Used books = more books :)

So Grant has put a condition on my book-buying habits: from now on, unless I can come up with a good justification, I am relegated to buying books from used-book stores. I'm a bit neurotic about the books that I own-I freely admit this. I rarely loan my books out, I can't stand books with bent spines, I abhor bent corners, and I can only tolerate my own writing in the text. Buying a used book means that I have to accept that it most of the time, it will be in less-than-perfect condition. However, faced with the choice of 1) not getting any more books or 2) buying the books used, I will choose the latter. Plus, I'm quickly beginning to see that you can get MORE books for the same price of a NEW book. Hmmm. There could be benefits to this. :) I've been going back and forth between BN.com and Amazon.com to look at various used book sellers and thus far, have been happy with the results. This could all go out the window the first time I get a book in the mail that doesn't live up to its description, but I'll keep my fingers crossed. :)

What kind of reader are you?

I got this from my friend Emily's blog & loved it!! Thanks, Em!

What Kind of Reader Are You? Your Result: Dedicated Reader You are always trying to find the time to get back to your book. You are convinced that the world would be a much better place if only everyone read more.
Obsessive-Compulsive Bookworm
Literate Good Citizen
Book Snob
Non-Reader
Fad Reader
http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_kind_of_reader_are_you">What Kind of Reader Are You? http://www.gotoquiz.com/">Create Your Own Quiz

Wow! It's been a while!

I can't believe that it's been since July that I last posted. There's been so much going on! I'm currently on my Emergency Psychiatry rotation and everyday is pretty much another call day. We respond to emergencies in the NMCP ER, as well as every civilian ER in the area, and for all branches of the military. The other night when I was on call though, I think I might have set a record. I had a consult come in from AFRICA! Good night!! At first when the corpsman called, I thought it was a joke, but nope. Seriously a call from a deployed doc in Africa who needed help with a psych patient. Too funny. Anyway, I think it'd be hopeless to update on everything else that's been going on, so I'll try to do a rundown of the top 5 things.
1) My mom and Keelie each came down and were able to visit for a week. Mom in August and Keel in September. It was so great to have visitors!! Grant and I feel so isolated down here and we miss Ohio so much, it was nice to have company!
2) I have gotten quite a few great books - my piles are almost getting to be too much. Almost. List to follow in upcoming post.
3) I got my hair cut! It's been long for forever in order for me to put in a bun every day for work, but I couldn't take it any longer. I got it chopped about chin-length and absolutely love it! No more East German look, and the best thing is that when I leave the hospital and go to the store at the end of the day, no one knows I'm active duty out of uniform! I love it!
4) Grant and I had our third wedding anniversary! Three years seem to have flown by - I can't imagine what life would be like without him. He definitely is the reason that I haven't gone crazy over this past year! :)
5) I reread (k, actuall listened to...) Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride & Prejudice and Rebecca! I had forgotten just how much I loved the first three. Of course, Rebecca is my all-time favorite, so no forgetting there. Oh! And I saw I Becoming Jane - I loved it, but was so torn. I thought for sure that in the movie Jane would have a chance at everlasting love. I know it's not true to life, but come on! I hate wrong endings! It's the whole reason that I read the end of every book I read first! If it ends wrong, I don't read it. K, with the exception of the Harry Potter novels. I have absolutely not read the end of those yet. I am 2 behind in that series. Sometimes I feel that I will never be able to read all the books in my "to read" notebook!

Alrighty, that's it for now. I have quite a few ideas of things I want to write about, but I will save it for later. It feels good to be blogging again!

Happenings...

Grant & I went to Barnes & Noble yesterday as he was in need of a new dayplanner. When he couldn't find one he liked, he left me there in order to search out Target and OfficeMax. There's nothing like shopping at B&N without Grant repeatedly telling, "Quick like bunnies! Quick like bunnies!" :) So, left alone to shop at leisure I found two great buys: The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard and What the Dead Know by Laura Lippman. Now, the Lippman novel was 50% off and I got 30% off the Bayard novel with a special coupon for renewing my B&N membership card! I think I get the $25 back within a month of buying it. :) I'm especially excited about the Louis Bayard novel - here's the synopsis from the back:

"At West Point Academy in 1830, the calm of an Octobert evening is shattered by the discovery of a young cadet's body swinging from a rope. The next morning, an even greater horror comes to light. Someone has removed the dead man's heart. Augustus Landor--who acquired some renown in his years as a New York City police detective--is called in to discreetly investigate. It's a baffling case Landor must pursue in secret, for the scandal could do irreparable damage to the fledgling institution. But he finds help from an unexpected ally--a mood, young cadet with a penchant for drink, two volumes of poetry to his name, and a murky past that changes from telling to telling. The strange and haunted Southern poet, for whom Landor develops a fatherly affection, is named Edgar Allan Poe."

