Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Not for bedtime reading or the faint of heart or stomach

The Icepick Surgeon Murder Fraud Sabotage Piracy and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science by Sam Kean

January 29, 2023 by CoffeeShopReader 2 Comments

The Icepick Surgeon is not bedtime reading, unless you want really weird dreams. I enjoy popular science reading, especially when there’s some narrative, and this book is both those things. Basically it’s a review of mostly the past 275 years of medical history and the ugly things people have done and tried to justify in the name of science or helping people in the future. There’s a lot of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century piracy and grave robbing involved, a good bit of slavery and racial history, […]

Filed Under: History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: electricity, grave robbing, lobotomy, Medical History, paleantology, pirates, Sam Kean, science, surgery, The Icepick Surgeon

CoffeeShopReader's CBR15 Review No:7 · Genres: History, Non-Fiction · Tags: electricity, grave robbing, lobotomy, Medical History, paleantology, pirates, Sam Kean, science, surgery, The Icepick Surgeon ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Why not distract yourself from the workings of the world with the workings of your own insides?

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

April 4, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos 2 Comments

…or more frequently, the misfiring insides of others. Fistulated fellows? Check. Elvis and his mega-colon? Check. Taste-testing pet food, pus, rancid oil, and/or the saliva of others? All yours and more to spare! I like to, for the most-part, enjoy nonfiction via audio books. Frequently, I wander around the house doing whatever needs doing while playing books through a speaker. While I whole-heartedly recommend Gulp, I do NOT recommend subjecting innocent bystanders (sorry, husband!) to the dirty work within. Not everything here is gross. And really, […]

Filed Under: Health, History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: anatomy, Creative nonfiction, deeding and swallowing, digestion, eating, flavor, Guts, humor, Mary Roach, saliva, science, smell, surgery, taboo

andtheIToldYouSos's CBR12 Review No:28 · Genres: Health, History, Non-Fiction · Tags: anatomy, Creative nonfiction, deeding and swallowing, digestion, eating, flavor, Guts, humor, Mary Roach, saliva, science, smell, surgery, taboo ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Envision that Circumcision and Feel that Eel

Under the Knife by Arnold van der Laar

March 26, 2019 by Zirza Leave a Comment

I’ve always wanted to be a doctor. That didn’t pan out, and I’m fine with that, but the interest in all things medical has lingered. Because I was planning to read more non-fiction anyway, I picked up this book on a whim, and although I wasn’t disappointed, it lacks a certain degree of depth. More subcutaneous than intraosseal, if you please. Van de Laar – who is a surgeon himself – takes us through the history of medicine, and specifically surgery, but instead of telling […]

Filed Under: Health, History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: #history, Arnold van de Laar, medical, non fiction, surgery

Zirza's CBR11 Review No:12 · Genres: Health, History, Non-Fiction · Tags: #history, Arnold van de Laar, medical, non fiction, surgery ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


Recent Comments

  • Maximoff
    on Maybe Scrooge shouldn’t have offered that Smoking Bishop. Bob Cratchitt might have been better off.
    This review is so spot on! This book could depress a hyena (sorry, been watching too many 1776 clips). Whilst...
  • Emmalita
    on I really wanted to love this, but instead I was just a bit whelmed
    i think this duology struggles more because a lot of the tension is outside the romantic relationships. There’s good stuff...
  • Maximoff
    on “For as long as the axe has been in our hands, we have used it to kill.”
    Had this book in my TBR plastic bin and after reading your review decided to pull it out and let...
  • Maximoff
    on “For a quart of ale is a dish for a king”- William Shakespeare
    Just finished this book and picking up the third. Loved your plot summary and character descriptions. You succinctly sum everyone...
  • Maximoff
    on I agree; The Tempest is a horrible play to perform on an ocean voyage.
    Interesting review. Run hot and cold with Cassie and her books however you have encouraged me to give one a...
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