Books by Theme: If you liked When Breath Becomes Air

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Do No Harm
by Henry Marsh

If you believe that brain surgery is a precise and exquisite craft, practised by calm and detached surgeons, this gripping, brutally honest account will make you think again. With astonishing compassion and candour, one of the country's leading neurosurgeons reveals the fierce joy of operating, the profoundly moving triumphs, the harrowing disasters, the haunting regrets and the moments of black humour that characterize a brain surgeon's life.

Gratitude
by Oliver Sacks

Sacks's powerful look back at his remarkable life was published posthumously. The book chronicles the famous author's thoughts, wishes, regrets, and, above all, feelings of love, happiness, and gratitude even as he faced the cancer that ended his life last year at 82. In essays that originally appeared in print in the New York Times, Sacks relates what makes him happy—simply to be alive on a beautiful day, for example—as well as what causes him sadness as he ages. He considers people he has known and loved and how they approached death and candidly discusses his feelings upon learning that his cancer had metastasized and was terminal. While the book shows no dimming of intellect—indeed, the material offers incisive, poignant observations—the author's usual scientific narrative has in places been supplanted by wistful musings on life and love. The essays also tie up the strands of a career spent investigating and writing, mentioning various projects, mentors, and books along the way.

Being Mortal

byAtul Gawande

In his years as a surgeon, Gawande dedicated himself to doing whatever he could to save patients’ lives. But he also came to understand that there are limits to what medicine can do, and, perhaps, what it should do. In this heartfelt work, Gawande offers hard-won perspective on elder care, end-of-life treatments, and hospice practice. In the end, he argues, what truly matters is using medicine to offer comfort, and helping patients to face death on their own terms, in peace and with dignity.