Oooh - it's going to be so exciting! I finished Under the Banner of Heaven and will not be able to think of Mormonism the same ever again. And, I don't know how I missed in the news that Mitt Romney was Mormon before. No voting for Mitt by this GOP gal. Now I'm listening to Wuthering Heights, a book that I haven't read since probably my freshman year of high school. I'd forgotten how good it is! I think I'll be on a classics streak for a while now. Two of my favorite books in high school were Emma and Jane Eyre and I think I'd like to read (listen?) to those again, too. Which brings me to my next topic...

If one listens to a book on CD, can it really be said that it was read? Grant and I discussed this over dinner last night and he felt that yes, it would be counted as having read the book because you know the contents of the story it contains. I tend to agree, but thought I would open it up for discussion. Any feelings one way or the other?

Other than that, not much going on. I'm on the consult service right now and things are going along just swimmingly. I must say that being a second year is a far improvement over internship year!!! :)

More later!

When the cat is away, the mice will play!

So Grant went home this past weekend for a friend's wedding, leaving me at home to do what I wanted!! :) Friday night I ended up relaxing at home and watched "The Devil Wears Prada" on HBO. Despite seeing the book countless times at B&N, I never had any desire to read it. The movie, however, was decent & I enjoyed Anne Hathaway. I woke up Saturday morning and went into the base to attend the "Advanced Cardio Max" workout session. Wow. My legs are super sore - maybe the "advanced" should have been a warning. I usually attend the session after Cardio Max, but wanted to get an early start on my Saturday. I'll be paying for that judgment call for a couple days. I heard a rumor that if you go into rhabdomyolysis, you could possibly get waived from the PRT. I'm just not sure risking kidney failure is worth it. :)

So, after the workout of the century, I went back home & got cleaned up. I sat down to paint my nails & toes and decided that it'd been over a year since I got a real mani & pedi, so set off to find one of the nearest "Nails Oasis" boutiques. You have to love a $30 mani & pedi combination! Plus, they used OPI, so I was happy. My nails look great & I was totally relaxed after the experience, so I think I'll be making more frequent appearances there now.

I spent Saturday evening up at Barnes & Noble s l o w l y perusing through the aisles and picking up various books that I had on my "to read" list. (I think this will be a lesson to Grant not to leave me alone again for a long time! haha). Here's what I got:
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of its Survivors by Doug Stanton
Mount Misery by Samuel Shem (this is the sequel to House of God - the hysterical book about what it's like to go through medical school.) The sequel is actually about the main character who decides to go into a psychiatry residency. I'm starting this one already - I love Shem's sarcastic sense of humor.
Then - those of you who frequent B&N will know what I'm talking about here - I bought three of the B&N Collector's Library pocket-book series. These are the books that measure about 3x5 inches and only appear in the store about three times a year. I love this series because they are hardbound and fit perfectly in a white coat pocket. I pull them out whenever I get bored in the hospital and am supposed to be waiting on an attending, etc. Previously, I've gotten The Brothers Karamozov and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (currently in my white coat pocket). So last night I added to my collection: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, and Great Expectations by Dickens. And, even Grant will appreciate this: they were only $2.39 each!!! (Normally, $2.99 but 60 cent discount with the B&N club card!) Woohoo! What a buy!!! After I spent about 90 minutes looking through the store, I settled down in the cafe and studied psychopharmacology for about 2 hours. What a relaxing night!

Grant arrived home safely this morning and brought back my engagement ring with him. We'd sent it back with Drew last weekend so that the prongs and setting could be checked at Allison's Jewelry store back in Sidney, Ohio. Otherwise, not much else going on here. I'll write more this week as I'm almost done with a couple of books and will put my reviews here.

Have a great week!

Recommended Books for Psychiatry Residents

Because I started this blog with the intent to write about both literature and psychiatry, here is the recommended reading list I received today from my program director. I'm happy to post this because extensive searching on the internet revealed nothing similar to this listing, so hopefully it will be helpful to others as well.

From the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth Pyschiatry Residency Program:

REQUIRED READING
1.) Kaplan and Saddock’s Synopsis of Psychiatry: Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry. 10th edition. Benjamin Saddock and Virginia Saddock . LWW. May 2007.
2.) Clinical Neurology for Psychiatrists. David Myland Kaufman. Suanders. 2007.

