reading The Body Keeps the Score was a eureka moment for me. (Source)

The Tipping Point

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

Malcolm Gladwell | 4.25

Kevin Rose Bunch of really good information in here on how to make ideas go viral. This could be good to apply to any kind of products or ideas you may have. Definitely, check out The Tipping Point, which is one of my favorites. (Source)

Seth Godin Malcolm Gladwell's breakthrough insight was to focus on the micro-relationships between individuals, which helped organizations realize that it's not about the big ads and the huge charity balls... it's about setting the stage for the buzz to start. (Source)

Andy Stern I think that when we talk about making change, it is much more about macro change, like in policy. This book reminds you that at times when you're building big movements, or trying to elect significant decision-makers in politics, sometimes it's the little things that make a difference. Ever since the book was written, we've become very used to the idea of things going viral unexpectedly and then... (Source)

Every Patient Tells a Story

Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis

Lisa Sanders and Random House Audi | 4.22

12 Rules for Life

An Antidote to Chaos

Jordan B. Peterson | 4.22

Marc Andreessen A bracing disassembly and reconstruction of a theory of individual progress in the modern world. Fascinating compare and contrast with The Courage To Be Disliked. (Source)

James Altucher Just look at the table of contents: Rule 1: Stand up straight with your shoulders back Rule 2: Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping Rule 3: Make friends with people who want the best for you Rule 4: Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today Rule 5: Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them Rule 6: Set your house in... (Source)

Andrew Price @stewheckenberg @jordanbpeterson Thanks mate. I almost wish the book was published under a different author so more people would give it a chance. It’s really one of the best “how to fix your life” books around. (Source)

Medical Apartheid

The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present

Harriet A. Washington | 4.21

Hot Lights, Cold Steel

Life, Death and Sleepless Nights in a Surgeon's First Years

M.D. Michael J. Collins | 4.20

The Midwife

A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times

Jennifer Worth | 4.19

The Butchering Art

Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine

Lindsey Fitzharris | 4.19

My Sister's Keeper

Jodi Picoult | 4.19

Five Days at Memorial

Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

Sheri Fink | 4.19

Animal Infections and the Next Human Pandemic

David Quammen | 4.18

Kaleigh Rogers @rachsyme Spillover is a fantastic book though. I'd also recommend Pandemic and/or The Fever by @soniashah (Source)

The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ

Giulia Enders | 4.17

The Brain that Changes Itself

Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science

Norman Doidge | 4.17

Carol Dweck For me it was exciting to read this book because while my research shows a growth mindset is really good for you, this book shows that a growth mindset also has a strong basis in modern neuroscience. It illustrates, though fascinating case histories and descriptions of recent research, the amazing power of the brain to change and even to reorganise itself with practice and experience. (Source)

Naveen Jain I think the book that I really, really enjoy was, "The Brain That Changes Itself." It's all about neuroplasticity, you'd really love that book. (Source)

Bogdana Butnar I don't have favourite books. I equate a favourite something with wanting to do it over and over again and I've never wanted to read a book too many times. I have favourite authors and I have books that changed me in significant ways because they moved me or taught me something or changed my view of the world. So, here's some of those books... (Source)

My Stroke of Insight

A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey

Jill Bolte Taylor | 4.17

Maya Zlatanova [One of the books that had the biggest impact on Maya.] (Source)

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons

The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery

Sam Kean | 4.17

The Andromeda Strain

Michael Crichton | 4.16

Tess Gerritsen This was the first science thriller I ever read. I remember thinking it was the first book to make real science so exciting. (Source)

Dez Blanchfield @isotopp wasn't that an awesome book ( and movie ) (Source)

Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Mary Roach | 4.16

Angela Duckworth | 4.16

Benjamin Spall [Question: What five books would you recommend to youngsters interested in your professional path?] [...] Grit by Angela Duckworth (Source)

Bogdan Lucaciu Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - it was frustrating to read: “Where was this book 20 years ago!?” (Source)

Stephen Lew When asked what books he would recommend to youngsters interested in his professional path, Stephen mentioned Grit. (Source)

A Guide for Occupants

Bill Bryson | 4.15

Talking to Strangers

What We Should Know about the People We Don't Know

Malcolm Gladwell | 4.14

Ryan Holiday I'll put here what I emailed Malcolm when I finished the book: "Just finished your new book in one sitting yesterday. So good. You are at the height of your powers and remain an inspiration to all of us trying to master an un-masterable profession." It's a little less practical or self-improvement oriented than his previous books, but far more thought provoking. (Source)

Nilofer Merchant An interesting analysis/ essay re Gladwell’s latest book —> https://t.co/5Ey1maNRyI (Source)

The Hero With a Thousand Faces

Joseph Campbell | 4.14

The first popular work to combine the spiritual and psychological insights of modern psychoanalysis with the archetypes of world mythology, the book creates a roadmap for navigating the frustrating path of contemporary life. Examining heroic myths in the light of modern psychology, it considers not only the patterns and stages of mythology but also its relevance to our lives today--and to the life of any person seeking a fully realized existence. Myth, according to Campbell, is the projection of a culture's dreams onto a large screen; Campbell's book, like Star Wars , the...

The first popular work to combine the spiritual and psychological insights of modern psychoanalysis with the archetypes of world mythology, the book creates a roadmap for navigating the frustrating path of contemporary life. Examining heroic myths in the light of modern psychology, it considers not only the patterns and stages of mythology but also its relevance to our lives today--and to the life of any person seeking a fully realized existence. Myth, according to Campbell, is the projection of a culture's dreams onto a large screen; Campbell's book, like Star Wars , the film it helped inspire, is an exploration of the big-picture moments from the stage that is our world. It is a must-have resource for both experienced students of mythology and the explorer just beginning to approach myth as a source of knowledge.

Ray Dalio The book I’d give [every graduating senior in college or high school] would be [...] Joseph Campbell’s 'Hero of a Thousand Faces'. It's little bit dense but it’s so rich, so it’s a good one. (Source)

Darren Aronofsky [I'm] totally part of his cult. Because I believe in that hero’s journey. (Source)

Kyle Russell Book 28 Lesson: Embedded in human psychology (and the resulting symbolism we find compelling) is a wish for our struggles to be meaningful, for our suffering to have value, for our effort to pay off for ourselves and those we love - and to then be recognized for it. https://t.co/lWgr4k7d8Y (Source)

Oliver Sacks | 4.14

Will Self I must have first read this book in the early eighties, and found it – like a lot of Sacks’s writing – absolutely fascinating. Not just because of the philosophical and scientific perspectives that he is involved in, but because of his involuntary self-characterisation. I used some of Sacks’s modes and mannerisms quite shamelessly as one of the sources for my character Zack Busner, who is a... (Source)

Left Neglected

Lisa Genova | 4.14

Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to...

Between recruiting the best and brightest minds as the vice president of human resources at Berkley Consulting; shuttling the kids to soccer, day care, and piano lessons; convincing her son’s teacher that he may not, in fact, have ADD; and making it home in time for dinner, it’s a wonder this over-scheduled, over-achieving Harvard graduate has time to breathe.

A self-confessed balloon about to burst, Sarah miraculously manages every minute of her life like an air traffic controller. Until one fateful day, while driving to work and trying to make a phone call, she looks away from the road for one second too long. In the blink of an eye, all the rapidly moving parts of her jam-packed life come to a screeching halt.

A traumatic brain injury completely erases the left side of her world, and for once, Sarah relinquishes control to those around her, including her formerly absent mother. Without the ability to even floss her own teeth, she struggles to find answers about her past and her uncertain future.

Now, as she wills herself to regain her independence and heal, Sarah must learn that her real destiny - her new, true life - may in fact lie far from the world of conference calls and spreadsheets. And that a happiness and peace greater than all the success in the world is close within reach, if only she slows down long enough to notice.

Reflections of Life's Final Chapter

Sherwin B. Nuland | 4.13

Kathleen Taylor It’s a description of what people actually die of and the mechanisms by which life is extinguished. (Source)

The Coming Plague

Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance

Laurie Garrett | 4.13

Arthur Ammann Just as in the Old Testament, I don’t think people always want to hear the message of a prophet. (Source)

The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly

A Physician's First Year

Matt McCarthy | 4.12

A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency

Emily Transue | 4.11

The Poisoner's Handbook

Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

Deborah Blum | 4.11

Michelle Francl Deborah Blum’s book reminds me that molecules are powerful witnesses, if only we have the skills to interrogate them, and sometimes they are killers. (Source)

Unnatural Causes

Richard Shepherd | 4.11

Sue Black He (Source)

Dr. Mütter's Marvels

A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine

Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz | 4.10

Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas

Adam Kay | 4.10

Daniel Sloss @amateuradam @reallorraine @lorraine Listen Adam - I love you, I love your book and I've pre-ordered your next one coz you're so brilliant. But if you take Lorraine from me I will destroy you. (Source)

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

And Other Lessons from the Crematory

Caitlin Doughty | 4.09

My Own Country

A Doctor's Story

Abraham Verghese | 4.09

An Anthropologist on Mars

Seven Paradoxical Tales

Oliver Sacks | 4.09

Alexandra Horowitz Sacks’s books are an inspiration to me in bringing together scientific and philosophical reflections on various human conditions. (Source)

The Demon in the Freezer

RICHARD PRESTON | 4.09

Musicophilia

Tales of Music and the Brain

Aniela Gregorek I gained a deeper understanding of how music affects our moods and our brains. (Source)

Justin Boreta [Justin Boreta said this is one of his most-recommended books.] (Source)

The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Malcolm Gladwell | 4.09

Mike Shinoda I know most of the guys in the band read [this book]. (Source)

Marillyn Hewson CEO Marilyn Hewson recommends this book because it helped her to trust her instincts in business. (Source)

Atlas of Human Anatomy

Frank H. Netter MD | 4.08

The Radium Girls

The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

Kate Moore | 4.08

Robin Cook | 4.08

How to Change Your Mind

What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence

POLLAN MICHAE | 4.08

Daniel Goleman Michael Pollan masterfully guides us through the highs, lows, and highs again of psychedelic drugs. How to Change Your mind chronicles how it’s been a longer and stranger trip than most any of us knew. (Source)

Yuval Noah Harari Changed my mind, or at least some of the ideas held in my mind. (Source)

David Heinemeier Hansson How we get locked into viewing the world, ourselves, and each other in a certain way, and then finding it difficult to relate to alternative perspectives or seeing other angles. Studying philosophy, psychology, and sociology is a way to break those rigid frames we all build over time. But that’s still all happening at a pretty high level of perception. Mind altering drugs, and especially... (Source)

The Family that Couldn't Sleep

D.T. Max | 4.08

For two hundred years a noble Venetian family has suffered from an inherited disease that strikes their members in middle age, stealing their sleep, eating holes in their brains, and ending their lives in a matter of months. In Papua New Guinea, a primitive tribe is nearly obliterated by a sickness whose chief symptom is uncontrollable laughter. Across Europe, millions of sheep rub their fleeces raw before collapsing. In England, cows attack their owners in the milking parlors, while in the American West, thousands of deer starve to death in fields full of grass. What these...

