Here are 100 books that Anatomy of an Illness fans have personally recommended if you like Anatomy of an Illness. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Book cover of Humor and the Health Professions: The Therapeutic Use of Humor in Health Care

Allen Klein Author Of The Healing Power of Humor: Techniques for Getting Through Loss, Setbacks, Upsets, Disappointments, Difficulties, Trials, Tribulations, and All That Not-So-Funny Stuff

From my list on therapeutic humor & laughter.

Why am I passionate about this?

Allen Klein is the world’s only “Jollytologist®”. Through his books, workshops, and keynote speeches, for the past 30-plus years, he has been showing audiences worldwide how to use humor and positivity to deal with life’s not-so-funny stuff. He is a pioneer in the therapeutic humor field and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. Comedian Jerry Lewis has said that Klein is “a noble and vital force watching over the human condition.”

Allen's book list on therapeutic humor & laughter

Allen Klein Why Allen loves this book

Another pioneer in the therapeutic humor field: this one written for the health professions. In spite of that, any reader can get a lot from this book. It introduces the benefits of humor not only as a healing tool for the patient, but as a stress management tool for the health professional as well. Certainly, any reader dealing with stress can benefit from the coping characteristics of humor.

By Vera Robinson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Humor and the Health Professions as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Extensive coverage of humor in interpersonal relationships, patient education and the work environment greatly enhance the value of this book to all health care professionals. Humor and the Health Professions introduces the benefits of humor not only as a healing tool for the patient, but as a stress management tool for the health professional as well.


If you love Anatomy of an Illness...

Ad

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn't Really Funny

Allen Klein Author Of The Healing Power of Humor: Techniques for Getting Through Loss, Setbacks, Upsets, Disappointments, Difficulties, Trials, Tribulations, and All That Not-So-Funny Stuff

From my list on therapeutic humor & laughter.

Why am I passionate about this?

Allen Klein is the world’s only “Jollytologist®”. Through his books, workshops, and keynote speeches, for the past 30-plus years, he has been showing audiences worldwide how to use humor and positivity to deal with life’s not-so-funny stuff. He is a pioneer in the therapeutic humor field and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. Comedian Jerry Lewis has said that Klein is “a noble and vital force watching over the human condition.”

Allen's book list on therapeutic humor & laughter

Allen Klein Why Allen loves this book

The first part of this book provides a theoretical framework for understanding laughter and why it is cathartic. The second part contains 25 ways to help you laugh or relearn to laugh in order to maximize healing. As the subtitle states, it will show you How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn't Really Funny.

By Annette Goodheart ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Laughter Therapy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Laughter Therapy is a two-part book. Part one is a theoretical framework for understanding laughter and other forms of catharsis. Included are case studies and examples of laughter. Part one and two are liberally sprinkled with appropriate quotes. Part two contains 25 ways to help yourself laugh and how to relearn to laugh without ridicule in order to maximize healing and connection with ourselves, each other and the universe.


Book cover of Laughter the Best Medicine: A Laugh-Out-Loud Collection of our Funniest Jokes, Quotes, Stories & Cartoons

Allen Klein Author Of The Healing Power of Humor: Techniques for Getting Through Loss, Setbacks, Upsets, Disappointments, Difficulties, Trials, Tribulations, and All That Not-So-Funny Stuff

From my list on therapeutic humor & laughter.

Why am I passionate about this?

Allen Klein is the world’s only “Jollytologist®”. Through his books, workshops, and keynote speeches, for the past 30-plus years, he has been showing audiences worldwide how to use humor and positivity to deal with life’s not-so-funny stuff. He is a pioneer in the therapeutic humor field and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. Comedian Jerry Lewis has said that Klein is “a noble and vital force watching over the human condition.”

Allen's book list on therapeutic humor & laughter

Allen Klein Why Allen loves this book

It is useless to talk about how humor and how laughter can be therapeutic without experiencing it. I’m therefore suggesting this series of books published by Reader’s Digest. Each one contains 1,000 jokes, quotes, and cartoons. With that many funny things, it is most likely you will find something to tickle your funnybone.

By Reader’s Digest ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Laughter the Best Medicine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Laughter the Best Medicine is a collection of Reader's Digest magazine's funniest jokes, quotes, stories, cartoons, anecdotes, and laugh-out-loud captions.  A little chuckle every day will keep the doctor away.

This hilarious collection offers up some of the funniest moments that get us through our day, in the form of jokes, gags and cartoons that will have readers laughing out loud.

Editors have mined the Reader’s Digest archives to bring readers Laughter the Best Medicine, All-Time Faves, a collection of the most hilarious jokes and anecdotes we’ve come across over the years. As you turn the pages of our newest…


If you love Norman Cousins...

Ad

Book cover of Trusting Her Duke

Trusting Her Duke by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke with rigid opinions, a Lady whose beliefs conflict with his, a long disputed parcel of land, a conniving neighbour, a desperate collaboration, a failure of trust, a love found despite it all.

