Between the World and Me, by Ta-Nehisi Coates, published by Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, in 2015
This book is written as a letter from the author, an African-American journalist to his teenaged son, in this era of frequent discussions about racial relations and the recent killings of black people, by law enforcement officers. The book is a gift, a gift to his son, as the author explains his view of the…
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Published by Corcovado, 2016
My good friend from medical school forwarded me an article called Before I Go published in the Spring 2015 Stanford Medicine magazine. It was written so beautifully by a young neurosurgeon that it made me tear up. Dr. Kalanithi majored in English and biology at Stanford and then got a master’s in English literature before attending Yale School of Medicine. This…
Before It’s Too Late: A Parent’s Guide on Teens, Sex, and Sanity
Before It’s Too Late: A Parent’s Guide on Teens, Sex, and Sanity meets the urgent need to proactively reach adults before their teen is in crisis. The book will educate and wake up parents who would recoil at the thought that their teen could become pregnant at the age of 14 or contract a sexually transmitted disease…
How To Raise An Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success by Julie Lythcott-Haims, Henry Holt and Company, 2015
In the introduction to this book, the author remembers that “by the time I stepped down as dean at Stanford in 2012 I had interacted not only with a tremendous number of parents but with students who seemed increasingly reliant upon their parents in ways that felt, simply, off.” “Helicopter parenting” , “invasive parenting”, and…
CAN’T WE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING MORE PLEASANT? By Roz Chast – a book review
Are your parents aging? Are you trying to attend to their needs, perhaps to their medical crises, while working and raising children? Or, are you wondering what will happen when your parents can no longer take care of themselves? If so, you are not alone and Roz Chast‘s memoir “Can’t we talk about something more…
What the Dog Saw, and Other Adventures, by Malcolm Gladwell
Every time I’m on vacation, I bring a book to read but never seemed to finish it. The vacation destination takes my mind off the book and I end up savoring every waking minute exploring the new area. Over the holidays, however, my habit changed. I started reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “What the Dog Saw” halfway into the flight…
Our Kids, the American Dream in Crisis — Reflections on Dr. Robert D. Putnam’s Book
Several days ago, my husband and I went to a gathering at Georgetown University to meet a group of premed undergraduate students all from the Georgetown Scholarship Program (GSP), a program for low income students. I had read about these students in the summer in a Washington Post article. The reporter, Daureen Brown, told a…
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery by Dr. Henry Marsh, published by St. Martin’s Press, 2014
In the Acknowledgements section of this book, British neurosurgeon Dr. Henry Marsh starts with this sentiment: “I hope that my patients and colleagues will forgive me for writing this book.” Why would this be? As a physician, I found his many stories of serious illness, tragic consequences of surgery, and ethical dilemmas profound and not unlike many…
Black Man in a White Coat: A Doctor’s Reflection on Race and Medicine. Damon Tweedy, M.D.
I was excited to read this personal account of race in the medical profession, and it did not disappoint. Dr.Tweedy, a Duke-trained psychiatrist, discusses his experiences from medical school through his training in a white-dominated system. He discusses both his class- and race-based insecurities, being less financially advantaged than his peers. He reviews the disparities…
The Organized Mind: Thinking Straight in the Age of Information Overload by Dr. Daniel J. Levitin
Did you know that checking your email multiple times a day drains your brain of power and ability to make proper decisions? In fact, just knowing you have an email waiting for you lowers your IQ by 10 points. In this fascinating book full of scientific facts on the neural networks and processing in the brain, Dr….