Tag: medicine

Delivered from Distraction: New Health Books in the Collection

Kath

If you have health questions, are looking for more in-depth information or just have curiosity about health topics in general, we’ve got a robust selection of new books for you to delve into on the subject of health.  Take a look at these:

Delivered from distraction : getting the most out of life with attention deficit disorder / Hallowell, Edward M
“In 1994, Driven to Distraction sparked a revolution in our understanding of attention deficit disorder. Widely recognized as the classic in the field, the book has sold more than a million copies. Now a second revolution is under way in the approach to ADD, and the news is great. Drug therapies, our understanding of the role of diet and exercise, even the way we define the disorder – all are changing radically. And doctors are realizing that millions of adults suffer from this condition, though the vast majority of them remain undiagnosed and untreated.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Migraine / Sacks, Oliver W
“Migraine is an age-old — the first recorded instances date back over two thousand years — and often debilitating condition, affecting a ‘substantial minority’ of the population across the globe. In this book, Oliver Sacks offers at once a medical account of its occurrence and management; an exploration of its physical, physiological, and psychological underpinnings and consequences; and a meditation on the nature and experience of health and illness.” (Catalogue)

Box of birds : what New Zealand taught me about life and the practice of medicine / Stowers, Stephen
“In this fascinating memoir, cardiologist Stephen Stowers eloquently captures the various changes that he has lived through over a lifetime spent as a caring and ethical medical professional. He also shows how he found refuge in another country, where he was able to practice medicine in a more ethical fashion once again and explains to us the surprising truth that he discovered there: New Zealand has better patient outcomes yet spends less money on healthcare, compared with a country such as the US. Doctors, nurses, medical professionals of all kinds, and anybody who has been a patient and wondered what has gone wrong in American medicine and how to help put things right again should read this book.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

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There’s a Cure for This – New Health Books in the Collection

Kath

We all worry about our health from time to time; it’s completely normal.  Thankfully there are lots of good books written on the topic from people who have had similar experiences or worries.  We’ve got a good crop for you this month in our new books in the collection.  Here are just a few of the new titles available.

There’s a cure for this : a memoir / Espiner, Emma
“From award-winning writer Dr Emma Espiner comes this striking and profound debut memoir. Encompassing whānau, love, death, ’90s action movies and scarfie drinking, There’s a cure for this is Espiner’s own story, from a childhood spent shuttling between a ‘purple lesbian state house and a series of man-alone rentals’ to navigating parenthood on her own terms; from the quietly perceived inequities of her early life to hard-won revelations as a Māori medical student and junior doctor during the Covid-19 pandemic. Clear, irreverent and beautiful, this book offers a candid and moving examination of what it means to be human when it seems like nothing less than superhuman will do.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

Allergic : our irritated bodies in a changing world / MacPhail, Theresa
“Hay fever. Peanut allergies. Eczema. Either you have a frustrating allergy, or you know someone who does. Billions of people worldwide–an estimated 30 to 40 percent of the global population–have some form of allergy; millions have one severe enough to actively endanger their health. Medical anthropologist Theresa MacPhail, herself an allergy sufferer whose father died of a bee sting, set out to understand why. This book is a holistic examination of the phenomenon of allergies from its first medical description in 1819 to the mind-bending recent development of biologics and immunotherapies that are giving the most severely impacted patients hope.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

The wellness trap : break free from diet culture, disinformation, and dubious diagnoses–and find your true well-being / Harrison, Christy
“”It’s not a diet, it’s a lifestyle.” You’ve probably heard this phrase from any number of people in the wellness space. But as Christy Harrison reveals in her latest book, wellness culture promotes a standard of health that is often both unattainable and deeply harmful. Many people with chronic illness understandably feel dismissed or abandoned by the healthcare system and find solace in alternative medicine, as Harrison once did. Weaving together history, memoir, reporting, and practical advice, Harrison illuminates the harms of wellness culture while re-imagining our society’s relationship with well-being.” (Adapted from Catalogue)

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Top 100 Non-Fiction books from 2022

Tess

Highlights of 2022

Our list of the top 100 non-fiction books for 2022 includes the best in memoirs and biographies, poetry, local history, science and technology, health, cooking, music, art and architecture. We’ve selected an eclectic mix of acclaimed local authors, New York Times Bestsellers, Pulitzer prize winners and breakthrough newcomers, meaning there’s plenty of choice for the deep-dive readers and coffee book lovers alike (and everyone in-between).

2022 Non-fiction Highlights — Browse the full list
Browse the full list with all our picks, or browse just the topic you enjoy!

I'm glad my mom died / Jeanette McCurdyMy fourth time, we drowned / Sally HaydenAs ever, the compelling human stories encompassing grief, love, personal trauma and strengths of character shine through, with a hearty selection of memoirs and biographies to choose from, including Sally Hayden’s critically acclaimed My fourth time, we drowned. Topping our most heavily reserved new non-fiction title of 2022 was Jennette McCurdy’s hit memoir I’m glad my mom died. A little further off the beaten path, was Hua Hsu’s ‘quietly wrenching’ coming-of-age memoir Stay True, and the visual delight of Kate Beaton’s graphic memoir Ducks: two years in the oil sands.

