post-MCAT summer reading

[redsoxfan]

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now that the test is over, im trying to learn to read for pleasure again. any suggestions? I am halfway through "Drowning Ruth," which is excellent.

 

[supafield]

I just finished Angles and Demons and now am reading Deception Point....

Lol cliche to be reading Dan Brown I'm aware but his writing hooks me...
and the fact that I understood some of the crazy detailed scientific jargon they mentioned that I would have never gotten before the MCAT....

 

[poppytart]

I am reading Sophie's World right now...good book so far if you enjoy philosophy. Earlier this week I finished The Alchemist...I thought it was alright...there were some profound quotes about perserverance that are especially pertinent to my post-mcat life.

 

[Pdiddy310]

now that the test is over, im trying to learn to read for pleasure again. any suggestions? I am halfway through "Drowning Ruth," which is excellent.

Atlas Shrugged or Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

 

[tigre21]

Middlesex, also Time travelers wife...a girly book i guess but really great 🙂
Neither are medically related, but just entertaining reads.

 

[solitude]

I'm working my way through some David Mccullough. Just finished Mornings on Horseback, his biography of Teddy Roosevelt, and am now reading John Adams, his biography on, well, John Adams.

 

[da_donut]

uhh...harry potter?

 

[Condeeleza Rice]

Did anyone watch V for Vendetta. I've been interested in reading these types of books like 1984 having to do with this material. There was also a good documentary that just came out, Why we fight. It is good, although I think it might be a bit too liberal.

 

[j-weezy]

I'm working my way through some David Mccullough. Just finished Mornings on Horseback, his biography of Teddy Roosevelt, and am now reading John Adams, his biography on, well, John Adams.

hey i just finished reading Mornings on Horseback too! I thought it was really well written, but I guess David McCullough is just an awesome writer.....is the John Adams book any good? I was thinking about reading that one but was a little apprehensive...what can I say, Teddy Roosevelt seemed a lot more interesting....have you read 1776? It was a little slow to start but very good once I got into it...only problem I have with David McCullough is that i always feel he ends too abruptly, like with Teddy Roosevelt, I would have been happy reading all the way until he died but apparently McCullough likes to only write about the 'character-developing' years of his subjects.....anyways, just thought it was cool someone out there has as dorky (historical biographies) taste in literature as I do...don't know if you're interested in english history, but the tudor years are equally fascinating

peace

 

[tch001]

If you guys want some suggestions for medically related reading, check out the pre-allopathic thread on samuel shem's "House of God." There's a lot of good suggestions for books about medical school/being a doctor 🙂

 

[solitude]

Hey, it's good to meet another fellow history dork! I'm only about 1/4 of the way done with John Adams right now, but I am enjoying it as much as I enjoyed Mornings on Horseback. So I would definitely recommend it. I agree that he is just an awesome history writer; he really makes history come to life with his style. I think the abrupt endings might have been specific to Mornings on Horseback, because John Adams and Truman are both massive biographies (650 and 1000pp, respectively), so I assume that they are comprehensive (I've yet to read Truman, though heard good things about it). I haven't read much about English history--what do you recommend? Oh, and yes I did read 1776 and loved it.

hey i just finished reading Mornings on Horseback too! I thought it was really well written, but I guess David McCullough is just an awesome writer.....is the John Adams book any good? I was thinking about reading that one but was a little apprehensive...what can I say, Teddy Roosevelt seemed a lot more interesting....have you read 1776? It was a little slow to start but very good once I got into it...only problem I have with David McCullough is that i always feel he ends too abruptly, like with Teddy Roosevelt, I would have been happy reading all the way until he died but apparently McCullough likes to only write about the 'character-developing' years of his subjects.....anyways, just thought it was cool someone out there has as dorky (historical biographies) taste in literature as I do...don't know if you're interested in english history, but the tudor years are equally fascinating

peace

 

[DrBowtie]

Atlas Shrugged or Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.

It's number 1 on my reading list but sadly, school has started.

 

[j-weezy]

I haven't read much about English history--what do you recommend? Oh, and yes I did read 1776 and loved it.

It depends on whether or not you find that whole era of religious reformation interesting. If so, then David Starkey is a great British historian/author on the Tudor era. In terms of style, I would say that Starkey is pretty close to McCullough although his books can at times read a little less like a novel and more like an academic publication (though these occurrences are the exception). I thought 1776 ended rather abruptly. Although if the book is focused on the year 1776, one is limited to only that year. I guess I just wish McCullough would write longer books since he writes so well!

 

[RB69]

Currently reading "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville...slowly...

 

[solitude]

It depends on whether or not you find that whole era of religious reformation interesting. If so, then David Starkey is a great British historian/author on the Tudor era. In terms of style, I would say that Starkey is pretty close to McCullough although his books can at times read a little less like a novel and more like an academic publication (though these occurrences are the exception). I thought 1776 ended rather abruptly. Although if the book is focused on the year 1776, one is limited to only that year. I guess I just wish McCullough would write longer books since he writes so well!

Thanks--I will definitely try Starkey after I finish John Adams. Agreed that 1776 and Mornings on Horseback ended abruptly, but as you said, it was his intention in both cases. As I mentioned before, John Adams and Truman (and I think some of his other books too) are much longer and more comprehensive, so you should give those a try!

