2016 summer reading for compassionate clinicians

compiled by Molly Olmsted

Here are a few 2015 and 2016 releases we’re looking forward to reading this Summer! What’s on your to-read list?

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi This New York Times Best-seller was written by a 35 year-old who was a neurosurgical resident when a diagnosis of Stage IV metastatic lung cancer set his life on an unexpected path. Part memoir, part musings on life, death, and meaning; this book may be short, but its story and message will stay with you long after you flip the last page.

Into the Magic Shop by James Doty An inspiring story of Doty’s meager beginnings and the tools and methods he discovered to propel his life forward. Today he is the director of the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education (CCARE) at Stanford University, of which the Dalai Lama is a founding benefactor.

Gratitude by Oliver Sacks In the two years prior to his death in August 2015, Oliver Sacks wove four brilliant essays on life, death and what it means to have led a good life. In this collection of those essays, Sacks’ timeless writing emanates immense gratitude for being allotted time on this earth as he comes to terms with his own mortality.

Violation by Sallie Tisdale Tisdale was an early pioneer of medical story-telling with eight books to her name. Her most recent, Violation, is a collection of essays that spans 30 years. Touching on ethical and moral issues throughout, Tisdale casts the everyday of medicine in a new light.

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman Though not directly related to the medical field, A Man Called Ove reminds us that everyone has their own story and taking the time to listen can make an immense impact.

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee The latest from the author of “Emperor of Maladies” is about the human genome. Mukherjee weaves science, history and his own personal narrative to explore what it means for humanity when we can dictate nature.

 See more recommended books about medical culture

This post was written by Molly Olmsted, intern at the Arnold P. Gold Foundation Research Institute. Molly is a 2015 graduate of Whitman College where she studied Biology and Chemistry. She currently works at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute as a clinical research coordinator and hopes to attend medical school in the future.