Book Review: Women’s Minyan by Naomi Ragen
Naomi Ragen is an acclaimed novelist, who wrote and produced this play set in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family and community. Women’s Minyan is about Chana, a married mother of twelve, who leaves her home and family. Two years after she leaves, the play opens as Chana...Book Review: Forensics by Val McDermid
Val McDermid covers exactly what’s in the subtitle for this book, and much more. The full title is Forensics: What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA and More Tell Us About Crime. Expect plenty about each sub-topic.In Forensics, she explains many (if not all) of the common ways...Book Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory is an examination of death and the so-called death industry from Caitlin Doughty. By death industry she means how funeral homes, mortuaries, crematories, medical facilities and government agencies like...Book Review: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
Sapiens covers a lot of ground in its 400+ pages, and author Yuval Noah Harari makes it readable. The title’s subheading, “A Brief History of Humankind,” is telling but incomplete. There’s much more than just history here. At the same time, Harari makes clear in the...Book Review: The Road to Jonestown by Jeff Guinn
Author Jeff Guinn divides The Road to Jonestown into three parts. The final third of the book deals with the Jonestown endgame, which felt most familiar to me. It’s the remaining two-thirds that was new and most interesting. If you’ve ever wondered how a demagogue...Book Review: Living an Orgasmic Life by Xanet Pailet
Xanet Pailet is a woman with a cause. She wants everyone to begin Living an Orgasmic Life, and her book offers plenty of ideas and information. Her subtitle, Heal Yourself and Awaken Your Pleasure also gives you some clues about where she’s going with this....Book Review: Typhoid Mary by Anthony Bourdain
Anthony Bourdain enters the world of history with his short book, Typhoid Mary. While he’s best known for his memoirs, this is an exposé and social commentary. With typical Tony snark he tells the story of Mary Mallon, christened Typhoid Mary by the press. Mary was an...Book Review: Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries by Kory Stamper
Near the end of Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries, Kory Stamper says, “We don’t just want our words to have meaning, we want them to mean something, and the difference is palpable.” In her book, which is both memoir and exposition, Stamper finds the...Book Review: How to Change Your Mind: The New Science of Psychedelics by Michael Pollan
To learn what the latest Michael Pollan book, How to Change Your Mind, is about just check out its subtitle: What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence. Pollan creates an epic book. It’s part...Book Review: Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness by Rick Hanson, Ph.D.
I’ll admit to a fascination with the concept of resilience, so I grabbed up the Advance Reader’s Copy (ARC) of the latest book from Rick Hanson, Ph.D. The full title is long and descriptive: Resilient: How to Grow an Unshakable Core of Calm, Strength, and Happiness....Book Review: This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide by Geneen Roth
Reflecting back over This Messy Magnificent Life: A Field Guide by Geneen Roth, I think the audiobook didn’t work for me. But, in truth, I won’t be likely to pick up the print copy now that I’ve listened to the audio. I might look for some book tour interviews by...Book Review: Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine
In Delusions of Gender, Cordelia Fine, PhD sets out to debunk the prevailing opinions about the male and female genders. The subtitle says it all: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference. She reviews large quantities of studies, articles, and...Book Review: Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
Anne Lamott put her writing teacher hat on for Bird by Bird. And what a hat it is! She shares many nuggets of wisdom, instructions, and stories of her own. I listened to the audiobook, narrated expertly by Susan Bennett. Thankfully, I also have a print copy because...Book Review: Adventures in Human Being by Gavin Francis
Physician Gavin Francis truly takes readers on Adventures in Human Being. From stem to stern, tip to toes, Francis picks a vital part of anatomy and verbally dissects it. It’s a fascinating premise for anyone who enjoys information about their body, or who is just...Book Review: Awakening the Buddha Within by Lama Surya Das
In this short book, Lama Surya Das introduces readers to Buddhism, and the process of Awakening the Buddha Within. It is subtitled Tibetan Wisdom for the Western World, which is an accurate description. Lama Surya Das tells how a guy from Long Island ends up in Tibet...Currently reading
Data from Goodreads
Recently added to TBR
Data from Goodreads
Purchase My Book
I will definitely recommend Kick Pain in the Kitchen to my patients: Those who are looking to avoid pharmaceutical treatment and those who want to combine western medicine with alternative therapies.
Jane A. Swartz
ARNP, MSN, Rheumatology Nurse Practitioner
Blogger and Reviewer Sites
Recent Comments