Wandering through Waterstones flagship store in Piccadilly I was in heaven, jaw dropping, mind boggling heaven. Six floors of books, 200,000 unique titles. I knew I had to own one, just one, but which one? After picking up and putting down title after title I came across a spine that stood out to me; Selfish, Shallow and Self-Absorbed. What? As I plucked the book off the shelf, I read its subtitle; sixteen writers on the decision not to have kids. That was it, that was […]
“When people asked him why he didn’t work with those viruses, he replied, I don’t particularly feel like dying.”
THIS is how you write gripping medical related non-fiction! Part medical mystery, part horror story and 100% true. While it wasn’t the barrel of laughs Get Well Soon was earlier this year it was infinitely more entertaining than Pox, despite scaring me shitless about ever going to Africa or getting close to a monkey. This isn’t a book for everyone because, well, Ebola is creepy. Even now there isn’t a surefire cure and the path to death is a gruesome, bloody mess. The term “liquefied” is used several […]
Life Without Light
Anna Lyndsey was a perfectly normal woman living in England; her face got a bit irritated after staring at a computer all day under fluorescent lights but she was managing. She left her job and moved in with her sympathetic boyfriend, Pete, hoping her situation was temporary. Unfortunately her light sensitivity only got worse and her condition made it difficult to get to doctors who might know how to help her. She slowly began barricading herself inside and resigning herself to a fate worse than […]
This Book has Everything: Buboes, Iron Lungs, a Kennedy, and a Vegan Teetotaler Who’s Actually a Pretty Cool Guy
I wish I could remember what it was that first sparked my interest in communicable diseases (and some noncommunicable), but I’ll tell you, there are just not enough books out there to quench my thirst on this topic. I’ve read just about every public health book on the subject that I can get my hands on (and if anyone out there has read a great book on malaria, please send it my way. I’ve been looking for one for a few years now). Get Well […]