"When I saw the copy of Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead sitting on the square stack of books in Waterstones, I was naturally skeptical; ‘No.1 reader’s pick for the book of the century’ and ‘Pulitzer Prize winning’ — quite the praise. In the
"I strongly recommend this book to my colleagues both in primary and secondary care" – George C Moncrieff, Chair of the Dermatology Council for England until 2018, reviews the second edition of Jonathan Bowling's Diagnostic Dermoscopy: The Illustrated Guide
Andrew Papanikitas reviews 'Jews Don't Count' by comedian David Baddiel, a reflective essay that unpacks the idea that either you can’t be racist to or that is somehow ok to be racist to a Jew. Do some racisms or other sources of
"What I am increasingly aware of the longer I practice medicine is that traditional models of care are not working" — Maryan Naeem reviews 'What Seems To Be The Problem?', the new memoir by Laura Marshall-Andrews
"a filmic, memorable story that will leave its traces on the reader as the coastline is shaped by the sea" — Jane H Roberts reviews Mend the Living, the award-winning novel by Maylis de Kerangal
Paul Hepple reviews 'An ordinary doctor' by Susie West, and is captivated, inspired and angered
"a self-help-style read for patients seeking methods of improving their own mental wellbeing" — Lucy Martin reviews How to Rise: A Complete Resilience Manual by Karen Forshaw and Chrissie Mowbray
Peter Lindsay reviews Jeremy Hunt's new book, Zero
There is an enormous body of information on diet and nutrition, but how do you know what dietary information to recommend to patients? Terry Kemple reviews The Nutrition Proposition by James McCormack and Marcie Gray, where "most questions about nutrition and
Six authors of differing careers, backgrounds, and geography write about their mothers’ lives in six chapters - Our Mothers Ourselves, reviewed by Hannah Milton
A book "of interest to students, GPs, AiTs, patients, and even medical historians" — Professor Amanda Howe reviews The Tales of a Suffolk GP by Andrew Yager
Movies allow health care professionals to immerse themselves in “near-true” experiences that challenge their values and principles. Beatrice Khater and Bassem Saab discuss using The Last King of Scotland in family medicine training at the American University of Beirut
"... it is never too late to start accruing benefit [from exercise]" — Karen O’Reilly, GP, reviews Get Off The Couch Before It's Too Late: All The Whys and Wherefores of Exercise by Hugh Bethell
Rebecca Mawson reviews 2 books different in tone but equally sound on the subject of the menopause.
Hannah Milton reviews a book aimed at 8–12-year-old children which explains how traumatic experiences can affect the brain and lead to altered feelings and behaviours in the future.
Suzanne O’Sullivan is a British neurologist with a particular interest in psychosomatic diseases. Her book explores how the causes of psychosomatic neurological disorders do not necessarily have their cause within the individual patient but within the society that they live in. Review
David Jeffrey suggests that medical teachers will find this book a source of inspiration in encouraging students to engage in empathic relationships with patients and colleagues.
Roger Jones reviews 'A fortunate woman' by Polly Morland. At a very difficult time for general practice and for the medical profession as a whole, this book comes as a most welcome affirmation of the central importance of a respectful, reciprocal relationship
Ivy Mitchell and Andrew Papanikitas review Doughnut Economics - an attempt to rewire economic thinking to take account of both social deprivation and environmental sustainability.
Can a statement be a lie if if its author does not know (or want to know) that they are lying? John Spicer reviews an intriguing little book 'On Bullshit.'
Robert MacGibbon reviews a new radical blueprint for health which examines ‘five frontiers of health’; social justice, economic, social care, sustainability and a public health new deal.
Trish Greenhalgh reviews a book intended as a supplement to the clinical care offered in specialist long covid clinics.
Hannah Milton, GP, reviews Monty Lyman's The Painful Truth: The New Science of Why We Hurt and How We Can Heal.
Trish Greenhalgh suggests we learn from other disciplines about the folly of taking an overly reductive, one-variable-at-a-time view of the world and mistaking it for the highest form of science.
Andrew Papanikitas finds that 'Frontline' is not the ‘One bloody thing after another,’ of sensationalism for shock value. It is a reflective account full of haunting ethical choices.
Chris Dowrick reviews 'Humanity's conundrum' by David Zigmond. It is easy to become jaded and tired and to lose sight of the therapeutic purpose underlying all of our clinical encounters. Zigmond reminds us to stop, to listen and to respond.
Paquita De Zulueta reviews 'Go, went, gone' by Jenny Erpenbeck, a novel tackling themes of asylum and involuntary displacement
Hannah Milton reviews a book which argues that childhood adversity leads to other illnesses and that interventions for parents and children are needed as early as possible.
RCGP Past President, Terry Kemple, reviews Keefe's 'Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty'.
Marion Brown reviews Michael P. Hengartner'a critique of the pharmaceutical evidence for antidepressant use and underlying disease models.
Early medical abortion, equality of access, and the telemedical imperative is an exploration of both early medical abortion and telemedicine through the lenses of clinical evidence, social developments and legal policy. Andrew Papanikitas gives us his review.
Are at least 50% of jobs in the industrialised world pointless and unnecessary? Emma McKenzie-Edwards reviews "Bullshit jobs – the rise of pointless work and what we can do about it", by David Graeber.
Why on earth would a GP read a textbook of radiology? John Launer finds wisdom for all doctors in an unexpected place.
Hannah Milton reviews "What Happened to You?" by Bruce D. Perry and Oprah Winfrey. The The book seeks to shift conversations away from “what is wrong with you?” to “what happened to you?”
The intense pressure GPs are constantly facing can at times feel like a landslide ready to take us under. Awais Ahmad reviews "The Doctor Will See You Now", which lifts the lid on it all.
Rebecca Mawson reviews Unwell Women by Elinor Cleghorn. Her verdict - it is worth a read for anyone who lives as a woman, lives with a woman, or lives a life where they look after women!
General practice is full of unsung heroes. John Launer tells us about Dilys Daws and reviews two of her books, which may be of great help to many parents.
We have all had the fear that that a child we had seen with a minor flu-like illness at 4pm might be terminally ill with meningococcal septicaemia before the day was over. Hugh Bethell reviews a book by Oxford Professor of Paediatrics
"Whereas 2 Tone bands were kicking out neo-Nazis from their gigs decades ago, anecdotal reports of obsequious adjustments accommodating the racist demands of some patients continue to occur within the NHS today, despite an official zero-tolerance approach to racism." Sati Heer-Stavert reflects
The government has just announced a health and social care levy which is expected to raise £14bn a year. Of this, £1.8bn a year will go to social care. But will money alone fix the problems? Helen Burns reviews Saving Social Care
We all know that the world is going to hell in a handcart. But we all know wrong. David Misselbrook reviews Hans Rosling's final book: Factfulness.