Summer is well underway, and there’s no better time to sit back with a good book. Here is a list of some of my favorites I have come across over the years. We will start with Non- Fiction.
If you enjoy medical reading, Atul Gawande has two excellent books; “Better- A Surgeon”s Notes on Performance” and “Complications- A Surgeon’s Notes on An Imperfect Science”: They are fascinating tales of the realities in medicine. Anyone with any medical background will especially loves these easy reading books. Dr. Groopman also has a great read called ” How Doctors Think” . You will never look at medicine and doctors the same way after reading this.
If business readings interest you, I suggest Malcolm Gladwell’s 3 books: The Tipping Point”, Blink, and Outliers” He supports all of his claims with extensive research, and is very insightful. These are classic business books in the business/ self -help arena.
Want to lighten it up? try “Bringing Down The House”,by Ben Mezrich. The movie for this was “21″. It is great for anyone that enjoys gambling, particularly blackjack. Very easy reading.
One of the most touching books I have read in a long time is by Randy Pausch. He wrote “The Last lecture”.He is a professor loved by all his students giving his last lecture, as he is terminally ill with pancretic cancer. This really puts life in perspective.
Want something a little more refreshing? Try Rich Carlson’s “Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff With Your Family”. Nice to know simple things can keep us grounded.
A quick educational read, and really one of my favorites is “The 100- A Ranking of The Most Influential Persons In History”,by our own, local Mike Hart. His bio/resume makes me feel like an idiot! He ranks, strickly by his opinion, the 100 people in order who he perceives to be the most influential, then goes on to substantiate those claims. It is 3-4 page excerpts of famous people, from Jesus to Einstein, Hitler, Merconi, etc…
On to fiction;
Mitch Album, the sports writer for The Detroit Free Press” has written “5 People You Meet In Heaven”, “One More Day” and “Tuesday’s With Maury”. I will warn you, they are tear- jerkers. I could not finish “Tuesday’s…” as it was too sad for me. The other two are great 2 hour reads.
Robin Cook- has written so many great books over the years. They are medical mystery thrillers. They include “Coma”, Blindsight , Harmful Intent, Acceptable Risk, etc… too many to name. They pull you in and you wont stop until you are finished.
Last is my absoulte favorite author, Greg Iles. He is truly genious. He is the only author I have ever written that you simply cannot figure out who did it until it is disclosed at the final 10 pages of the book. His writting is gripping. The order to read his books, since ther are some character repeats, is as follows;
Mortal Fear, The Quiet Game, Dead Sleep, Sleep No More, Blood Memory, Turning Angel, True Evil, Footprints of God, and 3rd Degree. I am now reading his most recent release ” The Devil’s Punchbowl”. I promise you, you will get hooked and will just keep reading his work.
I look forward to seeing you in my office, and feel free to share your experience with these recommendations, or any you may have.
Happy Summer!