6 books like Brain Chicane

By Alan Maisel,

Here are 6 books that Brain Chicane fans have personally recommended if you like Brain Chicane. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup

Why am I passionate about this?

As a hospital clinical lab director, I have a mission to promote the value of my profession. Are we more important than our soldiers protecting our country? Politicians who make laws? Judges who help maintain law and order? I argue that the health of our families is near or at the top of our priorities. While we ask our doctors to achieve this goal, they ask us every day to help them. The lab is not about boiling tubes and colored flasks. The 8 books I have written and the 5 that I have selected illustrate, in an entertaining manner, who we really are and why we matter.  

Alan's book list on learning how clinical labs really work and why this is important to you and your family

Alan H.B. Wu Why did Alan love this book?

Mr. Carreyrou was the Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the story that eventually led to the downfall of Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos. At its peak, this company was worth over $9 billion. Today, Holmes and her former COO have been convicted of fraud and are serving time.

I like this book because it serves as a curriculum for how NOT to operate a biotech company. It shows that while belief in your vision is essential for all successful entrepreneurs, there is no place for secrecy and arrogance in the business world.

Unfortunately, the “Theranos” effect has led to a decline in investment in new medical technology and has had a negative effect on the value of clinical laboratories.

By John Carreyrou,

Why should I read it?

5 authors picked Bad Blood as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The shocking true story behind The Dropout, starring the Emmy award-winning Amanda Seyfried, Naveen Andrews and Stephen Fry.

'I couldn't put down this thriller . . . a book so compelling that I couldn't turn away' - Bill Gates

Winner of the Financial Times/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2018

The full inside story of the breathtaking rise and shocking collapse of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup founded by Elizabeth Holmes, by the prize-winning journalist who first broke the story and pursued it to the end, despite pressure from its charismatic CEO and threats by her lawyers.

In 2014,…


Book cover of Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner

Why am I passionate about this?

As a forensic sculptor at the FBI, I was always trying to envision the best way to sculpt features from an unidentified skull. This is what led me to create a research project with the University of Tennessee to collect 3D scans of skulls and live photos of donors to use as a reference in my forensic casework. I’ve also diagrammed crime scenes, created demonstrative evidence for court, and worked with detectives, FBI agents, medical examiners, and forensic anthropologists on casework. Forensic art was never just a job to me; I feel it was what I was meant to do in my life. 

Lisa's book list on books by women for readers who are fascinated with true crime and death professions

Lisa Bailey Why did Lisa love this book?

I felt an affinity with Dr. Melinek partly because we both started our careers right before or right after 9/11 when we were both “learning the ropes” in our respective fields. In Dr. Melinek’s case, she had been working as an ME in New York City for two months before the 9/11 terrorist attacks; I started as a graphic artist at the FBI just two months after, in November 2001.

I loved this book because it gives the real day-to-day experiences of a woman working in what could be a depressing, ghastly environment. However, the author keeps her sense of humor throughout while showing the utmost compassion for victims. I found myself nodding my head in agreement at some of the cases she worked on, especially the one with an unidentified victim. 

By Judy Melinek, T.J. Mitchell,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Working Stiff as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. While her husband and their toddler held down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation-performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple, including a firsthand account of the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax bio-terrorism attack, and the disastrous crash of American Airlines Flight 587.

An…


Book cover of Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory

Why am I passionate about this?

As a hospital clinical lab director, I have a mission to promote the value of my profession. Are we more important than our soldiers protecting our country? Politicians who make laws? Judges who help maintain law and order? I argue that the health of our families is near or at the top of our priorities. While we ask our doctors to achieve this goal, they ask us every day to help them. The lab is not about boiling tubes and colored flasks. The 8 books I have written and the 5 that I have selected illustrate, in an entertaining manner, who we really are and why we matter.  

Alan's book list on learning how clinical labs really work and why this is important to you and your family

Alan H.B. Wu Why did Alan love this book?

I read this book a few years before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is about how the US Government established a research lab on Plum Island, near the eastern end of Long Island, New York.

It describes the mistakes made regarding scientific and medical studies conducted on some of the important infectious diseases of the day, Lyme and West Nile. There were safety violations that could have led to an outbreak.

When I originally read it, I thought that there was no real global impact on these miscues and thought much of this was fear porn. We know today the effects of a global pandemic, and thinking back on it, I realize just how closely we came to a disaster. 

By Michael C Carroll,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lab 257 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Nestled near the Hamptons, the fashionable summer playground of America's rich and famous, and in the shadow of New York City, lies an unimposing 840-acre island unidentified on most maps. On the few on which it can be found, Plum Island is marked red or yellow, and stamped U.S. government—restricted or dangerous animal diseases. Though many people live the good life within a scant mile or two from its shores, few know the name of this pork chop–shaped island. Even fewer can say whether it is inhabited, or why it doesn't exist on the map. That's all about to change.…


Book cover of The Queen of All Poisons

Why am I passionate about this?

As a hospital clinical lab director, I have a mission to promote the value of my profession. Are we more important than our soldiers protecting our country? Politicians who make laws? Judges who help maintain law and order? I argue that the health of our families is near or at the top of our priorities. While we ask our doctors to achieve this goal, they ask us every day to help them. The lab is not about boiling tubes and colored flasks. The 8 books I have written and the 5 that I have selected illustrate, in an entertaining manner, who we really are and why we matter.  

