The Next Best Book Club discussion

Ok, I'm looking for some recommendations where the main character of the book is a nurse ... this is for the winter challenge.

I could read about Florence Nightingale, or Mary Secole (is that her name?!) but I would prefer fiction I think. Anyone?

Echo Heron has some good books out. Her books are nonfiction I think but they read like fiction.

Oh thanks for that Shelby! I've just ordered her Intensive Care book - I'd never heard of her before. Sounds like just what I'm looking for! :)

Fiona, sounds really interesting!!! Apologize to my tbr shelf!!!!

That does sound good Fiona! Adding it to mine as well!

The world according to garp? That's one of those rare books where the film is equally as good as the book... who could resist john lithgow in drag?

Years ago I read Indecent Obsession about a nurse in a mental ward for WWI soldiers (I think WWI) A very good read with great characters.

Never Change by Elizabeth Berg.
I have a review on my bookshelf.
I really enjoyed this it's about a woman who is a nurse and she is an "offsite" nurse. She takes care of people at their homes.
Very moving.
Berg is one of my favorite authors.

SuzieR, its Mary Seacole. A very great Jamaican nurse.

Cherry Ames, very old-fashioned 9-12 year old girls' nurse books.
What about One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest with the mad nurse?

Nurse Ratchett??

The Memory Keeper's Daughter has a nurse as one of the main characters. The World According to Garp is another good choice!

Oooh forgot about The English Patient too!

Eileen Dreyer writes medical thrillers and several feature a nurse protagonist.

Wow I never realised there were so many! I've read the Memory keeper's Daughter and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's next (though could re-read as it was a while ago!), and will be steering clear of the English Patient (the most boring film I have ever seen!!) but I'll check out the others - thanks everyone!

The book WAS just as boring Suzie! You aren't missing anything there.
The English Patient

If you're a Stephen King fan, you could also read Misery. I am a bit worried that the first two books with nurses that came to mind were the King novel & One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Oh dear.

haha Liz! Have you had a bad experience with nurses?! Misery was a scary movie! I might read that one ...

Kellie - glad I'm not missing anything ... nothing could make me read that book!

Bad experience? no not all, Suzie.

Now please kindly go sit over there, no no not that chair the one waaaaaaaay over there. Much better.

Nursing Against All Odds.........book written by a newspaper reporter... she puts it all out on the table of why nursing has a shortage and the healthcare system.

Trauma Junkie: Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse... Janice Hudson

Then as someone mentioned Echo Herron is great...All by her
Condition Critical
Tending Lives: Nurses on the Medical Front
Intensive Care: The Story of a Nurse

We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese......Elizabeth Norman

That should get you started :)

While The English Patient wasn't my favorite book I'd never define it as boring either. It was a beautifully written book about love and the impact of war.Hana,as a nurse suffering with PTSD at the end of WWII is heartbreakenly tender and caring towards her patient.

Liz said: Bad experience? no not all, Suzie.

Now please kindly go sit over there, no no not that chair the one waaaaaaaay over there. Much better.

Oooooook! lol!

Thanks for those recommendations Kat - I'll look into them too.

Ian mcewan- Atonement. Both main characters are nurses

Thanks Julianne ... but I'd rather poke my eyes out with sticks! lol ... couldn't bear the book or the film of Atonement, but I know I'm in the minority there!

Ahh.. no you aren't SuzieR. I have no desire to read that book either :)
It's probably over my head anyway.

The Maisie Dobbs series main character Maisie Dobbs is a former nurse during WWI turned private investigator. Her wartime experiences are told in flashback.

Also, books by Eileen Dyer are funny and always have a nurse as the main character. The author is a nurse.

Awesome recommendations, I was looking for books on nursing, too....!
But awww, I loved Atonement and The English Patient both...

SuzieR-

No problem! I'm not much of an Ian McEwan fan, but I know many who think he's as good as sliced bread (or better, I guess). I audiobooked Atonement, and I don't think I zoned out as much on any other audio before (or since).

I'm resurrecting this one to ask if anyone knows of a main character who is specifically a medical secretary (long-shot, yes...)?

I want to second the Indecent Obsession opinion. I loved that book.

Hmmm - would Stephen King's Misery classify? It has both a nurse and an author - the author might be more of the "main character" but they are both featured promiently.

-- Wife of GR author Michael J. Sullivan: The Crown Conspiracy (10/08) | Avempartha (04/09)

I suspect this isn't exactly what you're looking for, but in the 50s and 60s there was a whole genre of pulp fiction with titles like "Log Cabin Nurse," "Redheaded Nurse," "Nurse with a Past." A few years ago the artist Richard Prince did a whole series of "Nurse Paintings" based on the books' formulaic covers. Again, probably not what you're hoping to read. But possibly of interest if only for the kitsch value?

Forever Sad the Heart by Patricia Walsh.

This is an excellent book about nurse anesthetists in the Viet Nam war. Ms. Walsh fictionalized her experiences there and it makes for a good read.

Also, Virginia Kelly's book (forgot the title). She was Bill Clinton's mother and also a nurse anesthetist.

Mary Welk's A Merry Little Murder features a nurse who survives a bomb that destroys her ward and sets out to find out why.

SuzieR wrote: "Ok, I'm looking for some recommendations where the main character of the book is a nurse ... this is for the winter challenge.

I could read about Florence Nightingale, or Mary Secole (is that h..."

The Nightingales of Troy by Alice Fulton. The Nightingales are nurses and Troy is Troy, NY. A beautiful book.

Okay, this is late but...

Tales From the Jailhouse Nurseby Mikki Fowler, it's a shitty book but my friend did the illistrations, so you should buy it!

Doctors and Nurses A Novel by Lucy Ellmann is a GREAT book and should get more credit than it does.

Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom as a main character that's a nurse =)

Outlander

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon is the beginning of a WONDERFUL series!! The main character is Claire, a nurse from WW2. Fantastic series, I highly recommend it!

Thank you guys for all of these great book suggestions! I love reading books about nurses, but can never really find any.

I was going to suggest Outlander! You beat me to it Sarah! Awesome book.

what about nurse killer? If you need them I'm would sugest Marker by Robin Cook. some other books of him also have nursers -killers