Health

Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story by Catherine Pioli - Book Review

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Down to the Bone: A Leukemia Story By Catherine Pioli, Catherine Pioli (Artist) Cover Image
$27.95
ISBN: 9781637790342
Availability: Click Title for IN STORE Location
Published: Graphic Mundi - Psu Press - December 20th, 2022

Overall, this is a beautifully written and illustrated story that does not dwell on the cancer aspects, but it is the main point. With tenderness, humor, and yes, a little “poor me” there are pages perfectly created to show the sites (and sights), sounds, emotions, and what is happening to Pioli's mind and body. Cartoon white blood cells and their buddies (not to mention those “baddies”), as well as the tests, surgeries and more she faces, are drawn with humor and sophistication. You take this mental, physical, and financial journey with the author. A three-to-four-box of tissues rating. ~ Reviewed by Jeanette


What Doesn't Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness - Lessons from a Body in Revolt by Tessa Miller - Book Review

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What Doesn't Kill You: A Life with Chronic Illness - Lessons from a Body in Revolt By Tessa Miller Cover Image
$19.99
ISBN: 9781250751478
Availability: IN WAREHOUSE - Usually Ships in 3-7 Business Days
Published: Holt Paperbacks - February 1st, 2022

Part memoir, part guide, What Doesn’t Kill You is an exceptionally written and well-researched exploration of what it means to live with a chronic illness. Miller takes a deep dive into the intricacies of being diagnosed with a forever sickness, and offers insight into the ins and outs of navigating the often unforgiving American healthcare system. I left this book with a new understanding of myself and my fellow chronically-ill friends: a diagnosis isn’t the end of your life, but rather a new beginning and opportunity to find joy and gratitude in unexpected ways. I’d recommend this book to anyone with a body. ~ Reviewed by Madison Gallup


A Cultural Biography of the Prostate by Ericka Johnson - Book Review

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A Cultural Biography of the Prostate By Ericka Johnson Cover Image
$27.95
ISBN: 9780262543040
Availability: Special Order
Published: The MIT Press - September 7th, 2021

This stimulating study informed by the medical humanities penetrates the cultural and historical associations of the prostate. And it’s written with a real warmth, humor, intellectual sophistication and progressive intersectionality that I wish all medical practitioners could exhibit. Johnson explores the gendered contours of the prostate, what she terms “a gland that haunts,” in sexualities, masculinities, ageing, health, and death. She traces its "discovery" in 1536 through historical treatments (belladonna suppositories, electrical probes, castration, and what can only be described as urethral nightmares) to 18th century wax models to informational YouTube videos. She plunges into how a period’s preconceptions about sexuality and class distort its medical practices (just imagine what Victorian doctors fingered for the culprit of prostate problems). Like Slavoj Žižek throwing in the occasional joke, Johnson's exploration of the prostate's presence in our culture--a presence even greater when absent (think of Philip Roth's Zuckerman in American Pastoral)--reveals much about ideology, identity, and infrastructure. A truly fascinating read (with an inspired cover design!). ~ Reviewed by Dafydd Wood


Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul by Brandy Schillace - Book Review

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Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul By Brandy Schillace Cover Image
$27.00
ISBN: 9781982113773
Availability: Special Order
Published: Simon & Schuster - March 2nd, 2021

Since hearts, kidneys, and other organs can be transplanted, why not the human head? Dr. Robert White worked toward that controversial, morally-questionable goal his entire life, and his story raises medical, ethical, and spiritual concerns that reverberate to this day. ~ Reviewed by Mike Hare


The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential by Wim Hof - Book Review

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The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential By Wim Hof, Wim Hof, Elissa Epel, PhD (Introduction by) Cover Image
By Wim Hof, Wim Hof, Elissa Epel, PhD (Introduction by)
$25.99
ISBN: 9781683644095
Availability: IN WAREHOUSE - Usually Ships in 3-7 Business Days
Published: Sounds True - October 20th, 2020

An incredible book that might just change your life, but at the least your outlook. We get the backstory and amazing journey of the Iceman, Wim Hof, and also all the science behind his unique method. Hof lays out the guidelines for us all to take on a daily practice that will bring us happiness, health and strength. Driven by a desire to give everyone the tools to realise our best selves, this book is inspiring, compelling and motivating. Highly recommended. ~ Reviewed by Becky Doherty


Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande - Book Review

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Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End By Atul Gawande Cover Image
$17.99
ISBN: 9781250076229
Availability: Click Title for IN STORE Location
Published: Picador - September 5th, 2017

Everybody grows old, but nobody wants to talk about it. In Being Mortal, physician-author Atul Gawande guides the reader through the poignant ups and downs of end-of-life care in the modern world. Sharing case studies from his surgical career as well as his personal life, Gawande makes a compelling case for the importance of a society-wide shakeup on how we think of and care for the terminally ill. I may only be nineteen, but I wish I had read this book sooner. ~ Reviewed by Patrick Molluso


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