#HowToTreatPeople
“a still patient whose chest is silent is far more frightening than any other sound.”
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How to Treat People: A Nurse at Work by Molly Case - @mollycasespeaks - part memoir, part science; the connection between nurse and patient, the empathy, the kindness, the moments shared is what it means to be a nurse - this book was a pleasure to read.
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As well as sharing her professional experiences, Molly shares her personal ones too (the other side, if you like) when her father is admitted to the high dependency unit where she works.
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I loved the medical history interspersed throughout the book - it fascinates me how much today’s medicine/society is influenced by ancient [Greek and Egyptian] practices.
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One of the key things we are taught as nurses is the importance of reflection, and Molly’s reflection is a moving one, the practice and the passion, highly recommended reading!
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My thanks to @vikingbooksuk for gifting me a copy of this book.
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(5 of 19 #mynonfiction19)
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QOTD: Do you think the format you choose to read a book effects your experience of it?
AOTD: I do! I’m very selective about what I choose to listen to, & I always put considerable thought into whether I want to read or listen to a book. I tend to enjoy listening to nonfiction (mainly memoirs) because they’re usually narrated by the author, & having them tell me the story definitely enhances my ‘reading’ experience. Although, I do enjoy fiction audiobooks too.
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I listened to Smoke Gets in your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematorium by Caitlin Doughty, narrated by…. Caitlin Doughty. Shoutout to Zoë - @readabilitea for bringing this one to my attention, even though she ended up DNFing it, I still wanted to give it a go.
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#BookReview: This was an interesting book because it’s the first time I’ve had any in-depth knowledge about what it’s like to work in a crematorium. As expected there was some great dark humour, one or two tender moments - I wasn’t expecting loads because I imagine to do this job you need to be able to be present in the moment, but be able to detach yourself too.
Part way through the book, it started to feel a bit sensationalist rather than informative. Yes, the entertainment angle worked for a while but it soon started to feel bit to surface level. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
(4 of 19 #mynonfiction19)
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It’s interesting that my thoughts were similar [I think] to Zoë’s - she read the book, I listened to the audio - maybe highlighting that the format doesn’t matter. However, she DNF’d, I made it to the end, so maybe it does matter after all…❓🤔
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#Asylum by Marcus Low is out today. My thanks to @legendpress for sending me an advanced copy.
Swipe for full synopsis. This #dystopian novel was in part inspired by the incarceration of patients with drug-resistant forms of TB in SA in 2008. Low is Cape Town based writer & public health specialist.
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#BookReview: This is a fairly short novel, I read it in one sitting a few days ago. And I just can’t make up my mind on it 🤔 I enjoy bleak dystopia’s, this one is well written, from the journal entries of our main character’s fragile mind.
It reminded me a bit of Fever Dream by Samata Schweblin, not necessarily in an “if you liked that, you’ll like this” sense, but (for me), it had that sense of uncertainty to the narrative, the blurred lines between reality and dreams, this sense that I’m missing something (because we are not given everything), and I must piece it together as best I can.
I can see this novel appealing to fans of speculative fiction. It’s also one I’ll likely reread because I feel like I might understand it better the second time around.
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‘I was born for killing - the gods made me to ruin.’
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A huge thank you to @harpervoyager_uk for feeding my #fantasy addiction with this amazing #bookmail - Book of the Ancestor trilogy by Mark Lawrence (@mark___lawrence).
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Book 1: #RedSister - At the Convent of Sweet Mercy girls are raised to be killers. A child of 8, Nona is brought to their halls, accused of murder but guilty of worse. She must become a deadly assassin if she is to survive...
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Book 2: #GreySister - Nona must forge her own path. ‘In all this only one thing is certain. There will be blood.’
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Book 3: #HolySister - The final challenge, a battle in which hearts will be broken, lovers lost, thrones burned.
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Yep, I am here for it 🙌🏾📚🖤🗡
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Have you ever dreamed of being ‘on air’? I received some exciting #bookmail this week from @orendabooks, two psychological thrillers which both sound dark and chilling, perfect for my dark soul 🖤.
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Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech publishes on 18.04, and it’s the story of Stella McKeever. In her final ever radio show, she wants to know your secrets. A mysterious man calls the show, saying he knows who killed the pregnant Victoria Valbon, found brutally murdered three weeks ago. Stella wants to know everything....
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The Last Stage by Louise Voss publishes 11.07, and it’s the story of Meredith Vincent, a singer in a 1980s indie band who was driven off stage by a horrific incident. Today, she works in a gift shop, but strange incidents start happening around her: broken china, vandalised gardens, a body... A study of secrets and obsessions.
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How wonderful do both of these books sound, which would you read first?
(#gifted)
#AGoodEnoughMother by Bev Thomas - The most dangerous lies are the ones we tell ourselves.
Dr Ruth Hartland is the director of a highly respected trauma therapy unit. She is confident, capable and excellent at her job. A new patient arrives at the unit – a young man who looks shockingly like her son who disappeared.
As a therapist, Ruth knows exactly what she should do in the best interests of her client, but as a mother she makes a very different choice – a decision that will have profound consequences.
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#BookReview: The psychological pull of this novel was so intense, not only did it thrill my mind, but the psychology on display within the novel was gripping. Seeing elements of Ruth’s work with clients in the trauma unit, but also seeing how her son’s disappearance affected her work was expertly done.
When I finished this novel, my first thought was the author must be in the field of psychology, to have written so intelligently, so realistically, on the subject. And it was so, Thomas was a clinical psychologist for many years.
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Ruth was a very well-developed and complex character, one who was laid bare to us. Thomas took this novel to dark places.
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This novel does a fantastic job of exploring human emotions and the need for containment. In its most simplistic form: containment is a client projecting their unmanageable feelings onto a therapist, who in turn reflects them back to the client but in a way which these feeling become more manageable and tolerable for the client.
Yep, this novel drew out the mental health nurse in me. (Please don’t think you have to have trauma/MH experience to enjoy this novel, that’s not the case at all; I just wanted to highlight the intelligence of the plot).
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It expertly explored the relationship between a therapist and her patients, and how vulnerable both can be in this relationship. The tension, the thrills, the uncertainty, the emotion, the power of loss; this novel was human, a well-written, literary piece of fiction that will keep you engaged.
