What are you reading in 2022?

Is 2022 the year of thrillers? Statistics? Thrillers about statistics?

For the third year in a row, The Cancer Letter has asked a diverse panel of clinicians, basic scientists, early-career faculty, and regulators to tell us what they are reading.

The Cancer Letter’s summer reading list, now an August tradition, began in 2020, when, in the midst of a deadly pandemic and significant political unrest, the reading list seemed to be trying to answer the question: “What the hell is going on?” (The Cancer Letter, Aug. 6, 2020)

A year later, the focus shifted: the reading list was dominated by stories of personal and professional growth, the challenge of becoming a better leader, and deeper explorations of systemic racism in the U.S. (The Cancer Letter, Aug. 6, 2021).

Where are we now in 2022? A rigorous statistician may accuse us of overinterpreting the data, but it seems that 2022 is a good year for escaping into a good book. We see thrillers, memoirs, histories, literary fiction, scientific literature, books about business—and a cookbook. 

Surrounded by war, Yuliya Nogovitsyna, program director of Tabletochki Charity Foundation, a Kyiv-based charitable organization that took part in evacuating children with cancer from Ukraine (The Cancer Letter, April 15, 2022), turned to a familiar writer: Sally Rooney. 

“Why? I have no idea,” she said. “At the times of uncertainty and changes, it was very comforting to see the familiar name of Sally Rooney. I did not want any discoveries or unexpected things. The old acquaintance was good enough.”

Arguably, the backdrop of the war in Ukraine has prompted others to turn to books about other conflicts. 

Jeannine Brant, executive director of clinical science and innovation at City of Hope, and president of the Oncology Nursing Society, who recommended two novels about World War II, said those books share a central theme: “overcoming adversity and the power of the human spirit.”

Ned Sharpless, former NCI director, recommended Haruki Murakami’s Kafka on the Shore, a novel set partially against the backdrop of World War II.

“Don’t expect all the details to click into place at the end, and don’t expect any of it to really make sense, but the evocative images of the book stick in your mind a long time, in a dream-like and good way,” Sharpless said.

Thomas Curran, senior vice president, executive director, and chief scientific officer of Children’s Mercy Research Institute, went down a rabbit-hole of hypertension-inducing contemporary political books, but none of them figure on the list of books he would recommend.

“I read a host of ‘tell-all’ political books this year,” he said. “I wouldn’t recommend any, unless your low blood pressure needs a boost, but I can summarize, so you don’t have to read them: No matter how bad you thought things were over the past several years, they were far worse!”

Instead, Curran recommends three books that were “more enjoyable to read,” including Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart, which he advises is best enjoyed “with a wee dram on the side.”

Thrillers figure prominently on the reading list this year. For Electra Paskett, the Marion N. Rowley Professor of Cancer Research at the Ohio State University College of Medicine, this comes down to a professional interest: 

“As an epidemiologist, I am trained to solve puzzles and look for connections,” said Paskett, also director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control in the Department of Internal Medicine at OSU College of Medicine. “Since I have been reading for pleasure I can say my go-to books are mystery, whodunit, spy, and thriller types—good guys ending the threat of death.”

Apologies to Daniel Silva and James Patterson, Paskett’s favorite authors: cancer, she said, is “the ultimate ‘bad guy.’”

Julie Gralow, chief medical officer and executive vice president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, shares Paskett’s affinity for whodunit. Gralow recommends State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton, and said, “Louise Penny is one of my favorite mystery writers and I recommend anything by her.”

Penny, a Canadian critically-acclaimed mystery author, was recommended three times. (Last year, Isabel Wilkerson and Barack Obama showed up multiple times on the list.) 

“Penny’s work often teases out thought-provoking psychological insights anyone might find relatable as her characters expose their imperfections resulting in tortured life decisions,” said Rea Blakey, associate director of external outreach and engagement at the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence.

The most-recommended Louise Penny novel on this year’s reading list is The Madness of Crowds.

“This book takes us into the life choices of a statistics professor fomenting a repulsive agenda using the strategy of delusion of the masses,” Blakey said.

Banu Symington, medical director of Sweetwater Regional Cancer Center, also recommended The Madness of Crowds. 

“The psychological thriller that is The Madness of Crowds centers on the aftereffects of the COVID pandemic,” she said, “including the normalization of the concept of sacrificing the aged and the disabled to save the world—a frightening reprise of some of Hitler’s abhorrent ideas, which we have heard voiced by some extremists among us.”

Jonathan Chernoff, director of Fox Chase Cancer Center, proposed two lists of book recommendations: his real list and an aspirational one.

“All of the books on the real list, in one way or another, deal with the effects of the past on the present and future,” he said. “What we do matters not only for us now, but for those who follow us.”

Chernoff’s aspirational list is filled with books he read in years past that he believes are “more what a cancer center director ‘should’ be reading,” he said. 

“These books deal with the many imperfections in our society and various attempts to make things better.”

An editorial by Chernoff appears here.

Those looking for recommendations for scientific literature or books that grapple with the giant abstract problems of the world will find no shortage of diverse options on this summer’s reading list, including global warming, Big Data, and astrophysics. 

Sharpless has words of advice to those who may pick up Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory: The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind and Art Friedman, one of the books he recommends: 

Most importantly for a cancer scientist, thinking about hard math allows you to feel a bit smug the next time some jerk statistician tells you that you don’t really understand p-values (but keep this smug superiority to yourself, as antagonizing the stats people only makes it worse for everybody).

• Portrait of an Unknown Woman, by Daniel Silva
• The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Gamache series), by Louise Penny
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot

My summer reading recommendations are steeped in fiction offerings. I consider reading as a time to escape after consuming too much “news” and witnessing unending social ills, domestic and global. 

Portrait of an Unknown Woman—The opportunity to ramble through the streets of venerable European cities while tracking down the world’s greatest art forgeries and those masterful geniuses who create them, while never having to board an international flight, is irresistible to me. 