Alan's book list on learning how clinical labs really work and why this is important to you and your family

Alan H.B. Wu Why did Alan love this book?

Dr. Magnani has created a character, Dr. Lily Robinson, a stylish pathologist who has an encyclopedic knowledge of poisons. She uses her strong, investigational mind to solve some of the most difficult problems in medicine that anyone could face.

Dr. Robinson is not the media-portrayed stereotypical balding pathologist with thick glasses who walks around with a dirty lab coat and cannot carry out a conversation with live humans. Instead, she is confident and highly attractive, has long dark hair and captivating green eyes, and wears designer clothing.

The majority of clinical laboratory technologists are women. To move more into the limelight, the field needs strong role models for future generations, and Magnani has created one. 

By BJ Magnani,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A Boston physician becomes an assassin for the U.S. government in this medical suspense thriller by an award-winning pathologist (Book 1 in the Dr. Lily Robinson trilogy.)

Hidden under a cloak of legitimacy, I have been pressed to deliver extraordinary service for my country. It has been a successful ruse. A premium blend of dark deception with just an aroma of truth.-Dr. Lily Robinson

Dr. Lily Robinson is a brilliant physician with an encyclopedic knowledge of all toxins and poisons, and a penchant for wearing stilettos. In an unforeseeable twist in her life, the United States Government appeals to her…


Book cover of Heart: A History

Mara Altman Author Of Gross Anatomy: Dispatches from the Front

From my list on the human body to deepen your appreciation.

Why am I passionate about this?

People, including me, can be so uptight about their bodies. Early on in my career, I found that writing about my shame (chin hair!) or embarrassment (dogs sniffing my crotch!) helped the stigma go away. Researching and learning about how amazing our bodies are helped empower me to feel confident and comfortable being fully myself. I think it can do the same for others, too. My takeaway: There is greatness in our grossness. 

Mara's book list on the human body to deepen your appreciation

Mara Altman Why did Mara love this book?

The amount of blood that passes through a human heart every week is enough to fill a swimming pool. That and facts like it saturate this book about our most essential organ, the heart. Jauhar weaves a dynamic science-based narrative with personal accounts that infuses the reader with love and reverence for the body part, the medical personnel, and the innovations that keep us all pumping.  

By Sandeep Jauhar,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

'Jauhar weaves his own personal and family story into his history of the heart...very effectively... This gives a certain dramatic tension to the book, as it tells the fascinating and rather wonderful history of cardiology.'

-Henry Marsh, New Statesman

A Mail on Sunday Book of the Year

The heart lies at the centre of life. For cardiologist Sandeep Jauhar it is an obsession.

In this fascinating history he interweaves gripping scenes from the operating theatre with the moving tale of his family's history of heart problems - from the death of his grandfather to the ominous signs of how he…


Book cover of A Scream in the Night 2

Fred Wiehe Author Of Holiday Madness: 13 Dark Tales for Halloween, Christmas & All Occasions

From my list on horror collections and anthologies guaranteed to scare.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a member of the Horror Writers Association and have been a professional writer since 1997. I got into writing horror because I love reading horror and watching horror movies. Even as a kid, I watched horror movies on Saturday afternoons and read horror books late at night—under the covers, with a flashlight. I collected Universal monster models as a kid too and still have my collection and have even added to it. I love all things horror and believe I have a deep understanding of what scares people and how to scare them. I guarantee that the books on my list will scare you to the bone.

Fred's book list on horror collections and anthologies guaranteed to scare

Fred Wiehe Why did Fred love this book?

This anthology features chilling stories written by an all-female cast of horror writers. If you think only male writers can deliver explicit and graphic horror, this anthology proves you wrong. These talented women do not pull punches and their stories are not for the faint of heart. My friend Reyna Young (aka Miss Misery—Hall of Fame Horror Host, Producer, Director, and Writer) edited this volume and contributed the story The Dinner Party. Another friend actress and writer Debra Lamb contributed Collectibles. If you want stories that will leave you screaming for more, read this volume.

By Reyna Young (editor), Debra Lamb, Maureen Whelan , AnnMarie Martin , Christina Francine , Jessica Dwyer , Marjorie Dehey , Staci Layne Wilson

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Scream in the Night 2 as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Featuring: Debra Lamb – AnnMarie Martin – Christina Francine – Staci Layne Wilson – Reyna Young – Ravennight – Tonjia Atomic – Tori Danielle Romero – Maureen Whelan – Jessica Dwyer – Marjorie Dehey – Michelle Nessk – Nicole Andrea Guzman

Last Doorway Productions and Black Bed Sheet Books celebrate women in horror fiction again by partnering to bring another chilling, all-female horror anthology, A Scream in the Night 2!
Horror Host Miss Misery (Reyna Young) has for a second time brought together 13 stories that set stellar examples of female voices in horror today and the tales they have…


Book cover of Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Book cover of Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
Book cover of Lab 257: The Disturbing Story of the Government's Secret Plum Island Germ Laboratory

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