With summer in full swing, it’s a great time to tuck into a new book or podcast. Whether you’re looking for gripping personal stories or fascinating histories of deadly pathogens, our annual list of health, medicine, and science titles has something for everyone.

Read on for recommendations from the likes of Deputy CDC Director Nirav Shah, Boston Public Health Commission Executive Director Bisola Ojikutu, and Gavi CEO Seth Berkley. Plus, STAT readers from Missouri to London share their picks, in addition to our staff.

SEE SUGGESTIONS FROM:    NOTABLE FIGURES   |  OUR READERS   |  OUR STAFF

NOTABLE FIGURES

“The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”
By Rebecca Skloot
This book tells the origin story of a cell line that came from Lacks’ cervical cancer cells in 1951. It spans a number of topics: race, class, research ethics, informed consent, property rights, and the boundaries of scientific progress. And it does so in a narrative fashion that brings the story to life. The book resonates with me because it grapples with one of the most critical questions facing society: What do we owe to each other?
— Nirav Shah, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

“Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty”
By Patrick Radden Keefe
This isn’t your typical light-hearted summer reading fare. In this book, Keefe meticulously details how reckless ambition, careless indifference for the well-being of others, greed, and sheer narcissism not only within the Sackler family, but also within the pharmaceutical and health care industries, opened the door to one of the most devastating crises in this era. Honestly, the story made me angry. But the narrative details regarding the Sackler family history were incredibly captivating. As most states and cities, including Boston, are deeply engaged in determining the use of opioid remediation funding, I highly recommend this book as motivational summer reading.
— Bisola Ojikutu, executive director, Boston Public Health Commission

“Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet”
By Johan Rockström and Owen Gaffney
Of course, I continue to read about the sciences relevant to my work.  But this year I want to suggest that people watch the Netflix series with David Attenborough, “Breaking Boundaries.” Or if they are more nerdy, then they can also read the book: “Breaking Boundaries: The Science of Our Planet” by Johan Rockström and Owen Gaffney. Although we all know about the climate change issue, Johan has articulated all of the challenges we as a species are facing via nine planetary boundaries that we need to deal with as a world. It is a very thoughtful concept backed up by strong science and should be understood by every citizen of the world.
— Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance

“Necessary Conversations: Understanding Racism as a Barrier to Achieving Health Equity”
By Alonzo L. Plough
“Necessary Conversations” offers a deeply powerful and impressively original look at the roots of racial health inequities in America. At a time when there is a concerted effort to shut down critical conversations on structural and systemic racism across the country, this comprehensive volume provides a solidly researched and practical tool for engaging in difficult but essential and urgent discussions and action on a key instigator of unequal treatment in health care, public health, mental/behavioral health, and the stubborn inequities in health status, longevity, and well-being. This is a must-read for anyone who is tired of nibbling at the edges of the problem of health inequities and wants to lead from the frontlines not the sidelines on this critical issue.
— Daniel E. Dawes, senior vice president of global health equity and executive director of the Institute of Global Health Equity at Meharry Medical College

“Scarlet A: The Ethics, Law, and Politics of Ordinary Abortion”
By Katie Watson
Katie Watson, a lawyer and an ethicist, is one of my favorite writers on abortion. In this book, she puts aside all the extreme and extraordinary stories that usually show up in the abortion debate, and focuses on what she calls “ordinary” abortion — the roughly 1 million abortions that happen each year in America that don’t make headlines. These are the abortions I see in my daily work. When we look at them closely, we see the humanity and humility of women making difficult decisions about how to care for themselves and their families.
— Christine Henneberg, abortion doctor and author

“Her Story”
From Think Medium
You get to hear about inspiring career trajectories and the hurdles they faced along the way. As a female leader, it gives me a community I can relate to.
— Suchi Saria, CEO and founder of Bayesian Health, director of the Machine Learning and Healthcare Lab at Johns Hopkins University

OUR READERS

“Hepatitis B: The Hunt for a Killer Virus”
By Baruch S. Blumberg
Baruch Blumberg is one of the most recognizable names in infectious disease history, having done critical work on the discovery and vaccine development against the deadly hepatitis B virus. The book chronicles his life as a scientist and the serendipitous discovery of HBV. Blumberg has a natural aptitude for storytelling, as this is an exceedingly well-written and engrossing book that would fascinate any life science enthusiast.
— Sherif Gerges, Cambridge, Mass.

