When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
Published by Random House on January 12, 2016
Genres: [Adult] Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
Pages: 208
Format: Hardcover –> eBook
Source: Purchased –> Borrowed

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5 Stars, Completed January 8, 2017

– SPOILER free –

When Breath Becomes Air shares the story of Paul Kalanithi, an exceptional and gifted neurosurgeon that found his life upended while in his last year of residency when signs of illness started to appear. After medical tests, it was discovered that he, in fact, had stage IV metastatic lung cancer. With his life no different from a ticking clock, he began to ask questions that would confront his mortality. What should he do with the remaining time he has left? Should he return to neurosurgery, or should he write? Should he and his wife, Lucy, have children? In this memoir, Kalanithi answers these questions (and provides responses to many more) by taking readers along his trek of leading a life as (some days) a doctor, (most days) a patient, and (everyday) a human desperate to stay alive.

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin

Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin
Series: Wolf by Wolf #1 (1/2)
Published by  Little, Brown Books on October 20, 2015
Genres: [Young Adult] Science Fiction, Historical Fiction
Pages: 382
Format: Paperback, ARC
Source: NOVL

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4.5 Stars, Completed January 7, 2016

– SPOILER free  –

Once upon a different time, there was a girl who lived in a kingdom of death. Wolves howled up her arm. A whole pack of them-made of tattoo ink and pain, memory and loss. It was the only thing about her that ever stayed the same.

Her story begins on a train.

Absolutely stunning. Wolf by Wolf is one of those rare historical fiction novels where we all know how it ends because of history. Yet, Ryan Graudin still manages to weave a story that is ultimately gripping and unpredictable through using creative liberties to answer what-ifs and would-bes all the while adding a dash of some science fiction flavors of her own.

Graudin poses several possible scenarios in which the Second World War could have ended. What if Hitler and the Axis powers won the war instead? What if the unethical, medical experiments tested within the camps actually worked? Or what if a genetic fluke from said experiments backfired but was the prime solution to end this horrific period?

The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly by Matt McCarthy

The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly: A Physician’s First Year by Matt McCarthy
Published by Crown on April 7, 2015
Genres: [Adult] Nonfiction, Autobiography, Memoir
Pages: 324
Format: Hardcover
Source: Blogging For Books

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5 Stars, Completed June 7, 2015

– SPOILER free – 

“You do not want to be the physician who assumed the patient was sleeping,” the instructor had told us, “when in fact he was dead.”

The quote above is one of the many words of wisdom and advice Dr. Matt McCarthy learned as a first year intern at Columbia hospital, and it perfectly illustrates the pressure health care professionals have to deal with every day.

In this frank memoir, The Real Doctor Will See You Shortly, Dr. McCarthy beautifully writes about the brutal truths behind the field of medicine and a physician’s infallibility, but somehow manages to do so with humor through interspersed comedic relief. In less than 100 pages into the book, readers learn that on his journey towards becoming a “good physician,” Dr. McCarthy stitches a banana peel, has feces-stained scrubs thrown at his face, and witnesses a patient almost die his first night interning in the cardiac care unit.