Category Archives: Non-Fiction: Medicine

April 19, 2023 · 8:18 pm

Quackery by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen

Quackery by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen

The humor and sarcasm surrounding all the facts in Quackery is what makes it such an enjoyable book. A couple of the later chapters were mostly missing that humor and I found that part rather dreadful to read. The humor came back before the end of the book, though. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys learning about the history of medicine.

4 (out of 5) Stars
Books Read in 2023: 45
Pages Read in 2023: 15,011

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February 28, 2019 · 2:23 pm

Women Under the Knife by Ann Dally

Surgery was pretty crazy in the 1800s and early 1900s and Women Under the Knife discusses cases and opinions related to it. I’m not sure if the author was trying to make the point that surgeons operated on both men and women so it really wasn’t significant that women underwent more surgeries than men (the majority of the additional surgeries were gynecological) or that men, and particularly male surgeons, were misogynists and so operated so much on women for that reason. Sometimes it felt like she was making one of those points and sometimes the other and that she didn’t really make either point in the end. It was often dreadfully boring and read like someone’s doctoral thesis. When she was discussing case studies, however, it was fabulous and very interesting. She really should have stuck more to those. I don’t really recommend or not recommend this book either way. It would probably be best skimmed to just read about the surgical cases.

3 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2019: 24
Pages Read in 2019: 7024
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August 2, 2017 · 2:43 pm

The Driscoll Theory by Diana Driscoll

Diana Driscoll and her kids were diagnosed with EDS and POTS. She decided to start testing remedies to see what could be used to help others like themselves. She found several natural remedies as well as a few pharmaceutical ones that help various issues related to EDS/POTS. The book outlines what her research has revealed. I found it very interesting and saw my 17-year-old daughter, who has been diagnosed with EDS and POTS among other things, in the descriptions. We will definitely be talking to her doctor about some of Dr. Driscoll’s findings. The only thing I did not like about was the excessive praise for Dr. Driscoll and The Driscoll Theory throughout the book. It just wasn’t necessary and felt weird every time it showed up. I highly recommend this book for people with EDS/POTS and their caregivers.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2017: 107
Pages Read in 2017: 29,533
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January 12, 2016 · 6:56 am

The Nurses by Alexandra Robbins

The Nurses: A Year of Secrets, Drama, and Miracles with the Heroes of the Hospital by Alexandra Robbins follows the stories of a few nurses working in a handful of hospitals in one unnamed local area. In between the (very short) stories about the nurses’ days are essays on everything from drug abuse in the nursing community to “eating their young” to ridiculous patient satisfaction surveys to what people can do while in the hospital to make it easier on nurses. Some of these essays are interesting. Some are boring. Some are so incredibly longer than they need to be. Overall, the book was extremely well written. It just would have been much better if there were fewer/shorter essays and more nursing stories.

3 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2016: 2
Pages Read in 2016: 583
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December 28, 2015 · 10:57 am

Discover Magazine’s Vital Signs

Discover Magazine’s long-running column, Vital Signs, has long been one of the magazine’s most popular. This book is a collection of 40 of the best Vital Signs columns. If you enjoy reading about puzzling medical cases, watching shows like Mystery Diagnosis, or are a fan of Vital Signs, you will love this book.

5 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2015: 120
Pages Read in 2015: 35,175
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November 19, 2014 · 4:15 pm

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks

The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat by Oliver Sacks, a British neurologist, is a collection of clinical stories mostly from the 60s and 70s. Each chapter begins with the story of a person to give an example of some interesting clinical findings. These range from the man who could not distinguish faces at all and literally tried to pick his wife’s head up as if she was a hat to twins who did not understand the concept of math but could come up with prime numbers 20 digits long to a man who, in his old age, believed it was 1945 and he was 19. The stories are, for the most part, fascinating. Occasionally Sacks went into the minute details of the illnesses and his findings. This often caused my attention to wander. Overall, the book is very interesting for anyone interested in medicine or the way the mind works.

4 (out of 5) Stars

Books Read in 2014: 115
Pages Read in 2014: 22,018
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