Recommendations from our site
“What would that be like? What would it be like to be unable to lay down any new memories, to think it’s 1945 all the time and everybody you meet is new? It’s fascinating to imagine, and I feel a lot of sympathy for the Mariner even though he doesn’t know how bad he has it.” Read more...
The best books on Philosophical Wonder
Eric Schwitzgebel, Philosopher
“When I was embarking on my medical career, this was a very influential book for me. I have fond and warm memories of lying on a beach in Thailand reading it, thinking wow, maybe I’ll be doing this sometime. I didn’t choose neurology because of it but the way Oliver Sacks writes about neurology is very compelling. He’s such a beautiful writer, and the way he presents the cases reminds you what an astonishing organ the brain is. What astonishing things it can do and what astonishing things happen when it goes wrong.” Read more...
The best books on Psychosomatic Illness
Suzanne O'Sullivan, Science Writer
“I can’t imagine one day waking up and not knowing who my wife is, or seeing my wife and thinking that she was replaced by some sort of clone or robot. But that could happen to any of us.” Read more...
The best books on Surrealism and the Brain
Bradley Voytek, Medical Scientist
“It is such a genius book. It is a seminal book that anyone who wants to work in mental health should read. It is a charming and gentle (and also honest) exposé of what can happen to us when our mental health is compromised for whatever reason. The title is great, and, because the case studies are very bizarre, it does fly right into that stigma which exists around the whole issue of mental health, which is the differentiation between normal and abnormal.” Read more...
The best books on Child Psychology and Mental Health
Tanya Byron, Psychologist
