Book Club

Everyone is welcome to attend the book club, whether you have read the book or not.

 Events are hosted either virtually or in person.

Book Club Selections for 2025

The book club selections offer an eclectic mix with something for everyone. The selections are:

• January 27, 2025: In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope by Rana Awdish, MD. The author presents a first-person account of being a patient and a physician. She encounters the same problems many patients do when they face a serious illness and offers a roadmap for anyone dealing with it. She also presents physicians with a plan and rationale for improving the doctor-patient relationship.

• April 28, 2025: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (fiction). The book was a best seller. The narrator relates the difficulties of being a woman on an all-male research team and addressing the affections of one team member. In the story, she becomes the unlikely star of a TV cooking show. The book was made into a miniseries in 2023.

• September 29, 2025: Bottle of Lies: The Dark Side of the Generic Drug Boom by Katherine Eban. This is a change from our original announced selection by Austin Chang, MD, partly because of availability. The topic should provoke some discussion given the current state of medicine, availability of therapies, and offshoring of drug production. 

We are always looking for titles for the book club, so feel free to send us any selections you find noteworthy. We try to include a rotating schedule of writing or editing, biomedical, and fiction books, but we don’t always adhere to that order and often juggle titles to accommodate those books that make the news. 

In 2026, the North Central Chapter will celebrate our book club’s 20th(!) year. Congratulations to our first organizer, Mary Knatterud, PhD, for her steady guidance and active participation. As always, we hope to see you at one of our meetings! 

Contact

Please direct any suggestions for meeting times, places, and book selections to Paul Mamula at: paulpat@pclink.com