In the quest for a book to read…
All I’m asking for is a good book about doctors that I can read to relax. Is that really too much to ask?
-Written by Dr. Anjali Mediboina
It’s been a while since I’ve graced the Lexicon (web)pages. I blame writer’s block- blocked by exams, that is. Anyway, I decided, what better comeback than a good ol’ book review?
So, I set out to search for a good book to read. My criteria was simple: A nice, funny book, about doctors, but not about doctors. As in, I want the characters to be doctors, but I don’t want to read about their lives inside the hospital (been there, doing that), I want to read about their lives outside the hospital. Basically, I wanted something like Grey’s Anatomy, but preferably one book long and dramatic without being too dramatic. I also wanted romance but without the spice (for a change, lol). I mean, there’s got to be something like that, right?
Oh, was I wrong.

After I googled “fiction books about doctors“, one of the first books that came up was “Harmful Intent” by Robin Cook.
So, Robin Cook is an actual physician and surgeon who’s been writing medical thrillers since 1972. I read one of his books, Seizure, some time ago, and it was good, but you could tell it was written by an older, white male (iykyk).
But Robin Cook has some really interesting concepts, mainly about genetics, and the corruption and politics that happen in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. He also writes in depth about the medical procedures and drugs, so it’s also really cool to read about the drugs used in the past.
Honestly, most of the books that turned up were medical thrillers. I also got The Apprentice by Tess Gerritson, which is such a good series. They actually adapted it into a TV series called Rizzoli and Isles (one of the best forensic thrillers out there imo).
Another book suggestion was The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton, which is about a “deadly extraterristrial microorganism in Arizona and the team of scientists investigating it”. I mean, sounds kinda familiar doesn’t it?
Anyway, there were a lot more medical thrillers which sounded great (brb, adding The Alienist by Caleb Carr, and The Way of All Fresh by Ambrose Perry, to my tbr asap), but I’m just not in the mood for a thriller.
There were also a lot of books that I could tell, just by reading the synopsis, that they would definitely make me cry.


This book, Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is the “saga of twin brothers, orphaned at birth and forsaken by their father”. Even Barack Obama recommended it, and goes into depth about various medical procedures, and the political landscape of Ethiopia.
It sounds great, but kinda heavy, so onto the tbr list it goes.
There was also Still Alice by Lisa Genova, about a woman with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (who’s cutting onions?).
Too dark, or too heavy. Nope. And the search continued.

I found this book called The Devil Wears Scrubs by Frieda McFadden. I decided to read this book based on the title itself, and the description was promising, too, touted as a “A short comedic novel about overworked medical interns? Why Not?”
But I quickly abandoned it after the first two chapters. the author was lowkey fatphobic – the main character is introduced via an encounter with a morbidly obese patient; kinda racist – character has an eccentric and “weird” roommate, who of course is Asian (her words, not mine), and definitely not a girl’s girl (lots of unfavorable words about her chief resident).
And all this was in the first chapter of the book. Yeah, I was not having it, and DNF-ed immediately. It’s sad, considering the author is a doctor herself, and it’s very apparent that she holds some very problematic prejudices of the people around her.
I was very disappointed by this point. Are there really no happy-go-lucky, slice-of-life books, that aren’t about chasing down bad guys, or battling the inner politics of the hospital?
Sigh. Anyway, while I search for a book that whets my appetite, you can read my full list of book recommendations from our previous Edition here.
Wish me luck!