Summer reading - Recommendations?

[blahwhatever]

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I finally have a summer to do anything I want before med school starts. I'm looking for some good books to read. I was thinking of horror, but I could go for anything (non-medical). Anyone have any good suggestions?

 

[TexasTriathlete]

The novelization of "snakes on a plane"

 

[DrMidlife]

Thomas Harris, who wrote Silence of the Lambs, was AWESOME through the book Hannibal. This is horror for people who need the details to be stunningly consistent and entertaining. He usually took 10 years to get one book out. Look for Black Sunday, Red Dragon, S of the L, and Hannibal.

 

[Toohotinvegas33]

Although this could help you with anatomy

Hustler

 

[SmallTownEMT]

I was thinking of horror, but I could go for anything (non-medical). Anyone have any good suggestions?

Perhaps the Zombie Survival Guide or World War Z, both by Max Brooks. I enjoyed them both.

 

[schussboarder]

Although i realize that we're not in middle school anymore...Harry Potter are still the only good novels out there🙂.

 

[nlax30]

It's still medically related, but once this week is done I'm gonna finish what I'm currently reading: "Better: Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance" by Dr. Atul Gawande. I think he also wrote a book called "Complications".

So far pretty good. Kind of his take on many different aspects of medicine and his experiences. Talks some about the eradication of diseases around the world, surgery and advances in medicine due to the past few wars/conflicts, etc...

Not really much of a leisure fiction reader so books like the above appeal more to me.

 

[Kateb4]

Although i realize that we're not in middle school anymore...Harry Potter are still the only good novels out there🙂.

I wish I had time to read these, I love the movies! A few years ago I re-read the entire The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe series, excellent books!! So much better than the movies could ever portray (I'm sure the Harry Potter series is the same way - I will get time to read them one of these days).

Let's see, I used to read alot of Stephen King when I was younger, loved his books - my favorite was probably the Four Seasons (has the Lean on Me story), Salems Lot was also great. I can't handle horror any more though.

Lately, I've been reading more romantic classics like Pride and Prejudice and Gone With the Wind. A newer one was Memoirs of a Geisha that was great. If you want more non-fiction, I loved Alan Alda's autobiography, Never Have Your Dog Stuffed, but I'm a fan of his since I grew up on M*A*S*H.

 

[RySerr21]

a lesson before dying - earnest gaines

cry the beloved country - alan paton

a gathering of old men - earnest gaines

a raisin in the sun (i forget who wrote it)

 

[Concubine]

I finally have a summer to do anything I want before med school starts. I'm looking for some good books to read. I was thinking of horror, but I could go for anything (non-medical). Anyone have any good suggestions?

I just got finished reading "Confessions of a Long Distance Sailor" by Paul Lutus. Awesome book, and online!

See

http://www.arachnoid.com/sailbook/index.html

You will thank me later!

 

[TechnoViking]

Stiff (The Curious Life of Human Cadavers)- by Mary Roach

I'm reading it now and it's quite interesting and funny. I suppose it's a bit on the medical side but it's written by an outsider so it's different.

 

[nlax30]

Stiff (The Curious Life of Human Cadavers)- by Mary Roach

I'm reading it now and it's quite interesting and funny. I suppose it's a bit on the medical side but it's written by an outsider so it's different.

I also enjoyed that book. Light read but in general just an entertaining and "fun" (I guess in a weird way) read.

 

[Marthea007]

For horror I like John Saul and Dean Koontz. Although recently I started reading books by the guy who started the Body Farm down in Knoxville, Jefferson Bass books, and those are pretty good too.

 

[Thantis]

Tolkien's works are good. Also I highly recommend Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (she is a whacko). If you want stuff with current events in mind, then writings from Seymour Hersh are excellent. He is as close to a muckraker today as can be, similar to the esteemed Upton Sinclair of olden days.

Edit: Also remember Morality Play by Barry Unsworth. Its more along the lines of a medieval crime and mystery coupled with a bit of soul-searching of one's position in life. Man, I am deep. 😀

 

[meggielou]

Geek Love by Katherine Dunn isn't exactly a horror novel, but pretty close. It's the weirdest book I've ever read, and I'm a huge bookworm. Try that. Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides is really good too (has a lot of medical stuff in it), and The Shining is really good too.

 

[meggielou]

oh, duh, I just remembered the whole class I took on Gothic Lit. Dracula is a classic, and a really good read. So is The Monk by Matthew Gregory Lewis

 

[Tepi]

Not horror, but still good times:

Master & Commander by Patrick O' Brian (It takes a couple of chapters to get used to his writing style.)

And picking up a case or two of Sherlock Holmes is always fun.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

Meggielou = goth chick

 

[MLT2MT2DO]

If you like the "Harry Potter" "Lord of the Rings" fantasy bunch, I'd suggest The Bartimeaus Triology by Jonathan Stroud. It is under young adult reading but I believe it is because of the genre, the vocabulary says otherwise.

 

[JiggerDigger]

'Handling Sin' by Michael Malone and 'A confederacy of Dunces' by Russo were two of the funniest books i have ever read.

Incidentally, Atul Gawande's 'Complications' was a brilliant book, 'Better' was good as well, but not quite as good.

Enjoy your free time.

I, too, am trying to fit in some non-medical reading while on break.

 

[Terpskins99]

For a quickie fix, I like Michael Crichton.

 

[tideleonheart]

It's explaining why every presidential candidate is only about very, very minor "change." It's also about what the founding fathers intended for America: a peaceful country of freedom and liberty. It explains how far we've deviated from true freedom and liberty... in a really deep, thought provoking book.

The Revolution by Ron Paul

I'm LOVING it so far!! I highly recommend it, and it's only a little under 200 pages!

 

[meggielou]

Meggielou = goth chick

haha, Tex, you know me well. They actually wrote this about me: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=goth+girl

 

[FourMoreYears]

I know it's medical, but it is a must read for any MD/DO/PA/NP/RN/etc.

House of God by Samuel Shem. 👍

Read it before you start your training and read it after you are done. You will be quoting the "fat man" for the rest of your medical career.

 

[fireflygirl]

Do a search on summer reading list - I know I've commented on at least two other threads and of coure, you'll find a whole new list of books!

 

[papillon2]

Here is another must read for you...

Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder

 

[nlax30]

Or you can just impress all your classmates by having this read over the summer:

 

[Terpskins99]

Or you can just impress all your classmates by having this read over the summer:

Oh, please. That is an outdated text.

Slackers.