When trouble strikes in the Harry Potter series, Hermione’s first instinct is to reach for a book. In case you feel the same way, here are some of our favourite healthcare reads.*
Funny books about un-funny things
C: Because Cowards Get Cancer Too by John Diamond (Ebury). Treatments for throat cancer have improved since humorist Diamond wrote this witty and moving biographical account in the late 1990s, but it’s hard to find a more heart-stopping scene than the one where he visits his oncology consultant and, in the room with him, “sees” a man in a hooded cloak with a scythe.
The stand-out moment in Pear-Shaped by Adam Blain (CreateSpace) is Blain’s soap-grappling attempt to take a shower in an NHS hospital cubicle when admitted for brain-tumour treatment; it will strike a particular chord with patients who have spent a prolonged period attached to a drip stand.
This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay (Pan Macmillan) puts the tortured life of the NHS doctor under the microscope, with wry humour. Undoctored (Orion), is a painfully honest sequel.
Getting serious
Peter 2.0 by Peter Scott-Morgan (Penguin) is a mind-expanding account of Scott-Morgan’s mission to defy motor neurone disease with the help of technology, eventually becoming an avatar of himself.
Patient by Ben Watt (Bloomsbury) records Watt’s experiences of overcoming a debilitating mystery illness by more low-tech methods, hospital care and sheer endurance.
Medical history
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green (Ebury) focuses on the health inequalities impeding the eradication of TB, while The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee (Harpercollins) is an exceptionally readable history of cancer. In This Mortal Coil Andrew Doig examines causes of death and how these have changed over the centuries (Bloomsbury).
For young readers
Amy Gets Eaten by Adam Kay and Henry Paker (Penguin Random House) is a glorious picture book following the journey of Amy the sweetcorn kernel from mouth to anus and beyond. A colourful introduction to the digestive system, well received by our four-year-old tester. For nasal insights, its companion book Simon Gets Sneezed is not to be sniffed at. Readers from age seven up will enjoy the irreverent biology lessons of Kay’s Marvellous Medicine and Kay’s Anatomy, as well as his fictional adventures of Dexter Procter, ten-year-old doctor (all Penguin Random House).
I Have No Secrets, Girl in the Window and Things the Eye Can’t See (all HarperCollins) by Penny Joelson are empowering thrillers for age 12 up that put young protagonists centre stage, solving mysteries and saving lives while living with disability.
The Fault in our Stars by John Green (Penguin Random House) is an uplifting and philosophical YA novel about living with cancer, which includes memorable reflections about yizkor and Anne Frank.
Mental health
Kai and the Golem by Carol Matas (Kar-Ben) is a scary-at-times picture book, offering a Jewish way to help young children explore difficult feelings. Nothing is working out Kai’s way. It’s raining, his dad doesn’t have time to make pancakes for breakfast – and Bubbe can’t hang out with him after school because she’s in hospital. Reading by himself instead, Kai remembers the Golem and wonders if a hairy monster is responsible for things going wrong. Illustrated by Elisa Vavouri.
I’m So Happy You’re Here by Liz Climo (HarperCollins) is a pictorial pick-me-up for all ages, including adults.
* Books can’t do everything. Do seek professional help for health issues. But take a good book for the waiting room