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED
1.) Kaplan and Sadock’s Study Guide and Self-Examination Review in Psychiatry. Benjamin Saddock and Virginia Saddock . LWW. May 2007.
2.) Drug Interaction Principles for Medical Practice: Cytochrome P450s, UGTs, P-Glycoproteins. 2nd edition. Kelly L. Cozza, Scott C. Armstrong, and Jessica R. Oesterheld. APPI. 2003.
3.) Principles and Practice of Psychopharmacotherapy. Philip G Janicak, John M Davis, Sheldon H Preskorn, et al. LWW. 2006.
4.) The Neuroscience of Clinical Psychiatry. Edmund S Higgins and Mark S. George. LWW. 2007.
5.) Essential Psychopharmacology. 2nd edition. Stephen Stahl. Cambridge University Press. 2000.
6.) The Clinical Interview Using DSM-IV-TR. Volume 1: Fundamentals. Ekkehard Othmer and Sieglinde Othmer. APPI. 2002.
7.) The Clinical Interview Using DSM-IV-TR. Volume 2: The Difficult Patient. Ekkehard Othmer and Sieglinde Othmer. APPI. 2002.
8.) Study Guide to DSM-IV-TR. Michael A Fauman. APPI. 2002.
9.) Desk Reference to the Diagnostic Criteria from DSM-IV-TR. APPI. 2000.
10.) DSM-IV-TR Case Book. A Learning Companion to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition Text Revision. Robert L. Spitzer, Miriam Gibbon, Andrew E. Skodol, et al. APPI.
11.) The Art and Science of Brief Psychotherapies: A Practitioner’s Guide. Core Competencies in Psychotherapy. Mantosh J. Dewan, Brett N. Steenbarger, and Roger P Greenberg. APPI. 2005.
12.) Introduction to Supportive Psychotherapy. Core Competencies in Psychotherapy.Arnold Winston, Richard Rosenthal, and Henry Pinsker. APPI. 2005.
13.) Long-Term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. A Basic Text. Core Competencies in Psychotherapy. Glen O. Gabbard. APPI. 2005.
14.) Learning Cognitive-Behavior Therapy. An Illustrated Guide. Core Competencies in Psychiatry. Jesse H. Wright, Monica R. Basco, and Michael E. Thase. APPI. 2005.
15.) Competency in Combining Pharmacotherapy and Psychotherapy. Integrated and Split Treatment. Core Competencies in Psychotherapy. Michelle B. Ribs and Richard Balon. APPI. 2005.
16.) Psychodynamic Psychiatry in Clinical Practice. 4th edition. Glen Gabbard. APPI. 2005.
17.) Cognitive Therapy, Basics and Beyond, Judith S. Beck. Guilford Press, 1995.
18.) Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy. Irvin D. Yalom. 1995
19.) Freud and Beyond: A History of Modern Psychoanalytic Thought. Stephen Mitchell and Margaret Black. HarperCollins. 1996.
20.) Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of General Hospital Psychiatry. 5th ed. Theodore A Stern, Gregory Fricchione, Ned H. Cassem, et al. Mosby. 2004.

It's exciting to me that there's so much out there to learn about psychiatry. A bit overwhelming, but still exciting. :)

Reading on the Beach!

This past week most of my husband's family came down to visit. My mother-in-law helped me clean my house and Grant hung up pictures and decorations that we've been collecting for the past year. So, finally, the condo is shaping up! And, I think that every single article of clothing that Grant & I own is clean as Maureen (my mother-in-law) worked like crazy to get it all washed, dried, ironed & put away!!! It actually feels relaxing to be at home now! :) So - all that activity took place during the first half of the week and then the latter half of the week we spent down at Nags Head. We got to see our niece and nephews and play on the beach for a day. I got a healthy amount of sun but Grant got a little more than he thought! I'm not thinking that the spray-on sunscreen is the safest way to go.... While Grant & his brothers played football and swam, I sat under my umbrella and finished two books! I have to admit, my idea of a perfect vacation is going to a museum or a historical place, but relaxing on the beach with a good book is a close second. :) I finished two books down there: Maisie Dobbs and Water for Elephants, both of which were great. I'd previously said that Water for Elephants could be a bit hard to stomach with the descriptions of the way that circus animals were treated, but there's justice in the end. :) I'm now reading the second Maisie Dobbs mystery, and I'm about halfway through a new Jamestown archeology book that we picked up in Williamsburg earlier this week. (Oh! I forgot - Williamsburg was great! Maureen & I only got to go to a few of the shops, but I'm definitely planning on taking Grant back to see the actual historical area & the first psychiatric hospital in the colonies!) As I haven't been driving to work for the past week, I still have a bit more to listen to in Under the Banner of Heaven, but anticipate finishing it this coming week.

Now, for the much-anticipated summer reading recommendations from the National Review:
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NGExNWRlMTk0NjJiMTIxZTdhMGQyMzBiMDQ4YjA3YjY=
There are some great books on this list!!!

And, for some exciting news for Alexander McCall Smith fans (thanks for the update, Emily!!)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401548.html?hpid=sec-artsliving
Hollywood has finally decided to take Precious Ramotswe and her No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency to the big screen!!! It's supposed to be out by Christmas! I'm so excited - this is one of my favorite series of books. Hopefully the movie will be well done!