Contributions to the local poetry scene were beautifully espoused in Khadro Mohamed’s We’re all made of lightning and in the visual expressions of the poet/painter collaboration within Bordering on Miraculous. Shining locally likewise, the great architectural designs in Making Space and HomeGround, which highlight design as a conduits to push social boundaries in Aotearoa New Zealand communities.

Regenesis / by George MonbiotCalls for climate awareness were made riveting in The Alarmist, Nomad Century and Regenesis. Our oceans were also a focal point for many this year, and explored in great depth, with Jellyfish age backwards, Secrets of the Sea and in Adrift: the curious tale of Lego lost at sea, among others.

The collapse of historic empires, stories of divided nations and political parties in turmoil were explored in a multitude of ways in the vast array of global history titles featured on our list. Included are Legacy of Violence: A history of the British Empire by Pulitzer prize winning Historian Caroline Elkins, and Fragments of a contested past: Remembrance, denial and New Zealand history by Joanna Kidman.

Wawata: Moon Dreaming / by Hinemoa ElderWe let the world’s first astronomers take us on a star gazing tour, and found daily wisdom in Hinemoa Elder’s Wawata: Moon Dreaming. Cap off 2022 by allowing yourself to become enveloped in worlds both near and far, and understand our past, present and future within the Top 100 non-fiction books of 2022 list. Pair with our Top 100 fiction books list, and you’re all set for your Summer Reading Adventure.

Medical tales that are more intense than detective stories

Xinxin

Medical jobs are usually intense rather than entertaining – apart from what happens on Shortland Street, and in these books! This blog features unique books about the pain, the humour and the detective-work required in the medical profession, and the extraordinary lives of doctors and nurses.

Undoctored : the story of a medic who r an outof patients / Kay, Adam
“This is Going to Hurt was read by millions, translated into 37 languages, and adapted into a major BBC television series. Adam Kay again have you in stitches in his painfully funny and startlingly powerful follow-up. In his most honest and incisive book, battered and bruised from his time on the NHS frontline, Kay wrote hilarious, heart-breaking, horrifying, humbling, and astonishing portrait of a life.” (Adapted from catalogue)

The flying doctor / Baldwin, Dave
“Second book after ‘Healthy bastards’, this time with his misadventures, escapades and high jinks from a life of medicine, aviation and hunting. From his early years struggling with dyslexia to graduating from med school, from learning to fly and joining the New Zealand Air Force to becoming a cardiologist at Palmerston North Hospital and setting up a general practice in Bulls. Well known for his eccentric personalist and unmistakably Kiwi turn of phrase, author tells a story that’s as highly entertaining and unique. ” (Adapted from catalogue)

Every patient tells a story : medical mysteries and the art of diagnosis / Sanders, Lisa
“This work presents an unflinching look inside the detective story that marks nearly every illness – the diagnosis and dilemmas that reveals the combination of uncertainty and intrigue that doctors face when confronting patients who are sick or dying. A healthy young man suddenly loses his memory; a young woman lies dying in the ICU—bleeding, jaundiced, incoherent—and none of her doctors know what is killing her.” (Adapted from Amazon.com)

The deadly dinner party and other medical detective stories / Edlow, Jonathan A
“Real-life medical detective stories, practicing physician and award-winning author shows the doctor as detective in stories that are as gripping as the best thrillers. A notorious stomach bug turns a suburban dinner party into a disaster that almost claims its host; a diminutive woman eats more than her football-playing boyfriend but continually loses weight; an executive is diagnosed with lung cancer, yet the tumors seem gone. ” (Adapted from catalogue)

The unexpected patient / McInnes, Himali
“The Unexpected Patient tells the stories of patients who impacted health carers in unforgettable ways: patients who showed stubborn perseverance on the road to recovery, who clung to hope in the face of unexpected trauma, and who illuminated the indomitable depths of the human spirit. The Unexpected Patient is about human relationships and the bonds forged between two people: a medic and that one, unforgettable patient.” (Adapted from catalogue)

The medicine : a doctor’s notes / Hitchcock, Karen
“In The Medicine, Dr Karen Hitchcock takes us to the frontlines of everyday treatment, turning her acute gaze to everything from the flu season to dementia, plastic surgery to the humble sick day. In an overcrowded, underfunded medical system, she explores how more of us can be healthier, and how listening carefully to a patient’s experience can be as important as prescribing a pill. These dazzling essays show Hitchcock to be one of the most fearless and illuminating medical thinkers of our time – reasonable, insightful and deeply humane.” (Adapted from catalogue)

The courage to care : a call for compassion / Watson, Christie
“Nurses have never been more important. We benefit from their expertise in our hospitals and beyond: in our schools, on our streets, in prisons, hospices and care homes. When we feel most alone, nurses remind us that we are not alone at all. We are all deserving of compassion, and as we share in each other’s suffering, Christie Watson shows us how we can find courage too. The courage to care.” (Adapted from catalogue)