BWHers share what books they are currently reading, have recently finished or are planning to read this summer.

“I’m currently reading The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend. It’s about the Oglala Sioux chief Red Cloud, who overcame a lot of social disadvantage to become a leader, and is the only Plains chief to defeat the U.S. Army in a war. I’m planning a vacation to South Dakota next month with my 12-year-old nephew (pictured) and we look forward to seeing many of the places described in the book and learning more about Sioux culture firsthand.”

– Jeanne Duffy, PhD, MBA, MS, Division of Sleep and Circadian Disorders

“I’m planning to read The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. This is a summary of the book, from the back cover: ‘Inspired in part by the historic figure of abolitionist and suffragette Sarah Grimke, Kidd’s novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten-year-old Handful.  The Invention of Wings follows these two women over the next thirty-five years as both strive for lives of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement, and the uneasy ways of love’.”

-Katherine Gregory, PhD, RN, Associate Director of Research, Department of Pediatric Newborn Medicine

“I just finished reading The Boys in the Boat and The Girl on the Train. Despite the parallel titles, they were quite different… the first is a nonfiction account of the University of Washington eight-oar crew team who ultimately won the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics. The latter is a nonfiction thriller in the model of Gone Girl, but definitely a fun summer read. Next up is Dreamland, which was recommended by a friend, and is a nonfiction account of the opioid epidemic in America. And after that will be The Orphan Master’s Son, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2013.”

-Nancy Lynn Keating, MD, MPH, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care

“I’m reading The Mucker by Edgar Rice Burroughs, which I stumbled upon for free online in iBooks. I’m not sure many people have read it, but the hero is a Tarzan-like boxer from Chicago who is coerced into piracy, shipwrecked on a Pacific island, and is then attacked by Japanese samurai headhunters. It’s a pretty odd tale but an interesting escape from the hospital scene!”

-Keith Ligon, MD, PhD, Department of Pathology

“This summer, I’m trying to complete my reading list based on the winners of the Hugo Award for Best Novel. This award is given to the best Science Fiction/Fantasy novel of the year, and was named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the classic science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, launched in 1926. High quality science fiction literature is a very rigorous literature genre, but able to give a maximum of freedom to the writer; and therefore a maximum of pleasure to the reader.”

– David Skurnik, MD, PhD, Division of Infectious Diseases

“I just finished Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal, which was so powerful that I might have to read it again! This summer I’m hoping to also read 100 Plus by Sonia Arrison.”

-Ravi B. Parikh, MD, MPP, Resident, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care

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