I have to do some shopping for office supplies over the weekend & plan on moving into my new office at the hospital Sunday afternoon. More updates later!

Intern year is finally over! (well, almost...)

Hurrah for the end of June and with it, the end of internship year! We had our graduation yesterday in front of the old hospital steps at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth wearing our formal dress whites. Despite the heat and humidity, it was a nice ceremony attended by not only our Admiral Cullison, but also a 3-star General from the USMC. I hope to post pictures soon. Even though I walked at graduation and received the "Psychiatry Intern of the Year" award, I technically have one more month of internship left as I started a month behind the rest of the class due to attending OIS last summer. I'm okay with this extra month though, as it is Consult Psychiatry, and I will basically be functioning as a second year. Starting in August then, I take over one of the two inpatient wards and dig into my R-2 year. I will stay on schedule with the rest of my class, and the rest of my year will be in three-month rotations. As a warning to the general public, however, it's always good to stay out of the hospital during the end of June and beginning of July as that's when the new interns come in and are beginning to work on the wards. I don't think I've done any major damage in the past year, but things are a little shaky when you're first working as a real doctor and no longer have that "I'm just the medical student" umbrella to work under. :)

In the spirit of celebration, I think I will buy a few more books (and maybe a purse or two...). I found a few more great sites that are recommending summer reads and wanted to share those today. The first is actually a website with recommended reading for those going into college. Some I've read & some I still need to read. Here's the link:
http://www.collegeboard.com/student/plan/boost-your-skills/23628.html

NPR is normally a bit liberal for my liking, but I did find these next three recommendations off their website appealing:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11354716
The printable list of 2007 recommendations is here:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10662577

Books that I'm adding to my list regarding war and psychiatry:
Military Brats: Legacies of Childhood Inside the Fortress by Mary Edwards Wertsch.
War and the Soul by Edward Tick

Currently, I'm finishing up Water for Elephants (good, but hard to read at parts because I can't bear to read or hear about cruelty to animals and this makes you think twice about attending a circus...but overall, this is great) as well as the first Maisie Dobbs. I think next I'm going to dig into The Historian. Oh, I'm also almost done listening to Under the Banner of Heaven. The more I hear about the LDS faith, the more disturbed I become. It's actually a great read in terms of psychiatry, too, because it paints a picture of how delusional people can be. I'll go to the library soon to get another book on CD. I literally have a stack of books as tall as my desk sitting next to me compelling me to clean another day and seize today for reading! (Especially since Grant is on call today!) But...Drew & Maureen & Greg will be arriving today, and cleaning the house will take priority right now. I'm so excited because I finally have a bit of leave & will be home for the next week. Hopefully there will be lots of down time to relax & read. :)

More later!

A Must-Have Item for Book Lovers!

I bought two psychiatry books today and upon arriving home, immediately went upstairs to get a couple of my "Library of" stickers. When I picked them up, I realized that I hadn't mentioned this important part of my new-book tradition. :) Each library must have a way to identify individual books as being part of the whole collection and my personalized embosser makes this possible. The embosser can be used on the actual page of the book or, as I mostly prefer, on a sticker. I've seen various embossers available, but love mine from Willliams-Sonoma (and it's even the least expensive one I've seen yet at $36!) I get my stickers from Wilshire Graphic Press (I recommend the dull gold foil).

At last! A new Bookmarks!!

I'm on call tonight for medicine (only 9 more days left!!) so my free time tonight (and hopefully there's lots of it!) will be spent devouring the latest Bookmarks that arrived in my mailbox today. Couldn't have come at a better time! I'm definitely over reading academic material at this point in the year (did I mention that I have 9 days left till I'm straight psych, all the time?). And, this edition of Bookmarks is devoted to two of my favorite things in the world - 1) crime & mystery books and 2) summer reading!!!! How perfect! I love this magazine!

In a previous blog, I commented that Bookmarks' website leaves a lot to be desired. In the Letters section this month, the editor stated that they are working on improving the web site and are planning on making past issues available online! That's good news to me because last year I procrastinated on renewing my subscription and missed a few issues! Although my collection is now incomplete, I take heart in knowing that I will be able to review those issues online in the future. :)

I just finished listening to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, by John Berendt, and really enjoyed it. Although the author takes a bit of freedom in recounting the real-life events surrounding a murder in Savannah, Georgia (a la James Frey) it was an interesting book. I have to admit, however, that I could not take the suspense any longer by the time I reached disk 10 (of 14) and googled the book so I could find out how the trial ended. ;) Now I am in the middle of Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer about the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints church and its twisted history and beliefs. It's rather disturbing, especially from a mental health perspective.

