Good Books to Read?

Med School Insiders
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Avengerz

Avengerz

Full Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
May 13, 2015
Messages
14
Reaction score
5
Points
4,621
  1. Pre-Medical
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Hi, I have some free time this summer and I'm wondering if anyone has any good suggestions on reading material?

Right now I'm just looking at reading something that is both at a moderate difficulty and enjoyable.
 
J Senpai said:
Any particular genres?
Click to expand...
I'm trying to avoid things like 'The Economist', was reading it for a bit and it got boring after a while. So I'm open to any suggestions right now!

ComputerGuy365 said:
Game of thrones maybe?
Click to expand...
Haha, I'm actually reading that right now - I never knew that the writing style would be in their 'old english' as well
 
Read the Mocking Bird*
 
Here's a couple of interesting books recommended to me by applicants who were interviewed in 2008-2009:

Death Foretold by Nicholas A. Christakis (about making and communicating prognosis)

Knife Man by Wendy Moore (about John Hunter, eighteenth century British surgeon-scientist-- you can check out the table on contents on Amazon and you may be hooked!])


For a previous (ancient) thread on books some of us have enjoyed, see: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=293681

post 197 on page 4 of that thread has a good overall list.
 
Last edited:
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Books I've read relatively recently or are on my must-read list:
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
The Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss (series)
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
 
If you are a Classics person, I'd suggest:
The Iliad by Homer
The Odyssey by Homer
The Aeneid by Virgil
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Even those they are popular, I believe they are all good reads and very important to have read at some point in time!! 🙂
 
rockersoccer said:
If you are a Classics person, I'd suggest:
The Iliad by Homer
The Odyssey by Homer
The Aeneid by Virgil
Moby Dick by Herman Melville
Billy Budd, Sailor by Herman Melville
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Even those they are popular, I believe they are all good reads and very important to have read at some point in time!! 🙂
Click to expand...



The Iliad by Homer
The Odyssey by Homer
The Aeneid by Virgil

Worst books ever to read in Latin , we were forced to read excerpts in Latin.
 
Simpson said:
The Iliad by Homer
The Odyssey by Homer
The Aeneid by Virgil

Worst books ever to read in Latin , we were forced to read excerpts in Latin.
Click to expand...

Oh I loved reading and translating those books in Latin! I took 8 years of Latin and really enjoyed it. It was super time consuming though. :/
 
I am currently reading a book called "When Helping Hurts: How to alleviate poverty without hurting the poor ... or yourself". This is an book and I strongly recommend anyone interested in medical missions or working with the undeserved to read this book.
Amazon product ASIN 0802409989
 
Just finished Farenheit 451 after all these years having the book from my brother in high school. It was pretty good.

Currently working through "The Worldly Philosphers" by Robert Heilbroner. It's a fantastic read about the history of the great economists throughout history. It's written extremely conversationally especially for an economics book.
 
Actually just read Farenheit 451 as well! It's been sitting on my shelf for quite a while but I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

A few books that I checked out from the library a couple weeks ago:
- Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Lord of the Flies - William Golding
- For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
- Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
- Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
 
Beyonce2.0 said:
Actually just read Farenheit 451 as well! It's been sitting on my shelf for quite a while but I'm glad I finally got around to reading it.

A few books that I checked out from the library a couple weeks ago:
- Purple Hibiscus - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Lord of the Flies - William Golding
- For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway
- Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
- Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
Click to expand...

OMG same. Yeah, was sitting on my shelf for a good seven or eight years, finally did it!

Also Brave New World is great. Lord of the Flies was okay, but I read it in eighth grade so perhaps it would be better a second time.
 
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Thought-provoking and I loved the story. I have read it several times. First time in high school, then for a class in college. Then I read it summer before medical school. I loved the range of topics that were discussed and provided many POVs that have given me new views on the world.

EDIT: damn someone beat me to the punch!
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
^Second that but read it in Portuguese. The language is beautiful and much gets lost in translation if you read it in English. Try Spanish even, if you can't read portuguese. É um livre maravilhoso!
 
Just finished The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales.... by Sam Kean. A friend recommended it, and it was a great read for anyone who actually enjoys the science, in particular, chemistry, since this is all about the periodic table! Quite interesting!
 
