medical memoir – Cannonball Read 17

Girl Interrupted

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan

March 5, 2020 by kimberleybear 6 Comments

As someone who has been both correctly diagnosed and misdiagnosed with conditions concerning my brain, I was really interested in Susannah Cahalan’s story once I heard about it (I’m also just a weird disease junkie in general). Anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis is a terrifying thing — one of those autoimmune disorders where the body just goes into attack mode on itself for unknown reasons. It results in a cascade of symptoms, starting from something that looks like the flu to a range of major behavior disturbances […]

Please read this review if you are a medical professional.

October 16, 2017 by Blingle Bells 1 Comment

I have read a lot of this genre – medical memoirs. According to Google, I have read literally almost all of them. I have noticed a pattern, and a problem, and I’m going to use this review space to make a request. 80% of these books follow a formula: author becomes a doctor, a bunch of funny/strange anecdotes from patient interactions or unusual cases. Some do it better than others, but if you stitched them all together into one huge book you’d probably barely notice the seams. […]

Other people read these books too, right? …right?

September 4, 2016 by Blingle Bells 1 Comment

I’m starting to feel slightly weird and sheepish about the number of medical memoirs I’ve read both lately and in general. I realized I might have a problem when I finished this one and instead of thinking “Whew, time for a breather on this type of book,” I thought, “Oh, no. I hope I haven’t read them all…maybe ranking this one will generate some new Goodreads suggestions.” The fact is, I just gulp these books down and have from childhood. I come from a family […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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