Finally, I wanted to mention two websites that have been brought to my attention recently. The first is www.abebooks.com - a website dedicated to helping locate new, used, rare, and out-of-print books. Very cool - especially its "Avid Reader" e-newsletter. The other site is one that's already added to my "favorite links" - www.librarything.com. This site has two main functions: 1) it allows for people to have a virtual catalog of books they own and 2) links all the online catalogs together. For example, I love Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca, and when you type the title into the "search" function, it finds every library that contains Rebecca, and then gives suggestions of similar books others recommend. Additionally it lists new book recommendations, allows for searching the Library of Congress, and has numerous online book groups and discussions. For free, you can catalog up to 200 books; an unlimited catalog is either $10 per year or $25 for life. I haven't ponied up any money yet, but have to admit it's tempting. My only hesitations are that I'm not sure I seriously have the time to sit down and enter in all the books I own online (nor am I sure that I want Grant to know exactly how many I own!!) and - $25 could buy at least a couple more books! :) I'll probably stick with the free membership afterall. :)

Three cheers for Grant!!!

Here's a shout-out to the best husband in the world - Grant Leo - for taking me to Barnes & Noble and letting me walk out with five new books (even though I promised him I would only get one!) Here are my newest purchases:

Three of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries: the original Maisie Dobbs, Birds of a Feather, and Pardonable Lies. Also, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson & finally, Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian.

Now, I've been eyeing The Historian for a long time and it was only after reading multiple reviews about it in Bookmarks that I decided it sounded like a good read. I was super excited about the Maisie Dobbs books because B&N has a "Buy 2, Get 1 Free" sale going on now that featured all of the books. And get this - I got Case Histories & The Historian for $5.96 each!! In hardcover!!! This is probably the reason that Grant let me get away with such an egregious violation of the one-book promise. :) He's just too good to me. Grant is now strongly lobbying for use of the library from here out. He even volunteered to write a guest blog about the fine qualities and redeeming features that local libraries have to offer. We're in negotiations right now. ;)

Here come the summer reading lists!!!!

Yeah!!! Here's the first of summer reading lists I've found on the web! I'm getting sooo excited! Let me know if you see any other reading lists floating around - I'm always taking suggestions! This one is from NPR....

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10662577

This past week was my first week of medicine and honestly, wasn't all that bad. I'm enjoying working with my team members and our resident, and that makes a big difference. Grant had this past week off and was able to get a lot of tasks done around the house, so my stress level is down now as well.

I'm currently reading My Cousin Rachel by Daphne DuMaurier & am absolutely loving it. I can't say that it has the same intrigue that Rebecca holds for me, but still a great read. I am on call on Tuesday, so that means Wednesday I will probably stop by B&N to reward myself with a few books. :)

Great Article from the New York Post

Found this while surfing Al Gore's invention (i.e. the internet) earlier tonight & thought it was interesting - definitely adds a few books to my "must read" list. :)

"The Best Novels You've Never Read"
http://nymag.com/arts/books/features/2007/32390/

I start inpatient Medicine on Monday, so it might be a while before I'm able to get a good posting in. I'm looking forward to the rush of "summer reading recommendations" that usually comes out around this time. Hopefully will be able to comment on that more the next time.

Recommendations in Three's

My good friend from college, Emily, also has a blog (www.bucketofparts.blogspot.com) on which she recently had this post. She tagged me, so I'm now posting my recommendations:

Three fiction books everyone should read

1) Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
2) Silas Marner - George Eliot
3) Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood


Three non-fiction books everyone should read:

1) What's So Great About America - Dinesh D'Souza
2) Miles Gone By - William F. Buckley
3) John Paul The Great: Remembering a Spiritual Father - Peggy Noonan


Three authors everyone should read:

1) Daphne Du Maurier
2) Oliver Sacks
3) Alexander McCall Smith

Wow - that was hard to come up with a top three. I think my mom will be the person most likely to 1) read my blog and 2) continue on the Top Three Recommendations! :)

Ooooh...book buying spree!

Some months are worse than others in terms of being on call. This month has been particularly painful & I've been on call 8 times! Ouch. I must have made the chief resident mad somehow. Anyway- whenever I have a painful night on call, I feel justified in buying a book (or five) as a reward. Here's a list of some that I've recently purchased:

My Cousin Rachel - Daphne Du Maurier
My all-time favorite book is Rebecca, by the same author & so when I saw this in the "Sale" section of B&N, it was a no-brainer buy. So far, I've read two chapters & am hooked. Also of note, I just listened to Rebecca's Tale, by Sally Beauman, and loved it. I had seen the book on the library shelf many times but always passed it by because it seemed so presumptious for another author to write a sequel to the classic - but, I'm so glad I finally gave in! I loved it!

