Recent Current Events Nonfiction: Pandemic, Plague, and the Dying Days of Trump

I'm still slowly trying to get back into the writing-about-books swing of things! Did I mention we moved New York apartments the month before moving German apartments? Yeah, I'm still fucking exhausted. And I've been reading a lot more slowly but still reading, and although I have no brainpower for full reviews, here are some... Continue Reading →

The Science (And Profit) of Food Addiction

Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions, by Michael Moss Food resonates so large in our memory because food looms so large in our lives. The act of eating touches everything we experience, everywhere we go, everyone we know, and everything we feel. As much as we are what we... Continue Reading →

A Sobering Look at America’s Physician Culture

Uncaring: How the Culture of Medicine Kills Doctors and Patients, by Robert Pearl My desire [... ] isn't to castigate the culture, belabor its shortcomings, or embarrass individual doctors. Instead, my hope is to improve healthcare delivery in our nation, evolve physician culture, and restore the joys that have been stripped from the profession. Robert... Continue Reading →

Debunking Medical Myth and “Viral BS”

Dr. Seema Yasmin is an MD, epidemiologist, and former disease detective with the Centers for Disease Control (cool job alert) who works in health journalism, doing what NHS doctor Ben Goldacre has implored other doctors and scientists to do: "translating" dense medical studies and scientific data so that the general public can more easily understand... Continue Reading →

Medical Nonfiction for Lay Readers

There was a time I didn't want to read one word about bodies or medicine, but maybe because of developing chronic health issues myself, or again living in the US uninsured, but as I mentioned in my first Nonfiction November post, I've been drawn to medical-related nonfiction lately. Here are three targeted at lay readers... Continue Reading →

Past and Future of the Pandemic

Apollo's Arrow, by Nicholas A. Christakis (Bookshop.org) It seemed to me that the novel coronavirus was a threat that was both wholly new and deeply ancient. Yale sociologist, public health educator, and former hospice physician Nicholas A. Christakis's Apollo's Arrow covers the coronavirus pandemic, drawing comparisons to previous plagues and pandemics from history and mythology,... Continue Reading →

A Scientific Argument for Leaving Our Skin Alone

Book review: Clean: The New Science of Skin, by James Hamblin (Amazon) James Hamblin is a doctor of preventive medicine and staff writer at The Atlantic. His latest book, Clean: The New Science of Skin, looks at the mix of confusing messaging around what actually works in skincare, the scientific limits of products against their purported... Continue Reading →

Looking Back and Ahead From the Age of Resistance

Biography of Resistance: The Epic Battle Between People and Pathogens, by Muhammad H. Zaman, PhD (Amazon / Book Depository) Muhammad H. Zaman is a researcher and professor of biomedical engineering and international health at Boston University. In Biography of Resistance he traces the evolution of superbugs, namely how strains of bacteria have become resistant to... Continue Reading →

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