The Madness of Crowds—My favorite murder mystery book series follows Louise Penny’s lead character Armand Gamache, head of homicide at the Sûreté Du Québec. Penny’s work often teases out thought-provoking psychological insights anyone might find relatable, as her characters expose their imperfections resulting in tortured life decisions. This book takes us into the life choices of a statistics professor fomenting a repulsive agenda using the strategy of delusion of the masses. 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks—This recommendation for a non-fiction, historical biography written by a journalist is to remind us of the “why.” The price one disadvantaged family pays for the scientific discovery known as HeLa cells results in multi-generational trauma. I’ve had the honor of meeting some of Henrietta Lacks’ descendants—no one should endure what this family sacrificed. Let’s keep humanity at the forefront of cancer treatment and all medical care.

• Fifty-Six Counties: A Montana Journey, by Russell Rowland
• Winter Garden, by Kristin Hannah
• The Warsaw Orphan: A WWII Novel, by Kelly Rimmer
• Race for Relevance: 5 Radical Changes for Associations, by Harrison Coerver and Mary Byers

Fifty-Six Counties is all about the beautiful place I call home—Montana. I was born and raised in Montana, and it is a magical and amazing place! Montana has 56 counties, each with its own people and culture. Most counties are remote and isolated and yet have a unique personality of their own. If you want to dive into Montana’s rich history and diverse areas, this is a great read for you. 

While I’m an eclectic reader, my go-to reads for the summer and beach are World War II historical fiction. My uncle was killed in World War II in Bologna, Italy, just a week before the war ended. My father often talked about this great loss, and I became interested in World War II from an early age.

Winter Garden is the story of a woman who grew up in Leningrad during World War II, lives through a traumatic experience, and then lives with her trapped trauma, which finally surfaces later in life.

The Warsaw Orphan takes place in the Jewish ghetto and focuses on a young man whose family is taken to a prison camp while he escapes this fate. 

Both provide a glimpse into World War II life in different places—Poland and Russia—and both are about overcoming adversity and the power of the human spirit. 

In addition to my fun reads, I often have a non-fiction book on my nightstand for personal and professional growth. Race for Relevance is a great read for anyone who serves on a nonprofit board of directors. It takes a bold look at how to move associations forward, so they remain relevant to the mission and members they serve. As the Oncology Nursing Society president, this was my professional growth book of the year. It opened my mind up to a forward-thinking direction for ONS.

• Thunderstruck, by Erik Larson
• The Last Days of Night, by Graham Moore
• Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race, by Walter Isaacson

Arguably my favorite author, Erik Larson tells the true story surrounding Marconi’s development of the wireless. Larsen’s uncanny way of bringing history to life makes his novels simply remarkable IMO.

The Last Days of Night—This brilliant account of historic fiction bringing together JP Morgan, Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and Nikola Tesla, and the rights to the light bulb. A really fun escape into history.

Code Breaker will likely be on many lists. I have just started this book about the discovery/development of CRISPR technology and the moral questions that followed.

The real list:

• In My Father’s Court, by Isaac Bashevis Singer
• “Haya Aviv BaAretz” (“It was Spring in the Land”), by Zevi Scharfstein
• Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
• An Odyssey: A Father, A Son, and an Epic, by Daniel Mendelsohn
• A bunch of New Yorkers

The aspirational list: 

• The History of White People, by Nell Irvin Painter 
• The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World, by Simon Winchester
• Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States, by Albert O. Herschman
• The Enchiridion, by Epictetus
• A bunch of Science and Nature magazines

There is a real list and an aspirational one. I’ve often wondered, when I see these lists in The New York Times Book Review, whether the featured authors are telling the literal truth or engaging in a form of virtue signaling.

In general, I have a mixed pile of magazines and books on my nightstand, and engage with about five at a time. 

All of the books on the real list, in one way or another, deal with the effects of the past on the present and future. What we do matters not only for us now, but for those who follow us. At first glance, this idea seems obvious and even trite, but the links between the two can be subtle and unexpected. To me, it means that one should always be mindful of history and one’s personal role in creating it.

It was Spring in the Land—The author was my maternal grandfather and the founder of Shilo Publishing house, which still exists. My brothers and I are laboriously translating his autobiography from Hebrew to English. We’re on Chapter 15 now, which deals with the Russian Revolution in 1905, as seen by the Jewish Community in Berdyansk.

The aspirational/inspirational list is more what a cancer center director “should” be reading. In fact, I did read these books, but it was a year or more ago.

These books deal with the many imperfections in our society and various attempts to make things better. Some involve betterments in technologies, such as the rise of precision machining and the many changes that wrought, but most deal with betterments in people and how we can build a more just world.

The History of White People—This book takes a deep dive into the concept of whiteness, and is essential reading for anyone interested in DEI.

The Enchiridion—During the worst of the Fox Chase sale period, I bought twenty copies of this book on Stoic philosophy and handed it out to all my chief lieutenants. My own copy is dog-eared, with many underlined passages.

• This is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyberweapons Arms Race, By Nicole Pelroth
• Three Kingdoms, a Historical Novel, attributed to Luo Guanzhong, translated with notes by Moss Roberts
• The Lady Tasting Tea: How Statistics Revolutionized Science In The Twentieth Century, By David Salsburg

This is How They Tell Me the World Ends is a detailed, well-researched history of the origins and growth of cyberweapons told in a compelling, fast-paced style. You’ll never look at your information security refresher course the same way.

Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel—My favorite English translation of the 14^th century Chinese classic set in the turbulent end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period (169-280 AD). The story draws you in from its opening lines: “The empire, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. Thus it has ever been.” This particular translation is filled with interesting footnotes by Professor Moss Roberts on historical tidbits and how the story has evolved over time to meet the political agenda of the ruling dynasty/party.

The Lady Tasting Tea—A fascinating history of the men and women who had pivotal roles in the development of modern statistics. This account details their theories and its origins and their personalities and rivalries: from R. A. Fisher, who developed hypothesis testing to test a lady’s claim at a tea party that she could differentiate if the milk was poured into the tea or if the tea was poured into milk, to W. S. Gossett, who developed the Student’s t-distribution because he wanted to make a better beer.

• Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro
• Man’s 4^th Best Hospital, by Samuel Shem
• Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart

I read a host of “tell-all” political books this year (had time to kill—thank you pandemic), but none were particularly well written. I wouldn’t recommend any, unless your low blood pressure needs a boost, but I can summarize, so you don’t have to read them: No matter how bad you thought things were over the past several years, they were far worse!

