Discussion

Good reads

Nov 10, 200520 yr

I've read several medical books and now that christmas time is upon us, I'm gett ing the ever loved question, "So what do you want for christmas?" I've read "Why do men have nipples" an incredibly informative and funny book and "Stiff- the curious lives of human cadavers" which is also informative, I never knew that maggots feeding on a cadaver sounded like rice crispys lol. So my question to you guys is, what books have you read and what do you recommend?

P.S. I highly recommend the above books, the second however is not much for the weak of heart, which in this profession I'm sure is hard to find. lol:rotfl:

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Nov 10, 200520 yr

I just finished reading Chicken Soup For The Nurses Soul and it was wonderful! I had to stop reading it at my job because I would get teary eyed and when people walked in to the office they thought something was wrong...LOL!

Nov 11, 200520 yr

I would recommend "We Band of Angels". It is about the nurses who were part of the Bataan death march in the Philippines in WW2, and is an absolutely amazing story. I dont remember the authors name - my copy is loaned out , but i'm sure you could find it on Amazon, etc.

I have heard just a little about "Stiff" on all nurses and nowhere else. Is it really pretty good? i dont really gross out that easy...

Nov 11, 200520 yr

My med-surg clinical group gave "Stiff" to our clinical instructor as a parting gift and she loved it

I hope this thread keeps going--I am looking for good books to read!

Nov 11, 200520 yr

Author

Here is the chapter list for "Stiff"

1. A Head is a terrible thing to waste

practicing surgery on the dead

2. Crimes of anatomy

Body snatching and other sordid tales from the dawn of human dissection

3. Life after death

On human decay and what can be done about it

4. Dead man driving

Human crash test dummies and the ghastly, necessary science of impact tolerance

5. Beyond the black box

When the bodies of the passengers must tell the story of a crash

6. The cadaver who joined the army

The sticky ethics of bullets and bombs

7. Holy cadaver

The crucifixion experiments

8. How to know if your'e dead

Beating heart cadavers, live burial, and the scientific search for the soul

9. Just a head

Decapitation, reanimation, an the human head transplant

10. Eat me

Medicinal cannibalism and the case of the human dumplings

11. Out of the fire, into the compost bin

and other ways to end up

12. Remains of the author

Will she or won't she?

all in all its a very good read. it goes over some information no one would dare to touch. i was mesmerized by the information in this book. the author goes over many many subjects (as you can see from above) and in some cases goes into quite some detail. when she talks about the decomposition of a body she makes images in your mind of the smells, sounds, sights... stuff you want to know but really afraid to ask because people would find it quite disturbing. i highy recommend. i got it at borders for $15.

Nov 12, 200520 yr

"Tuesdays with Morrie" is a heartfelt bibliography about a man with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) who proves that the deterioration of the human body does not mean the deterioration of the human spirit. Cheezy I know, but definitely worth reading.

Somebody also recommended to me "Why Zebras Don't Get Cancer". I haven't had the chance to pick it up yet, but your welcome to read it and tell me what ya think

Nov 13, 200520 yr

Expert

I just got done reading Tatum O'Neal's autobiography, A Paper Life, and am currently finishing up Phyllis Diller's autobiography, Like a Lampshade in a Whorehouse. She clarifies the mystery of just who Fang was in the book. I'm a lover of murder mysteries and have specific authors I follow. Patricia Cornwell has just come out with a new Kay Scarpetta novel, Predator. I have also started following the novels of Tess Gerritsen, a physician turned novelist. Her first couple of novels leaned heavily toward medical fiction/science fiction, but she has now created a female detective and female medical examiner that she has featured in her latest books. Her latest is Vanish and the novel prior to that is Body Double. Scott Turow has a new book out, Ordinary Heroes, which is a mystery, but I'm not sure it is a murder mystery. A kind of quirky, not very long, mystery novel which is the first in a series by Alexander McCall Smith is The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency. The main character is Mma Ramotswe an African woman in Botswana who the critics are referrring to as the Miss Marple of Botswana. The character is absolutely charming. The three novels I read were absolutely delightful and they have such intriguing titles as well! If someone, especially a man, hasn't read The DaVinci Code, it is loaded with action and mystery. The movie with Tom Hanks is going to be released very soon and from the day this book went on the stands it has been creating a lot of controversy about Jesus and Mary Magdalene. The latest Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, is pretty good and leaves the reader with a lot of questions and sadness, so the 7th book in the series is definitely going to have to be read when it comes out. If your looking for a romance, try Bel Canto. It's been out for a number of years, but if someone hasn't read it, it's surprisingly good. A lot of English teachers are requiring their students to read this. I don't know why it hasn't been made into a movie.

Nov 13, 200520 yr

Bel Canto is an excellent book. My all time favorite is A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, also The Cider house Rules by the same author is excellent. Ahabs Wife is good. Can't remember the author.

Nov 13, 200520 yr

Any of Echo Heron's books are great nursing reads.

Nov 13, 200520 yr

Expert

I'm currently reading Suzanne's Gordon, Nursing Against the Odds - its excellent.

Nov 13, 200520 yr

Oh I sooo have to read this, its out here this week, I've read the rest of the Scarpetta series :)

Patricia Cornwell has just come out with a new Kay Scarpetta novel, Predator.

Nov 13, 200520 yr

Some books I want to read (Amazon links):

Windfalls -two young women who end up pregnant, two different choices, two different lives - they meet again later in life

Baby Catcher: Chronicles of a Modern Midwife

Stranger Than Fiction : True Stories - by the guy that wrote Fight Club

The World's Most Dangerous Places

The Shadow of the Sun -glimpses into African life

Lapdancer

The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook Paula Deen from Food Network

The Feast of the Goat: A Novel - "...vivid re-creation of the Dominican Republic during the final days of General Rafael Trujillo's insidious and evil regime. Told from several viewpoints..."

The Lost Steps -"Fleeing an empty existence in New York City during the mid 1930's, Victor travels down to South America... "

The Time Traveler's Wife -"This clever and inventive tale works on three levels: as an intriguing science fiction concept, a realistic character study and a touching love story. Henry De Tamble is a Chicago librarian with "Chrono Displacement" disorder; at random times, he suddenly disappears without warning and finds himself in the past or future, usually at a time or place of importance in his life"

Some that I have read & liked:

The Red Tent

The Good Earth

Having Faith: An ecologist's journey to motherhood

Memoirs of a Geisha

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress : A Novel

Wild Swans : Three Daughters of China

The Poisonwood Bible - "The year is 1959 and the place is the Belgian Congo. Nathan, a Baptist preacher, has come to spread the Word in a remote village reachable only by airplane. To say that he and his family are woefully unprepared would be an understatement"

The Continuum Concept

Angela's Ashes - guy growing up in abject poverty in Ireland

DaVinci Code

The Lovely Bones

Stiff: the curious lives of cadavers 4.5 stars at amazon, it is good

I also like some true crime books... I could go on & on!