Alexander Cavendish, Duke of Ravensworth, returned from war to find that his father and brother had…

Book cover of Laughter: A Scientific Investigation

Allen Klein Author Of The Healing Power of Humor: Techniques for Getting Through Loss, Setbacks, Upsets, Disappointments, Difficulties, Trials, Tribulations, and All That Not-So-Funny Stuff

From my list on therapeutic humor & laughter.

Why am I passionate about this?

Allen Klein is the world’s only “Jollytologist®”. Through his books, workshops, and keynote speeches, for the past 30-plus years, he has been showing audiences worldwide how to use humor and positivity to deal with life’s not-so-funny stuff. He is a pioneer in the therapeutic humor field and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor. Comedian Jerry Lewis has said that Klein is “a noble and vital force watching over the human condition.”

Allen's book list on therapeutic humor & laughter

Allen Klein Why Allen loves this book

If you are curious about the ins and outs of why we laugh, this is the book to read. Among other things, it will answer such questions as to why we laugh, is laughter contagious, and has anyone ever died laughing. Written by the world’s leading scientific expert on laughter.

By Robert R. Provine ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Laughter as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Do men and women laugh at the same things?
Is laughter contagious?
Has anyone ever really died laughing?
Is laughing good for your health?

Drawing upon ten years of research into this most common-yet complex and often puzzling-human phenomenon, Dr. Robert Provine, the world's leading scientific expert on laughter, investigates such aspects of his subject as its evolution, its role in social relationships, its contagiousness, its neural mechanisms, and its health benefits. This is an erudite, wide-ranging, witty, and long-overdue exploration of a frequently surprising subject.


Book cover of Sufferers and Healers: The Experience of Illness in Seventeenth-Century England

Jennifer Evans Author Of Maladies and Medicine: Exploring Health & Healing, 1540-1740

From my list on early modern medicine.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a lecturer in history at the University of Hertfordshire where I teach early modern history of medicine and the body. I have published on reproductive history in the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. The history of medicine is endlessly diverse, and there are so many books on early modern medicine, some broad and others more specific, it’s this variety that I find endlessly intriguing. Some conditions from the era, like gout and cancer, are familiar, while others like, greensickness, aren’t recognized any longer. Thinking about these differences and about how people’s bodies ached and suffered helps me to appreciate their relationships, struggles, and triumphs in a whole new dimension.

Jennifer's book list on early modern medicine

Jennifer Evans Why Jennifer loves this book

Originally published in 1987 this book is a classic text for those studying health and disease in this era. Drawing on diaries and printed materials it explains what people died of in the era and what conditions they lived with. It describes how people responded to ill health both spiritually and medically and it provides a series of case studies to illuminate different aspects of health, including women’s health. Using practitioners’ casebooks, it thinks about the differences between an urban surgeon and the practice of rural physicians. It thus moves beyond generalizations to show that practitioners worked alongside each other to heal patients drawn from different socio-economic backgrounds and that the practice of medicine was supplemented and relied upon interventions by friends, family, and community.

By Lucinda McCray Beier ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Sufferers and Healers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Lucinda McCray Beier's remarkable book, first published in 1987, enters the world of illness in seventeenth-century England, exploring what it was like to be either a sufferer or a healer. A wide spectrum of healers existed, ranging between the housewife, with her simple herbal preparations, local cunning-folk and bonestters, travelling healers, and formally accredited surgeons and physicians. Basing her study upon personal accounts written by sufferers and healers, Beier examines the range of healers and therapies available, describes the disorders people suffered from, and indicates the various ways sufferers dealt with their ailments. She includes several case-studies of healers and…


Book cover of Radical Healing: Integrating the World's Great Therapeutic Traditions to Create a New Transformative Medicine

Ruth Hull Author Of Drowning Lifeguards: Your Guide to Overcoming Fatigue, Burnout and Overwhelm

From my list on health and healing the natural way.

Why am I passionate about this?

When I was young, my grandmother gave me a book on reflexology, and since then, I’ve been in love with natural health and healing. I started my journey as a complementary therapist and then went on to become a homeopathic doctor, counselor, and writer. I’m fascinated by the human body as well as the natural world in which we live, with its abundance of medicines in the form of plants, foods, animal friends, and healing spaces. Over the years, I’ve gained a master’s degree in health science as well as a master’s degree in counseling and find that we cannot treat physical ailments without including mental, emotional, and spiritual care.  

Ruth's book list on health and healing the natural way

Ruth Hull Why Ruth loves this book

My copy of this book is now so old that all the pages are thin and brown, and it has that lovely ‘old-book smell’. It also has that ‘well-worn’ look from being read again and again.

It was one of the first books I ever read on natural medicine, and it opened up the most intriguing world for me. Still today, after 25 years of reading and referring to this beautiful book, something resonates deep within me every time I open it. Ballentine is a master of the art of healing and I am thankful I found this book so early in my journey.