So, let’s move on to things that were more enjoyable to read.

Klara and the Sun—Kazuo Ishiguro, master of the English language, adopts the dispassionate voice of Klara, an “Artificial Friend,” whose detailed insights into the characters she encounters reveals aspects of the human condition and the nature of love. As we increasingly embrace technology, and artificial intelligence makes inroads into healthcare, the perspective of this synthetic intelligence plays out very effectively. 

Klara illuminates many disconcerting features of the near-future world she inhabits and raises profound questions about the impact of technology on society as her story unfolds. The common themes in Ishiguro’s work of memory, time, and deception, are evident as layers of meaning are shed in a deceptively simple prose.

Man’s 4^th Best Hospital—Erv Epstein, MD, recommended Man’s 4^th Best Hospital to me for a summer read. He explained that it is a sequel to House of God, the well-known right-of-passage book for medical students in the early 80’s. Since I was never a medical student, I also read House of God by way of background. The author Samuel Shem (ask Paul Goldberg what this means), is the nom-de-plume of Stephen Bergman, MD, PhD, who is currently clinical professor of medicine and psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

[Editor’s note: “Shem’’ means “name” in Hebrew.] 

The hilarious House of God is a little dated now, no cell phones or electronic medical records included, terribly raunchy, definitely sexist, and by today’s standards, remarkably politically incorrect, but it is a rip-roaring read. 

Man’s 4^th Best Hospital revisits the previous characters now they are somewhat more mature and in responsible positions. The sledgehammer wit of the author is applied very effectively to financially-driven healthcare organizations (isn’t that all of them?) and electronic medical record systems. The familiar protagonists take up arms against the system to make medicine more humane again. There are several moments of recognition “Yes! It is just like that” throughout the book, which takes a more serious perspective than its predecessor, with a decidedly less raunchy tone and, dare I say it, a more mature perspective. It won’t provide you with a summer escape from your day job, but guaranteed, you will recognize aspects of the thinly disguised “BUDDIES”—a friendly healthcare corporate enterprise that runs the hospital—and “HEAL (healthy electronic assistance link)”—the EHR system who’s only saving grace is that it trumps EPIC.

Shuggie Bain—Growing up in a tiny rural village in Scotland, I was unaware that my working-class dialect was not exactly the Queen’s English. Although in later life, because of the need to be able to order a sandwich in a London café, I completely reprogrammed my speech patterns, I was rather chuffed (British for quite pleased), to be asked by a friend to join his book club discussion of Shuggie Bain, a debut novel from a new Scottish writer, so I could validate the context of the book and provide occasional translations of the Glaswegian vernacular. 

I had already read the book, heralded as a breakthrough first novel, and was completely blown away, but, just in case, I came to the event armed with a bottle of single malt, complemented with several bags of authentic UK Walkers salt and vinegar crisps. The discussions warmed as the evening progressed and the whisky lubricated an authentic delve into a world not too distant from my childhood. 

Shuggie (a common derivative of Hugh in Scotland) was born into a world he did not fit. Not a true autobiography, the novel is informed by Douglas Stuart’s lived experiences. The overarching theme is love for his mother, an alcoholic, and the alienation of Shuggie, a gay boy with a strong predilection for fashion, growing up in a casually violent society, rife with the impact of poverty and addiction. It turned out to be a bit too close to the bone for me. Not the alcoholism, the sexual orientation, and perhaps not the abject poverty, but the alienation was spot on. This is a universal theme, and it is very accessible to those not unfortunate enough to grow up in the working-class Scottish society of the era. 

I can attest that the characters are firmly based, the language is authentic and the humor characteristic of the population. Shuggie dreams of attending hairdressing college, Douglas Stuart became a leading fashion designer and now an award-winning author, and against all odds I became a scientist. We all share a history as well as respect and passion for the different. Worth a read, with a wee dram on the side.

• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, by Matthew Walker, PhD
• The Psychobiotic Revolution: Mood, Food, and the New Science of the Gut-Brain Connection, by Scott C. Anderson, with John F. Cryan, PhD, & Ted Dinan, MD, PhD
• Everybody Lies: Big Data, New Data, and What the Internet Can Tell Us About Who We Really Are, by Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
• Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress, by Steven Pinker
• Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, by Neil deGrasse Tyson

Integrative cancer care is one of the most personalized approaches to assisting people affected by various tumors, and it is frequently based on cutting-edge science. Sleep is important for maintaining our physical and mental health, and it may turn out to be our future partner in mood regulation, along with the emerging psychobiotic insight. 

Psychosocial needs are so personal and sensitive that people will sometimes lie just to get attention, support, and affection. Big data has been used successfully in oncology for earlier screening and better treatment. Why not use it to help our cancer patients and their loved ones with their psychosocial needs as well? 

And, yes, beating cancer cells and distress requires a lot of guts filled with a positive outlook to the future. Okay, maybe not all the way to the edge of the universe, but I couldn’t help but recommend astrophysics to everyone, particularly cancer survivors. 

Did I bring up bibliotherapy?

• Taste: My Life Through Food, by Stanley Tucci 

I became obsessed with Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy on CNN and the more I got to know his story, including his own cancer journey, I wanted to learn more, so I started reading his autobiography/recipe collection, Taste. It’s witty and reminiscent of my own life growing up on Guam in a way—traditions traveled from the old country to the new, life told by food. I find it witty and comforting.

• The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles
• The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, by Siddhartha Mukherjee 

I’m reading The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, who is also the bestselling author of A Gentleman in Moscow and Rules of Civility. In this elegantly written story, Towles leads us on a journey with two brothers from the heartland of America heading out to California in the hope of finding their mother, who abandoned them eight years ago. Their adventure was full of nostalgia of the 1950s and showed us how nonlinear and unpredictable our lives could be. 

The book I just finished was the Pulitzer Prize winner, The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee. As a physician-scientist and an award-winning science writer, Mukherjee presented us with a well-narrated history of cancer, from the primordial record thousands of years ago to the modern battles to control and defeat this mortal enemy in the 20th-century. Through human dramas and scientific facts, this book documents the heavy tolls cancer has inflicted on individuals and society, as well the relentless efforts to tame it.