“If I Betray These Words: Moral Injury in Medicine and Why It’s So Hard for Clinicians to Put Patients First”
By Wendy Dean with Simon Talbot
This book pulls together the backstory in the corporatization of medical care in the U.S. For those who have been practicing and receiving care long enough to feel the tide shift beneath our feet, this book answers how and why that happened. For those too young to remember how things used to be, this book is critical reading to be an informed physician and informed patient.
— Lara Briseno Kenney, M.D., Clinton, Mo.

“The Autumn Ghost: How the Battle Against a Polio Epidemic Revolutionized Modern Medical Care”
By Hannah Wunsch
In this meticulously researched and beautifully written book, Dr. Hannah Wunsch takes us back to the polio epidemic in Copenhagen in the early ’50s, telling the true story of unlikely collaborators whose desperation led to innovation and the birth of ventilators and intensive care medicine. Her profiles of protagonists and patients alike are captivating and inspiring — you won’t want to put it down.
— Heidi Kummer, Boston

“A Heart That Works”
By Rob Delaney
Families impacted by serious pediatric illness are woefully underserved by health and social service systems, despite representing a significant proportion of health care costs. This book draws attention to the upheaval families experience when a child is born or becomes seriously ill; celebrates critical resources like palliative care that soften the unending blows; and shows the boundless love that families summon in the face of the unbearable. A must read for anyone involved in complex pediatric care, as we can never have enough stories about the human side of health.
— Liz Morris, Seattle

“Impossible People: A Completely Average Recovery Story”
By Julia Wertz
This graphic memoir is not only relatable and funny, but it also touches on all the important aspects of addiction and recovery, from the limitations of our current treatments and interventions to the importance of self-discovery and finding social support.
— Emily Nink, Arlington, Mass.

“For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug”
By Nathan Vardi
Featured in STAT’s “The Readout LOUD” podcast, this contemporary book tells a surprisingly entertaining and riveting story of drug development. The author dispels the clean, linear, and prescient process triumphantly portrayed in the aftermath of success, instead revealing the messy, stochastic, and circumstantial process that can — in rare, tantalizing cases — improve human health. In doing so, the story offers insight on fractious relationships between the scientists, doctors, investors, and executives who together drive the deeply human process of medical product development.
— Max Olender, Washington, D.C.

“This Podcast Will Kill You”
Hosted by Erin Welsh and Erin Allmann Updyke
Hosted by two disease ecologists (both named Erin), “This Podcast Will Kill You” explores a new infectious disease or medical oddity in each episode. With a touch of levity (and a quarantini or placeborita in hand), the Erins dive deep into fascinating facts about viruses, bacteria, and bugs — and how they have impacted humans in the past and today. This podcast is at once gross and glorious.
— Susanne Pallo, Rochester, N.Y.

“Influenza: The Hundred-Year Hunt to Cure the Deadliest Disease in History”
By Dr. Jeremy Brown
Written in 2018 to mark the centenary of the Spanish Flu, this well-written book was prescient as far as Covid, just two years later, was concerned. Insightful, informative, and balanced in terms of anecdote and overview. Still very much worth reading.
— Sarah Rickwood, London

“Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants”
By Robin Wall Kimmerer
I came late to this lyrical collection of essays that braids poetry in its prose with one writer’s scientific journey as a botanist and Native American. Her reflections on language and plants, culture and history are profound and engaging.
— Janice Lynch Schuster, Annapolis, Md.

“Science Vs.”
Hosted by Wendy Zukerman
An upbeat, entertaining podcast covering what the science actually says about popular topics. My favorite part is at the end of each episode when they say how many citations they have and where to find them if you want to dig deeper for yourself.
— Allie Jo Shipman, Alexandria, Va.

“My Father’s Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer’s”
By Sandeep Jauhar
The book deals with the cognitive health of an aging father and the effect his condition had on his loving family. The story is told from the perspective of a physician/scientist and son who helps us understand both the neurological and emotional processes of living with dementia.
— Patti Ursomanno, Long Beach, N.Y.

OUR STAFF

“House on Fire: The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox”
By William Foege
With the worst — here’s hoping — of Covid-19 in the rearview mirror, I finally have some time to pay attention to a story I think has been neglected: the 30-plus year effort to rid the world of polio. This ambitious feat — eradication of a human disease-causing pathogen — has only ever been done once. This highly readable memoir by Bill Foege, a former CDC director, public health legend, and one of the architects of the smallpox eradication program, tells the tale of how that job got done.
— Helen Branswell, senior writer, infectious diseases and global health

