FIVE FALL FAVORITES Blog Hop Day 3: Medical!

 

 

Click HERE to keep up with the rest of the stops in the blog hop! 

We're already halfway through the first week of October!  If you're still thinking about entering the giveaway, let me incentivize you a little before I get into the post -- the giveaway includes an adorable tote, signed books by great authors, and an Amazon gift card (so you can pick up even more great books!) And if you're entering internationally, you sadly won't get the physical copies of the books, but you can still win ebook versions as well as the gift card.  Not too shabby! Sign up HERE! 

 

Now...onward, as we sling our backpacks over our shoulders!  We'll take a quick hike out into a nice grassy spot - I know just the place - and then we'll get into my top five favorite books for the day.  

Today's theme is MEDICAL!  If you like books with leading ladies (and guys) in medical professions, this one's for you.  So let's set our backpacks down in this field here (they're probably heavy with books...I know mine is!) and let's chat! 

Live Without You by Sarah Grace Grzy

You can click HERE for my full review for this one.  This is the debut novella from Sarah Grace Grzy, and it's so, so sweet!  Featuring two main characters that you'll fall in love with, this is a cozy story for the fall/winter months.  And the finale...man.  The last few chapters had some killer chapter-cliffhangers.  If you enjoy sweet, clean romance, this one's for you! But where does the 'medical' part come in at?  Ezra Bryant, the male main character, is a paramedic.  (And kudos to Grzy for all the realistic terminology!) 

Never Say Goodbye by Sarah Grace Grzy

You can read my full review HERE. This book can be read as a standalone OR as a sequel to Live Without You.  I prefer it as a sequel -- and it explores one of the minor characters from Live Without You, Tyler Collens.  He's also a paramedic like Ezra.  I loved this book (another cozy story perfect for fall) and the various themes it explored.  I could probably talk about it all day, and now that I'm thinking about it, I want to re-read it again...oops.  This book is absolutely adorable, lots of daddy/daughter interaction with one of the sweetest, most accurate kid characters I've read in awhile, and Alyvia (the female lead) was super easy to empathize with.    

Forged Through Fire by Mark D. McDonough

Read my full review HERE. (It's really, really long.)

This book is not for the faint of heart, but if you enjoy medical nonfiction, it might be something you're interested in.  It's graphic, it's horrific, and it's 100% real...which perhaps makes all of those details even worse if you think about it long enough.  This is a Christian nonfiction novel detailing Mark D. McDonough's tragic childhood accident, the many many surgeries he had to undergo as a result, and how it all influenced his walk with God and his decision to become a surgeon himself. 

Ivy Introspective by Kellyn Roth

Read my full review HERE.  This is a unique book for this section; it doesn't talk about medical stuff from the standpoint of characters who are doctors or paramedics or nurses, and it deals with mental stuff rather than physical injury.  Instead, it features a cast of characters living in what would have been considered a mental care facility, way back in ye olden days, minus the torture and abhorrent treatment that you might be thinking of (that was in the not-so-distant-past).  Having a neurologically atypical main character for a historical novel is unique enough, but the fact that Roth seriously took the time to study each condition through the lens of early psychology was impressive to me (as a psych nerd and advocate for disabilities, both mental and physical).  We have a range of characters who suffer from various problems, and there's also a lot of discussion on different therapies that were put to use, especially in the main character's (Ivy's) case.  It also takes a bit of a dive into how parents, circumstance, and environment affect people who are suffering from depressive/personality disorders as well, and even to a certain extent with Ivy and her own anxieties about leaving her mother for treatment.  Overall, it's a great book! 

A Memory Between Us by Sarah Sundin

This is the first Sundin book that I've read, even though I've heard a lot about her.  This is a story centering around a pilot, Jack, and a nurse, Ruth, who are serving in WWII.  I could tell that the story was very well researched, and it was interesting to read about the different medical terminology and things that were used back in the 40s, as opposed to today's medical intervention standards.  If you're into history, this is another great book to pick up!  The characters were easy to empathize/connect with, the storyline was intriguing, and while I did think that some portions were a bit rushed and other things took a smidge longer than I would've liked (granted, there was a lot to fit into this book), the story overall was enjoyable and definitely made me want to pick up the rest of the series (this is book 2...I have a bad habit of getting into series via the second book, apparently).  If you're a fan of Sundin or medical fiction in general, make sure to pick this one up!  

Have you read any of the books on this list?  What are some of your favorite medical books (or TV shows)?