For two hundred years a noble Venetian family has suffered from an inherited disease that strikes their members in middle age, stealing their sleep, eating holes in their brains, and ending their lives in a matter of months. In Papua New Guinea, a primitive tribe is nearly obliterated by a sickness whose chief symptom is uncontrollable laughter. Across Europe, millions of sheep rub their fleeces raw before collapsing. In England, cows attack their owners in the milking parlors, while in the American West, thousands of deer starve to death in fields full of grass. What these strange conditions–including fatal familial insomnia, kuru, scrapie, and mad cow disease–share is their cause: prions. Prions are ordinary proteins that sometimes go wrong, resulting in neurological illnesses that are always fatal. Even more mysterious and frightening, prions are almost impossible to destroy because they are not alive and have no DNA–and the diseases they bring are now spreading around the world. In The Family That Couldn’t Sleep , essayist and journalist D. T. Max tells the spellbinding story of the prion’s hidden past and deadly future

A Thousand Naked Strangers

A Paramedic's Wild Ride to the Edge and Back

Kevin Hazzard | 4.07

A Doctor's Initiation

Sandeep Jauhar | 4.07

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone

A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed

Lori Gottlieb | 4.06

Arianna Huffington This is a daring, delightful, and transformative book. Lori Gottlieb takes us inside the most intimate of encounters as both clinician and patient and leaves us with a surprisingly fresh understanding of ourselves, one another, and the human condition. Her willingness to expose her own blind spots along with her patients’ shows us firsthand that we aren’t alone in our struggles and that maybe we... (Source)

Oliver Burkeman Gottlieb is a journalist and a writer, but she’s a working psychotherapist, and this is the story of a crisis in her own life, intertwined with a whole cast of characters based on her patients. They ring so incredibly true. (Source)

Andrea Barber My new favorite book 😍😍 @LoriGottlieb1 https://t.co/7iQsEH7sDa (Source)

Inside the O'Briens

Lisa Genova | 4.06

Phantoms in the Brain

Probing the Mysteries of the Human Mind

V. S. Ramachandran, Sandra Blakeslee, et al. | 4.06

Lewis Wolpert It’s really about how people who have some physical injury to their brain can have fantasies that bear no relationship to reality whatsoever. (Source)

The Demon Under the Microscope

From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug

Thomas Hager | 4.06

A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality

Pauline W. Chen | 4.06

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Jean-Dominique Bauby, Jeremy Leggatt | 4.06

Bad Science

Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks

Ben Goldacre | 4.05

Timothy Ferriss I agree wholeheartedly with a lot of the co-opted science, which people can read a book called Bad Science, which is by a doctor named Ben Goldacre. It’s great. (Source)

Tim Harford This book changed the way I thought about my own writing and it changed the way I thought about the world. It really is one of the best books I have ever read. (Source)

Sarah-Jayne Blakemore It’s just a brilliant book, and he’s a fearless defender of science. (Source)

The Knife Man

Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery

Wendy Moore | 4.05

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Ken Kesey, John C. Reilly, et al | 4.04

An American Story

David M. Oshinsky | 4.04

Bill Gates Influenced the decision that Melinda and I made to make polio eradication the top priority of the foundation, as well as my own personal priority. (Source)

Seth Mnookin What I find so impressive about this book is that Oshinsky really does cover the whole history of a disease but does so in a way that you never feel you’re getting a CliffsNotes version. It’s a pretty unwieldy topic: you could write an entire book just about the year the polio vaccine was rolled out, or what happened since then, or you could write a book, as Paul Offit did, just about the Cutter... (Source)

Get Well Soon

History's Worst Plagues and the Heroes Who Fought Them

Jennifer Wright | 4.03

Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital

David Oshinsky | 4.03

Survival of the Sickest

A Medical Maverick Discovers Why We Need Disease

Dr. Sharon Moalem, Jonathan Prince | 4.03

Hallucinations

Oliver Sacks | 4.03

The Surgeon (Rizzoli & Isles, #1)

Tess Gerritsen | 4.02

Every Note Played

Lisa Genova | 4.01

Life as a Brain Surgeon

Henry Marsh | 4.01

A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus

Bill Wasik, Monica Murphy | 4.00

The Intern Blues

The Timeless Classic About the Making of a Doctor

Robert Marion | 4.00

I Contain Multitudes

The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life

Ed Yong | 4.00

Bill Gates Helped me see microorganisms in a whole new light. (Source)

The Whole-Brain Child

12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind

Daniel J. Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson | 4.00

Genevieve Von Lob Siegel uses what neuroscience tells us about how a child’s brain develops to provide practical tips for parents. (Source)

Graham Duncan [Graham Duncan recommended this book on the podcast "The Tim Ferriss Show".] (Source)

Best Medical Books

Explore the essential reads in medicine, curated from authoritative sources and ranked based on their prevalence in expert reviews and recommendations..

Select your cookie preferences

We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie notice . We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements.

If you agree, we'll also use cookies to complement your shopping experience across the Amazon stores as described in our Cookie notice . Your choice applies to using first-party and third-party advertising cookies on this service. Cookies store or access standard device information such as a unique identifier. The 96 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Click "Decline" to reject, or "Customise" to make more detailed advertising choices, or learn more. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences , as described in the Cookie notice. To learn more about how and for what purposes Amazon uses personal information (such as Amazon Store order history), please visit our Privacy notice .

Best Sellers in Medical Biographies

• ← Previous page
• Next page →

• UK Modern Slavery Statement
• Amazon Science
• Sell on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell on Amazon Handmade
• Associates Programme
• Fulfilment by Amazon
• Seller Fulfilled Prime
• Advertise Your Products
• Independently Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• The Amazon Barclaycard
• Credit Card
• Amazon Money Store
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Payment Methods Help
• Shop with Points
• Top Up Your Account
• Top Up Your Account in Store
• COVID-19 and Amazon
• Track Packages or View Orders
• Delivery Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices
• Amazon Mobile App
• Customer Service
• Accessibility

• Conditions of Use & Sale
• Privacy Notice
• Cookies Notice
• Interest-Based Ads Notice

9 great books for doctors — or anyone interested in the world of medicine

Take a journey through the human body, travel through time to the start of nursing, and explore the world of gene sequencing all from the comfort of your couch or hammock with this year’s list of summer reads..

The Unseen Body: A Doctor’s Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy , Jonathan Reisman, MD

Physician by training and naturalist at heart, Jonathan Reisman, MD, takes readers on a tour of the human body, traveling from “Eyes” to “Lungs” and from “Mucus” to “Fat.” But Reisman, who works in emergency medicine, also takes readers on an equally edifying journey around the globe. His travels through Himalayan waterways provide a metaphor for the arteries that carry blood, for example, and an icy trek through Russia reveals the crucial role of temperature regulation in health. Although some quirkier sections may not appeal to squeamish readers — there’s a chapter on feces and a description of ingesting eyeballs — the book offers a loving look at the sophisticated ecosystem that is the human body.

Reproductive Injustice: Racism, Pregnancy, and Premature Birth , Dana-Ain Davis, PhD

In the United States, Black women are twice as likely to give birth prematurely than their White peers — and financial success offers scant protection. Anthropologist Dana-Ain Davis, PhD, spent seven years plumbing the race-related factors that fuel Black babies’ early arrivals and subsequent need for neonatal intensive care. She traces a path back to slavery and such racist tropes as the hardiness of Black women while also describing the contemporary phenomenon of stress “weathering” Black bodies. Davis’s in-depth interviews with mothers of different ages, incomes, regions, and educational levels reveal a repeated sense of being dismissed by medical personnel. Turning to possible solutions, Davis highlights prevention, including empowering people who want to use doulas and community-based birthing supports. Without such efforts, she warns, Black Americans will continue to face the often lifelong health effects of being born too soon.

Living Medicine: Don Thomas, Marrow Transplantation, and the Cell Therapy Revolution , Fred Appelbaum, MD

Bone marrow transplantation has saved more than a million lives in the four decades since its discovery, but when E. Donnall Thomas, MD, first pursued the method, he was scorned by many peers. The risky approach entailed first bombarding cancerous blood cells with high doses of radiation and chemotherapy and then injecting donated bone marrow that would, Thomas hoped, generate healthy replacement cells. Ultimately, Thomas transformed the course of leukemia — previously considered a death sentence — as well as other blood-based diseases such as sickle-cell anemia. Beside him throughout much of this work was his long-time mentee Fred Appelbaum, MD. In Living Medicine , Appelbaum takes readers through the challenging path to this groundbreaking advance as well as Thomas’s own journey from a one-room schoolhouse in Texas to the Nobel Prize stage.