Intern by Sandeep Jauhar if you're looking for something medicine related
 
"Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracey Kidder.

Don't be turned off by the cheesy title, it won a Pulitzer Prize. This book is about the super doctor Paul Farmer.

After reading this book, I immediately read it again. This book radically changed my view of healthcare and opened my eyes to the lack of access most people have to it.
 
Anything by Murakami (my favorite is The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle)
London Fields or Money by Martin Amis
American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
God and the Multiverse was awesome!!!
 
Just finished Plainsong by Kent Haruf. I highly recommend it. There are a few scenes with a doctor who does a pretty nice job of being a doctor but he's a minor character. It is set in late twentieth century rural Colorado.
 
My recently read/will be read. They're all medically related books but still great reads about our healthcare system and policy.

How We Do Harm by Otis Brawley

Doctored by Sandeep Jauhar

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Less Medicine, More Health by Gilbert Welch
 
Catalystik said:
The Martian by Andy Weir. About an astronaut marooned on Mars. It will exercise your physics, bio, chem, math and duct tape-using skills. Coming out as a movie soon.
Click to expand...

I was just about to say that 🙂

I had no idea about a movie though. Can't wait!
 
Someone mentioned Somerset Maugham above. I would recommend "Of Human Bondage" by the same. It's tangentially related to medicine (the protagonist becomes a medical student) but mostly I love it because it perfectly captures being young and lost and trying to figure it all out. Maugham trained as a physician as well but quit medicine as a young man to focus on his writing.
 
@justmoveonup That was me who recommended Maugham. Of Human Bondage is one of my favorite books ever, but I didn't recommend it because it's so long and kind of... old fashioned? But for people who are into more classic literature, it's great. Would also recommend some Russian lit. The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky, The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, and Chekov's short stories.
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
Definitely The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
 
If you're interested in multi-volume sweeping Chinese literature:
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
The Water Margin/Outlaws of the Marsh
Journey To the West
Dream of the Red Chamber

I second The Martian, ASIOAF, and The Emperor of All Maladies. I also suggest everything by Khaled Hosseini, everything by Flannery O'Connor, Genghis Khan and Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford, Complications by Atul Gawande, and The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.
 
If you happen to be interested in psychiatry you can read "Shrinks: the Untold Story of Psychiatry" by Jeff Lieberman.

Also I saw someone else wrote it already, but Sam Kean's "The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons" gets my vote as well.
 
@Cotterpin The Brothers Karamazov is one of my favorite books of all time, along with Of Human Bondage. Looks like 1. we're literature buddies and 2. I need to get around to reading Chekhov. I'll look into Bulgakov as well.
 
seems like a good thread to ask - there was a book that was about becoming a med student/doctor written by a woman. i read an excerpt and it seemed wickedly funny but for the life of me i cannot remember the book or author! this is really vague but any of you know what i'm talking about?
 
shoopshoop said:
seems like a good thread to ask - there was a book that was about becoming a med student/doctor written by a woman. i read an excerpt and it seemed wickedly funny but for the life of me i cannot remember the book or author! this is really vague but any of you know what i'm talking about?
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're thinking of This Won't Hurt a Bit (And Other White Lies) by Michelle Au! She also has a blog, titled The Underwear Drawer. She has an exceptional sense of humor.
 
Of course, a good medical read is The House of God by Dr. Samuel Shen. It's a hilarious account of residency training.
 
Thanks for posting this I needed new suggestions as well! I really enjoyed Emperor of all Maladies like others have mentioned fun read and very interesting. 10% Happier by Dan Harris was a good one as well about handling the stress and challenges of life. I'm also big into science fiction and a good classic I think would be the Foundation books by Isaac Asimov
 
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

AnatomyAndAnonymity
What books should every pre-med read?
Replies
23
Views
3K
nobadwaves
N
T
  • Locked
Willing to Read Personal Statement
Replies
1
Views
621
GoSpursGo
GoSpursGo
LelouchLamperouge
Book Recommendations To Read Whilst Waiting
Replies
3
Views
967
premedbarista
premedbarista
LizzyM
What to read next
Replies
7
Views
2K
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
pinkbowbunny
Are most secondaries good?
Replies
20
Views
4K
Pallas
Pallas
Top Bottom