Whatever bug is going around, you’ve caught it.
Or so it seems this year. You get sick, you get well, only to get sick again. You’re over this – in more ways than one – so why not drink plenty of fluids and rest with these books about your health.
This ick that’s going around isn’t the first virus or illness you’ve ever had, nor is it the first one science has ever seen. In “A History of the World in Six Plagues” by Edna Bonhomme (One Signal, $28.99), you’ll take a disease-ridden tour through historical outbreaks around the world to see how plagues affected the way humanity moved, how we dealt with illness as a whole, and how we tended to make other races take the blame. This is fascinating, addictive book that will shock and surprise you, and it’ll make you want to be more careful everywhere.
Part of your newfound caution will be underscored when you read “Booster Shots: The Urgent Lessons of Measles and the Uncertain Future of Children’s Health” by Adam Ratner, M.D., MPH (Avery, $30).
Once was a time when babies were vaccinated as a matter of course, and few questioned it. All that’s changed, and Ratner sounds the alarm over anti-vax trends and how lessons we learned a half-century ago are needed now, more than ever. Can the timeliness of this book possibly be any better? You won’t think so, once you read it.
Feeling edgy yet? Ah, then find “Air-Borne: The Hidden History of The Life We Breathe” by Carl Zimmer (Dutton, $32). In the course of one day, you’ll breathe in more than 2,000 gallons of air, oxygen and other gases, and more – some molecules about which you won’t like thinking. Some of the air you breathe, in fact, includes living things and that’s a “biological frontier” that science has for decades worked hard to fully understand. Here, Zimmer takes readers back in time and in other places to understand how our knowledge of what goes into our lungs is essential, and where our air takes us from there.
And finally, if the latest news on health and well-being seems bleak, look for “Me, But Better” by Olga Khazan (Simon Element, $28.99). When Khazan had a very bad series of very bad days, she decided to try something big: she’d change her personality, thus changing her outlook on life. Doing so is something that scientists are studying, to see if altering the kind of person you are now can make you into a happier, more satisfied person for the long term. This is an open-minded book full of great suggestions to feel better.
And if these timely books aren’t exactly what the doctor ordered, then take two pills and call your favorite bookseller or librarian. They have all kinds of books on modern medicine, health care in history, new procedures and innovations and books to help you heal. If you want to be an informed patient or you just want to stay healthy, these books are ones to catch.
