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.

The Black Death

by Philip Ziegler

Publication year 1969

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Community, Nation, Economics, Religion & Spirituality, Safety & Danger, Science & Technology, Order & Chaos, Politics & Government

Tags European History, Health, Science & Nature, Religion & Spirituality, Politics & Government, Urban Development, Leadership, Medieval, World History

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The Body: A Guide for Occupants

by Bill Bryson

Publication year 2019

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Science & Nature, World History, Humor, Health

Widely known for his best-selling books A Short History of Nearly Everything and A Walk in the Woods, author and educator Bill Bryson published another bestseller in 2019. The Body: a Guide for Occupants is a tour of human anatomy and its wonders. Compiled for the general reader, The Body is a compendium of facts, many amazing or weird, about human anatomy and physiology. It explores the various organ systems—skin, brain, eyes, nose, mouth and throat... Read The Body: A Guide for Occupants Summary

The Body Keeps the Score

by Bessel van der Kolk

Publication year 2014

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Childhood & Youth

Tags Psychology, Science & Nature, Psychology, Mental Illness, Self-Improvement, Health

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma is a 2014 nonfiction work by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. This guide refers to the 2015 edition published by Penguin Books. Van der Kolk, a psychiatrist specializing in various forms of trauma, has worked in trauma therapy for his entire professional career, publishing numerous scientific research studies of his own and contributing to many more. In addition to being a... Read The Body Keeps the Score Summary

The Cancer Journals

by Audre Lorde

Publication year 1980

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Death, Community

Tags Health, Gender & Feminism, LGBTQ+, Women`s Studies, Disability, Biography

Audre Lorde was a poet, essayist, activist, and memoirist whose writings on lesbian feminism and race were integral to second-wave feminism. Lorde was born in New York City on February 18, 1934 to Grenadian immigrant parents. She attended Hunter High School, where she edited the school’s literary magazine. She published her first poem, which had been rejected by an English teacher, in Seventeen magazine. She later attended Hunter College, where she trained to become a... Read The Cancer Journals Summary

The Children of Men

by P. D. James

Publication year 1992

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Apathy, Hope, Loneliness, Gender Identity, Birth, Future, Politics & Government, Power & Greed

Tags Science Fiction, Action & Adventure, British Literature, Climate Change, Depression & Suicide, Grief & Death, Health, European History, Immigration & Refugeeism, Love & Sexuality, Natural Disaster, Politics & Government, Horror & Suspense, Mystery & Crime Fiction, Fantasy

The Children of Men is a dystopian 1992 science fiction novel by P.D. James set in 2021, years after the onset of a mass infertility epidemic. Unless scientists can discover a cure, there will be no more births and the human race will go extinct when the youngest generation dies. This scenario allows James to explore many themes, including existentialism, the meaning of a good life, and the corrupting nature of power.The novel switches between... Read The Children of Men Summary

The Deepest Well

by Nadine Burke Harris

Publication year 2018

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Family, Social Class, Community, Mental Health, Science & Technology, Memory, The Past, Disability, Future, Perseverance, Nature Versus Nurture, Education, Childhood & Youth

Tags Trauma & Abuse, Mental Illness, Science & Nature, Health, Education, Education, Parenting, Psychology, Psychology, Self-Improvement

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The Demon in the Freezer

by Richard Preston

Publication year 2002

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Safety & Danger

Tags Science & Nature, Military & War, Health, Horror & Suspense, World History

Richard Preston’s The Demon in the Freezer is a nonfiction account of the recent history of bioweapons and epidemic diseases; his focus for much of the book is smallpox, the “demon” of the title. The book begins with a discussion of the lethal bioweapons attack that took place early in October of 2001. In this instance, letters containing anthrax were mailed to publications and Senate offices in the United States. However, researchers at the United... Read The Demon in the Freezer Summary