Our Top 10 List of Books

Education

bookshelf

A few titles from our very own library!

Our commitment to learning is supported by a love of books, small on-site library, and responsibility to understand and provide quality services to our patients and their families.

The titles on our Top 10 list feature some of our favorite books over the years, including memoirs, short stories, works of fiction, and even a few self-help books. It was hard to choose only 10, but we did our best!

  1. No Whining: Craig Hospital Spinal Injury Rehab: Reaching New Heights by Herb Tabak. This is a brutally honest—and inspirational—account of one man’s journey through his 8-week spinal cord injury rehabilitation at Craig Hospital.
  2. Tales from the Bed by Jenifer and Valerie Estess. With only a few years to live, Jenifer’s doctors tell her to max out her credit cards and prepare to die. Rejecting their advice, she chooses to live. This memoir is a recommendation from a few of our nurses who read this book while caring for one of our patients with Amyotophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
  3. The End of Life Advisor: Personal, Legal, and Medical Considerations for a Peaceful, Dignified Death by Susan R. Dolan, RN, JD, and Audrey R. Vizzard, RN, EdD. Written by a mother and daughter team, this is an excellent resource for all ages and levels of health. Concrete knowledge regarding the end of life demystifies the experience and minimizes the fear many of us feel when confronted with death.
  4. My Baby Rides the Short Bus: The Unabashedly Human Experience of Raising Kids with Disabilities by Yantra Bertelli. This collection of short stories from parents of children with special needs is honest, raw, and full of emotion.
  5. The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health by T. Colin Campbell, MD. Let’s face it, we all get busy and sometimes we need an extra kick to prioritize our health. Dr. Campbell calls all of us to look more deeply at the food we eat and consider its implication on our health. While this approach may not work for all, it will get you excited about eating more fruits and veggies!
  6. My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. This novel questions what it means to be a parent or sibling of someone with cancer—and how to live with the consequences of some of the hardest decisions.
  7. Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracey. With 24/7 on-call and a patient-centered approach to our work, it’s easy to get busy with urgent tasks. This audio book helps us zero in and focus on our most important tasks and is listened to some of our staff on their commutes to and from work. 
  8. Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue by Paul Woodruff. Reverence is one of Independence Plus’ core values, and it can be the most difficult to understand. This book shares examples of how you can apply reverence to your life and work today.
  9. When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold S. Kushner. Kushner, a Jewish rabbi, shares his difficult story of learning to come to terms with the diagnosis of his three-year-old son’s degenerative disease.
  10. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. We finished this book in one sitting! During his journey to find an extravagant treasure, a shepherd boy learns how to trust his instincts and follow his dreams.

Now it’s your turn! What are your favorite books? We’d love to hear your additions to this list in the comments below.

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