Books like Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
12 books with a reading profile close to Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande. Inward-looking and contemplative; an easy read.
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1
The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration into the Wonder of Consciousness
Also inward-looking and contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Sy Montgomery recounts her regular visits to the New England Aquarium, where she develops individual relationships with resident giant Pacific octopuses like Athena and Octavia.
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2
Men Explain Things to Me
analytical, narrative
Rebecca Solnit’s essay collection centers on the systematic silencing of women in public and private spheres.
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3
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4
Unwell Women
Also inward-looking · analytical, narrative
Elinor Cleghorn traces the evolution of medical misogyny from the ancient Greek concept of the wandering womb to the modern mismanagement of autoimmune diseases and chronic pain.
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5
Tuck Everlasting
Also contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Winnie Foster is a ten-year-old girl who feels stifled by her family’s strict rules until she wanders into the woods and discovers the Tuck family.
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6
The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom
Also inward-looking and contemplative · analytical, philosophy
Jonathan Haidt uses the metaphor of a wild elephant and its rider to explain the tension between the emotional, instinctive brain and the logical, rational mind.
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7
Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life
by Lulu Miller
Also inward-looking and contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Part biography and part memoir, this book follows Lulu Miller’s investigation into David Starr Jordan, a taxonomist who spent his life naming thousands of new fish species and rebuilding his collection after the 1906 Sa…
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8
This Is Your Mind on Plants
analytical, narrative
Michael Pollan examines the human relationship with three distinct plant-derived psychoactive substances: opium, caffeine, and mescaline.
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9
The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho
Also inward-looking and contemplative · philosophy, narrative
Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd, leaves his flock to travel across the North African desert toward the Egyptian pyramids.
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10
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
by John Green
Also contemplative · philosophy, narrative
John Green evaluates the current geological age through a series of personal essays that assign star ratings to facets of the human-dominated world.
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11
Unnatural Causes: The Life and Many Deaths of Britain's Top Forensic Pathologist
analytical, narrative
Richard Shepherd details a career spent performing over 23,000 autopsies to determine the bridge between life and death.
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12
So You've Been Publicly Shamed
by Jon Ronson
analytical, narrative
Jon Ronson investigates the mechanics of modern digital shaming by interviewing individuals whose lives were dismantled by viral social media backlashes.
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