Lessons From the COVID War: An Investigative Report , The COVID Crisis Group

So far, more than 1 million Americans have died from COVID-19 — and the threat of another deadly pandemic looms, health and policy experts warn. A team of 34 such experts — led by the former director of the 9/11 Commission — spent more than a year investigating what worked and what didn’t in the war against COVID-19. They describe how a patchwork of local health departments created in the 1800s to fight cholera was ill-equipped to handle a 21 st -century pandemic. They also depict the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as too often prioritizing certainty over action and failing to convey information quickly enough. Looking ahead, the authors urge better health data systems, appointing an undersecretary for health security, and greater reliance on local community leaders to spread essential health information. Above all, they argue that even the greatest scientific advances must be translated into effective public health measures in order to save lives.

Taking Care: The Story of Nursing and Its Power to Change the World , Sarah DiGregorio

Nurses have treated enslaved people, been tried as witches, gone to jail for providing birth control, and saved lives during wars and pandemics. Journalist Sarah DiGregorio digs into this rich history while also exploring the current reach of the profession — from patient education to policy work and from neonatal care to hospice support. She also describes the sometimes sexist and racist notions surrounding the career. For one, while Florence Nightingale was hailed as the founder of modern nursing, her Jamaican-born contemporary Mary Seacole was condescendingly dubbed “the Black Nightingale.” But the book’s most compelling moments may be DiGregorio’s own experiences with nurses: those who supported her as her mother died from breast cancer, distracted her as she anxiously awaited her own biopsy results, and held her as she prepared for an emergency cesarean section. Ultimately, she asks in praise of this often-overlooked profession, “Could we be human without nursing?”

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human , Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD

The Song of the Cell pays homage to the massive role of the body’s tiniest functional unit. In it, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee, MD, reaches back 400 years to Robert Hooke’s naming of the microscopic squares he saw in cork “cells” based on the Latin for “small room.” Mukherjee, an oncologist and assistant professor at Columbia University, goes on to explore cells’ key role in numerous arenas, including cancer, immunology, reproduction, and COVID-19. Along the way, he shares his awe at cell-based medical treatments as well as the moving stories of patients who have benefited from them. Mukherjee also looks ahead to the “new human,” who may one day benefit from synthetic versions of cells. And he hopes for a time when science achieves greater understanding of how cells relate to each other — sing to one another — and how that music can better serve our world.

American Breakdown: Our Ailing Nation, My Body’s Revolt, and the Nineteenth-Century Woman Who Brought Me Back to Life , Jennifer Lunden, LCSW

At 21, social worker and writer Jennifer Lunden was struck by an inexplicably exhausting condition — she couldn’t even stand for a shower — that was ultimately diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). With few resources and scant hope, she became terribly depressed. But she eventually found solace in an unusual place: 19th-century diarist Alice James, who suffered similar symptoms and was initially labeled a female hysteric. Lunden soon began digging into the science behind CFS, exploring the work of immunologists, toxicologists, and infectious disease doctors. From there, she began thinking about the broader landscape of health in the United States, including the worrisome effects of stress, dangerous exposure to chemicals, and inadequate access to health care. Now feeling better thanks to a range of treatments, Lunden recognizes that she may never be fully well. “I’m a work in progress,” she writes. “So are you; so are we all. And I, for one, will keep trying.”

A Molecule Away From Madness: Tales of the Hijacked Brain , Sara Manning Peskin, MD, MS

Sometimes, explains Sara Manning Peskin, MD, MS, molecules are the tiny culprits behind our most terrifying mental health problems. Aberrant proteins can cause the often fatal neurological disorder Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, bacteria can cause neurosyphilis, and environmental toxins can produce mood-altering conditions like mercury poisoning. Peskin, an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania, plumbs the science behind such ailments as well as the sometimes bizarre stories of patients who bear them. A college student suddenly believes she is battling zombies, and South Carolina farmers mysteriously suffer from a local outbreak of dementia, for example. Within these sorrowful stories, there is a bright spot: the devoted scientists and doctors who strive to understand and treat these painful conditions. Peskin describes them as creative, sometimes behaving outlandishly, often criticized, but “forever devoted to their art.”

The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them , Euan Ashley, MD, PhD

Decoding a patient’s genome — the individualized alphabet of life — once cost billions and took months, but newer methods provide the opportunity to quickly treat patients suffering from mysterious, gene-based conditions. In The Genome Odyssey , Euan Ashley, MD, PhD, describes the scientific journey behind those advances as well as the patients who have benefited from them. One is a young man who, after his vision was restored by gene therapy, asked, “Mom, is that you?” A leader in the field and a Stanford University professor of medicine and genetics, Ashley anticipates greater advances to come, partly thanks to research on people whose super-powered genomes offer extraordinary health protection. Meanwhile, Ashley says he is motivated by the many patients still in need of help. They are, he writes, “the reason I get up every morning.”

Life’s Work

• By: Dr. Willie Parker
• Narrator: Caz Harleaux
• Length: 6 hours 10 minutes
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Publish date: January 01, 2017
• Language: English
• 4.48 (2844 ratings)

In this “vivid and companionable memoir of a remarkable life” ( The New Yorker ), an outspoken, Christian reproductive justice advocate and abortion provider reveals his personal and professional journeys in an effort to seize the moral high ground on the question of choice and reproductive justice. Dr. Willie Parker grew up in the Deep South, lived in a Christian household, and converted to an even more fundamentalist form of Christianity as a young man. But upon reading an interpretation of the Good Samaritan in a sermon by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he realized that in order to be a true Christian, he must show compassion for all people at all times. In 2009, he stopped practicing obstetrics to focus entirely on providing safe abortions for women who need help the most–often women in poverty and women of color–in the hotbed of the pro-choice debate: the South. He thereafter traded in his private practice and his penthouse apartment in Hawaii for the life of an itinerant abortion provider, becoming one of the few doctors to provide such services in Mississippi and Alabama. In Life’s Work , Dr. Willie Parker tells a deeply personal and thought-provoking narrative that illuminates the complex societal, political, religious, and personal realities of abortion in the United States from the unique perspective of someone who performs them and defends the right to do so every day. In revealing his daily battle against mandatory waiting periods and bogus rules, Dr. Parker makes a powerful Christian case for championing reproductive rights. “At a moment when reproductive health and rights are under attack…Dr. Parker’s book is a beacon of hope and a call to action” (Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood).

From Prison Cells to PhD

• By: Stanley Andrisse
• Length: 12 hours 42 minutes
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Publish date: August 17, 2021
• 4.39 (24 ratings)

A captivating story detailing how resilience and inner strength can be combined to overcome mountainous barriers to reach one’s full potential.

Growing up in Ferguson, Missouri, Stanley Andrisse began making poor decisions at a very young age. He started selling dope and was arrested for the first time at fourteen years old. By his early twenties, dope dealing had exponentially multiplied, and he found himself sitting in front of a judge facing twenty years to life on drug trafficking charges. The judge sentenced him to ten years in a maximum-security prison.

Prison was an experience like none other he’d ever encountered. While challenged with a strong desire for self-renewal, he faced an environment that was not conducive for transformative change. From poor institutional structure and policies to individual institutionalized thinking and behaviors, he battled on a daily basis to retain and maintain his humanity.

Upon release, and after several rejections, Stanley was accepted into a PhD program. He completed his PhD/MBA simultaneously and became an endocrinologist and impactful leader at Johns Hopkins Medicine, specializing in diabetes research.

• By: Jane Wolfe
• Length: 9 hours 11 minutes
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Publish date: January 01, 2022
• 4.29 (14 ratings)

The riveting biography of Burl Osborne, former chairman of The Associated Press and publisher of The Dallas Morning News , who waged and won one of the last great newspaper wars in the U.S. Burl is the story of one man’s unlikely rise from the coal mines of Appalachia to the pinnacle of journalism. After being diagnosed with a fatal kidney disease as a child, Burl Osborne pioneered home dialysis treatment and became the 130th person to undergo a live kidney transplant in 1966–then an unproven, high-risk operation. While managing his challenging illness, Burl distinguished himself early as a writer and reporter with The Associated Press, eventually rising to the top of the wire service’s executive ranks. Then, against the advice of his colleagues and the newspaper’s own doctors, he sought an even greater challenge: joining The Dallas Morning News to lead the fight in one of America’s last great newspaper wars. Throughout his life and career, he garnered respect from business and political leaders, reporters, editors, and publishers around the country. Burl thrusts readers into the improbable and remarkable life of a man at the forefront of both medicine and the golden age of journalism.

• By: Sarah Thebarge
• Narrator: Sarah Thebarge
• Length: 10 hours 0 minutes
• Publisher: Hachette Audio
• Publish date: November 07, 2017
• 4.25 (149 ratings)

Sarah The barge ponders the intersection of faith and medicine in this insightful narrative of her medical mission trip to Togo, West Africa.

Sarah The barge, a Yale-trained physician assistant, nearly died of breast cancer at age twenty-seven, but that did not end her deeply felt spiritual calling to medical missions in Africa. Risking her own health, she moved to Togo, West Africa-ranked by the United Nations as the least happy country in the world-to care for sick and suffering patients. Serving without pay in a mission hospital, she pondered the intersection of faith and medicine in her quest to help make the world “well.”

In the hospital wards, she witnessed death over and over again. In the outpatient clinic, she daily diagnosed patients with deadly diseases, many of which had simple but unavailable cures. She lived in austere conditions and nearly succumbed herself in a harrowing bout with malaria.

She describes her experiences in gripping detail and reflects courageously about difficult and deep human connections-across race, culture, material circumstances, and medical access.

Her experience exemplifies the triumph of surviving in order to share the stories that often go untold. In the end, Well is an invitation to ask what happens when, instead of asking why God allows suffering to happen in the world, we ask, “Why do we?”

