Hospitals

For inspiration and motivation, add one of these 15 books to your summer reading list

It is not too late for a summer vacation and this reading list will give you something to inspire your work or motivate you to try new ideas at work and the rest of your life.

By on August 02, 2013

There are about 50 days before the fall equinox, and almost 30 before Labor Day. It’s not too late for a summer vacation, or a health-centric reading list to take on your trip.
We go to Lake Michigan for a week each August and stay in beach houses with no cell reception and no Internet connection. I always take at least one book with me – and I am old school enough to go to the library and check out an actual book.

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For those of you who are wisely taking a vacation this summer, here are some ideas for books to download to your phone or tablet, or buy from Amazon or your local bookseller. I asked people from digital health, health IT, medicine and the startup world for ideas. The list includes personal stories, business strategies, and entrepreneurial advice.

Thanks to the team at HealthBox, PanthTech, Spot on Sciences, as well as Dr. Ana Manzur-Allan, Martha Wofford, Scott Nelson, Doctor Charlene, Lisa Fields, and Dr. Saif Abed for their suggestions.

Inspiration from doctors and patients

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
I listened to an audio version of this last year and it was mesmerizing. Skloot tells the story of Henrietta Lacks and mixes personal history with the history of cell culture. I love this book and two other people recommended it as well. Find a copy today.

House of God by Samuel Shem
Intel’s top doc mentioned that he read this during his residency many years ago.
Samuel Shem has created an honest portrait of the caring, pain, and pathos felt by all who spend their lives treating patients.

What We Have: One Family’s Inspiring Story About Love, Loss and Survival by Amy Boesky
This BRCA story pre-Angelina Jolie tells the story woman who grew up with the threat of cancer hanging over her head. Grandmothers, aunts, and great-aunts, all of whom died in their 40’s from ovarian cancer. She knew at 35 she would have her ovaries removed, just as her mother did.

Truth in Small Doses by Clifton Leaf
A journalist and cancer survivor explains why the public’s investment in research has been misspent, why scientists don’t collaborate and share their data, why new drugs are expensive yet ineffective, and why brilliant young scientists are abandoning the search for a cure.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman
Anne Fadiman tells the story of a Hmong girl with epilepsy and the conflict between the Hmong community and the Western-trained medical personnel over how to treat her. This is a compelling illustration of the conflict between what a family thinks is best and what doctors think is best.

The Woman in the Surgeon’s Body by Joan Cassell
The author observed 33 surgeons in five cities over three years. This portrait of the day-to-day reality of these women is an insightful account of how being female influences the way the surgeon is perceived by colleagues, nurses, patients, superiors, and by herself.


Living and Dying in Brick City by Dr. Sampson Davis
Dr. Davis looks at the healthcare crisis in the inner city from a rare perspective: as a doctor who works on the front line of emergency medical care in the community where he grew up, and as a member of that community who has faced the same challenges as the people he treats every day.


Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer by Tracy Kidder
From a review: In a world where it is easy to feel as though we are helpless in the face of everyday violence, war, greed, and inhumanity, the story of Dr. Paul Farmer and his colleagues is an important reminder of the power within all of us to contribute to a better, more just world.

Entrepreneurial thinking

Change by Design by Tim Brown
Brown is the CEO of IDEO, so he knows what he is talking about when he says design thinking coverts need into demand. This book introduces the idea of design thinking‚ the collaborative process by which the designer’s sensibilities and methods are employed to match people’s needs with a viable business strategy.


Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy by Dev Patnaik
From a review: The core message here is that caring for your customers isn’t just new-agey PR material. It provides tangible benefits for your company and helps you succeed.


Running Lean by Ash Maurya
Ash Maurya takes you through an exacting strategy for achieving a “product/market fit” for your startup, based on his own experience in building products ranging from high-tech to no-tech.


Life Without Lawyers by Philip Howard
Today we are flooded with legal threats that prevent us from taking responsibility. We must rebuild boundaries of law that protect an open field of freedom. The author describes the historical and cultural forces that led to this mess and lays out the basic shift in approach needed to fix it.

The Four Steps to the Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Products that Win by Steve Blank
Three people recommended this classic. The book explains what makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture. Rapid iteration, customer feedback, and testing your assumptions are all explained.

Improving the business of health

The Innovator’s Prescription: A Disruptive Solution for Health Care by Clayton M. Christensen, Jerome H. Grossman M.D., Jason Hwang M.D.
From a review: Although this book was written in 2008 and he clearly, in retrospect, got some things wrong the overall concepts are very relevant for the present. If one wants to improve health care in the US this book should be mandatory reading.


Why Nobody Believes the Numbers: Distinguishing Fact from Fiction in Population Health by Al Lewis
This guide to population health management interprets the numbers, explains why and how “experts” often make them up, and shows that numerically challenged—consultants and vendors are not needed to do evaluations.

Unless otherwise indicated, descriptions are from the publisher.