Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a family physician and therapist, but I was a book-lover first. At age seventeen, I had to choose between studying medicine or literature, and I chose a profession with a clear-cut career path. But books and writing never lost their hold, and I began to write seriously in my late thirties. Iā€™ve had four novels published, and Iā€™m well into my fifth. Being a writer makes me a better doctor, more empathic and curious, and more engaged with patientsā€™ narratives. Medicine is such a rich and fascinating field, and I feel privileged to write about it from an insiderā€™s point of view.


I wrote

Dissection

By Jacinta Halloran,

Book cover of Dissection

What is my book about?

Dr. Anna McBride, conscientious family physician and mother of two young children, is being sued for medical negligence, a caseā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Waiting Room

Jacinta Halloran Why did I love this book?

I loved this evocative and moving novel, winner of the Voss Literary Prize, for its accurate portrayal of the personal conflict that doctors often struggle with (particularly female doctors) as they try to balance the demands of work and family life.

It follows a day in the life of pregnant family physician Dr. Dina Ronen as she attends to the diverse needs of her patients and her young family while struggling to reconcile with the demanding ghosts of her personal and collective past. This is a beautifully constructed and visceral work from Australian family physician Leah Kaminsky.

By Leah Kaminsky,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

ā€œThe Waiting Room is both haunted, and haunting.ā€ā€”Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of March

The Waiting Room unfolds over the course of a single, life-changing day, but the story it tells spans five decades, three continents, and one familyā€™s compelling history of love, war, and survival

As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Dinaā€™s present has always been haunted by her parentsā€™ pasts. She becomes a doctor, emigrates, and builds a family of her own, yet no matter how hard she tries to move on, their ghosts keep pulling her back. A dark, wry sense of humor helps Dina maintain herā€¦


Book cover of Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures: Stories

Jacinta Halloran Why did I love this book?

I was wowed by these completely compelling interconnected short stories by Canadian emergency physician Vincent Lam. Lam deftly chronicles the lives and relationships of a group of medical students as they move through their grueling studies into the sometimes terrifying world of the hospital doctor.

Wrought as if with the sharpest of scalpels, this fine collection is perfect for those who like their medical dramas, full of real characters and served with grisly detail.

By Vincent Lam,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

An astonishing literary debut centred around four students as they apply to medical school, qualify as doctors and face the realities of working in medicine, from a powerful new voice in fiction.

In this beautifully written collection, Vincent Lam weaves together black humour, investigations of both common and extraordinary moral dilemmas, and a sometimes shockingly realistic portrait of today's medical profession. We are introduced to a group of medical students over ten years, following their interlinked stories as they make the transition from medical school to hospital life.

The stories span the unique challenges faced by young, inexperienced doctors -ā€¦


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Book cover of The Map Colorist

The Map Colorist by Rebecca D'Harlingue,

In 1660, Amsterdam is the map-printing capital of the world. Anneke van Brug is a colorist, paid to enhance the black-and-white maps for the growing number of collectors. Her talent brings her to the attention of the great Joan Blaeu, owner of a prestigious publishing house. Not content to simplyā€¦

Book cover of Internal Medicine: A Doctor's Stories

Jacinta Halloran Why did I love this book?

This haunting collection of stories had me on the edge of my seat as I read. I both recognized the territory and was engrossed by Holtā€™s approach as he turned on his head the commonly-held wisdom of power and control in the doctor-patient relationship.

This finely-crafted collection has a lot of raw honesty, and the final story is a knock-out. Terrence Holt is an American gerontologist and academic.

By Terrence Holt,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Out of the crucible of medical training, award-winning writer Terrence Holt shapes this stunning account of residency, the years-long ordeal in which doctors are made. "Amid all the mess and squalor of the hospital, with its blind random unraveling of lives," Internal Medicine finds the compassion from which doctors discover the strength to care.

Holt's debut collection of short stories, In the Valley of the Kings, was praised by the New York Times Book Review as one of "those works of genius" that "will endure for as long as our hurt kind remains to require their truth." Now he returnsā€¦


Book cover of The Burrow

Jacinta Halloran Why did I love this book?

I loved this book for its empathic and nuanced description of a family that teeters on the edge.

While first and foremost a narrative about the myriad effects of grief on a small family, this gentle, tender novel also explores how personal crisis impacts the work of emergency doctor Jin as he struggles to function in the wake of unbearable loss.

Melanie Cheng is an Australian family physician.

By Melanie Cheng,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A wise and moving story about a family navigating grief, hope, and healing through a bond with a new pet rabbit.

ā€œHow rare, this delicacyā€•this calm, sweet, desolated wisdom.ā€ā€•Helen Garner

The Burrow follows members of the Lee family as they navigate grief and hope in their quiet Australian suburb: Jin, an emergency physician and father; Amy, a published author and mother; Lucie, their bookish and introverted ten-year-old; and Pauline, Amyā€™s mother whoā€™s trying to make amends. Racked with grief for Rubyā€•Lucieā€™s baby sister who died in a shocking accidentā€•the family adopts a rabbit in the hopes of bringing much-needed cheerā€¦


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Book cover of Love, Sex, and Other Calamities: 15 Stories and a Poem by Ralph Hickok

Love, Sex, and Other Calamities by Ralph Hickok,

From Kirkus Reviews: "This debut short-story collection paints the wistful life of a newspaper journalist as seen through his sexual and romantic encounters...

Throughout, Hickok writes in an assured style, pulling readers along. The narrow sexual focus results in a distorted picture, yet other aspects of Art's life emerge atā€¦

Book cover of The Citadel

Jacinta Halloran Why did I love this book?

I came upon this 1937 bestseller novel recently and was instantly engrossed by the tale of Dr Andrew Manson, a young general practitioner in a Welsh mining town. Medicine might have changed since 1937, but peopleā€™s behavior has not changed so much!

Largely autobiographical, full of derring-do and righteous youthful indignation, this book remains an enjoyable, propulsive read. Due to its exposure to the inequities in access to health care in 1930s Britain, this novel is often cited as a major influence in the introduction of the National Health Scheme in 1948. Cronin was a general practitioner who retired in his mid-thirties to write full-time.

By A. J. Cronin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

"Cronin's distinguished achievement....No one could have written as fine, honest, and moving a study of a young doctor as The Citadel without possessing great literary taste and skill." --The Atlantic MonthlyA groundbreaking novel of its time and a National Book Award winner.The Citadel follows the life of Andrew Manson, a young and idealistic Scottish doctor, as he navigates the challenges of practicing medicine across interwar Wales and England. Based on Cronin's own experiences as a physician, The Citadel boldly confronts traditional medical ethics, and has been noted as one of the inspirations for the formation of the National Health Service.Theā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Dissection

By Jacinta Halloran,

Book cover of Dissection

What is my book about?

Dr. Anna McBride, conscientious family physician and mother of two young children, is being sued for medical negligence, a case of failure to detect bone cancer in the leg of an adolescent boy. As the case for the court case draws near and the lawyersā€™ questions start to clamor, Anna grows increasingly unsure of herself as a doctor and as a mother and wife. 

Questioning her every decision at work and home, estranged from her patients, she finds herself retreating from others, unable to share her distress. She senses her husbandā€™s growing interest in a work colleague, but the real danger to her well-being will come from a different and unexpected direction.

Book cover of The Waiting Room
Book cover of Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures: Stories
Book cover of Internal Medicine: A Doctor's Stories

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