Madame Restell

• By: Jennifer Wright
• Narrator: Mara Wilson
• Length: 14 hours 1 minutes
• Publish date: February 28, 2023
• 4.21 (56 ratings)

This sharp, witty Gilded Age medical history spotlights the glamorous Madame Restell, a fearless birth control provider and abortionist for unmarried women in New York City, in defiance of persecution from powerful men. Madame Restell is a sharp, witty Gilded Age medical history which introduces us to an iconic, yet tragically overlooked, feminist heroine: a glamorous women’s healthcare provider in Manhattan, known to the world as Madame Restell. A celebrity in her day with a flair for high fashion and public, petty beefs, Restell was a self-made woman and single mother who used her wit, her compassion, and her knowledge of family medicine to become one of the most in-demand medical workers in New York. Not only that, she used her vast resources to care for the most vulnerable women of the city: unmarried women in need of abortions, birth control, and other medical assistance. In defiance of increasing persecution from powerful men, Restell saved the lives of thousands of young women and, in fact, as author Jennifer Wright says in own words, “despite having no formal training and a near-constant steam of women knocking at her door, she never lost a patient.” Restell was a revolutionary who opened the door to the future of reproductive choice for women, and Wright brings Restell and her circle to life in this dazzling, sometimes dark, and thoroughly entertaining tale. In addition to uncovering the forgotten history of Restell herself, the book also doubles as an eye-opening look into the “greatest American scam you’ve never heard about”: the campaign to curtail women’s power by restricting their access to healthcare. Before the 19th century, abortion and birth control were not only legal in the United States, but fairly common, and public healthcare needs (for women and men alike) were largely handled by midwives and female healers. However, after the Birth of the Clinic, newly-minted male MDs wanted to push women out of their space–by forcing women back into the home and turning medicine into a standardized, male-only practice. At the same time, a group of powerful, secular men–threatened by women’s burgeoning independence in other fields–persuaded the Christian leadership to declare abortion a sin, rewriting the meaning of “Christian morality” to protect their own interests. As Wright explains, “their campaign to do so was so insidious–and successful–that it remains largely unrecognized to this day, a century and a half later.” By unraveling the misogynistic and misleading lies that put women’s health in jeopardy, Wright simultaneously restores Restell to her rightful place in history and obliterates the faulty, fractured reasoning underlying the very foundation of what has since been dubbed the “pro-life” movement. Thought-provoking, character-driven, funny, and feminist as hell, Madame Restell is required reading for anyone and everyone who believes that when it comes to women’s rights, women’s bodies, and women’s history, women should have the last word. Audiobook features an exclusive conversation between author and narrator.

Close to the Sun

• By: Stuart Jamieson
• Length: 10 hours 47 minutes
• Publish date: March 12, 2019
• 4.2 (48 ratings)

Taut, elegantly written, and ever-attentive to the patients for whom he was the last best chance, Close to the Sun is an adventurous, riveting account based on the experience of over 40,000 heart surgeries, where everything was on the line every moment in the O.R. Stuart Jamieson has lived two lives. One began in heat and dust. Born to British ex-pats in colonial Africa, Jamieson was sent at the age of eight to a local boarding school, where heartless instructors bullied and tormented their students. In the summers he escaped to fish on crocodile-infested rivers and explore the African bush. As a teenager, an apprenticeship with one of Africa’s most fabled trackers taught Jamieson how to deal with dangerous game and even more dangerous poachers, lessons that would later serve him well in the high-stakes career he chose. Jamieson’s second life unfolded when he went to London to study medicine during the turbulent 1960s, leaving behind the only home he knew as it descended into revolution. Brilliant and self-assured, Jamieson advanced quickly in the still-new field of open-heart surgery. It was a fraught time. For patients with terminal heart disease, heart transplants were the new hope. But poor outcomes had all but ended the procedure. In 1978 Jamieson came to America and to Stanford-the only cardiac center in the world doing heart transplants successfully. Here, Jamieson’s pioneering work on the anti-rejection drug cyclosporin would help to make heart transplantation a routine life-saving operation, that is still in practice today as he continues to train the next generation of heart surgeons. Stuart Jamieson’s story is the story of four decades of advances in heart surgery. Taut, elegantly written, and ever-attentive to the patients for whom he was the last best chance, Close to the Sun is an adventurous, riveting account based on the experience of over 40,000 heart surgeries, where everything was on the line every moment in the O.R.

When Life Gives You Pears

• By: Jeannie Gaffigan
• Narrator: Jeannie Gaffigan
• Length: 8 hours 3 minutes
• Publish date: October 01, 2019
• 4.19 (5173 ratings)

The Big Sick meets Dad is Fat in this funny and heartfelt New York Times bestselling memoir from writer, director, wife, and mother, Jeannie Gaffigan, as she reflects on the life-changing impact of her battle with a pear-sized brain tumor. In 2017, Jeannie’s life came to a crashing halt when she was diagnosed with a life-threatening brain tumor. As the mother of 5 kids — 6 if you include her husband — sat in the neurosurgery department in star-covered sweats too whimsical for the seriousness of the situation, all she could think was “Am I going to die?”

Thankfully, Jeannie and her family were able to survive their time of crisis, and now she is sharing her deeply personal journey through this miraculous story: the challenging conversations she had with her children; how she came to terms with feeling powerless and ferociously crabby while bedridden and unable to eat for a month; and how she ultimately learned, re-learned and re re-learned to be more present in life.

With sincerity and hilarity, Jeannie invites you into her heart (and brain) during this trying time, emphasizing the importance of family, faith and humor as keys to her recovery and leading a more fulfilling life.

We Are All Perfectly Fine

• By: Jillian Horton
• Narrator: Wendy Rich Stetson
• Length: 8 hours 11 minutes
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publish date: February 23, 2021
• 4.19 (1027 ratings)

When we need help, we count on doctors to put us back together. But what happens when doctors fall apart?

Funny, fresh, and deeply affecting, We Are All Perfectly Fine is the story of a married mother of three on the brink of personal and professional collapse who attends rehab with a twist: a meditation retreat for burned-out doctors.

Jillian Horton, a general internist, has no idea what to expect during her five-day retreat at Chapin Mill, a Zen centre in upstate New York. She just knows she desperately needs a break. At first she is deeply uncomfortable with the spartan accommodations, silent meals and scheduled bonding sessions. But as the group struggles through awkward first encounters and guided meditations, something remarkable happens: world-class surgeons, psychiatrists, pediatricians and general practitioners open up and share stories about their secret guilt and grief, as well as their deep-seated fear of falling short of the expectations that define them. Jillian realizes that her struggle with burnout is not so much personal as it is the result of a larger system failure, and that compartmentalizing your most difficult emotions–a coping strategy that is drilled into doctors–is not useful unless you face these emotions too.

Jillian Horton throws open a window onto the flawed system that shapes medical professionals, revealing the rarely acknowledged stresses that lead doctors to depression and suicide, and emphasizing the crucial role of compassion not only in treating others, but also in taking care of ourselves.

I Had to Survive

• By: Roberto Canessa
• Narrator: various narrators
• Length: 8 hours 31 minutes
• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Publish date: January 01, 2016
• 4.18 (551 ratings)

On October 13, 1972, a Uruguayan Air Force plane carrying members of the “Old Christians” rugby team–and many of their friends and family members–crashed into the Andes Mountains. I Had to Survive offers a gripping and heartrending recollection of the harrowing brink-of-death experience that propelled survivor Roberto Canessa to become one of the world’s leading pediatric cardiologists.

As he tended to his wounded teammates amid the devastating carnage of the wreck, rugby player Roberto Canessa, a second-year medical student at the time, realized that no one on earth was luckier: he was alive–and for that, he should be eternally grateful. As the starving group struggled beyond the limits of what seemed possible, Canessa played a key role in safeguarding his fellow survivors, eventually trekking with a companion across the hostile mountain range for help.

This fine line between life and death became the catalyst for the rest of his life.

This uplifting tale of hope and determination, solidarity and ingenuity gives vivid insight into a world-famous story. Canessa also draws a unique and fascinating parallel between his work as a doctor performing arduous heart surgeries on infants and unborn babies and the difficult life-changing decisions he was forced to make in the Andes. With grace and humanity, Canessa prompts us to ask ourselves, what do you do when all the odds are stacked against you?

• By: Isabel Allende
• Narrator: Isabel Allende
• Length: 14 hours 28 minutes
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Publish date: May 19, 2020
• 4.17 (34103 ratings)

“Beautiful and heartrending. . . . Memoir, autobiography, epicedium, perhaps even some fiction : they are all here, and they are all quite wonderful.”– Los Angeles Times

In this literary classic, New York Times bestselling author Isabel Allende recalls the story of her beloved daughter and her remarkable family’s past.

When her daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, Isabel Allende began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. Bizarre ancestors are introduced; delightful and bitter childhood memories are shared; amazing anecdotes of youthful years are relived, and the most intimate secrets are quietly passed along. Like Allende’s first novel, The House of the Spirits , this powerful memoir is infused with the real, the magical, and the spiritual, creating a haunting, sad, and beautiful tale.

• By: Travis Rieder
• Narrator: Travis Rieder
• Length: 8 hours 56 minutes
• Publish date: June 18, 2019
• 4.17 (882 ratings)

A bioethicist’s eloquent and riveting memoir of opioid dependence and withdrawal–a harrowing personal reckoning and clarion call for change not only for government but medicine itself, revealing the lack of crucial resources and structures to handle this insidious nationwide epidemic.

Travis Rieder’s terrifying journey down the rabbit hole of opioid dependence began with a motorcycle accident in 2015. Enduring half a dozen surgeries, the drugs he received were both miraculous and essential to his recovery. But his most profound suffering came several months later when he went into acute opioid withdrawal while following his physician’s orders. Over the course of four excruciating weeks, Rieder learned what it means to be “dope sick”–the physical and mental agony caused by opioid dependence. Clueless how to manage his opioid taper, Travis’s doctors suggested he go back on the drugs and try again later. Yet returning to pills out of fear of withdrawal is one route to full-blown addiction. Instead, Rieder continued the painful process of weaning himself.

