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 2003
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Society: Nation, Identity: Disability
Tags Historical Fiction, Coming of Age / Bildungsroman, Health / Medicine, Grief / Death, History: World, Arts / Culture
Publication year 2003
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Class, Society: Economics
Tags Health / Medicine, Science / Nature, Social Justice, History: World, Biography
Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, a Man Who Would Cure the World is a 2003 nonfiction book by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tracy Kidder. It is an expansion of “The Good Doctor,” a 2000 article for The New Yorker and the winner of the 2004 Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage. The book profiles Dr. Paul Edward Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, as he treats patients in Haiti and... Read Mountains Beyond Mountains Summary
Publication year 2007
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Music, Natural World: Nurture v. Nature, Identity: Mental Health, Emotions/Behavior: Memory
Tags Music, Science / Nature, Psychology, Health / Medicine, Psychology
Publication year 2017
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Race, Society: Colonialism, Society: Community
Tags Social Justice, Race / Racism, Self Help, Colonialism / Postcolonialism, African American Literature, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine
Publication year 2025
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Fame, Values/Ideas: New Age, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Memoir / Autobiography, Health / Medicine
Publication year 2004
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Emotions/Behavior: Guilt, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Life/Time: Childhood & Youth, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Identity: Disability
Tags Drama / Tragedy, Health / Medicine, Disability, Grief / Death, Parenting
My Sister’s Keeper is a 2004 novel by bestselling author Jodi Picoult centered on the controversy of savior siblings. In the novel, Anna Fitzgerald fights for medical emancipation in order to have a choice in whether or not she will donate a kidney to her sister, Kate, who has leukemia. In 2009, the novel was adapted into a feature film released by New Line Cinema. The movie was directed by Nick Cassavetes and starred Cameron... Read My Sister's Keeper Summary
Publication year 2006
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology, Self Discovery
Tags Science / Nature, Health / Medicine, Psychology, Psychology, Biography
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Identity: Gender, Relationships: Siblings, Society: Class
Tags Historical Fiction, Poverty, Social Justice, Health / Medicine, Modern Classic Fiction, History: World, Drama / Tragedy
Publication year 2017
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Tags History: U.S., Health / Medicine, Poverty, Science / Nature, Biography
No Apparent Distress: A Doctor’s Coming of Age on the Front Lines of American Medicine is author Rachel Pearson’s 2017 account of her intensive medical education and the initial years of her career as a physician. She focuses on stories that illustrate her themes of medical ethics, regret, depression, bias against the poor, and racism. Rather than bogging the reader down in medical jargon, Pearson uses anecdotes to convey her experiences to a layman audience.Pearson... Read No Apparent Distress Summary
Publication year 2021
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Society: Community
Tags Self Help, Psychology, Health, Religion / Spirituality, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine
Publication year 1860
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Teams, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Trust & Doubt, Values/Ideas: Equality, Society: Community, Society: Education
Tags Health / Medicine, Psychology, Relationships, Science / Nature, History: World, Classic Fiction
Florence Nightingale was an English nurse commonly known as the founder of modern nursing practices. Born in Italy, she became an experienced nurse and formed many of her opinions while serving in the Crimean War, enrolling in nursing school at age 24 in Germany. She penned Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What it Is Not in 1859, just a few years after serving in the war, and the work was first published in... Read Notes on Nursing Summary
Publication year 1956
Genre Short Story, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Society: Colonialism, Society: Class
Tags Race / Racism, Health / Medicine, African Literature
Publication year 1973
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Psychology, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine
Publication year 2024
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family, Society: Community, Society: Nation, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Biography, Politics / Government, Science / Nature, History: World, Health / Medicine
Publication year 1969
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Family
Tags Science / Nature, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Self Help, Religion / Spirituality, Psychology, Grief / Death, Health / Medicine
On Death and Dying is a 1969 psychological study by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. It is best known in popular culture for introducing the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Kübler-Ross’s work with terminally ill patients inspired the model. She wrote the study as a response to the lack of instruction in medical schools about how to handle the topic of death. It was the very first book written by Kübler-Ross in her... Read On Death and Dying Summary
Publication year 1962
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Identity: Mental Health, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags American Literature, Classic Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Mental Illness, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Health / Medicine, Relationships, Education, Education, Psychology, Psychology
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a historical fiction novel by Ken Kesey, published in 1962. Kesey drew on his experiences working in a veterans’ hospital to develop a critique of then-current psychiatric practices. The novel’s central conflict between a domineering nurse and an unruly patient can also be read as an allegory for the emerging culture wars of the 1960s. The novel was adapted into a Broadway play one year after its publication... Read One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Summary
Publication year 2004
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Education, Education, Science / Nature, History: World, Psychology, Psychology, Philosophy, Philosophy, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine
Opening Skinner’s Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century by Lauren Slater is a work of narrative non-fiction published in 2004 by W.W. Norton & Company. Slater, an American psychotherapist, examines 10 landmark psychological experiments—from B.F. Skinner’s infamous boxes to Harry Harlow’s primates—and, in doing so, she explores larger philosophical questions related to human freedom, the limits of science, and truth in art.Slater provides biographical details of the scientists behind each landmark experiment. She... Read Opening Skinner's Box Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Aging, Identity: Mental Health, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Life/Time: Midlife, Values/Ideas: Science & Technology
Tags Health / Medicine, Science / Nature, Self Help, Sports, Psychology, Psychology
Publication year 1939
Genre Novella, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Fate, Society: War, Society: Nation
Tags Historical Fiction, Health / Medicine, History: U.S., American Literature, History: World, Classic Fiction
Pale Horse, Pale Rider is a novella written by Katherine Anne Porter. It was published in 1939, along with two other short novellas, Old Mortality and Noon Wine, under the collective title Pale Horse, Pale Rider. The story portrays two young lovers who are tragically affected by the 1918 influenza epidemic, or Spanish Flu.Other works by this author include The Jilting of Granny Weatherall and Flowering Judas.This guide uses an eBook version of the 2008... Read Pale Horse, Pale Rider Summary
Publication year 1998
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Friendship, Identity: Disability, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness
Tags Historical Fiction, Disability, Mental Illness, Health / Medicine, Religion / Spirituality, Bullying, Post-War Era, Children's Literature, Education, Education, Realistic Fiction, History: World
Petey is middle grade novel written by Ben Mikaelsen and published in 1998. Mikaelsen is the author of 10 novels for young adults and the winner of several awards for his work. Petey is dedicated to and based on the life of Clyde Cothern, a Montana man with cerebral palsy who was misdiagnosed as intellectually disabled and confined to Montana State Hospital in the 1920s. Mikaelsen and Cothern shared a close personal friendship, and while... Read Petey Summary