The Few and The Proud - Larry Smith
I've been interested in reading books pertaining to the Navy & Marine Corps so that I'm more in tune with the patients I deal with every day. I especially enjoyed this book because it deals with Marine Corps' training. Reading this book only confirmed my belief that I would not have made it as a Marine. Heck, I barely made it through Officer training for Navy doctors! Ha! :)

The Sacred Bones - Michael Byrnes
Great book - mystery a la Da Vinci Code but dealing with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions together. I always enjoy a good mystery - I'm 90% done with it, but as usual, I read the end already so I know it ends right too! :)

Speak Softly, She Can Hear - Pam Lewis
This was another book I found on the sale rack - I haven't started it yet, but I remember being intrigued by it when it was a new release.

On Call In Hell - A Doctor's Iraq War Story - CDR Richard Jadick
This book was interesting to me because it's written by a Navy doctor who is also a D.O. While I thought it was a great read, I often disagreed with his view of how doctors should function in the military. Playing the role of both a doctor & an officer is a complicated one, especially when on the front lines. I feel that I took the Hippocratic oath before I began serving as an officer and my goals are aligned accordingly. Others disagree, but as a psychiatrist in training, it is sometimes glaringly obvious how my khaki uniform and lieutenant bars make my patients uncomfortable. Maybe my views will change as I spend the next seven years of my life in uniform - we'll see. Regardless, it's a good read.

Dry - Augusten Burroughs
I recently finished Running with Scissors and liked it, despite the fact that it was outrageous at points. This is a book that doesn't portray psychiatrists in such a great light, but was a good read. I'm anxious to dig into Dry.

The Fifth Vial - Michael Palmer
Palmer's books are always enjoyable and so far, this one is great. I love books that combine mysteries with medicine.

The Book of Air and Shadows - Michael Gruber
What could be better - a mystery involving a priceless treasure from William Shakespeare? This book reminded me of the literature mystery The Thirteenth Tale when I perused it in Barnes & Noble and clearly had to buy it. I haven't started this one yet, but I think it will be next.

Ghostwalk - Rebecca Stott
Along the same lines as The Book of Air and Shadows, this novel is a mystery surrounding Isaac Newton. The cover of this book was enough to make me want to buy it. I'm a sucker for packaging. :)

I'm currently listening to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - by John Berendt. So far, very interesting. I may have said this before, but I didn't find out about books on CD until my second year of medical school. I frequently visit libraries, but somehow must have missed this section. I felt cheated - I'd been driving home to Fostoria for six years and could have listened to sooo many more books! So, now that I commute to the hospital and spend a good amount of my life waiting to go through a tunnel, listening to books on CD has made it all worthwhile. I've even gotten Grant into the same habit! :)

Now...if I only had some down time on call so that I could read all of these!!!

A must-have for bibliophiles!

A couple of years ago, my mom discovered a fantastic new magazine called Bookmarks at Barnes & Noble. A true book lover could not ask for more! Each issue typically focuses on two major authors, and then reviews a large number of new books published in a variety of genres. Additionally, there are regular columns that feature recommendations from book clubs, a "If you liked this author, try ___" article, and reader favorites. Each time I receive the magazine, I add a good twenty more books to my "to read" list. Sometimes it's overwhelming because I haven't finished anywhere near all the books on my list and it just keeps growing! I wish their website (www.bookmarksmagazine.com) showed an example of an old issue, but it's not very helpful. A subscription is $24.95 for 6 issues - and well worth it. I save all my back issues in order to go back and re-read later. The best place to get a look at the magazine would either be B&N, or try your local library - either way, I think you'll be hooked! :)

~Some of my favorite poetry~

I recently found one of my favorite poetry anthologies on my bookshelf - I had forgotten it was there! I highly recommend it: Spoon River Anthology, by Edgar Lee Masters. It's a compilation of epitaphs created by the person whose tomb it marks in the fictional town of Spoon River. They're short, free-verse, and easy to read - and often, refer to another person in town. I come from a small town and found it very easy to relate to. My favorite one is George Gray.

George Gray
I have studied many times
The marble which was chisesled for me--
A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.
In truth it pictures not my destination
But my life.
For love was offered me and I shrank from its disillusionment;
Sorrow knocked at my door, but I was afraid;
Ambition called to me, but I dreaded the chances.
Yet all the while I hungered for meaning in my life.
And now I know that we must lift the sail
And catch the winds of destiny
Wherever they drive the boat.
To put meaning in one's life may end in madness,
But life without meaning is the torture
Of restlessness and vague desire--
It is a boat longing for the sea and yet afraid.

I first heard about Pablo Neruda from Patch Adams, M.D. - the physician portrayed by Robin Williams in the movie of the same name. Patch was speaking at Children's Hospital in Columus where I worked while going through college. I remember two things from that speech - 1) that I thoroughly disliked Patch and his attitude toward conventional medicine (despite being at Children's Hospital, he didn't even take time to visit the children!!!) and 2) I loved the poetry he recited from Pablo Neruda. He said that he's committed hundreds of poems to memory and that Neruda was often his most-quoted. I think the movie had Patch reciting poems to his girlfriend from Neruda, too. Anyway - here are two from 100 Love Sonnets; Cien sonetos de amor - on one side the poem is in its original Spanish and the other side of the page is the English translation. (Definitely a book I recommend as a Valentine's gift to a gal who appreciates poetry....)