Rieder’s experience exposes a dark secret of American pain management: a healthcare system so conflicted about opioids, and so inept at managing them, that the crisis currently facing us is both unsurprising and inevitable. As he recounts his story, Rieder provides a fascinating look at the history of these drugs first invented in the 1800s, changing attitudes about pain management over the following decades, and the implementation of the pain scale at the beginning of the twenty-first century. He explores both the science of addiction and the systemic and cultural barriers we must overcome if we are to address the problem effectively in the contemporary American healthcare system.

In Pain is not only a gripping personal account of dependence, but a groundbreaking exploration of the intractable causes of America’s opioid problem and their implications for resolving the crisis. Rieder makes clear that the opioid crisis exists against a backdrop of real, debilitating pain–and that anyone can fall victim to this epidemic.

My Glory Was I Had Such Friends

• By: Amy Silverstein
• Narrator: Erin Moon
• Length: 12 hours 20 minutes
• Publish date: June 27, 2017
• 4.13 (1003 ratings)

In this moving memoir about the power of friendship and the resilience of the human spirit, Amy Silverstein tells the story of the extraordinary group of women who supported her as she waited on the precipice for a life-saving heart transplant.

Nearly twenty-six years after receiving her first heart transplant, Amy Silverstein’s donor heart plummeted into failure. If she wanted to live, she had to take on the grueling quest for a new heart–immediately.

A shot at survival meant uprooting her life and moving across the country to California. When her friends heard of her plans, there was only one reaction: “I’m there.” Nine remarkable women–Joy, Jill, Leja, Jody, Lauren, Robin, Valerie, Ann, and Jane–put demanding jobs and pressing family obligations on hold to fly across the country and be by Amy’s side. Creating a calendar spreadsheet, the women–some of them strangers to one another–passed the baton of friendship, one to the next, and headed straight and strong into the battle to help save Amy’s life.

Empowered by the kind of empathy that can only grow with age, these women, each knowing Amy from different stages of her life, banded together to provide her with something that medicine alone could not. Sleeping on a cot beside her bed, they rubbed her back and feet when the pain was unbearable, adorned her room with death-distracting decorations, and engaged in their “best talks ever.” They saw the true measure of their friend’s strength, and they each responded in kind.

My Glory Was I Had Such Friends is a tribute to these women and the intense hours they spent together–hours of heightened emotion and self-awareness, where everything was laid bare. Candid and heartrending, this once-in-a-lifetime story of connection and empathy is a powerful reminder of the ultimate importance of “showing up” for those we love.

Left on Tenth

• By: Delia Ephron
• Narrator: Delia Ephron
• Length: 7 hours 39 minutes
• Publish date: April 12, 2022
• 4.12 (4753 ratings)

The bestselling, beloved writer of romantic comedies like You’ve Got Mail tells her own late-in-life love story, complete with a tragic second act and joyous resolution. Delia Ephron had struggled through several years of heartbreak. She’d lost her sister, Nora, and then her husband, Jerry, both to cancer. Several months after Jerry’s death, she decided to make one small change in her life–she shut down his landline, which crashed her internet. She ended up in Verizon hell. She channeled her grief the best way she knew: by writing a New York Times op-ed. The piece caught the attention of Peter, a Bay Area psychiatrist, who emailed her to commiserate. Recently widowed himself, he reminded her that they had shared a few dates fifty-four years before, set up by Nora. Delia did not remember him, but after several weeks of exchanging emails and sixties folk songs, he flew east to see her. They were crazy, utterly, in love. But this was not a rom-com: four months later she was diagnosed with AML, a fierce leukemia. In Left on Tenth , Delia Ephron enchants as she seesaws us between tears and laughter, navigating the suicidal lows of enduring cutting-edge treatment and the giddy highs of a second chance at love. With Peter and her close girlfriends by her side, with startling clarity, warmth, and honesty about facing death, Ephron invites us to join her team of warriors and become believers ourselves.

Lost in Ghost Town

• By: Carder Stout
• Length: 8 hours 42 minutes
• Publish date: March 10, 2020
• 4.1 (66 ratings)

As a therapist to Hollywood’s elite, Dr. Carder Stout’s clientele includes Oscar, Golden Globe, Emmy, Tony, and Grammy winners, bestselling authors, and billionaires. He may not be able to share their dark secrets, but for the first time, everyone will know his.

At the age of thirty-four, Carder would have gladly pawned the silver spoon he was born choking on for a rock of crack. His downfall was as swift as his privilege was vast … or had he been falling all along?

Raised in a Georgetown mansion and educated at exclusive institutions, Carder ran with a crowd of movers, shakers, and future Oscar winners in New York City. But words like “promise” and “potential” are meaningless in the face of serious addiction. Lost years and a stint in rehab later, when Carder was a dirty, broke, soon-to-be-homeless crackhead wandering the streets of Venice, California. His lucky break came thanks to his old Ford Taurus: he lands a job of driving for a philosophical drug czar with whom he finds friendship and self-worth as he helps deliver quality product to LA’s drug enthusiasts, from trust-fund kids, gang affiliates, trophy wives, hip-hop producers, and Russian pimps. But even his loyalty and protection can’t save Carder from the peril of the streets–or the eventual contract on his life.

From a youth of affluence to the hit the Shoreline Crips put on his life, Carder delves deep into life on the streets. Lost in Ghost Town is a riveting, raw, and heartfelt look at the power of addiction, the beauty of redemption, and finding truth somewhere in between.

Brain on Fire

• By: Susannah Cahalan
• Narrator: Susannah Cahalan
• Length: 7 hours 22 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2020
• 4.08 (2334 ratings)

INCLUDES A NEW AUDIO AFTERWORD! NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING CHLOE GRACE MORETZ A “captivating” ( The New York Times Book Review ), award-winning memoir and instant New York Times bestseller that goes far beyond its riveting medical mystery, Brain on Fire is a powerful account of one woman’s struggle to recapture her identity. When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled as violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened? In an “unforgettable” ( Elle ), “stunningly brave” (NPR), and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that almost didn’t happen. “A fascinating look at the disease that…could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life” ( People ), Brain on Fire is an unforgettable exploration of memory and identity, faith and love, and a profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance.

The Valedictorian of Being Dead

• By: Heather B. Armstrong
• Narrator: Heather B. Armstrong
• Length: 13 hours 36 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2019
• 4.02 (3618 ratings)

From New York Times bestselling author and blogger Heather B. Armstrong comes an honest and irreverent memoir–reminiscent of the New York Times bestseller Brain on Fire –about her experience as the third person ever to participate in an experimental treatment for depression involving ten rounds of a chemically induced coma approximating brain death. For years, Heather B. Armstrong has alluded to her struggle with depression on her website, dooce . It’s scattered throughout her archive, where it weaves its way through posts about pop culture, music, and motherhood. In 2016, Heather found herself in the depths of a depression she just couldn’t shake, an episode darker and longer than anything she had previously experienced. She had never felt so discouraged by the thought of waking up in the morning, and it threatened to destroy her life. For the sake of herself and her family, Heather decided to risk it all by participating in an experimental clinical trial. Now, for the first time, Heather recalls the torturous eighteen months of suicidal depression she endured and the month-long experimental study in which doctors used propofol anesthesia to quiet all brain activity for a full fifteen minutes before bringing her back from a flatline. Ten times. The experience wasn’t easy. Not for Heather or her family. But a switch was flipped, and Heather hasn’t experienced a single moment of suicidal depression since. “Breathtakingly honest” (Lisa Genova, New York Times bestselling author), self-deprecating, and scientifically fascinating, The Valedictorian of Being Dead brings to light a groundbreaking new treatment for depression. The Valedictorian of Being Dead was previously published with the subtitle “The True Story of Dying Ten Times to Live.”

The Cookie Cure

• By: Susan Stachler
• Narrator: Amy Tallmadge
• Length: 7 hours 49 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2018
• 4.01 (131 ratings)

A heartwarming memoir of a family that refused to give up

When twenty-two-year-old Susan Stachler was diagnosed with cancer, her mother, Laura, was struck by deja vu. The same illness that took her sister’s life was threatening to take her daughter’s too. Heartbroken but steadfast, Laura pledged to help Susan through the worst of her treatments. When they discovered that Laura’s homemade ginger cookies soothed the side effects of Susan’s chemotherapy, the mother-daughter duo soon found themselves opening the business “Susansnaps” and sharing their gourmet gingersnaps with the world.

Told with admirable grace and infinite hope, The Cookie Cure is about more than baked goods and cancer–it’s about fighting for your life and for your dreams.

Lay Down Your Guns

• By: Greg R. Taylor
• Narrator: Zilah Mendoza
• Length: 7 hours 3 minutes
• 4 (17 ratings)

In Honduras’ “wild west” mountain jungles, Amanda Madrid found her calling as a medical doctor to poor farmers.

When Amanda’s father rejects her dream to be a doctor, eighteen-year-old Amanda strikes out alone and enters medical school in Tegucigalpa.

Her work as a medical officer, public health consultant, and director of an international holistic Christian ministry called Predisan could have resulted in prestigious luxury for her. Instead these experiences led Dr. Madrid to the mountains on horseback and prepared her for the biggest challenge of her life.

When illegal drug trafficking and murders lead to closing medical clinics, Dr. Madrid goes toe to toe with cartel mercenaries, the unarmed doctor in her signature red high heels against men in combat boots armed with AK-47s.

This is the story about the life of a Honduran doctor heartbroken about the many killings and bad medicine of cartels. Can the same kind of love and prayer she gives her patients also cause these violent men to lay down their guns?

Florence Nightingale

• By: Laura E. Richards
• Narrator: Anna Fields
• Length: 3 hours 21 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2010
• 4 (1 ratings)

The name of Florence Nightingale is a household word, but the exact nature and scope of her work, and the difficulties and discouragement under which it was accomplished, are unknown to many in the present generation. This story of that justly beloved woman’s life is told by one whose father was in part responsible for Miss Nightingale’s decision to devote her life to nursing. Written with a rare sympathy and beauty of style, this uplifting account of a noble life will inspire young and old alike.

