Recommended Reads

Cover image of An American Plague

An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Story of the Yellow-Fever Epidemic of 1793
By Molly Caldwell Crosby
DB 57418, BR 17407, Available as BARD Download
Describes the horrific events in Philadelphia in 1793 when citywide illness prevented Congress from convening. Thousands of people were dying, many unattended, and physicians of the time were unsure of the cause or treatment of the yellow-fever outbreak. For grades 6-9. 2003. Download An American Plague, DB 57418
, Download An American Plague, BR 17407

Cover image of And the Band Played On

And the Band Played On: The AIDS Epidemic
By Randy Shilts
DB 26042, Available as BARD Download
The author, a reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle, has been covering the AIDS epidemic full-time since 1982. He presents the apathy and politics displayed by the government, the media, the medical establishment, and the gay community before they realized the magnitude of the crisis, as well as the tragedy of the disease's human toll. Bestseller. 1987. Download And the Band Played On, DB 26042

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Blood and Guts: A Short History of Medicine
By Roy Porter
DB 56792, BR 14887, Available as BARD Download
British professor, author of A Social History of Madness (DB 28067), studies Western medicine from ancient times to the 1990s. Includes the changing landscape of diseases, doctors, therapies, surgeries, hospitals, and laboratories. 2002. Download Blood and Guts, DB 56792
, Download Blood and Guts, BR 14887

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Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
By Mary Roach
DB 66788, Available as BARD Download
Author of Stiff (DB 58302) and Spook (DB 62108) offers her take on clinical studies of sexual physiology for achieving arousal and orgasm. Surveys research conducted in the 1900s and the findings of Masters and Johnson, Alfred Kinsey, and others. Explicit descriptions of sex and some strong language. Bestseller. 2008. Download Bonk, DB 66788

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Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness
By Susannah Cahalan
DB 76074, Available as BARD Download
New York Post reporter's account of the mysterious disease that mimicked mental illness and almost killed her in 2009, when she was twenty-four years old. Describes her eventual diagnosis–NMDA-receptor autoimmune encephalitis, a rare brain infection that causes seizures and paranoia–and her successful treatment and recovery. Some strong language. 2012. Download Brain on Fire, DB 76074

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Call the Midwife: A Memoir of Birth, Joy, and Hard Times
By Jennifer Worth
DB 76915, Available as BARD Download
Autobiography of a woman who trained as a nurse/midwife and served in London's impoverished East End during the 1950s. Describes her sheltered background, life in an Anglican convent, and long hours among poverty-stricken patients. Basis for the PBS series. 2002. Download Call the Midwife, DB 76915

Cover image of The Cruelest Miles

The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic
By Gay Salisbury
DB 58310, Available as BARD Download
Chronicles the valiant efforts of a dogsled relay to bring serum to ice-bound Nome, Alaska, when a deadly diphtheria outbreak put Eskimo natives and especially their children at risk in 1925. Blends Alaska's early history with portraits of courageous team leaders and their dogs–including the famous Balto–who trekked 674 miles across frozen terrain. 2003. Download The Cruelest Miles, DB 58310

Cover image of The Emperor of All Maladies

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
By Siddhartha Mukherjee
DB 72227, Available as BARD Download
Oncologist, Rhodes Scholar, and graduate of Harvard Medical School Mukherjee chronicles the social and medical history of cancer. Highlights prominent figures in cancer research–including Sidney Farber, father of modern chemotherapy, and Mary Lasker, who lobbied for cancer-research funding–and discusses the possibility of eradication. Includes case studies. Bestseller. 2010. Download Emperor of All Maladies, DB 72227

Cover image of The Evil Hours

The Evil Hours: A Biography of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
By David Morris
DB 81539, BR 20844, Available as BARD Download
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is now the fourth most commonly diagnosed psychiatric disorder. A former Marine, Morris draws from his war experiences in Iraq, as well as historical examples, to provide an overview of the psychological costs of war and the current state of treatment options. Some strong language. 2015. Download Evil Hours, DB 81539
, Download Evil Hours, BR 20844

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