LXXXIX
When I die, I want your hands on my eyes;
I want the light and wheat of your beloved hands
to pass their freshness over me once more:
I want to feel the softness that changed my destiny.

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep.
I want your ears still to hear the wind, I want you
to sniff the sea's aroma that we loved together,
to continue to walk on the sand we walk on.

I want what I love to continue to live,
and you whom I love and sang above everything else
to continue to flourish, full-flowered:

so that you can reach everything my love directs you to,
so that my shadow can travel along in your hair,
so that everything can learn the reason for my song.

XVII
I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

I love you as the plant that never blooms
but carries in itself the light of hidden flowers;
thanks to your love a certain solid fragrance,
risen from the earth, lives darkly in my body.

I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.
I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride;
so I love you because I know no other way

than this: where I does not exist, nor you,
so close that your hand on my chest is my hand,
so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.

Books I'm Planning On Reading

I'm forever adding titles to my "To Read" list. Here's my current list:

A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books - Nicholas Basbanes
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History - John Barry
Sweet and Low: A Family Story - Rich Cohen
The Year of Magical Thinking - Joan Didion
Dry: A Memoir - Augusten Burroughs (Own this...it's in the pile next to my desk.)
Summer of a Dormouse - John Mortimer
The Burning of Bridget Cleary: A True Story - Angela Bourke
The Dress Lodger - Sheri Holman
Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War - Mark Bowden
A Prayer for the Dying - Stewart O'Nan
A Beautiful Mind - Sylvia Nasar
An Instance of the Fingerpost - Iain Pears
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary - Simon Winchester - own this one & think I"ll read it next! :)
Friday Night Knitting Club - Kate Jacobs
The Prisoner's Wife - asha bandele
Driving with Dead People - Monica Holloway
When Rabbit Howls - Truddi Chase
Forever Ours: Real Stories of Immortality and Living From a Forensic Pathologist - Janis Amatuzio
The Freud Reader - Peter Gay (Editor)
Soldiers and Ghosts: A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity - Jon E. Lendon
I'll Carry the Fork!: Recovering a Life After Brain Injury - Kara L. Swanson, Mike Chrumka
Over My Head: A Doctor's Own Story of Head Injury from the Inside Looking Out - Claudia L. Osborn
Vanish - Tess Gerritsen
A Three Dog Life - Abigail Thomas
The Ruins - Scott Smith
A Simple Plan - Scott Smith
My Father the Spy: A Family History of the CIA, the Cold War, and the Sixties - John H. Richardson
I, Wabenzi: A Souvenir - Rafi Zabor
Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin - John Hope Franklin
All Will Be Well - John McGahern
One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer - Nathaniel Fick
When All the World Was Young: A Memoir - Barbara Holland
The Necessity of Madness - John Breeding
West of Then: A Mother, a Daughter, and a Journey past Paradise - Tara Bray Smith
Divided Minds: Twin Sisters and Their Journey through Schizophrenia - Pamela Spiro Wagner, Carolyn S. Spiro
The Cadaver's Ball - Charles Atkins

Easy Reads I Loved!

Sometimes it feels as if I spend my entire life inside the hospital and one of the last things I want to do when I am free is read scholarly books. This list is dedicated to some of my favorite mindless reads.

Knit One, Kill Two , A Deadly Yarn, and Needled to Death - Maggie Sefton
My mom gave me these books for my birthday and I knew I was in love - anything that combines two of my favorite things - reading mysteries and knitting - had to be a hit. These books didn't let me down. I took a lot of flak from my husband about how corny their titles were, but he's a non-reader and a non-knitter, so I couldn't expect him to appreciate them. :) I was sad when I got through them all, but to my delight - discovered Killer Stitch is due out this May!!

Along the same lines... A Good Yarn and The Shop on Blossom Street - Debbie Macomber
Once I finished Maggie Sefton's series, my mom passed on these titles and again, I was hooked. :) I hesitated reading the second book because I had enjoyed the first one so much and was afraid that new characters would be hard to handle - but my fears were unfounded. I loved them both. And again - a new title, Back on Blossom Street is due out April 24, 2007. Don't you love when there's a new release in a series?

About Alice - Calvin Trillin
I'm going to start giving this book as wedding presents - it's only about 75 pages long, but it's so wonderful! Those who know me know that 1) I read the end of every book first and 2) I don't read sad stories. I made an exception for this book after reading a review in Bookmarks and feeling in awe that this man wrote such a sweet book in tribute to his wife and his love for her. It made me both laugh and cry. I even convinced Grant to read it! :)

The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair - Sue Monk Kidd
I love the stories in these books and was so sad when they ended-almost always a sign of a good book.

