Friday, May 23, 2008

Summer reading

To get ready for this weekend and the unofficial start of summer with its long days of reading, we have added to our Book Club. In between your Beach Reads, try these.

Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die – interesting, engaging stories that help all of us make sure that what we are trying to say gets heard
Sick: The Untold Stories of America’s Health Care Crisis – and the People Who Pay the Price – an inspiring book that combines policy wonkery with the stories that make it matter
Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results – I expected to hate this book. I disagree most of the time with everyone who recommended it to me, but it changed the way I look at the health care system. The business lobby and consumer advocates have a lot more in common that we know.
Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project – An amazing project collecting history that would otherwise be lost and an exceptional demonstration of the power of storytelling
Maxed Out – a documentary that explains the tragedy of consumer credit and bankruptcy – especially when you consider that half of bankruptcies are due to medical bills
Better – a collection of essays that describe what medicine can become if we are smarter
The Secret History of the War on Cancer – outlines in meticulous detail how the powers-that-be have focused massive attention on treating cancer, but very little on addressing the causes, even covering up conflicts of interest and preventing important protections of our health

These are the newest Book Club recommendations. Check out the whole list.
Have a great weekend.