Island Practice

• By: Pam Belluck
• Narrator: Joe Barrett
• Length: 9 hours 17 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2012
• 3.78 (526 ratings)

If you need an appendectomy, he can do it with a stone scalpel he fashioned himself. If you have a condition nobody can diagnose–“creeping eruption” perhaps–he can identify what it is and treat it. A baby with hair tourniquet syndrome, a human leg that’s washed ashore, a horse with Lyme disease, a narcoleptic falling face-first in the street, a hermit living underground–hardly anything is off-limits for Dr. Timothy J. Lepore.

This is the spirited, true story of a colorful, contrarian doctor on the world-famous island of Nantucket. Thirty miles out to sea, in a strikingly offbeat place known for wealthy summer people but also home to independent-minded, idiosyncratic year-rounders, Lepore holds the life of the island, often quite literally, in his hands. He’s surgeon, medical examiner, football team doctor, tick expert, unofficial psychologist, accidental homicide detective, and occasional veterinarian. When crisis strikes, he’s deeply involved.

Lepore has treated Jimmy Buffett, Chris Matthews, and various Kennedys, but he makes house calls for anyone and lets people pay him nothing–or anything: oatmeal-raisin cookies, a weather-beaten .44 Magnum, a picture of a Nepalese shaman.

Lepore can be controversial and contradictory, espousing conservative views while performing abortions and giving patients marijuana cookies. He has unusual hobbies: he’s a gun fanatic, roadkill collector, and concocter of pastimes like knitting dog-hair sweaters.

Ultimately, Island Practice is about a doctor utterly essential to a community at a time when medicine is increasingly money driven and impersonal. Can he remain a maverick even as a health-care chain subsumes his hospital? Every community has–or, some would say, needs–a Doctor Lepore, and his island’s drive to retain individuality in a cookie-cutter world is echoed across the country.

How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick

• By: Letty Cottin Pogrebin
• Narrator: Pam Ward
• Length: 9 hours 26 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2013
• 3.73 (395 ratings)

Everyone knows someone who’s sick or suffering. Yet when a friend or relative is under duress many of us feel uncertain about how to cope.

Throughout her recent bout with breast cancer, Letty Cottin Pogrebin became fascinated by her friends’ and family’s diverse reactions to her and her illness: how awkwardly some of them behaved, how some misspoke or misinterpreted her needs, and how wonderful it was when people read her right. She began talking to her fellow patients and dozens of other veterans of serious illness, seeking to discover what sick people wished their friends knew about how best to comfort, help, and even simply talk to them.

Now Pogrebin has distilled their collective stories and opinions into this wide-ranging compendium of pragmatic guidance and usable wisdom. Her advice is always infused with sensitivity, warmth, and humor. It is embedded in candid stories from her own and others’ journeys and their sometimes imperfect interactions with well-meaning friends. How to Be a Friend to a Friend Who’s Sick is an invaluable guidebook for anyone hoping to rise to the challenges of this most important and demanding passage of friendship.

The Answer to the Riddle Is Me

• By: David Stuart MacLean
• Narrator: Neil Shah
• Length: 6 hours 43 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2014
• 3.63 (1448 ratings)

Imagine waking up in a train station in India with no idea who you are or how you got there. This is what happened to David MacLean.

In 2002, at age twenty-eight, David MacLean woke up in a foreign land with his memory wiped clean. No money. No passport. No identity.

Taken to a mental hospital by the police, MacLean then started to hallucinate so severely he had to be tied down. Soon he could remember song lyrics and scenes from television shows but not his family, his friends, or the woman he loved. All of these symptoms, it turned out, were the result of the commonly prescribed malarial medication he was taking. Upon his return to the States, he struggled to piece together the fragments of his former life in a harrowing, absurd, and unforgettable journey back to himself.

A deeply felt, closely researched, and intensely personal book, The Answer to the Riddle Is Me , drawn from MacLean’s award-winning This American Life essay, confronts and celebrates the dark, mysterious depths of our psyches and the myriad ways we are all unknowable, especially to ourselves.

Murder on the Home Front

• By: Molly Lefebure
• Narrator: Lucy Rayner
• Length: 10 hours 27 minutes
• Publish date: April 01, 2014
• 3.62 (519 ratings)

It is 1941. While the “war of chaos” rages in the skies above London, an unending fight against violence, murder and the criminal underworld continues on the streets below.

One ordinary day, in an ordinary courtroom, forensic pathologist Dr. Keith Simpson asks a keen young journalist to be his secretary. Although the “horrors of secretarial work” don’t appeal to Molly Lefebure, she’s intrigued to know exactly what goes on behind a mortuary door.

Capable and curious, “Miss Molly” quickly becomes indispensible to Dr. Simpson as he meticulously pursues the truth. Accompanying him from somber morgues to London’s most gruesome crime scenes, Molly observes and assists as he uncovers the dark secrets that all murder victims keep.

With a sharp sense of humor and a rebellious spirit, Molly tells her own remarkable true story here with warmth and wit, painting a vivid portrait of wartime London.

You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know

• By: Heather Sellers
• Narrator: Karen White
• Length: 10 hours 32 minutes
• 3.58 (2292 ratings)

This is an unusual and uncommonly moving family memoir, with a twist that gives new meaning to hindsight, insight, and forgiveness.

Heather Sellers is face-blind—that is, she has prosopagnosia, a rare neurological condition that prevents her from reliably recognizing people’s faces. Growing up, unaware of the reason for her perpetual confusion and anxiety, she took what cues she could from speech, hairstyle, and gait. But she sometimes kissed a stranger, thinking he was her boyfriend, or failed to recognize even her own father and mother. She feared she must be crazy.

Yet it was her mother who nailed windows shut and covered them with blankets, made her daughter walk on her knees to spare the carpeting, and had her practice secret words to use in the likely event of abduction. Her father went on weeklong “fishing trips” (a.k.a. benders), took in drifters, and wore panty hose and bras under his regular clothes. Heather clung to a barely coherent story of a “normal” childhood in order to survive the one she had.

That fairy tale unraveled two decades later when Heather took the man she would marry home to meet her parents and began to discover the truth about her family and about herself. As she came at last to trust her own perceptions, she learned the gift of perspective: that embracing the past as it is allows us to let it go. She illuminated a deeper truth—that even in the most flawed circumstances, love may be seen and felt.

How to Be Loved

• By: Eva Hagberg Fisher
• Length: 6 hours 27 minutes
• Publish date: February 05, 2019
• 3.54 (456 ratings)

A luminous memoir about how friendship saved one woman’s life, for anyone who has loved a friend who was sick, grieving, or lost-and for anyone who has struggled to seek help or accept it. Eva Hagberg Fisher spent her lonely youth looking everywhere for connection: drugs, alcohol, therapists, boyfriends, girlfriends. Sometimes she found it, but always temporarily. Then, at age thirty, an undiscovered mass in her brain ruptured. So did her life. A brain surgery marked only the beginning of a long journey, and when her illness hit a critical stage, it forced her to finally admit the long-suppressed truth: she was vulnerable, she needed help, and she longed to grow. She needed true friendship for the first time.

What I Learned When I Almost Died

• By: Chris Licht
• Narrator: Chris Licht
• Length: 3 hours 1 minutes
• Publish date: January 01, 2021
• 3.22 (212 ratings)

Equal parts Mitch Albom and Jerry Maguire, Chris Licht tells the tale of a brilliant career nearly cut short by a brain aneurysm–and how that near-death experience changed everything. Chris Licht was a “killer” at his day job as the executive producer in charge of running MSNBC’s must-watch politics and morning news show Morning Joe . A thirty-eight-year-old control freak who thrived in the high-octane world of media, he had spent years sacrificing relationships with family and friends in the fiercely driven pursuit of his career. But that was before a brain aneurysm nearly killed him. Suddenly humbled, Chris is forced to recognize the richness of the life he nearly lost and to reckon with his family and career. This is a story of a man who nearly died–and found a way to remove what doesn’t matter and wound up more in love with his work and his family than ever. What I Learned When I Almost Died brings to life the set of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, plunging into the competitive world of television and revealing all the egos and adrenaline it takes to create a popular cable TV political show. Licht also flings back the curtain to one of the nation’s most prestigious emergency rooms as his life hangs in the balance, detailing the extraordinary courage and professionalism it takes to bring him back from the edge.

• Previous 29 Best Medical , Fiction Books
• Next 10 Best Medical, Health & Fitness Books

Cliff Weitzman

Cliff Weitzman is a dyslexia advocate and the CEO and founder of Speechify, the #1 text-to-speech app in the world, totaling over 100,000 5-star reviews and ranking first place in the App Store for the News & Magazines category. In 2017, Weitzman was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for his work making the internet more accessible to people with learning disabilities. Cliff Weitzman has been featured in EdSurge, Inc., PC Mag, Entrepreneur, Mashable, among other leading outlets.

Recent Blogs

Which books are available on Spotify?

Are audiobooks free on Spotify with membership?

Top Destinations for Free eBooks and Audiobooks Online

Best Alternative to Barnes & Noble Online

The Best Places to Buy eBooks: Beyond the Kindle Ecosystem

What are the best places to find free ebooks?

Best Independent Companies to Buy eBooks from

How many Game of Thrones books are there?

Where to buy cheap books: A comprehensive guide

How many Jack Reacher books are there?

How many FNAF books are there?

How many Warrior Cats books are there?

How many Wheel of Time books are there?

The best Vampire Survivors powerups in order

How to read the Robert Galbraith books in order

How to read the Artemis Fowl books in order

How to read Craig Johnson’s books in order

How to read Cassandra Clare’s books in order

How to read Lee Child’s books in order

How to read the In Death book series in order

Best book quotes

A tale of two cities reviewed

All the President’s Men reviewed

Tintin reviewed

What are adult coloring books?