• Empire of Pain: The Secret History Of The Sackler Dynasty, by Patrick Radden Keefe
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab

Empire of Pain—While the general outlines of how the Sackler family played a central role in addicting thousands of Americans to opiates are well known by many, Keefe’s book length expansion of his 2017 New Yorker story is worth the (long) read. Keefe’s narrative style is quick moving and incisive. More than just a history of the opioid epidemic in the United States, Empire of Pain is a rich history of drug discovery and regulation, of Jewish life in early 20th-century America, and of the fraught balance between power and responsibility. 

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue—What if no one who met you could remember a thing; your existence limited entirely to the here and now? This wide-ranging novel is the story of a girl trapped by the limitations of 18th century French society who makes a deal with the devil for freedom from societal expectations and demands. While freedom comes with immortality, it also comes with a catch—she is destined to be forgotten by all whom she meets within moments of leaving their sights. How she makes meaning of her life over the next several centuries and fights the complex bargain that has shaped her life is both touching and terrifying.

• Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel García Márquez
• Memories of My Melancholy Whores, by Gabriel García Márquez

I am re-reading Love in the Time of Cholera and Memories of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel García Márquez.

I read these books when I was still back home in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. With the pandemic and the isolation associated with it, I have missed home more than usual; rereading these books has brought some of that home feeling I miss. 

Also, it’s always a good time for a complicated love story, and the question remains—was Florentino Ariza in love with Fermina or was he in love with the fact of being in love? 

• Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir, by Marie Yovanovich
• Lessons in Chemistry, by Bonnie Garmus
• While Justice Sleeps, by Stacey Abrams
• State of Terror, by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton
• The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles
• One Year of Ugly, by Caroline Mackenzie

Following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, I picked up Lessons from the Edge, a memoir by Marie Yovanovich, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was recalled from her post in 2019 in a series of events that led to the first impeachment hearings of the prior administration. 

Given my global oncology work in Ukraine and throughout Eastern Europe and Central Asia, it was particularly interesting to hear her insights and perspective as a career diplomat in the region as they related to events I witnessed much more peripherally. Yovanovich served in the U.S. foreign service mostly in the former Soviet Union, including Moscow and Kyiv, before becoming U.S. ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and eventually Ukraine in 2016. She observed firsthand Vladimir Putin’s rise to power in Russia and his aggressive, domineering approach to neighboring countries. 

Her perspectives on the initial days of the presidency of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the U.S. politics that led to her recall as ambassador were particularly enlightening. The book gives an interesting perspective on recent political history as it relates to the current crisis in the region. I was inspired by Yovanovich’s career dedicated to public service, her commitment to defending democracy in the U.S. and abroad, and her success in the foreign service despite being an introvert and female. 

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus is a witty and humorous novel that also makes you think. The principal character is a resourceful female chemist in the 1960s surrounded by an all-male team at a research institute in California with a view of gender equality typical of mid-20th century America. Her career takes a turn when she unexpectedly becomes the star of a popular TV cooking show where she isn’t just teaching women to cook, she’s daring them to change the status quo. 

The novel focuses on serious themes including misogyny, feminism, family, and self-worth, but it’s also funny and full of hope and charm. The story’s themes speak to my passions for science, cooking, and gender equality, and there’s even a great dog character! It’s a reminder of how far we’ve come, but, as exemplified by recent Supreme Court events, how far we still have to go.

I like to read mysteries for relaxation during travel and vacations, sometimes listening to them on books-on-tape during a long drive. Two entertaining political thrillers I’ve read/listened to this year are While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams and State of Terror by Louise Penny and Hillary Rodham Clinton. 

While Justice Sleeps offers numerous plot twists and turns after a young Supreme Court law clerk is suddenly thrust into the middle of a controversial court case involving conspiracies, politics, and corruption. State of Terror is the story of a newly appointed Secretary of State (a former political rival of the new president—sound familiar?) as she deals with a series of terrorist attacks involving nuclear weapons, the volatile politics of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, and even the Russian mob. Louise Penny is one of my favorite mystery writers and I recommend anything by her (especially her Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series set in the Quebec village of Three Pines)—teaming up with Hillary Clinton added a fun twist.

I was excited to dive into The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles since I loved the author’s prior book, A Gentleman in Moscow. It did not disappoint. The story is an epic 10 day quest set in mid-1950’s America that follows four boys who set out to travel the country in search of adventure and a fresh start, complete with train-hopping, car-stealing, and trouble originating from both good and bad intentions. It’s remarkable storytelling, complete with unexpected twists, unforgettable action, and great character development. Although almost 600 pages, it’s fast-paced and ended way too quickly!

On my upcoming reading line-up is One Year of Ugly by Caroline Mackenzie. I like to read novels related to my travels, and I’m invited to speak at the Caribbean Association for Hematology and Oncology annual meeting in Port of Spain, Trinidad in October. One Year of Ugly is about a family fleeing Venezuela to find peace, and ending up in Trinidad and in debt to a local criminal called Ugly. Without the funds to pay him off, Ugly has the family do his bidding until the debt is settled. The reviews say it’s “an addictive read that is laugh-out-loud funny.” I’ll let you know if I agree after I return from Trinidad!

• The Lost Boys of Montauk: The True Story of the Wind Blown, Four Men Who Vanished at Sea, and the Survivors They Left Behind, by Amanda M. Fairbanks
• Homeland Elegies, by Ayad Akhatar
• The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
• Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted, by Suleika Jaouad

The last year has been full of starts and stops and my reading has reflected this. As we first returned to (outdoor) restaurant dining in the spring of 2021, a friend brought me The Lost Boys of Montauk, by Amanda M. Fairbanks. This is a true story of four young men from widely disparate walks of life who found themselves together on an ill-fated commercial fishing boat on the east end of Long Island and were lost in a famous nor’easter of March, 1984. 

Not the first, nor last, to lose their lives this way, the story about the impact this event had on a place we know and regularly visit was interesting, relevant, and at the same time, far removed from everything else I do professionally and personally. It has nothing to do with oncology!

