Book of the Week:The Lost Art of Healing: Practicing Compassion in Medicine By: Bernard Lown

This book is part of our humanities collection and is a part of the curriculum for the first year medical students. I decided to read because it looked quite interesting. I'm glad I picked it up. I'm not a doctor nor a med student yet the book still makes an incredible point everyone needs to realize.

Dr. Lown, a cardiologist and professor emeritus at Harvard Medical School, begins the book by describing his experience as a young doctor struggling with the heavy workload of hospital rounds and the arrogance he emitted. He credits his mentor and role model, Dr. Samuel A. Levine with instilling in him the important skills of being a good human and doctor. He has written each chapter with interesting case studies/experiences drawn from his 45 years of practice. Dr Lown has been a life long advocate of using a more humane approach towards the management of patients.

He emphasizes that too many well-trained, well-credentialed doctors fail to take a careful patient history, rather they rely on technology and/or excessively prescribe drugs that often result in death or disability. Doctors substituting technology for taking time with the patient are shifting their medical focus from healing the patient to curing the disease.

This shift has had terrible impacts. It is clinical wisdom that enables a doctor to comprehend essential medical problems of the patient. He points out that a good doctor will take a good patient history and posses the ever vital skill of good listening and observation. Spending time, even a few extra minutes to really listen to their patients can have a life saving impact. He urges doctors to desist from using intimidating language and to pay attention to the emotional stresses in patients' lives. Keeping an open mind toward alternative medicine, Lown describes his partially successful treatment in China with acupuncture for his severe back pain.

It was an inspiring read. A reminder to all medical students that knowledge and academic grades are merely one part of their learning experience. Understanding human qualities such as empathy, compassion and the human condition must be reinforced and developed in conjunction with the scientific knowledge of their studies and training.

Book of the Week:Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation By: Lynne Truss

Who would have thought a book about punctuation could cause such a sensation? Me. Yes I am a lover of grammar and spelling. Finally a book that pokes fun at the improper use of grammar.

The author describes the horror she feels when she discovers ungrammatical signs such as: BOB,S PETS and headlines DEAD SONS PHOTOS MAY BE RELEASED.

Truss, the self-professed "stickler," recommends that anyone putting an apostrophe in a possessive "its"-as in "the dog chewed it's bone"-should be struck by lightning and chopped to bits. (I agree) She guides the reader ranging from ranting to lecture on the common grammatical errors. She points out the need for increased attention to proper punctuation. I found the interspersing her lesson-rants with historical information (the apostrophe dates from the 16th century; the first semicolon appeared in 1494) to be very useful.

Book of the Week: And Then There Were None By: Agatha Christie

My mother sent me her copy of this book which has the orginal title: Ten Little Indians.

Agatha Christie is a mystery writer that I adore, twists turns, tension, she has it all. She creates the most complex yet simple tales that keep you wanting more. The story begins with ten strangers that are invited to Indian Island, a resort home of the mysterious U.N. Owen. Every guest has at one point or another been responsible for murdering someone, yet each character claims innocence. Soon terror becomes reality and the guest begin to die until there are none. Cut off from the world and fighting rising panic, they scramble to unmask the killer even as their number is reduced in accordance with the Ten Little Indians nursey rhyme displayed throughout the house. Fingers begin to point and trust is lost. As each character claims innocence, you wonder who the killer is. Up to the end the mysterious murderer remains unknown.

Book of the Week: Blackbird House By Alice Hoffman

The author writes about the life of an old farm house on Cape Cod. She takes you through time as you step into the lives of the people who lived in Blackbird House. She begins her tale through time with the American Revolution, there you meet the first family to live in the house. As times passes on you become part of the house watching as the ownership passes one family to the next. The residents of Blackbird House experience joy, depression and death, but they find the power of love and comfort. The house's haunting presence throughout the book leaves you wanting to read more. I couldn't put his one down. Highly recommend reading this book if you enjoy a great story and a little bit of history.