History, Medicine, and Science: Nonfiction and Fiction discussion

Hi,

Are folks interested in reinvigorating this group? Could we have (would people want) active "currently reading" projects, i.e., book of the month (or book of the quarter) for discussion? It looks like there's nothing the group is "currently reading," unless you count the two books with finish dates that are more than 18 months ago.

Should we build out the bookshelf with the things we read in this space? I have not done that, but I can certainly add things, with comments, if folks would find that helpful. I have a master's in history and nearly went back to finish my PhD doing history of medicine, and I have several reading lists gathered that might be of interest to people.

What are folks reading now? I just finished something in the fiction space with a medical angle, Jodi Picoult's Plain Truth, but the medical issues (death of a newborn, thought to be murder) is back story. Currently reading Insomnia, by Gayle Greene.

Hi Erika, Book of the quarter, that would be a good idea I guess. And I am interested in books with a medical angle as well. I am not a native speaker, but i do read in English mainly.

Good luck with your PhD. I will search for the insomnia book. Bye, Esther

I've just finished Hallucinations. I'd recommend that very highly, and wish I'd had access to the knowledge when my partially deaf son started having auditory hallucinations. I did seriously think he was on the edge of mental illness, and was terrified for him. I never told a doctor, because, thankfully, they stopped. Now I know it is common with deafness, and not a sign of mental illness at all. Oliver Sacks is such a good writer, and he keeps me reading better than any novel. I think this is a book everyone should read for the important knowledge in it.

As to invigorating the group... I must admit I dip in and out a lot, and also have a reading list to tie in with my work (I'm a writer using science in plays for children.) I'm not great at conforming to group reads, for this reason, but I do read reviews and comments with great interest. :)

Erika, I've been focused on other books recently, so haven't anything to report!

In terms of reinvigorating, are the moderators still active? Apologies if so - I haven't been checking in much so haven't looked through the various threads. I would be interested in perhaps quarterly reads. It might be worth it to try to do a poll of members to see what they would like to do ... not sure how many would respond.

I would like to read more on this topic, but given competing interests, probably need the motivation of a group read to get me there!

Can we add books to the bookshelf? I wanted to add , Hallucinations but couldn't work out how to do it. I thought it must be just the moderators who could. Like Susan I'm not sure who the moderators are (probably because I haven't read everything thoroughly).

Btw, re-read the comment I made about Hallucinations and thought how badly I'd expressed myself. I didn't mean that it was important just for the information about auditory hallucinations. It is packed with interesting and informative gems - typical Sacks in other words. I'm glad he survived some of the things he took. It is fascinating to have someone report back from the places he went to - equivalent to geographical exploration, with high personal risk.

Holly Tucker is one of the three moderators, but I think has some other obligations and interests that may be eclipsing this. She's at Vanderbilt, and I thought about emailing her directly offline, but didn't want to be presumptuous. Pamela Toler is another one and is active on GR but maybe not in this group. I don't know about the other moderator. All three are listed on the group's first page.