My book club read Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhatar last year. Twenty years beyond 9/11—a searing memory for all of us in different ways—this book starts with that wrenching moment and then repeatedly twists and turns over the concepts of “otherness” and assimilation through a series of stories that are true (or “true-ish”?) and that together make up a novel (or is it autobiography?). The lines are blurred, but it successfully conveys the awkward and inconsistent feelings of belonging and not belonging that come from being an outsider in America.

The lines are blurred, but it successfully conveys the awkward and inconsistent feelings of belonging and not belonging that come from being an outsider in America.

Clifford A. Hudis

More recently I finally read The Road, Cormac McCarthy’s story of survival after some never-defined extinction level event that has left most of the American South an ash-covered, burned-out wasteland. The paradox is that this is a story of hope and redemption and familial love and devotion set in an apocalypse. The last time I shared my recent reads I included The Dog Stars and the relationship between that and The Road (and COVID?) is not lost on me. But the point is, there is a way forward and good reason for optimism.

Finally, I have included one oncology relevant book, also shared by the same friend who gave me The Lost Boys of Montauk. This one was Between Two Kingdoms, Suleika Jaouad’s telling of her journey between wellness and disease and back again (a few times) as she was treated for leukemia in New York. Some will know her as the author of Life, Interrupted for The New York Times, written as she was going through treatment. This book extends and deepens that exploration and is truly informative and engaging from beginning to end.

• What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, by Marshall Goldsmith

It’s a classic, but one I like to read during the summer for professional renewal.

• Olga Dies Dreaming, by Xochitl Gonzalez 
• The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky 

A close-knit Puerto-Rican family living in Brooklyn that reminded me of my own Ukrainian family (complete with frequent lively celebrations, dancing, and delicious food; fraught relationships with siblings, cousins, and parents, who nevertheless were there for each other when it truly mattered; and dark secrets that bring relief rather than destruction when they are finally revealed) navigate the fallout after Hurricane Maria with grace and good humor. To me, this was a story of hope and resilience, particularly for the protagonist, Olga, who manages to find and restore herself even as her work, love life, and family relationships descend into chaos.  

The Russian-language collection of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s works has been gathering dust ever since I purchased it in a bookshop in the center of old Kyiv during my last visit there in the fall of 2017. I finished The Brothers Karamazov in less than a week, while sick with COVID during ASCO, because I could not find the energy to do anything else. I reached for it looking for an escape and for reassurance that there is more to Russian culture and people than the destruction and pain the Russian invasion brought to my homeland. 

As in Dostoevsky’s other works, The Brothers Karamazov manages to encompass an entire world: the meaning of love in romance and family with its power to heal and to destroy; the juxtaposition between the logic of atheism and the light and mystery of Eastern Orthodox church; the entrapment and pain of poverty; the cruelty, dysfunction, and ignorance of high society and the judicial system; forgiveness, even of the unforgivable; rumblings of discontent that later exploded in a revolution; and a murder mystery with a surprise ending. I found what I was looking for in Alyosha Karamazov’s compassion toward everyone he met and his ability to draw out the best parts of every human being. 

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t, by Jim Collins
• Thinking, Fast And Slow, by Daniel Kahneman
• Babylon’s Ashes (The Expanse series), by James S. A. Corey

I have been revisiting a few books that I really enjoyed back in business school, including Good to Great, by Jim Collins. This is a business classic, with examples of corporate leadership successes and failures that still resonate today.

Alongside the above I have been rereading Thinking Fast and Slow, for many of the same reasons.

Finally, for pure entertainment, I am joining my husband Brian and our youngest son Liam in reading The Expanse science fiction series by James Corey. They are both way ahead of me… I am on book six (Babylon’s Ashes), which is really terrific. The entire series is truly wonderful and has much applicability to global challenges in the present day.

• Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer

Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, made an impression on me. A lot of biomedical science that we do is very reductionist. This book was a reminder that taking into account the ecosystem is extremely important, as well as the relationship of organisms with one another. It is something that we are relearning in the context of the tumor microenvironment and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This book also is a great example of why diversity is important in the scientific endeavor. Dr. Kimmerer is an enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. Her family and tribe have given her another perspective on ecology that she has integrated with and used to challenge the perspectives of ecology as taught and described by western/European-centric academic traditions. 

Science is stronger when weighed and tested by multiple perspectives.

• Diseases Desperate—the story of E. Donnall Thomas and the development of bone marrow transplantation, by Frederick Appelbaum

I am now reading the final draft of Fred Appelbaum’s book, Diseases Desperate, to be published next year by Mayo Clinic Press.

• The Vanishing Half, by Brit Bennett 
• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, by V.E. Schwab 
• Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune 

I grew up in a family of readers and my mom and two sisters continue to share book recommendations between the four of us as a way to stay connected despite busy lives and distance. Typically, my go-to reads are fictional to help relax and escape pressure from work and the abundance of outside stressors these days. The following are some of my favorite books that I’ve been fortunate to come across over the past few months. 

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid are both fantastic works of historical fiction that cover topics of discrimination, identity struggles and self-acceptance, though from very different characters. 

The Vanishing Half spans the lives of identical twin sisters who run away from a rural, Black, southern town together in the 1950s, but separate and live extraordinarily different lives as they both reinvent themselves in different ways. 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is told from the perspective of an aging Hollywood star who is entering the twilight of her life and career and is finally ready to share her secrets with the world. I do not want to give too much away for the plots of either book, but both were enlightening for me to read novels written from the perspective of fictional characters of historically marginalized communities in the 20th century.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab is a novel that follows a young French peasant from the 1700s who makes a deal to escape a forced marriage and ordinary life. She becomes immortal, but is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Over time however, she learns how to leave her mark on the world in different ways. 

This was a thought-provoking book for me, as many of us made career choices in the field of oncology to make impactful changes to benefit our patients and the field as a whole. However, it sometimes becomes lost that the importance of legacy is the benefit it leaves for others, as opposed to getting caught up in the self-recognition. 

Lastly, I just finished reading Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune, which is a beautiful fictionalization of what happens after we die and the transition—with the deceased themselves going through all the stages of grief for the life they have left behind. This book was even more meaningful when I learned that the author wrote this to personally cope with grief after the loss of a loved one. As oncologists, we deal with death on a regular basis and this book was a lovely version to reflect upon when considering personal loss. 

