38 ratings | 4 reviews | avg rating:3.84

Kwan Kew Lai’s Followers (14)

Kwan’s Bookshelves

to-read (1)
currently-reading (0)
read (43)
did-not-finish (0)

Kwan’s Friends (5)

Arielle Miller

482 books | 3,811 friends

Jackie

2,738 books | 649 friends

Angela La Voie

1,463 books | 2,431 friends

Connie Cummings

127 books | 16 friends

Expat Scribe

20 books | 1,048 friends

Kwan Kew Lai

Goodreads Author

Born

Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia

Website

https://www.kwankewlai.com

Twitter

KwanKew

Genre

Memoir, Nonfiction, Fiction

Influences

https://www.facebook.com/kwankewlai.a... ...more

Member Since

March 2017

edit data

Originally from Penang, Malaysia, Kwan Kew Lai received a full scholarship from Wellesley College. She is a Harvard Medical Faculty Physician with a specialty in infectious disease. In 2005, she left her position as a Professor of Medicine to dedicate time to humanitarian work; in HIV/AIDS in Africa and provides disaster relief all over the world, during wars, famine, natural disasters, including the Ebola outbreak, the Syrian, Rohingya refugee crises, Yemen, and the COVID-19 pandemic in New York and the Navajo Nation. Her book debut, Lest We Forget: A Doctor’s Experience with Life and Death During the Ebola Outbreak chronicles her time in Liberia and Sierra Leone caring for Ebola patients during the greatest Ebola outbreak in the world. In ...more

Learn more
Ask the Author

To ask Kwan Kew Lai questions, please sign up.

Combine Editions
Kwan Kew Lai’s books

Average rating: 4.47 · 90 ratings · 40 reviews · 4 distinct works • Similar authors

	The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly 4.51 avg rating — 57 ratings — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Lest We Forget: A Doctor's Experience with Life and Death During the Ebola Outbreak 4.35 avg rating — 31 ratings — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Into Africa, Out of Academia: A Doctor's Memoir it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Finding Independence in America: An International Student's Journey from Malaysia to Medical School 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

38 posts
Kwan Kew Lai's Blog: My May Book Event

Seoul, South Korea

It was raining on my first day in Seoul. The peak of the cherry blossoms was past, but there were remnants of them scattered about. I headed to Yeouido Park near the Hangang River. The famous Yeouiseo-ro cherry blossom tunnel, which features over 1,000 cherry trees blooming from late March to early April, was long gone. I tried to imagine the glorious display in my mind’s eye.
Braving the rain, I Read more of this blog post »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 04, 2026 11:30

View all 38 posts »

rss
Kwan’s Recent Updates

Kwan Kew Lai wrote a new blog post Seoul, South Korea It was raining on my first day in Seoul. The peak of the cherry blossoms was past, but there were remnants of them scattered about. I headed to Yeouid Read more of this blog post »
May 04, 2026 11:30AM · like
Kwan Lai is now following Esther Mangan's reviews
Nov 15, 2025 03:01PM · like
Kwan Lai made a comment on Esther Mangan’s review of The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly " Thank you for your review "
Nov 15, 2025 02:56PM · see review
Kwan Lai and 1 other person liked Esther Mangan's review of The Girl Who Taught Herself to Fly: "I had never heard of this doctor but she’s done so much work in infectious diseases in developing countries. She came from poverty herself and writes about her upbringing in Malaysia "
Nov 15, 2025 02:55PM · see review
Kwan Lai rated a book really liked it The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 04, 2025 10:17AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kwan Lai rated a book really liked it The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America by Nikesh Shukla (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 04, 2025 10:14AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Good Immigrant by Nikesh Shukla <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kwan Lai rated a book really liked it The Loneliest Americans by Jay Caspian Kang (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 04, 2025 10:13AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Loneliest Americans by Jay Caspian Kang. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Loneliest Americans by Jay Caspian Kang <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kwan Lai rated a book really liked it A Dream Called Home: A Memoir by Reyna Grande (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 04, 2025 10:12AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of A Dream Called Home by Reyna Grande. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — A Dream Called Home by Reyna Grande <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kwan Lai rated a book liked it First Love: Essays on Friendship by Lilly Dancyger (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 04, 2025 10:11AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of First Love by Lilly Dancyger. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — First Love by Lilly Dancyger <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Kwan Lai rated a book really liked it The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Apr 04, 2025 10:10AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The History of a Difficult Child by Mihret Sibhat <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">