10 Medicine and Wellness Books You Absolutely Must Read in 2023

Unlocking the Secrets to Medical and Wellness Wisdom

The topic of Medicine and Wellness is very broad. It affects us all, in ways we can't always see or appreciate. A few general subjects that fall under the umbrella of medicine and wellness would be healthcare, medicine/pharmaceuticals, diet and nutrition, exercise and mental health.

“Where the art of medicine is loved, there is also love for humanity” Hippocrates.

I think it's important to understand that medicine is not just about treating disease. It's about being proactive about your health and well-being so that you can avoid getting sick in the first place.

Here are 10 titles publishing soon that look promising. Pre-order at the link below.

1. And Finally: Matters of Life and Death by Henry Marsh (1/17) As a retired brain surgeon, Henry Marsh thought he understood illness, but he was unprepared for the impact of his diagnosis of advanced cancer.

2. Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O'Connell's Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People by Tracy Kidder (1/17) The story of Dr. Jim O'Connell, a gifted man who invented ways to create a community of care for a city's un-housed population, including those who sleep on the streets--the "rough sleepers."

3. How Medicine Works and When It Doesn't: Learning Who to Trust to Get and Stay Healthy by F Perry Wilson (1/24) Through stories from his own practice and historical case studies, Dr. F. Perry Wilson, a physician and researcher from the Yale School of Medicine, explains how and why the doctor-patient relationship has eroded in recent years and illuminates how profit-driven companies--from big Pharma to healthcare corporations--have corrupted what should have been medicine's golden age.

4. Healthy No Matter What: How Humans Are Hardwired to Adapt by Alex Jadad and Tamen Jadad-Garcia (1/31) A provocative manifesto that teaches you how to take control of your own health, no matter your age or circumstances--from an innovative doctor and his philosopher daughter.

5. OCME: Life in America's Top Forensic Medical Center by Bruce Goldfarb (2/21) Equipped with a journalist's eye, a paramedic's experience and a sardonic wit, Bruce Goldfarb spent ten years with Maryland's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, where every sudden or unattended death in the state is scrutinized.

6. Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER by Farzon A Nahvi (2/21) Code Gray is a narrative-driven medical memoir that places you directly in the crucible of urgent life-or-death decision-making, offering insights that can help us cope at a time when the world around us appears to be falling apart.

7. Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America's Blood Industry by Kathleen McLaughlin (2/28) "Blending memoir and reportage, journalist McLaughlin debuts with a disturbing look at the predatory nature of the blood plasma industry. A captivating and anguished exposé."

8. The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine by Ricardo Nuila (3/14) In The People's Hospital, physician Ricardo Nuila's stunning debut, we follow the lives of five uninsured Houstonians as their struggle for survival leads them to a hospital where insurance comes second to genuine care.

9. Dismissed: Tackling the Biases That Undermine Our Health Care by Angela Marshall and Kathy Palokoff (3/28) The only book on this subject written by a primary care doctor who is a woman of color, DISMISSED examines all forms of bias - those related to race and ethnicity, gender identity and sexual orientation, age, disabilities, obesity, and the increasing bias against science - instructing patients, doctors, and administrators alike on how we can all identify bias - and how we can all do better.

10. If It Sounds Like a Quack…: A Journey to the Fringes of American Medicine by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling (4/4) A bizarre, rollicking trip through the world of fringe medicine, filled with leeches, baking soda IVs, and, according to at least one person, zombies.

---

When I asked my readers on Instagram about their favorite nonfiction medical books, the response was amazing! Here are just a few of the “medical memoirs” they recommended.

• This Boy We Made: A Memoir of Motherhood, Genetics, and Facing the Unknown by Taylor Harris

• This Is Not a Pity Memoir by Abi Morgan

• The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir by Michele Harper

• I'm A Little Brain Dead by Kimberly Davis Basso

• Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health by Leana Wen

• Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

All the books mentioned, plus many more can be found here:

Have you read any of these books? Thoughts?

---

Links - Down The Rabbit Hole

• 17 Secret Slang Terms Your Doctor Might Be Using - Mental Floss

• As a Doctor, I See Aging Differently - New York Times

• Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America's Blood Industry - Kirkus Reviews

• An absurd and disturbing cancel campaign in public health - Boston Globe

---

Bookshop.org is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community. If you make a purchase using the links in this post, I will make a small commission. Thank you!