What books are good to read?

[VeggieForce]

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I am 17, turning 18 in 4 days. Senior in High School. I used to read as a young kid, but now I don't do that anymore. However, I used to enjoy reading, and I think I probably would still enjoy reading, but I guess I'm too lazy now. I miss those days and I want to start reading again now which would also help build my vocab and analytical skills. And while I do read, why not read books that help me with the MCAT? Will reading any genre of books help me on the MCAT? I want to read the Artemis Fowl series since I read one book called "The Supernaturalists"from the same author and I enjoyed it a long time ago. Will reading these types of books help me or am I supposed to read more complicated stuff in order to build my vocab?

**I'm not reading solely to build my vocab. I want to start reading for the enjoyment, but also benefit myself by building vocab and critical reading skills. Kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
I like action/adventure books

 

[Forthegood]

Reading will not help you on the MCAT. Read for fun, the more you read, the faster you'll get, and that will help you both on the MCAT and in med school.

Read some Atul Gawande... people eat him up.

If I were in your shoes though, I'd read some classics. I miss those more than the useless pseudo-medical books.

 

[MilkmanAl]

I've always thought Gawande is pretty overrated. His books are interesting but not the amazing literature some people would like to believe they are. Read whatever strikes your fancy.

 

[Forthegood]

I totally agree Milkman. But I figure for a newbie, they are talked about enough to warrant a read.

 

[MilkmanAl]

Very true.

 

[Lil Mick]

I do think that reading can improve MCAT performance, if only by exposing someone to different style and genres of writing. Poe and Steinbeck helped build my vocabulary as a child, as did Solzhenitzyn and Dostoevsky. If you're looking to delve into areas of physics, mathematics, or biology which interest you, there are some good prices for books on Amazon (Dover puts out a good series for math and physics).

The MCAT is basically a critical thinking exam, and, as long as you know the basics from your courses (or own reading), you should be able to figure out many questions based on the passage information. Reading widely seemed to help me with the verbal and the writing sections, especially (no course or test prep).

Good luck 🙂

 

[deleted316655]

I don't think that basing your current reading interests on past experiences is going to be very helpful. I know that I personally thought Artemis Fowl was pretty good when I was younger, but I wouldn't be able to finish the books now. You should read something that interests you. What genre do you like?

 

[VeggieForce]

I love science fiction and action/adventure hence Artemis Fowl. However, research books, biographies..anything of that nature I hate.

 

[DrMaximus]

Reading will not help you on the MCAT. Read for fun, the more you read, the faster you'll get, and that will help you both on the MCAT and in med school.

Read some Atul Gawande... people eat him up.

If I were in your shoes though, I'd read some classics. I miss those more than the useless pseudo-medical books.

I recommend "Complications" by him. I'm reading it right now and I really like it.

 

[orangeANDgreen]

José Saramago's books really help build vocab. Blindness, seeing, death with interruptions were all awesome books

 

[Long Way to Go]

Reading medical books is fine (Gawande in particular is terrific), but medicine will consume your life when you get to medical school. Why just read those?

The BBC published a nice list in 2003. The books there are all fantastic. Definitely give them a read.

 

[Forthegood]

I've actually been reading a lot of the old Sherlock Holmes books and books about the stock market lately. I find the attention to detail in the former very similar to medicine and the latter is just out of interest.

Not that I don't have enough to read with school...

 

[mmmcdowe]

Read Nuland, he writes pretty (a tad opinionated but what historian isn't?) good history books and ties them into ethics.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwin_B._Nuland

 

[BillySimmons]

I read Sandeep Jauhar's book Intern not too long ago...really opened my eyes as to what the first year after medical school will look like.

 

[Overload]

I love reading. Due to the fact that I'm so busy, I really regret sometimes I don't tae time reading. Nonetheless, I've started reading the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. I once started two years ago, but never finished. Now I'm determined to this thick pile.

Other than that, I love reading non-fiction books. Especially concerning medicine, but also (auto)biographies about business leaders, politicians, etcetera. One book I loved was 'Healing from the Heart' of Dr. Oz. It really opened my eyes about the use of eastern medicine into western medicine, and opposite. I used to be kind of reluctant to eastern treatments, perhaps even still, but I found it very interesting to read.

 

[MOHS_01]

The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek and Our Enemy, the State by Albert J. Nock. Both are quick and easy reads. Medical education will inundate you with very specific reading -- it is better to broaden your horizons prior to matriculation.

 

[SeekerofTruth]

Read books your AP english class is reading.
Crime and Punishment
Fahrenheit 451
Dawn
The Great Gatsby
The Catcher in the Rye
Hamlet
Catch-22
The Scarlet Letter

 

[Sunshine120]

I'm an English major, so I tend to be a bit biased towards the classics, but here goes:
- Farenheit 451 is great, providing you are a strong reader
- Of Mice and Men: not necessarily nonstop action, but still compelling (and great for vocab)
- Brave New World: a sci fi take on realms of utopia and dystopia
- The Crucible: tale about the Salem witchhunts (Written by Marylin Monroe's one-time husband. Go figure)
- Frankenstein: pretty self-explanatory, though I will say that the vocab is what makes the story a challenge
- Animal Farm: another challenging piece that deals with socialism
-Breakfast of Champions: it's pretty wacky stuff (cars that have sex, cloning in soup, aliens...), but the real challenge is exploring how the author presents themes of pollution, sex, technology and capitalism. Funny and surprisingly enlightening
-Slaughterhouse Five: much like Breakfast of Champions

 

[Terpskins99]

I recommend "Complications" by him. I'm reading it right now and I really like it.

"Better" is better. 😉

 

[deleted357625]

captain underpants😍

 

[shopsteward]

Some readable modern sci-fi with interesting scientific/philosophic ideas behind it is Iain M Bank's Culture series. "The Player of Games" isn't the first, but they are pretty much stand-alones and I think that one might be a good entry point, possibly followed by "Excession". Neither of these is over-long, although some others in the series are proper doorstoppers.

 

[QuizzicalApe]

Some readable modern sci-fi with interesting scientific/philosophic ideas behind it is Iain M Bank's Culture series. "The Player of Games" isn't the first, but they are pretty much stand-alones and I think that one might be a good entry point, possibly followed by "Excession". Neither of these is over-long, although some others in the series are proper doorstoppers.

I love the Culture series.

OP, my reading advice to you is as follows:

read anything that interests you. Don't worry about expanding your knowledge of medicine via your leisure reading, you'll have shadowing, volunteering, and obsessive reading of SDN for that. Don't worry about forcefully propping up your vocabulary, either.

If you surround yourself with books you love, you'll be able to read all the time. If you read hungrily, you'll build your vocabulary despite yourself and you'll become comfortable with reading and even writing.

That's the real secret to making the MCAT verbal go down smooth: love reading and get used to it. It's just useless to tell it to people taking the MCAT because that ship had sailed.