Challenges from Exploding Steamboats discussion

Off the top of my head, I can't think of anything I have that fits this prompt, so maybe I'll look for something else by Atul Gawande. Any other ideas?

Without a doubt "How not to die " by Dr Michael Greger. It's a thick book but well worth reading!

Atul Gawande's Being Mortal came to mind first. There's also When Breath Becomes Air.

I just finished a great book on neurosurgery called "Another Day in the Frontal Lobe", written by an MD. Atul Gwande is a great go-to. And I, too, have heard excellent things about When Breath Becomes Air.

I'm reading We Are Our Brains by D F Swaab. Interesting so far, though I'm not yet deep into it. His background is neuroendocrinology.

Also, Oliver Sacks had several interesting books, including Musicophilia, which I quite enjoyed.

I just realized that a book I'm reading for continuing education credits was written by an MD, so I'm using that, though I don't know that I'd recommend it unless someone was really interested in clinical psychopharmacology.

I just finished reading a memoir by a former paramedic. Does that count?

Xanthi wrote: "I just finished reading a memoir by a former paramedic. Does that count?"

Yeah, I think I'm going to change this to "medical professional." The only reason I originally phrased it as "medical doctor" was to clarify that I wasn't talking about PhDs in non-medical fields.

Buffra wrote: "Atul Gawande's Being Mortal came to mind first. There's also When Breath Becomes Air."

Being Mortal was *awesome*, which is why I was thinking about another Gawande book.

And if you don't want non-fiction, keep in mind that Michael Crichton was a doctor. As was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Cheryl wrote: "And if you don't want non-fiction, keep in mind that Michael Crichton was a doctor. As was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle."

Good point!!

Huh. I didn't know that!
Robin Cook is also a medical doctor.

Done!
Better by Atul Gawande

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Paul was a neurosurgeon and neuroscientist who discovered that his body was riddled with cancer just months before he was to finish his residency, just as he thought life would become easier. Before studying medicine, he had studied English and achieved several degrees, so this is very well written. The book was brought to an abrupt end before he was able to write all he wanted to, as his illness took a sudden turn for the worse. I wish I knew what else he wanted to say. It is lost forever. The book has been fluffed up to 228 pages by adding large borders and large spaces between lines. I'm sure the publisher was wanting a larger book, but it couldn't be helped. This is a thoughtful, thought provoking book by a compassionate, intelligent, educated man who realized that despite being in the process of dying, he was still living until he took his last breath.

Admissions: A Life in Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh. I like Mr. Marsh's writing style. He looks back mostly on his professional career, although there is some private life there, too, as he decides to retire from the NHS. This doesn't mean that he stopped working, though, as he continued to visit and work with a friend in Nepal and another in Ukraine. Although he doesn't dwell long on any point, there are some pretty heavy topics touched on more than once, for example suicide in the face of an unpleasant, fatal condition, what exactly is the "I" of every person, the current preoccupation of preserving life at whatever the cost (not just financial, put pain, suffering, disability, loss of the existing personality, etc.). This is by no means a hefty tome or lengthy read. In hardback, it is 270 pages, so in paperback with a smaller font and tighter spacing, it would probably be quite slender.

I read Murder in G Major and Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks for this prompt.

Clinical Psychopharmacology Made Ridiculously Simple - a continuing education book, though a well done one

The Brain That Changes Itself - quite good, about neuroplasticity