The best books of 2024

This list is part of the best books of 2024.

Join 1,593 readers and share your 3 favorite reads of the year.

My favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Gray Matters

Joseph S. Sanfilippo ❤️ loved this book because...

A glimpse into the world of a neurosurgeon.

Let’s begin from a historical perspective, Harvey Cushing’s incredible diligence really reflects the genius of an incredibly talented surgeon and gifted artist who would sketch each brain tumor and details of the surgical procedure, patient after patient. Moving on to training to be a neurosurgeon. Plan on a 6 to 7 year residency commitment. What’s it like to operate in an incredibly confined space? Inside the skull. Dealing with rupture of a main artery that feeds the brain, viz. middle meningeal artery that was severed from trauma makes one sit at the edge of their seat when reading the account; this topic is addressed in the “Penetrating Head Trauma” chapter.

If you are a first year resident Dr Schwatz outlines what your life will be like, what surgical procedures will you be involved with. We then are toured through “Sports Neurosurgery” and what about when your child has a head injury from football or other sport activity?

We are privileged to have a “Journey to the center of the brain”, where it all “happens”. Innovative and new areas such as “psychosurgery” are unraveled. Cudo’s to Dr Schwartz for taking us on an incredible journey that makes it hard to put this book down.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Character(s) 🥈 Immersion
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Theodore H. Schwartz,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Gray Matters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“If you are at all curious about the brain or the surgeons who operate on it, Gray Matters is a must read and Dr. Theodore Schwartz is the perfect guide, a master brain surgeon and superbly talented writer. I have not read a better biography of our shared profession, and in Schwartz's talented hands, the most enigmatic 3 1/2 pounds of tissue in the known universe comes to light in remarkable and revelatory ways.”
—Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, and New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author of Keep Sharp: Build a Better Brain at…


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My 2nd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of Womb

Joseph S. Sanfilippo ❤️ loved this book because...

Women’s health is an important topic for all of us, both men and women. Here we have a unique vision of the reproductive tract of a woman. It began with a visit to the Surgeons Hall Museum and rows of jars with all kinds of reproductive tract anomalies. As the author aptly conveys, the “most miraculous and misunderstood organ in the human body”, i.e. the uterus” is what it’s all about!

Mapping the body from a most interesting and unique perspective is the mission of author Hazard. We learn about the interesting entity of complete absence of the uterus, viz. Mayer Roikatansky Kuster Hauser Syndrome. Having personally taken care of this group of patients, our author provides a unique glimpse into the psychological as wll as anatomic challenges this group of patients experience. The good news is today we live in an age of uterine transplanhts. Thank you Dr Mats Brannstrom. We learn about labor and the nitty gritty. the C section, conveyed from a most interesting perspective.

One would be remiss not to mention menopause, addressed from a state of the art approach. Of course, it would be incomplete if author Hazard didn’t mention the most common surgery for women in the United States, i.e. C section and indeed the second most common, that of hysterectomy. The future and an “unapologetic epilogue takes us full circle on this road to in site. May I suggest you jump on to the pavement, you will enjoy the sites along the way.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Thoughts 🥈 Originality
  • Writing style

    👍 Liked it
  • Pace

    🐕 Good, steady pace

By Leah Hazard,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Womb as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“Page for page, I may not have ever learned more from a book.... Womb is a history book as well as a biology book but it’s also an adventure and a celebration.” —Rob Delaney, actor and author of A Heart That Works

A groundbreaking, triumphant investigation of the uterus—from birth to death, in sickness and in health, throughout history and into our possible future—from midwife and acclaimed writer Leah Hazard

The size of a clenched fist and the shape of a light bulb—with no less power and potential. Every person on Earth began inside a uterus, but how much do…


My 3rd favorite read in 2024

Book cover of The Women

Joseph S. Sanfilippo ❤️ loved this book because...

Many of us were around and right in the middle of the Vietnam war. Author Kristin Hannah takes us into the depths of what it was like to serve, in this case as a young, new nurse in the middle of the action. The soldiers, not only their physical trauma but being there to hold their hand and be at their side. Nurse :Frankie” McGrath comes from a long family of hero’s, dedicated to preserving our American freedom, but as a woman with little recognition by her family for all her efforts, the challenge is upon us.

Frankie learned how to save lives and for example to do a tracheostomy under very unique circumstances. It’s women, or men, like her or him, that we need to hold in high esteem and say thank you, every time we see a military person. Appreciating their willingness to put their life at the forefront to preserve our freedom. Frankie is at times a bit naive but has close colleagues watching out for her and giving good advice. What’s it like to return home from a war and try to fit back into society, Frankie gives us a good glimpse and my heart goes out to her for her effort and resilience. Frankie always strove to “do the right thing”. Thank you for joining the Army Nurse Corps and opening the door to let us walk at your side through some very challenging times.

  • Loved Most

    🥇 Writing 🥈 Character(s)
  • Writing style

    ❤️ Loved it
  • Pace

    🐇 I couldn't put it down

By Kristin Hannah,

Why should I read it?

29 authors picked The Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The missing. The forgotten. The brave… The women.

From master storyteller Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds, comes the story of a turbulent, transformative era in America: the 1960s. The Women is that rarest of novels—at once an intimate portrait of a woman coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided by war and broken by politics, of a generation both fueled by dreams and lost on the battlefield.

“Women can be heroes, too.”

When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these unexpected…


Don‘t forget about my book 😀

The Expert Guide to Fertility: Boost Your Chances for Pregnancy

By Joseph S. Sanfilippo, Aarti Kumar,

Book cover of The Expert Guide to Fertility: Boost Your Chances for Pregnancy

What is my book about?

We provide over 40 years of experience as an infertility specialist. Patient cases are presented, the book is designed to be a "companion book" for anyone going through infertility treatment. The dauting journey is made tolerable. What to expect, what to ask your healthcare provider, how to be informed of the latest treatment options are but several objectives of the book. Unique topics such as "the military" and how to navigate through TriCare and other options. Nonbinary infertility as well as adoption, how to proceed. The book provides a host of resources as well as podcasts and other readily accessible tools to aid you in achieving a pregnancy. You are "not alone" on this journey, what to expect and what will it be like when you are pregnant are all provided and at your fingertips.

Book cover of Gray Matters
Book cover of Womb
Book cover of The Women

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