• Paris: The Novel, by Edward Rutherfurd
• The Premonition: A Pandemic Story, by Michael Lewis

Paris: The Novel—Edward Rutherfurd is the author of numerous historical novels, but this is the first of his I have read. For anyone who loves Paris, he takes us through a journey from the 1200s through 1968 weaving history through the intersecting, generational stories of three families. Initially, I found that jumping centuries each chapter was challenging on my e-book, but in fact, the stories of each chapter stood alone. His descriptions of iconic Paris neighborhoods, institutions, and real historical figures show how they developed, were built, and led the country. Certainly, having been to Paris helped me visualize many of the scenes he described, but it is not a prerequisite to have been to Paris to feel the beauty and vibrancy of the city. 

The Premonition: A Pandemic Story—I saw a promotion that began, “Michael Lewis’s taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller…” and thought, why not? Science, public health, and politics, and the people who populated those domains were the cornerstones of his book. This turned out to be a great beach read because of his style of nonfiction writing. 

• Conversations with Friends, by Sally Rooney
• Beautiful World, Where Are You?, by Sally Rooney

When the war started, it was not possible to read anything but the breaking news in the Telegram channels. But then I switched off all the news—I have enough war in my life—it is in the air, it is inside us. 

I resumed reading in June. Two books which I’ve read since then are both by Sally Rooney—Conversations with Friends and Beautiful World, Where are You. 

Why? I have no idea. I read Normal People last year. I would not say that I was enchanted or fascinated by the book. But it was something that I could discuss with my friends. And when in June I visited a bookstore with my children to buy new books for them, I swiftly looked through the fiction shelves, and, at the times of uncertainty and changes, it was very comforting to see the familiar name of Sally Rooney. I did not want any discoveries or unexpected things. The old acquaintance was good enough.

And I was not disappointed. Yes, Rooney’s books make you frustrated—people avoid happiness there. While the U.S. Declaration of Independence proclaims an unalienable right for Pursuit of Happiness, the Irish Constitution must have the unalienable right for Happiness Redemption, I guess. (I am not a native speaker and do not know how this sounds to an English-speaking ear. I’ve made it up by analogy with Shawshank Redemption).

And still I feel so much in common with Rooney’s characters when it goes about intimacy, sex, dialogues, self-injury (in my case, self-exhaustion) to overcome the emotional pain and hunger for love.

War or not war, this hunger is with you. And as long as it is so, it is better to feel that you are among Normal People, having Conversations with Friends and waiting for the Beautiful World to come.

• Simone’s Maxims, by Joseph V. Simone 

I’ve always been a huge fan of “Simone’s Maxims” and only recently learned of the book, which I’m beginning to read this summer. This is especially poignant for me starting as the new VICC director this summer (as of July 1).

[Editor’s note: This book is available as a free download from the Cancer History Project]

• Portrait of an Unknown Woman, by Daniel Silva
• James Patterson by James Patterson: The Stories of My Life, by James Patterson
• Shattered (Michael Bennett series), by James Patterson and James O. Borne 

Colonel Mustard in the dining room with a knife. Who does not forget that from the greatest whodunit game, Clue? As an epidemiologist, I am trained to solve puzzles and look for connections; since I have been reading for pleasure I can say my go-to books are mystery, whodunit, spy, and thriller types—good guys ending the threat of death. 

As a cancer researcher, this applies to my passion, which is to figure out strategies and solutions to the thorny problem of who gets cancer and why and how to prevent cancer—in other words to end cancer—the ultimate “bad guy.”

My favorite authors are Daniel Silva and James Patterson. I have read all the books in some of their best series. James Patterson: Women’s Murder Club, Alex Cross, and Michael Bennett; Daniel Silva: Gabriel Allon; and David Baldacci: Amos Decker. I particularly love the Gabriel Allon series, not only for the spy stories but also for the settings, as each novel takes me across the globe. From Venice to London to Israel and to Washington, D.C., and back again. 

The main character is also an art restorer, and so, there is a little art history in each book. The characters are recurring, and I have grown to love them over the years. The plot moves so fast in every book and is so intriguing. I cannot stop reading! That is a must for books I read—fast and captivating. There is always a twist at the end to look forward to. This summer the latest book in the series, number 22, is out—Portrait of an Unknown Woman! I am in the middle of it, and it is as intriguing as ever! 

Extra exciting for me was that I got to see James Patterson in person last month at the library, here in Columbus. He is very funny and entertaining. I bought his new book, James Patterson by James Patterson, so that will be another book for the summer. It is special since he autographed it for me. 

And a new Michael Bennett book is out, Shattered. I love that series as there is some comedy with the main character’s large and diverse family! The only problem is that I desperately need some beach time to read everything in my library!

• The Chancellor: The Remarkable Odyssey of Angela Merkel, by Kati Marton
• The Tennis Partner, Abraham Verghese
• The Wise Men: Six Friends and the World They Made, by Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas
• Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, by Trevor Noah

The Chancellor—A detailed look at the personal and professional journey of a very private stateswoman, Chancellor Merkel: her journey as a pastor’s daughter, a physicist, and her entry into politics after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

The Tennis Partner—A terrific story of a physician who flees a failing marriage and relocates to El Paso, Texas, hoping to start over as part of the medical staff at a county hospital. He meets a medical student recovering from drug addiction, and the two new friends begin playing tennis in a manner that builds a deep and meaningful bond between them.

The Wise Men—Another amazing read from Walter Isaacson and Evan Thomas about the six Americans who shaped the world after World War II.

Born a Crime—Trevor Noah’s spellbinding account of his journey from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show. This account brings the reality of apartheid to life like nothing else I have read.

• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, By Isabel Wilkerson

“We would like to believe that we would have taken the more difficult path of standing up against injustice in defense of the outcast,” Wilkerson writes. 

Yet for centuries, injustice against African Americans has been unveiled in a relentless manner in this country. The author provides a compelling analysis comparing racism in America to the caste system that is prevalent in other parts of the world such as India and Nazi Germany. 

Through extensive personal research and conversations with scholars from around the world, the author describes the foundational pillars that keep the caste system alive. She describes how the rights of one group have been systematically deprived to maintain a caste hierarchy that stops at nothing to maintain its “order.” 

