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Patient Experience Book Club

The patient experience book club is a shared reading experience for all members of the NYU Langone Health community. Selected books explore themes related to the highly personal experience patients face navigating complex healthcare situations.

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Book Titles, Cumulative

2025

113. The Good Doctor – Damon Galgut
112. Knife – Salman Rushdie
111. The Story of My Tits – Jennifer Hayden
110. Blood Orange Night – Melissa Bond
109. The Things Around Your Neck – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
108. Wonder Drug – Jennifer Vanderbes
107. Frighten the Horses – Oliver Radclyffe
106. All That Moves Us – Jay Wellons
105. Mary Jane – Amy Herzog
104. The Women – Kristen Hannah
103. The Autumn Ghost – Hannah Wunch
102. January - 100th title – The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch, PhD

2024

101. Together – Vivek Murthy, MD (99th title)
100. Interpreter of Maladies – Jhumpa Lahiri (98th title)
 99. Zig-Zag Boy – Tanya Frank
 98. Cutting for Stone – Abraham Verghese, MD
 97. Miss Evers’ Boys – David Feldshuh
 96. The Citadel – A. J. Cronin
 95. The Nursery – Szilvia Molnar
 94. Every Deep-Drawn Breath – Wes Ely, MD
 93. Healing – Theresa Brown
 92. Polio: An American Story – David Oshinsky
 91. An American Marriage – Tayari Jones
 90. Gender Queer – Maia Kobabe

2023

 89. Rough Sleepers – Tracy Kidder
 88. The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot – Marianne Cronin
 87. What My Bones Know – Stephanie Foo
 86. Stiff – Mary Roach
 85. Death of Ivan Ilych – Leo Tolstoy
 84. This is Going to Hurt – Adam Kay
 83. Unreasonable Hospitality – Will Guidara
 82. Wonder – Emma Donoghue
 81. Heavy – Kiese Laymon
 80. Happening – Annie Ernaux
 79. Crying in H Mart – Michelle Zauner
 78. Invisible Child – Andrea Elliot

2022

 77. Between Two Kingdoms – Sukeika Jaoa
 76. The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai
 75. Lean Fall Stand – Jon McGregor
 74. Mountains Beyond Mountains – Tracy Kidder
 73. Rage – Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)
 72. Gunfight – Ryan Busse
 71. The Violence Inside Us – Chris Murphy
 70. Empire of Pain – Patrick Keefe
 69. Brain on Fire – Susana Cahalan
 68. Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia – Marya Hornbacher
 67. The Premonition – Michael Lewis
 66. I Live a Life Like Yours – Jan Grue

2021

 65. Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Madness – David Oshinsky
 64. Things Fall Apart – Chinua Achebe
 63. Quackery – Lydia Wang
 62. Caste: The Origins of our Discontent
 61. In Shock – Rana Awdish
 60. Minor Feelings – Cathy Park
 59. Ghost Map – Steven Johnson
 58. The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett
 57. Slow Medicine – Victoria Sweet

2020

 56. The Plague – Albert Camus
 55. Native Son – Richard Wright
 54. Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison
 53. Just Mercy – Bryan Stevenson
 52. Daring Greatly – Brene Brown

2019

 51. Taking Turns – MK Czerwieck
 50. In the Darkroom – Susan Faludi
 49. Patient H.M. – A Story of Memory, Madness and Family Secrets – Luke Dittrich
 48. Inheritance – Dani Shapiro
 47. The Heart – Maylis De Kerangal
 46. Educated – Tara Westover
 45. The Voice – Renald Altema
 44. Killers of the Flower Moon – David Grann
 43. The Little Prince – Antoine de Saint-Exupery
 42. Hunger – Roxane Gay

2018

 41. Sick: A Memoir – Porochista Khakpour
 40. Imagine Me Gone – Adam Haslett
 39. Hillbilly Elegy – J. D. Vance
 38. Becoming Nicole – Amy Ellis Nutt
 37. Dreamland – Sam Quinones
 36. Running With Scissors – Augusten Burroughs

2017

35. Justice – Michael Sandel
34. The Reason I Jump – Naoki Higashida
33. Love in the Time of Cholera – Gabriela Garcia Marquez
32. America’s Bitter Pill – Steven Brill
31. Five Days at Memorial – Sheri Fink
30. How We Die – Sherwin Nuland

2016

 29. Still Alice – Lisa Genova
 28. Complications – Atul Gawande
 27. Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant – Roz Chast
 26. When Breath Becomes Air – Paul Kalanithi
 25. The Tennis Player – Abraham Verghese
 24. Tinkers – Paul Harding

2015

 23. Thinking Fast and Slow – Daniel Kahneman
 22. An Anthropologist on Mars – Oliver Sacks
 21. Moneyball – Michael Lewis
 20. Blindness – Jose Saramago
 19. Being Mortal – Atul Gawande
 18. Medical Apartheid – Harriet Washington

2014

 17. Polio – David Oshinsky
 16. The Good Doctor: A Father, a Son, and the Evolution of Medical Ethics – Barron Lerner
 15. The Emperor of All Maladies – Siddhartha Mukherjee
 14. The Normal Heart – Larry Kramer
 13. Macbeth – William Shakespeare
 12. Fighting For Life – S. Josephine Baker

2013

 11. Mountains Beyond Mountains – Tracy Kidder
 10. Wit – Margaret Edson
   9. The House of God – Samuel Shem
   8. Frankenstein – Mary Shelly
   7. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Rebecca Skloot
   6. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down – Anne Fadiman

2012

  5. Hardwiring Excellence – Quint Studer
  4. If Disney Ran Your Hospital – Free Lee
  3. The Watchman’s Rattle – Rebecca Costa
  2. The Death of Ivan Ilyich – Leo Tolstoy
  1. Why Hospitals Should Fly – John Nance