How to read the Percy Jackson books in order

How to find charities for the blind

What is the best Bible app

Where to find free audio Bible downloads

Only available on iPhone and iPad

To access our catalog of 100,000+ audiobooks, you need to use an iOS device.

Coming to Android soon...

Join the waitlist

Enter your email and we will notify you as soon as Speechify Audiobooks is available for you.

You’ve been added to the waitlist. We will notify you as soon as Speechify Audiobooks is available for you.

10 Best Medical Authors Of All Time

Medical authors help keep the public informed of the latest health trends, life-saving research, and more. 

Medical dramas are hot—from Grey’s Anatomy to Private Practice, viewers and readers love digging into medical dramas.  Medical students in medical school, people who work in health care and public health, and people who simply love a good story with a scientific twist can all be captivated by the questions raised about the human condition by medical authors. 

To make the bestseller list, medical writers have to impact the world significantly. Whether through writing about medical issues that could one day be a (terrifying) possibility or by writing about clinical trials that can make a real difference in the day-to-day life of people suffering from both acute and chronic internal medicine conditions. Let’s explore the ten best medical authors of all time, including primary care physicians, authors of medical thrillers, medical education experts, and more. 

Best Medical Authors Of All Time

1. michael crichton, 2. abraham verghese, 3. anton chekhov, 4. john keats, 5. siddartha mukherjee, 6. kelly rimmer, 7. sherwin nuland, 8. atul gawande, 9. sir arthur conan doyle, 10. khaled hosseini, final word on the ten best medical authors of all time, are all medical authors physicians, is the kite runner also a movie.

New York Times bestseller and Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton wasn’t just known for his dinosaur-themed dramas—he was also known for medical thrillers, including The Andromeda Strain (1969) and Drug of Choice (1970). The Chicago-born author was celebrated for his thrillers that examine how the world may change as technology continues to advance. Crichton’s penchant for the written word was evident early in his life, as he had his first piece published in The New York Times when he was just 14 years old.

While Crichton started as an English major at Harvard, he later switched to studying anthropology, likely informing many of his literary works later in life. Crichton’s books have grossed billions over the years, and the author has sold more than two million copies of his books worldwide. Crichton was never trained to write contemporary fiction; rather, he was heavily influenced by Victorian classics.

In addition to his medical thrillers, Crichton is also known for his autobiographical, travel-focused writing, providing readers with a real-life view of his sense of adventure. Looking for more scientific books to binge on a weekend? Check out our round-up of the best scientific authors ! Or you can also search for our best book guides using our search bar.

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Riddle, A.G. (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 544 Pages - 11/16/2013 (Publication Date) - Legion Books (Publisher)

Dr. Verghese is widely known for the medical drama novel Cutting For Stone, which spans fifty years and several continents. Born in India, Verghese moved to America with his family during college. He spent a year working in an American hospital as an orderly before returning to India to complete his training to become a physician.

Verghese says that his time spent working as an orderly heavily influenced him later in life. He felt that seeing the hospital from an orderly’s perspective taught him what patients experienced through varying levels of hospital care and made him even more dedicated to becoming a physician.

Cutting For Stone isn’t just praised for its rich first-person perspective and culturally rich notes—readers also love the detailed medical information in which Verghese’s expertise shines through. In addition to writing, Verghese (who continues to serve patients as an internist) is also a professor and Vice Chair at Stanford University School of Medicine. Verghese enjoys passing his medical expertise onto young medical students, even though they may not use their talents as creatively as Verghese.

• Great product!
• Verghese, Abraham (Author)
• 667 Pages - 01/26/2010 (Publication Date) - Vintage (Publisher)

Chekhov wrote many medical short stories, including Ward No. 6 and Enemies. The 19th-century Russian author is known for bringing high-level medical knowledge to his writing. Considered by many to be one of the greatest authors of all time, Chekhov was a doctor by profession and drew inspiration from his interaction with patients. Chekhov is known for works that challenge the reader, but the author made no apologies for his sometimes-tough-to-follow writing style, insisting that as an artist, it was his job to ask questions—not answer them. 

Widely considered one of the greatest writers of all time, Chekhov’s medical tales have set the standard for similar short stories. Many of Chekhov’s works were made into theater scripts that are still critically acclaimed today. In addition, many of Chekhov’s works are respected for their unique perspective on the human condition.

• Coulehan, Jack (Author)
• 232 Pages - 09/12/2003 (Publication Date) - The Kent State University Press (Publisher)

One of the most revered poets of all time,  Keats  also trained as a surgeon, informing his written work. Keats’ father died in a horseback riding accident when Keats was young, and his mother passed away from tuberculosis when Keats was a teenager.

Left an orphan, he began to study under their family doctor, where he discovered a love of medicine. However, after Keats received his apothecary license, he gave up his medical career to focus on poetry (and the literary world is forever grateful for his choice). In a sad twist of fate, Keats passed away from tuberculosis in 1821, like many in his time. 

Keats had a tumultuous start to his literary career and received mixed reviews when he began publishing his works after choosing to leave the world of medicine. Keats eventually became widely praised for his literary prowess  but struggled personally throughout his life. He lent large amounts of money to family members, leaving himself to struggle financially. While Keats’ exact cause of death has not been determined, it’s suspected that he met his mother’s fate, passing away from tuberculosis.

• Hardcover Book
• Keats, John (Author)
• 416 Pages - 04/26/1994 (Publication Date) - Modern Library (Publisher)

Named a bestselling author by The New York Times, Dr. Siddartha Mukherjee is an oncology clinician, researcher, Rhodes scholar, and Harvard alum. The author won a Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction in 2011 for his book The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. Mukherjee is also known for works including The Gene: An Intimate History, The Song of the Cell, and The Laws of Medicine. Mukherjee also commonly publishes peer review studies in medical journals and is proud to continue contributing to medical research advancement.

An accomplished scholar and physician, Mukherjee first earned his undergraduate degree in biology at Stanford before studying as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Upon returning to the United States, Mukherjee earned his M.D. at Harvard. Time Magazine has noted Dr. Mukherjee  as one of the world’s 100 most influential people.

• Mukherjee, Siddhartha (Author)
• 597 Pages - 11/16/2010 (Publication Date) - Scribner (Publisher)

Kelly Rimmer’s bestseller Before I Let You Go took readers by storm in 2018. The tale of a family torn by addiction, Rimmer eloquently envelopes the reader into a world of downward-spiral chaos. The author’s dedication to detail is also clear in 2020’s Truths I Never Told You, which painstakingly tells the story of family secrets layered with mental health issues.

Rimmer does an excellent job of taking complex medical issues and humanizing them by drawing readers into family elements relatable to all. Rimmer lives in Australia and has sold more than one million books throughout her literary career. 

• Rimmer, Kelly (Author)
• 419 Pages - 04/03/2018 (Publication Date) - Graydon House (Publisher)

Yale professor and physician  Sherwin Nuland  delved deep into the science behind death. Unafraid to ask hard questions, Nuland explains the most common conditions that lead to death and the science behind the diseases that cause the body to shut down.

In 1995’s How We Die: Reflections on Life’s Final Chapter, Nuland also explored how families and medical centers can make the best choices for patients who are nearing death, allowing them to approach the end of life with dignity. Nuland doesn’t suggest that death is something to be feared. Instead, he explains that exhibiting a sense of control over how our final days will go can provide comfort to all before the death process begins.

Sherwin taught several subjects during his time at Yale, including bioethics and the history of medicine, both of which informed his study of dying and death. In addition to his books that study end-of-life phenomena, Sherwin has also written several pieces for The New York Times, MIT Technology Review, and The New Yorker.

• Nuland, Sherwin B. (Author)
• 278 Pages - 01/15/1995 (Publication Date) - Vintage (Publisher)

Atul Gawande  is a surgeon and public health researcher currently working as the Assistant Administrator for Global Health at the U.S. Agency for International Development. After a long-time stint as a staff writer for New York Magazine, Gawande began publishing works of his own, including The Checklist Manifesto and Being Mortal.

While readers and critics alike have praised Gawande’s work, they’re not the only ones who have taken notice: Gawande was also selected to serve on President Biden’s COVID-19 transition advisory board. This isn’t his first foray into the world of politics—while earning his undergraduate degree at Stanford, Gawande volunteered for Gary Hart’s campaign. Following graduation, he began to work for Al Gore’s campaign and went on to work for Representative Jim Cooper, a democratic politician out of Tennessee. 

Currently, Dr. Gawande practices as a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is also the executive director of Ariadne Labs. In addition to his books, Gawande has also written for Slate and The New Yorker. If you enjoyed our guide to the best medical authors, we have many more scientific books round-up that you can check out such as the best books for quantum physics .

• Gawande, Atul (Author)
• 304 Pages - 09/05/2017 (Publication Date) - Metropolitan Books (Publisher)

Few Sherlock Holmes fans know that the beloved detective was modeled after an inspiration in  Sir Arthur Conan Doyle ‘s own life. Conan Doyle was professionally trained as a doctor, beginning his studies in 1876. While studying, Conan Doyle served as a doctor aboard a Peterhead whaling ship. After graduation, he served as a doctor on a whaling ship on an expedition on the West African coast. After that, Conan Doyle tried to start his own medical practice but struggled to get patients. While he worked on building his practice, he continued honing his stories.

While he eventually rose to fame as a writer, Conan Doyle spent years at university training in medicine, and one of his professors—Dr. Joseph Bell—served as the inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. Bell’s technique of carefully studying his patients (for example, looking closely at a soldier’s tattoos to learn more about where he traveled and what health issues he may have been exposed to) informed how Conan Doyle developed Sherlock Holmes’s character.

