Health & Medicine

The Health & Medicine Collection showcases hand-picked fiction and nonfiction titles that focus on the physical and mental health of the human body. This diverse Collection represents the breadth of literature examining human health throughout history, from nonfiction accounts of historical epidemics to novels whose protagonists face mental health conditions.

Publication year 1999

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Gratitude, Natural World: Animals, Natural World: Climate, Natural World: Environment, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags History: U.S., Health / Medicine, Animals, Action / Adventure, Children's Literature, History: World, Biography


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Self Discovery, Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help, Health / Medicine, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 2017

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil

Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Anthropology, Anthropology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Health / Medicine, Grief / Death, Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy

Being Mortal, Atul Gawande's New York Times best seller, was published in 2014. Gawande, an American surgeon and public health researcher, has written a series of articles, essays, and books that probe the US health care industry. His first book, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, was a finalist for the National Book Award, and he followed it in 2007 with Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance. Throughout his work, Gawande offers his... Read Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine and what Matters in the End Summary


Publication year 2007

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Health / Medicine, Science / Nature, Business / Economics

Harvard-educated Dr. Atul Gawande is a staff writer for The New Yorker, a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and founder of two nonprofits aimed at innovating surgical practices around the world. He wrote Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance to explore the attributes that make a good doctor. Published in 2007 as a follow-up to his 2002 National Book Award Finalist Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science, Better explores “how situations of... Read Better Summary


Publication year 2021

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Emotions/Behavior: Fear, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance

Tags Travel Literature, Health / Medicine, Biography


Publication year 2000

Genre Poem, Fiction

Themes Life/Time: Aging, Life/Time: Mortality & Death

Tags Health / Medicine, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), History: U.S., African American Literature, Gender / Feminism, American Literature, Classic Fiction


Publication year 2009

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Race, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose

Tags Sports, Health / Medicine, Science / Nature, Action / Adventure, Travel Literature, Anthropology, Finance / Money / Wealth, Biography


Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Globalization, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Society: Economics, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Science / Nature, Health / Medicine, Business / Economics, Journalism, Politics / Government


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Masculinity, Identity: Sexuality, Identity: Gender

Tags Parenting, Gender / Feminism, Love / Sexuality, Sociology, Psychology, Psychology, Self Help, Health / Medicine


Publication year 2012

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Music

Tags Psychology, Mental Illness, Science / Nature, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Biography

Brain on Fire (2012) is a memoir by New York Post writer Susannah Cahalan that details her struggle with a rare autoimmune disease, anti-NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis. Cahalan recollects the journey through illness that took her from a normal, 24-year-old journalist to a misdiagnosed psychotic patient, and back again. In 2018, Netflix released a film based on Cahalan’s story, produced by Cahalan and Charlize Theron.Plot SummaryCahalan wakes in a hospital with no understanding of how she... Read Brain On Fire Summary


Publication year 2012

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Self Discovery, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: New Age

Tags Psychology, Religion / Spirituality, Health / Medicine, Philosophy


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Health / Medicine, Self Help, Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, by James Nestor, is a comprehensive treatise on breathing. It combines a journalistic approach with studies in anthropology, biochemistry, human physiology, psychology, and pulmonology to unpack the different techniques of inhaling and exhaling throughout human history and in different societies. With its first publication in 2020, Breath was a bestseller in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and Sunday London Times and will... Read Breath Summary


Publication year 2020

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Self Discovery, Society: Community

Tags Self Help, Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 1987

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Order & Chaos, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Natural World: Space & The Universe, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology

Tags Science / Nature, Philosophy, Business / Economics, Animals, Health / Medicine, Technology, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy


Publication year 2015

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice

Tags Sociology, Health / Medicine, Politics / Government, Social Justice, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Science / Nature, History: World, Psychology, Psychology

Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs is a 2015 work of investigative nonfiction by British-Swiss author Johann Hari. Hari explores the so-called international war on drugs by looking deeply into its historical roots, its legal and social implications, and the possibility for reform. He examines addiction and the consequences of past and present drug laws across nine continents and 30,000 miles. A major focus is the criminalization and... Read Chasing the Scream Summary


Publication year 2006

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Life/Time: Childhood & Youth

Tags Food, Sociology, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Science / Nature, History: World, Health / Medicine

Chew On This: Everything You Don’t Want To Know About Fast Food, co-written by Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson, aims to show young readers “the ripple effect near and far” of the fast food industry (199). Schlosser and Wilson go on to show that fast food can affect consumers on the immediate level of their own bodies and on the less obvious level of destroying indigenous food cultures.In the Introduction, Schlosser and Wilson describe the... Read Chew On This Summary


Publication year 1986

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Forgiveness, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Marriage, Self Discovery, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Psychology, Mental Illness, Self Help, Psychology, Relationships, Health / Medicine, Religion / Spirituality


Publication year 2015

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Identity: Femininity, Identity: Sexuality, Relationships: Marriage, Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Joy

Tags Gender / Feminism, Science / Nature, Health / Medicine, Relationships, Self Help, Love / Sexuality, Women's Studies (Nonfiction), Psychology, Psychology


Publication year 2002

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies

Tags Health / Medicine, Science / Nature, Biography

Atul Gawande’s Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science is a collection of essays that weaves narratives from Gawande’s personal experience as a surgical resident together with research, philosophy, and case studies in medicine. Published in 2002, Complications became a 2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction. Gawande, a Rhodes Scholar and MacArthur Fellow, is a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at... Read Complications Summary