The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
I first saw this advertised in Barnes & Nobles and must admit, I'm a sucker for book covers. It just looked good! A mystery tale about a book lover - it screamed "Read me!" from the display. I loved it and could barely put it down. This could be because I mustered up some serious discipline and didn't read the end first, so I was overly anxious to find out what happened. My mom thought it was a bit confusing and had to look back frequently, but overall - excellent book.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time - Mark Haddon
An autistic young boy is blamed for the death of a neighbor's dog and struggles to to investigate the situation. It's interesting to read from the young boy's point of view and experience how he sees the world.

Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
Some found this book to be disturbing, but I loved it. It's narrated by a young girl who has been murdered and is witnessing the subsequent destruction of her family. I think it was easy for me to accept as the narrator seems at peace, even while her family is struggling. Written in a style that reminds me of Haddon's Curious Incident and Parkhurst's Dogs of Babel. Highly recommended.

Dogs of Babel - Carolyn Parkhurst
Even though I found parts of this book hard to stomach (animal cruelty is harder for me to bear than human cruelty for some reason....definitely the reason I'm a psychiatrist and not a veterinarian...) I loved the storyline. It's a story about coming to terms with grief and the reality that those we love aren't perfect.

K, that's enough for now. More to come on this subject later. :)

Psychiatry books, Part 2

Two of my all-time favorites (I don't know why they didn't come to mind first...) And, as a suggestion from one of my esteemed psychiatric colleagues, I have included a link to the book on Barnes & Noble through the title.

Where is the Mango Princess? A Journey Back from Brain Injury - Cathy Crimmons
This was a recommendation from one of my attendings. I read it in one afternoon - it's such a good story. I think it is one that I have most frequently recommended to patients as I am a Navy doctor and meet patients dealing with Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) from the war.

Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
This is one of the most recent books I read and it easily made its way to my 25 favorites list. I don't know what it was about this story - it deals with a young servant girl who is involved in the murder of her master and his mistress - but I was hooked. It's a bit on the long side, but I was halfway done before I knew it! I'm going to read some of the author's other books now...

44 Scotland Street and Espresso Tales - Alexander McCall Smith
On a lighter note, McCall Smith is one of my all-time favorite authors. I have read every book that he's written and would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite. However, these two books are in this posting because of the psychiatric references that they contain. I listen to books on CD in the car and especially loved listening to these books. The characters are so endearing and some of the situations they're involved in made me laugh hysterically! I'm just hoping that the next in series comes out quickly. :)

Books I recommend for psychiatrists

So I've been thinking about creating a "books I've read list" for a long time and recently decided that a blog would be the easiest way to go about it. This entry will include recommendations for psychiatrists, as I'm currently in my residency and am always looking for books that will help me better relate to my patients. They're not listed in any particular order, just in the order that I remember them. :) Also - it will most likely be posted in multiple segments as I get free time in chunks while I'm on call.

The Minds of Billy Milligan - Daniel Keyes
This book was a great read - it is based on the true story of Billy Milligan, a young man from Ohio who was the first patient with Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multiple Personality Disorder) to plead "insanity" for crimes committed, including armed robbery and rape in the 1970s. This was interesting to me as I went to medical school at Ohio University and Billy was intermittently a patient at the mental health hospital there in Athens. Additionally, the author Daniel Keyes (best known for writing Flowers for Algernon), is a professor emeritus there and interviewed Daniel when he was in Athens. DID is a much debated diagnosis in psychiatry and it was interesting to read about this patient and think about my feelings on it.

Girls of Tender Age: A Memoir - Mary-Ann Tyrone Smith
I loved this book because it tells about a significant event that occurred in the author's young life in an easy narrative fashion, and contains insight into growing up with an autistic sibling (in this case, before autism was a readily diagnosed or accepted condition.) Although it was moving, it also contained humor and I found that the pages flew by quickly.

Abnormal Personality through Literature - Sue and Alan Stone
I'm currently reading this book and absolutely love it as it combines two of my favorite things in life: reading and psychiatry. It would have made such a great research project - I'm almost jealous that the authors were able to work on this. It makes me think of contemporary works that display characterological traits - more to come on this later. Anyway - it's more of a book that you can read bits and pieces of at a time instead of reading straight through. I found it through a used book store as it is not currently published.

Born on a Blue Day - Daniel Tammet
I happened to see this book at B&N one day and was ecstatic! It was a unique opportunity to look inside the thought process of a man with Asperger's Syndrome and savant abilities. At times, the detail was almost overwhelming, but it was fascinating to read his description of everyday events and think about how differently he sees the world. Definitely a good read for anyone who knows a person diagnosed with one of the Pervasive Developmental Disorder spectrum conditions.

K - that's enough for right now. I will be adding many, many more books to this site with time!