A Life in Trauma
Memoirs of An Emergency Physician
Chris Luke
“Concern. Compassion. Doubt. Despair. Anger. Hope. Imagine juggling these feelings every day in a situation where your work could mean the difference between someone’s life or death.” I confess that I didn’t finish ‘reading’ this book (I read it as an audiobook). I found the tone to be extremely dry and everything was delivered in a flat tone of voice. The only reason that I got most of the way through it was because I had a 4 hour commute by myself, and I forgot to download a different book! That being said, I still enjoyed this book more than Undoctored.
Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
Adam Kay
Another audiobook that I listened to. Plenty of interesting trauma stories as long as you filter out the voice of Adam Kay. What can I say? I was super bored, this was short, and I could easily tune out of it to pay attention to the rest of the conversations in the room. After awhile it became a bit more repeditive (the same stupid people still do stupid things at Christmas). Someone keen for more Adam Kay is going to love it, someone wanting to hear more about the lives of medical doctors will probably cringe and enjoy it in equal measures.
Made in China
Anna Qu
This book read like a sensationalised novel, and I’m not certain I got something particularly valuable out of it. I have read many other books about the experiences of Chinese immigrants, some that are memoirs (Mao’s Last Dancer, Shanghai Acrobat) and others that are fictional (Tiger Daughter). This is the second in a series of unremarkable memoirs I’ve read recently. I wouldn’t pay to buy this book, and I’m sad at home much time I spent reading it. I don’t think that the story within is particularly unique any more. There’s usually not much to comment on for a non-fiction novel, and this one even more so.