• Conan Doyle, Arthur (Author)
• English (Subtitle)
• 1952 Pages - 09/01/2017 (Publication Date) - Arcturus (Publisher)

Khaled Hosseini  is a bestselling author known for The Kite Runner, a novel describing life in Afghanistan. The novel delves into the struggles of medical issues in the Middle East, including lung cancer, spleen problems, and broken bones. In addition, Hosseini is heralded for creating a novel that shows how political events and generations of violence can impact the day-to-day lives of citizens.

Hosseini earned his bachelor’s degree from Santa Clara University and earned his M.D. from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. After completing medical school, Hosseini completed his residency at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He continued practicing as a physician for 18 months after the release of The Kite Runner.

• Khaled Hosseini (Author)
• 400 Pages - 03/05/2013 (Publication Date) - Riverhead Books (Publisher)

If you’re into medical dramas on TV, there’s no doubt that you’ll be into medical books as well. Well-written medical books don’t just tell a great story—they also get the facts right, allowing the reader to be drawn into the story. So whether you choose to go with real-life scientific accounts that delve into why we develop certain diseases, or if you prefer stories of how medical issues affect family dynamics, there are many options to satisfy your need for a good read.

FAQs On The Ten Best Medical Authors Of All Time

Many medical authors are trained doctors, but not all. Medical authors who do not have an educational background in medicine may consult with physicians to ensure medical accuracy. 

Yes, The Kite Runner was made into a movie in 2007, and a play based on the book was produced in 2009.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

5 Books to Make Caregiving a Little More Manageable

Health care professionals and other experts shared recommendations for anyone providing and receiving care.

By Hope Reese

Tina Sadarangani, a geriatric nurse practitioner in New York City, has spent years working with older adults and their families. She counsels patients on the medications they should take, the eating habits they should change and the specialists they should see.

But it wasn’t until her own father became seriously ill — requiring a slew of medications, deliveries, physical therapy and more — that she understood the experience from what she calls “the other side of the table.”

Dr. Sadarangani, who has a doctorate in nursing, comes from a family of medical providers. But most of the people who care for loved ones don’t have this expertise.

“If it was this complicated for our family,” Dr. Sadarangani said, “how were people with no medical backgrounds doing this every day in America?”

Resources like books aren’t a panacea, she said. But they can help validate experiences, offer advice and make us feel less alone. Here are five titles, recommended by health care providers and other experts, to help those who help others.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

• Children's Books
• Arts, Music & Photography

Sorry, there was a problem.

Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required .

Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.

Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.

Image Unavailable

• To view this video download Flash Player

Follow the authors

Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography Hardcover – Picture Book, May 2, 2023

• Part of series Little Golden Book
• Print length 24 pages
• Language English
• Grade level Preschool - 3
• Dimensions 6.63 x 0.21 x 8.06 inches
• Publisher Golden Books
• Publication date May 2, 2023
• ISBN-10 0593566718
• ISBN-13 978-0593566718
• See all details

From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

About the author, product details.

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Golden Books (May 2, 2023)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 24 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0593566718
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0593566718
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 5+ years, from customers
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ Preschool - 3
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.99 ounces
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.63 x 0.21 x 8.06 inches
• #1 in Children's Musical Biographies (Books)
• #1 in Children's Popular Music
• #1 in Children's Women Biographies (Books)

Videos for this product

Click to play video

Hands on review of Taylor Swift: A Little Golden Book Bio

Melissa Bauer

Look Before You Buy This Taylor Swift Golden Book

Christa, Mom of 5

Honest Review Taylor Swift Little Golden Book

Retail Revelers With D

Cute Taylor Bio book! Great to add to your collection

Stephanie Baker

Review and Close Up of the Taylor Swift Golden Book

Family Finds for Less

See Inside! A Must See Before Buying.

Neptune's Honest Reviews

Good book for kids about Taylor Swift or not?

Lindsey Marie

Review - Taylor Swift (The Litte Golden Book)

Melissa O'Meara

Review - Taylor Swift Little Golden Book Bio (love love!!!)

Honest Review- Little Golden Book / Taylor Swift Biography

Reagan Mayberry

About the authors

Wendy loggia.

Wendy Loggia is the #1 Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of many books, including the holiday romance ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS, and the #1 bestselling TAYLOR SWIFT: A Little Golden Book. Her books have been published in multiple languages. Her newest book is HARRY STYLES: A Little Golden Book. Follow her on Instagram at @authorwendyloggia.

Elisa Chavarri

Elisa Chavarri is an illustrator originally from Lima, Peru. She did much of her growing up in Northern Michigan where she now resides with her husband and two young children.

www.elisachavarri.com

Customer reviews

• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 5 star 92% 5% 1% 0% 1% 92%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 4 star 92% 5% 1% 0% 1% 5%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 3 star 92% 5% 1% 0% 1% 1%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 2 star 92% 5% 1% 0% 1% 0%
• 5 star 4 star 3 star 2 star 1 star 1 star 92% 5% 1% 0% 1% 1%

Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Customers say

Customers find the book great for young and old looking to learn a little about Taylor Swift. They also say it's easy to read but still enjoyable. Readers describe the storyline as captivating and enchanting. They say the content is informative, accurate, and sweet.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Customers find the book great for young and old looking to learn a little about Taylor Swift. They also say it's fun, positive, and perfect for family members who are Swiftie fans.

"...perseverance, and self-expression makes this biography not only entertaining but also educational, instilling important values in young..." Read more

"...Taylor’s journey in a way that’s both inspiring and accessible for young readers . It’s a must-have for any little Swiftie in the making!" Read more

"Nice story with a good lesson for young Swifties ." Read more

"Short inspiring story of Taylor Swift. Perfect for young Swifties . Gave it to a swifty and she loved it." Read more

Customers find the gift books a very sweet idea and a perfect little collector's item.

"...but easy to read if it were for a smaller child but a great collectible gift idea for older ones...." Read more

"This makes the perfect gift for the little Swiftie in your life!" Read more

"...So if you have someone who is a Swiftie this gift is so cute ." Read more

"...It would also make a lovely gift . My kids and I couldn't be happier with this purchase, and we highly recommend it...." Read more

Customers find the book easy to read but still enjoyable. They say the illustrations and writing are great, and the language is easy for kids to understand. Readers also mention that the story is abbreviated and easy to follow for younger kids, and provides a simple overview of Taylor's life and career.

"...Through simple yet engaging language , young readers are introduced to the empowering message of following their dreams and embracing their unique..." Read more

"...They are informative but easy to read if it were for a smaller child but a great collectible gift idea for older ones...." Read more

"It was very sweet .. easy reading for young person ." Read more

" Great and easy read for children and Swifty people everywhere!..." Read more

Customers find the storyline captivating, enchanting, and entertaining. They also say it's a nice short biography of Taylor's youth and start in show business.

"...One of the standout features of this book is its ability to distill Taylor Swift's remarkable story into a format that is perfect for young readers...." Read more

"... Great little story lines but I don’t care for a lot of the other people they have written about but there are a few I felt were worth getting...." Read more

"...The vibrant illustrations and simple storytelling keep her engaged , and she’s already asking to read it again and again...." Read more

" Nice story with a good lesson for young Swifties." Read more

Customers find the book great for swifties, little swifty fans, and a great way to kickstart a young swiftie. They also say it's full of healthy/growth mindset examples that resonate with them.

"...it’s great for Swifty ." Read more

"...It’s perfect for any Swiftie !" Read more

"...But it is a childrens book and I think it is a great way to kickstart a young swiftie " Read more

" Perfect for little swifty fans " Read more

Customers find the book informative, inspiring, and lovely. They also say it contains personal details and a succinct biography of T.S. Eliot. Readers also say the book is an easy read and provides digestible information for kids.

"...It succeeds in capturing the spirit and essence of Taylor Swift's remarkable career while inspiring young readers to dream big and embrace their own..." Read more

"...This book beautifully captures Taylor’s journey in a way that’s both inspiring and accessible for young readers...." Read more

"This book was full of interesting facts and information . The young recipient loved this book and was quite anxious to read it through." Read more

Customers find the biography sweet, showing Taylor's entire life with personal details. They also say it highlights key events in Taylor's childhood and life.

"...does an excellent job of providing a well-rounded and authentic portrayal of Taylor's journey , making it both informative and engaging for readers..." Read more

"...Super cute drawings and little stories of Taylor and a great value for under $5. Highly recommend a copy for a Swiftie collection!" Read more

"The little Swiftie in our family adores this book. It's a lovely biography of Taylor Swift and has a very empowering message for anyone who dares to..." Read more

"I bought this for myself. I loved reading it to my kids. Cute biography of Taylor while also how incredible she is. Great for Swifties of all ages." Read more

Customers find the tone of the book nostalgic, heartwarming, magical, and sweet. They also say it's a treasure to keep for generations.

"...Swift: A Little Golden Book Biography" is a delightful and heartwarming tribute to one of the most beloved artists of our time...." Read more

"Taylor and Little Golden Books, what more could any human want??? A sweet , cute, succinct bio...." Read more

"...The illustration and the writing are great! It’s nostalgic for me because it is a little golden book." Read more

"...The illustrations are cute, and the nostalgia is great for anyone who grew up reading little golden books...." Read more

Reviews with images

Perfect Introduction to Taylor Swift for Little Fans

• Sort reviews by Top reviews Most recent Top reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. please try again later..

Top reviews from other countries

• About Amazon
• Investor Relations
• Amazon Devices
• Amazon Science
• Sell products on Amazon
• Sell on Amazon Business
• Sell apps on Amazon
• Become an Affiliate
• Advertise Your Products
• Self-Publish with Us
• Host an Amazon Hub
• › See More Make Money with Us
• Amazon Business Card
• Shop with Points
• Reload Your Balance
• Amazon Currency Converter
• Amazon and COVID-19
• Your Account
• Your Orders
• Shipping Rates & Policies
• Returns & Replacements
• Manage Your Content and Devices

• Conditions of Use
• Privacy Notice
• Consumer Health Data Privacy Disclosure
• Your Ads Privacy Choices