The highly anticipated A Promised Land was the first book I could not wait to crack open over my two-week break for the winter holidays. Former President Barack Obama explains in his introduction that this work is the first of two autobiographical accounts covering the period from his state legislature run in Illinois through his presidency. This masterwork takes you through every decision he makes and helps illustrate just how …
The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune is the kind of book that paints you into an entirely new, fantastical world, and you may find yourself wishing you never left. Our humble protagonist, Linus Baker, is an employee of DICOMY (Department in Charge of Magical Youth) who spends his days evaluating orphanages that house, teach, and often abuse magical children in a land where extreme prejudice against …
The magic of medicine stems from the empathy of one heart opening itself to another
Thinking, Fast and Slow is a well-known masterpiece of psychology by the formidable Daniel Kahneman. He diligently illuminates two different pathways of thought, which he arbitrarily titles System 1 and System 2. System 1 describes our quick thinking, our snap judgments, our gut feelings. System 2 encapsulates our deeper thoughts, the way we systematically review information, the analysis that requires time and mental effort. The work thoroughly lays out many …
A man outfitted in a lovely blue suit falls through the air, losing his shoe and hurriedly scribbling notes, seemingly ignorant to the gravitational chaos around him. While this picture is featured on the cover of the novel Less by Andrew Sean Greer, I wonder how similar my experience will be starting on Monday.
After four months of delay, it is finally my turn to enter the hospital and begin my …
When it becomes time to embrace fear and loss and let the chaos lead to growth
One of my favorite ways to spend an afternoon is perusing bookstore shelves and choosing books solely based on their cover. Wow, No Thank You is a series of essays by Samantha Irby that was selected in such a fashion. While the adorable fluffy bunny on the front drew me to the book, it was the hilarity and depth of her words that made the work a critical read.
The author …
How latent racism increases morbidity and mortality of our Black patients
When people ask me what A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is about, I have trouble describing it beyond the story of a young man named Jude with a horrific past and his relationships with the people he meets in college. The heart of the story lies not in the plot but in the connections that Jude makes with his friends, professors, and colleagues. Jude has a traumatic childhood that …
When imposter syndrome becomes incompatible with the profession of medicine
The only drawback to reading The Plague by Albert Camus for the first time while experiencing the COVID-19 pandemic is that I will never get the experience of reading it from a less personal perspective. As the plague in the novel begins to unfold slowly through rat deaths and lockdowns, I recognized my own incredulity in the townspeople as they struggle to accept their new normal. Camus names their reluctance …
How grit in the face of hopelessness brings out the best of the medical profession
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