Taking the readers through this line of reasoning, she makes it easy to understand recent events such as the elections of 2016, legislations on voting rights, and violence and police brutality against minorities. The solution to this crisis of humanity, she argues, is not mere empathy; rather “radical empathy” which requires us to see and connect with the humanity of the person in front of us. 

This book is sure to make one undertake deep introspection to determine one’s own views and actions to develop a more just world order.

• Magnifico: The Brilliant Life and Violent Times of Lorenzo de’ Medici, by Miles J. Unger
• The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life, by Nick Lane
• Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do?By Michael J. Sandel

I’m currently reading Miles Unger’s book on the life of Lorenzo Medici (just finished a fifth of the book at this time).

Two most recent books before the one I am currently reading are:

Nick Lane’s The Vital Question. A really cool book that talks about the evolution of complexity of life—seen from the view of energy generation.

And I reread Michael Sandel’s book Justice: what is the right thing to do? I had read it some years back. A dazzling book in my opinion—philosophical but entertaining, deep without being arcane.

• Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, by Matthew Walker, PhD

While I usually prefer reading women-centric novels in my free time, Why We Sleep was recommended by a friend who knows that I often struggle with insomnia. Matthew Walker is a neuroscientist who conducts a deep dive on the importance of sleep in both a scientific and humorous manner. 

He discusses the importance of sleep through evolution and through one’s lifespan, and gives anecdotes on how both good quality sleep and lack of quality of sleep affect our lives at different ages. He also provides practical advice for helping readers achieve more/better sleep. Because we read so much scientific literature for our careers, I always appreciate when scientific text that I read for recreation is infused with creativity and humor to make it more palatable.

• The Mirror and the Light, by Hilary Mantel
• Africanizing Oncology: Creativity, Crisis, and Cancer in Uganda, by Marissa Mika 
• Enduring Cancer: Life, Death, and Diagnosis in Delhi & Marissa Mika, Africanizing Oncology: Creativity, Crisis, and Cancer in Uganda, by Dwai Banerjee 
• The Next Shift: The Fall of Industry and the Rise of Health Care in Rust Belt America, by Gabriel Winant

The Mirror and the Light—I’ve enjoyed all three books in this trilogy, of which this is the third entry. It’s a pleasure to follow Mantel’s language and the way she builds a sprawling and winding narrative around Thomas Cromwell’s quest for vengeance and the court of Henry the Eighth—I really feel a sense of being transported out of time while I’m reading her work!

Enduring Cancer and Africanizing Oncology—I’ll admit that as a historian of cancer I find it hard to know when my professional reading ends and my personal reading begins. These are two stunning books that draw on ethnographic observation to illuminate the very different ways that cancer shows itself outside the United States. They highlight the resilience and resourcefulness that patients and doctors show seeking and providing care in unjust conditions, and suggest new ways that we can think about the pursuit of health overall.

The Next Shift—I have spent most of my adulthood in and around communities in the midst of transformation from industrial manufacturing to medicine. I see these landscapes differently after reading The Next Shift. Winant’s book provides a lucid study of this process of urban transformation in Pittsburgh, showing how health care and deindustrialization are interwoven with each other and the consequences this has for how we should approach urban and economic inequality. 

• The Man Who Solved the Market: How Jim Simons Launched the Quant Revolution, by Gregory Zuckerman
• Kafka on the Shore,by Haruki Murakami
• Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory: The Theoretical Minimum, by Leonard Susskind and Art Friedman

The Man Who Solved the Market—I spoke to the author, a former WSJ reporter, when he was researching his more recent book on COVID vaccines, and found him so interesting that I decided to read this earlier book of his. A lot of the book is about Jim Simons, the world’s richest mathematician, and his buddies at Renaissance Capital, the first really successful Quant Hedge Fund. But I think anyone interested in cancer research today will enjoy this history, as it really is the story of the first, highly successful application of what we now call “Machine Learning” in American life. 

All these problems about AI/ML that American Biomedical Research struggles with today were encountered decades ago by the first Wall Street quants. For example, some recent quotes on the topic I heard on the NIH campus about AI are: “it may work but it’s a black box,” “do you have to understand it to use it,” “should it be explainable,” “what happens if the training data are lousy,” etc. But actually, these issues are pretty old now, and this group developed practical solutions to these problems some time ago, thereby allowing them to make truly disgraceful amounts of money off ML. 

The sums involved are so vast that the inventors have aggressively tried to keep their methods a secret, but clearly they have figured out some of these things. The book moves along quickly and also features some interesting characters: Simons himself, the husband of former FDA Commissioner Peggy Hamburg, and the original and perhaps most historically important mega-billionaire. 

It also asks the important question of whether these Quant funds do anything good in the world, beyond just enriching their investors? One opinion here is supplied by one of the successful Quants: he concludes that the fund significantly profits by taking advantage of “rich dentists” (i.e. amateur investors dabbling in the market). 

Kafka on the Shore—Murakami is not for everyone, but I like his imaginative surrealist novels that move quickly around in time and place. His works are hard to describe, but are full of delightful details and wondrous events. This story bounces between a runaway in modern Japan who is escaping something while looking for something, and a young boy from the World War II era that is mysteriously injured and decades later grows to an aged simpleton that can talk to cats. Don’t expect all the details to click into place at the end, and don’t expect any of it to really make sense, but the evocative images of the book stick in your mind a long time, in a dream-like and good way.

Most importantly for a cancer scientist, thinking about hard math allows you to feel a bit smug the next time some jerk statistician tells you that you don’t really understand p-values (but keep this smug superiority to yourself, as antagonizing the stats people only makes it worse for everybody).

Norman E. Sharpless

Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory—If you like math, this Theoretical Minimum series is good. Susskind is a Stanford physicist that teaches lots of undergrads, and decided to try to make things like Lagrangian and quantum mechanics more accessible in this series of three short-ish books, co-written with non-experts. The one on relativity and field theory is last in the series, and perhaps the hardest, but not too hard if you remember some college calculus and are willing to work through the provided problems and examples slowly. There are also lots of YouTube videos (including lectures by Susskind himself) to fill in the least clear parts. 