 “These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs—and Wrecks—America”
By Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner
It’s hard to make reading about complex financial ownership arrangements accessible, but Pulitzer Prize-winning business reporter Gretchen Morgenson manages to accomplish the feat in her new book with Joshua Rosner. The book is a survey of various sectors across the economy, but there are three chapters focused on health care that explain the industry’s impact on nursing homes, physician practices, and hospitals — and how profits extracted and funneled to outside investors don’t make it to frontline workers. A bonus: The book also cites a STAT report from the early days of the pandemic on a private-equity-owned physician staffing firm slashing benefits for doctors as they worked to save Covid-19 patients.
— Rachel Cohrs, Washington correspondent

“Truth Be Told”
Hosted by Tonya Mosley
I’ve loved “Truth Be Told” since Mosley launched it as a real-talk advice show with personal touches. But this season was especially compelling, as she explored the world of psychedelic therapy for people with racial trauma, including herself. I didn’t expect to find myself crying on a plane while listening to Mosley describe her first trip on magic mushrooms, but there I was.
— Isabella Cueto, chronic disease reporter

“I Never Promised You a Rose Garden”
By Joanne Greenberg 
I love “The Bell Jar” as much as any other English major. But recently, I read “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden,” a novel published in 1964, just one year after Plath’s iconic text. The premise is similar: a teenage girl enters a residential psychiatric ward after attempting self harm. But Greenberg immediately throws the reader into much darker waters than Plath’s novel ever dares to. Her protagonist, who has schizophrenia, isn’t going to chic media parties, and her recovery isn’t linear. But it is ultimately a gorgeous, hopeful story that deserves to be better read (and seen in the hands of more Kat Stratford-esque movie characters).
— Theresa Gaffney, reporter and podcast producer

“When Breath Becomes Air”
By Paul Kalanithi 
I read this astonishing memoir a few months ago; I acknowledge that I’m somewhat late to the game, as the book came out in 2016. But the late neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi’s meditations on medicine, the meaning of life, and confronting death are timeless. Kalanithi was on the verge of completing his residency when he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer at age 36. Faced with certain death, he turned to another passion of his: writing. He beautifully describes his path to medicine, his fascination with the human brain, the humbling transition from doctor to patient, and his efforts to derive purpose from a life cut short. Kalanithi died in 2015, but his words live on.
— Lizzy Lawrence, medical devices reporter

“The Minds of Billy Milligan”
By Daniel Keyes
True-life fiction, this novel tells the story of the first person ever found not guilty of a crime because of dissociative identity disorder. It’s the basis for the Apple TV feature “The Crowded Room,” and the premise is a true mind-bender. In a man with 24 personalities, what do you do if only one of the personas is a criminal?
— Gary Marshall, SEO editor

“The Philadelphia Negro”
By W.E.B. Du Bois
My choice wasn’t written this year. In fact, it wasn’t even written in this century. In my reporting on health equity, I can’t count the times a source has mentioned the importance of this book, published in 1899. Du Bois conducted a groundbreaking data-driven sociological study examining the structural reasons the health of Black people in Philadelphia was so poor — problems that continue today. His work described the issues so well, and so carefully, that his words remain relevant today, more than 100 years after he wrote them.
— Usha Lee McFarling, national science correspondent

“We Were Three”
Hosted by Nancy Updike
Over two weeks in the fall of 2021, Rachel McKibbens lost her father and only sibling to Covid-19. “We Were Three,” from Serial Productions and the New York Times, retraces their final days to try to understand why they didn’t receive the vaccines that might have saved their lives. It’s at once a deeply personal portrait of one family’s reckoning with its legacy of trauma and a wider look at how the destructive forces of misinformation deepened the pandemic’s death toll.
— Megan Molteni, science writer

“Shubeik Lubeik”
By Deena Mohamed
“Shubeik Lubeik” caught my eye at my neighborhood library branch, the cover cool enough for me to get over my fear of feeling like I don’t know how to read graphic novels. The book, originally published as a trilogy, is set in a version of Egypt where wishes are for sale. One story that stuck with me was that of Nour, a character who is desperate to make sense of his depression and wonders whether to use the expensive wish he bought to ask for happiness. It’s such a vivid portrayal of the often-isolating grip of mental illness, the search to feel like yourself, and the many stops and starts of treatment. Deena Mohamed’s storytelling is powerful and original, her critique of who gets help and who gets policed for seeking it is sharp, and her art is incredible.
— Megan Thielking, senior news editor

“Easy Beauty: A Memoir”
By Chloé Cooper Jones
This lyrical book by philosopher Chloé Cooper Jones is part memoir about her experiences dealing with other people’s perceptions of her disability, part theory on challenging conventional ideas of beauty as being synonymous with symmetry and order. Smart and empathetic, “Easy Beauty” will open your eyes to new ways of thinking about aesthetics — in architecture, art, and the human body.
— Sarah Todd, assignment editor