 

[solitude]

Currently reading "Democracy in America" by Alexis de Tocqueville...slowly...

This book was contrasted with another in a practice MCAT VR passage.

 

[illixir]

Reading Anna Karenina 300 pages in and after I finish Brothers Karamazov. I have three weeks until school starts and taking Intro to Russian Lit, so reading those books to get ahead rather than for pleasure, although they're books i'd read for pleasure under different circumstances anyways.

 

[starshine3]

I would recommend the Kite Runner and the Alchemist as someone already mentioned. I also started The World is Flat ( about globalization, not a leisurely fiction type thing if thats what you are looking for but definitely interesting and informative )

 

[tigre21]

This book was contrasted with another in a practice MCAT VR passage.

I was just thinking the same thing! scary isn't it how it's inescapable

 

[halekulani]

finished complications by atul gawande

onto losing the race: self sabotage in black america

waiting for house of god to come in the mail

 

[redsoxfan]

wow, this is great guys, thanks.

 

[volume]

The Looming Tower: Al Qaeda and the Road to 9/11 by Lawrence Wright

 

[solitude]

I was just thinking the same thing! scary isn't it how it's inescapable

Haha I can't get this damn test off of my mind. 6.5 weeks until scores...

 

[RB69]

Funny thing is, it was actually that passage in AAMC 9 that spurred me to pick up this book (Democracy in America) to read...lol...

 

[tigre21]

Funny thing is, it was actually that passage in AAMC 9 that spurred me to pick up this book (Democracy in America) to read...lol...

i dont think i could do that to myself...i need to do as much mcat nonrelated stuff as possible 🙂

 

[lostinHP]

uhh...harry potter?

YES! Harry Potter is good whenever. Just like Dan Brown books, if you haven't read Harry Potter, then do it! I recently re-read Half-Blood Prince a couple weeks before the MCAT.

I'm now reading a completely different type of book, called Bark of the Dogwood by Jackson Tippett McCrae. It's hilarious so far.

 

[abadri421]

I am currently reading The Moscow Vector..its good so far..relates politics to biology/medicine..

 

[timisdaman]

nintendo power

 

[cerulean]

Read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair the night after the MCAT and am currently reading Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe) and Real Money (Jim Cramer).

 

[uwpremed]

I haven't taken the MCAT yet but I thought I'd make a suggestion. "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer is, in my opinion, one of the best pieces of modern literature written so far. He also wrote "extremely loud and incredibly close," which isn't as good as his first one but also a great read. I'm reading "freakonomics" right now, and the author, Levitt, has a really weird, different way of looking at everyday things. Maybe I should have been an English major...🙄

 

[halekulani]

everything is illuminated is alright...best modern piece of literature is a bit of a stretch. it's definitely a unique work with its own perks, but it isn't a book for everyone really...

 

[tigre21]

I haven't taken the MCAT yet but I thought I'd make a suggestion. "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer is, in my opinion, one of the best pieces of modern literature written so far. He also wrote "extremely loud and incredibly close," which isn't as good as his first one but also a great read. I'm reading "freakonomics" right now, and the author, Levitt, has a really weird, different way of looking at everyday things. Maybe I should have been an English major...🙄

I saw the movie recently it was funny in some parts and very sad/touching in others.

 

[uwpremed]

ok, maybe "best piece of modern literature" was a little bit of a stretch but you've got to admit, his style of writing is just so unique. If you've seen the movie, you definitely have to go read the book because they left out over half the book and it really doesn't do his book justice.

Another great read, its been mentioned above I think, is "Middlesex" by jeffery eugenides.

 

[mcat_study]

I haven't taken the MCAT yet but I thought I'd make a suggestion. "Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathan Safran Foer is, in my opinion, one of the best pieces of modern literature written so far. He also wrote "extremely loud and incredibly close," which isn't as good as his first one but also a great read. I'm reading "freakonomics" right now, and the author, Levitt, has a really weird, different way of looking at everyday things. Maybe I should have been an English major...🙄

i also recommend Everything is Illuminated. read it last year---loved it, sarcastic and funny, especially if you can sense subtleties of Russian/Ukranian culture and language.🙂 BTW they have a movie according to this book.

 

[hokiegal]

Gosh...if I read the books you guys read, I'm sure my verbal score would be much better...

Anyway...My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is a MUST! And for any of you that like to indulge in some chick-lit...Good In Bed is great...although it has nothing to do with that really.

I just got Genome by Matt Ridley in the mail to day! YAY!

 

[redsoxfan]

Gosh...if I read the books you guys read, I'm sure my verbal score would be much better...

Anyway...My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is a MUST! And for any of you that like to indulge in some chick-lit...Good In Bed is great...although it has nothing to do with that really.

I just got Genome by Matt Ridley in the mail to day! YAY!

my mom keeps bugging me to read My Sister's Keeper, but i wasn't really feeling it. I read Genome--it's pretty cool. u should check out Stiff by mary roach. very cool

 

[aninipot]

ooh, V for Vendetta. Saw it twice: before and after the MCAT. 🙂

I'm reading "Reading Lolita in Tehran" and doing lots of Sudoku.