I think it is an important means of brain anti-aging to do some challenging math from time to time, and understanding physics helps to make sense of the frequent new discoveries emanating from the Large Hadron Collider, LIGO, etc. Most importantly for a cancer scientist, thinking about hard math allows you to feel a bit smug the next time some jerk statistician tells you that you don’t really understand p-values (but keep this smug superiority to yourself, as antagonizing the stats people only makes it worse for everybody).

• Career and Family: Women’s Century-Long Journey Toward Equity, by Claudia Goldin
• Empire of Pain: The Secret History Of The Sackler Dynasty, by Patrick Radden Keefe

Career and Family—This is an evidence-based read that walks us through five distinct cohorts of women over the course of the 20th century, women who differ in terms of career, job, marriage and children based on years of graduation. 

The book explores the pay gap between men and women and how it widens over time as only one partner can have what the author terms the “greedy” career, while the other often opts for more flexibility and stable hours. I have become more interested in the concept of balance, career and family since having children (my daughter just turned 4 and my son Is 10 months old) and this book helps add a data-driven perspective. It also makes me appreciate my career at the FDA. 

I have been able to grow and develop professionally while also growing my family and maintaining some sense of work life balance. I have realized that there are seasons in life, and my current season is super intense with tiny kids and a super active career. I am grateful for the opportunities I have, and I also recognize that women before me are now passing me the baton, so that I can have a full and rewarding professional and personal life.

Empire of Pain—I binge-watched Dopesick on Hulu during maternity leave. Empire of Pain is a more linear depiction of the Sackler family narrative from valium to opioids. I am looking forward to reading this on my beach vacation! I am intrigued by the interplay of family, power, greed, and in this case the devastating consequences of the opioid epidemic. 

As a physician I learned that pain was the 6th vital sign, and I recall hospital quality surveys often included patient satisfaction information that incorporated pain control. This entire system was built on a false understanding of the power of opioids and their addictive properties. I also love the HBO series Succession, and I have heard that there are certainly parallels between the Sackler infighting and the fictional Roy family.

• Awareness: Conversations with the Masters, by Anthony De Mello
• Flux: 8 Superpowers for Thriving in Constant Change, by April Rinne
• Catastrophic Care: Why Everything We Think We Know about Health Care Is Wrong, by David Goldhill

Awareness is an eye-opening reflection on our connection to ourselves written by Anthony De Mello, one of the great Eastern/Western spirituality thinkers. It helped me internalize the truth that I possess everything I need to be happy and fulfilled—and that the choices I am making are what drive my quality of life and success realizing my purpose. It’s been life changing in helping me see and then respond to people and situations differently. I highly recommend listening to his self-narrated version on Audible. 

In Flux, Rinne explains mindset shifts that can help leaders adapt and thrive when faced with unprecedented change and uncertainty. Her insights and the eight superpowers she identifies helped me to crystallize something that I’ve seen over and over again throughout my life—how we react to and whether we can embrace change is one of the biggest predictors of successful leaders. And there’s been no time like the last few years to stress test this belief! What’s great about Flux is that it offers language to describe these skills. And the lessons are equally valuable for work and for life. A great complement to Awareness. 

Catastrophic Care—I also recently re-read Goldhill’s excellent, now almost decade-old assessment of the fundamental challenges in the American healthcare system and the powerful effects incentives have on players across the ecosystem. It’s such a pivotal and important window into why we do what we do in health care and why we make the same mistakes over and over again—prioritizing care and short-term interventions over long-term health and sustainability. A must read for anyone working in health care.

• The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert
• Read My Pins: Stories from a Diplomat’s Jewel Box, by Madeleine Albright
• The Madness of Crowds (Chief Inspector Gamache series), by Louise Penny
• The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles

The Sixth Extinction has educated and scared me about the synergistic acceleration of climate change. For example, glaciers have protected the earth by cooling the temperature and by entrapping significant amounts of carbon. Thus, the melting of glaciers due to climate change contributes to further global warming in two different ways. First by raising the temperature. Second by releasing trapped carbon into the atmosphere. Many downstream effects of global warming have more than additive adverse effects on the climate that will soon be irreversible. 

Read My Pins—Who knew that this jewelry-lover was communicating to world leaders based on the selection of brooch she affixed to her collar? It made me want to review videos of her past meetings and read the hidden messages.

The psychological thriller that is The Madness of Crowds centers on the aftereffects of the COVID pandemic, including the normalization of the concept of sacrificing the aged and the disabled to save the world—a frightening reprise of some of Hitler’s abhorrent ideas, which we have heard voiced by some extremists among us. Luckily, the book ends with redemption. The good guy wins and we choose not to sacrifice the weaker amongst us.

The Lincoln Highway—This long but well written book felt like a modern day Iliad, with heroes, villains, adventures, misadventures, and self-sacrifice in 1950s America.

• The First Days of August, by Alan Froning
• You Mean It or You Don’t: James Baldwin’s Radical Challenge, by Jamie McGhee and Adam Hollowell
• Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business, by Gino Wickman

• This is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality, by Peter Pomerantsev

The book that has made a deep impression on me is Peter Pomerantsev’s book This is Not Propaganda. 

I started to read it on March 8, 2022 and finished it on March 10 in Kyiv. I have been reading it in the corridor where we have been hiding during air raids in Kyiv.

“When information is a weapon, everyone is at war,” was written in the annotation for the book. It is twice harder when war comes to your home threatening you here and now.

In my opinion, it is one of the most critical and one of the most objective books describing the reality.

I would like to add to the list of my favorite books. Top ten:

1. My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell
2. Murder in Byzantium, by Julia Kristeva
3. Illness as Metaphor, by Susan Sontag
4. The Volcano Lover, by Susan Sontag
5. The Gospel According to Jesus Christ and Cain, by José Saramago
6. The Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum, by Umberto Eco
7. Profession, by Isaac Asimov
8. Diamond Age, by Neal Stephenson
9. Contemporary short stories by Alice Munro
10. La Maison de Papier, by Françoise Malle-Joris

• With The Fire On High, by Elizabeth Acevedo
• Invisible Things, by Mat Johnson 
• O Say Can You Hear? A Cultural Biography of “The Star-Spangled Banner”, by Mark Clague
• Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, by David W. Blight