By Rudolph M. Ballentine ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Radical Healing as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this second edition of Radical Healing, Rudolph Ballentine, MD, presents a new vision for the future of healthcare and wellbeing; a vision that provides profound physical, emotional, and spiritual healing through the integration of holistic practices and modern medicine. He maps the differences and overlap of modern medicine with ancient ayurvedic practices, homeopathy, and traditional Chinese medicine, in an effort to redefine and empower the 21st-century approach to wellness.

The content in this book is drawn from Dr. Ballentine's 40+ years of case-study experience, research, and medical practice, and offers:

Comprehensive and inspiring case studies An extensive resource section…


If you love Anatomy of an Illness...

Ad

Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

Book cover of The Power of Energy Medicine: Your Natural Prescription for Resilient Health

Lauren Walker Author Of The Energy to Heal: Find Lasting Freedom From Stress and Trauma Through Energy Medicine Yoga

From my list on understanding what energy is and how to use it.

Why am I passionate about this?

I remember being a kid and wanting to know everything about everything. After I’d been teaching yoga for several years, and finding myself struggling with stress and trauma that the yoga wasn’t helping, I really started to dive into the world of Energy. That world is fascinating, endless, and powerful. And the more I study and learn, the better my life gets. I’ve created my own teaching methodology from all the studies I’ve done and helped thousands of people find their own inner strength and healing. I love learning how other people overcame their struggles and how at the root, we basically all want to help each other! That's the kind of world I aspire to. 

Lauren's book list on understanding what energy is and how to use it

Lauren Walker Why Lauren loves this book

I absolutely love this book. When I first picked it up, I’ll admit, I was skeptical. I know a lot about Energy Medicine, and I wasn’t sure what new information I’d learn. It turned out to be one of those books that you cannot put down. The author has an engaging and friendly voice, while also being an astute authority on her topic. Her stories draw you in and open your mind to the possibilities that there is so much more that we don’t know about how the body/mind/spirit works. But this book also allows you to experience her process and get a taste of the power you hold within yourself to accelerate healing.  

By Hilary Crowley ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Power of Energy Medicine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Learn how to connect to your own good medicine and discover the powerful energy healing that will bring authentic wellness, health, hope, and joy into your life.

Hilary Crowley is the resident energy healer at a general family medical center in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Working alongside surgeons, physicians, nurses, and holistic practitioners, she uses energy medicine modalities and hands-on techniques to facilitate her clients' healing. In this book, Hilary sheds light on questions surrounding energy medicine by sharing stories from cases including cancer battles, suicide attempts, and chronic pain. She shares how to find healing through the good medicines in…


Book cover of The Diary of William Harvey: The Imaginary Journal of the Physician Who Revolutionized Medicine

Helen King Author Of Greek and Roman Medicine

From my list on discovering the circulation of the blood.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve been fascinated by history since I was a fairly sickly child, which means I was gradually drawn towards the history of medicine. Add to that having a hereditary blood clotting condition and you can see why this topic appeals to me! I have a BA and a PhD in History from University College London and have held posts in the universities of Cambridge, Newcastle, Reading, and then at The Open University. I’ve also held visiting professorships in Vienna, Texas, and Minnesota and have published six books as well as editing others. I’m sort of retired but still writing and lecturing.

Helen's book list on discovering the circulation of the blood

Helen King Why Helen loves this book

It was a great idea to make Harvey come to life by imagining what he’d have written in his diary! This is a well-researched book which gets across how much more there was to Harvey than just the circulation of the blood. His family, his work on the development of the embryo, his role as a physician to King Charles I, and his encounters with witches – a great story – as well as a convincing sense of the sort of man he was and of the times in which he lived.

By Jean Hamburger , Barbara Wright (translator) ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Diary of William Harvey as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French


Book cover of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: AI, Machine Learning, and Deep and Intelligent Medicine Simplified for Everyone

Kerrie Holley Author Of AI-First Healthcare: AI Applications in the Business and Clinical Management of Health

From my list on artificial intelligence in health care.

Why am I passionate about this?

I fell in love with technology when I wrote my first computer program at age 14 when there was no public Internet, no personal computers, no iPhone, no cloud. I have made technical contributions to every era of computing from mainframes, to PCs, Internet, Cloud, and now AI. I was recently elected to the National Academy of Engineering. AI currently surpasses my wildest imagination on the art of what’s possible. I'm still passionately working in technology at Google focused on how to live healthier lives. I believe we can make AI the telescope of the future, to helping everyone live long and healthy lives.

Kerrie's book list on artificial intelligence in health care

Kerrie Holley Why Kerrie loves this book

Parag is a clinician who covers the current and future state for using AI in several healthcare specialties like cardiology, pharmacy, orthopedics, radiology, and many more. 

This is a book for generalists who want to understand how AI applies to a variety of medical disciplines. I enjoyed this book because it deepened my knowledge as an AI technologist on how to apply AI in areas of healthcare from the lens of a physician.

If you love Norman Cousins...

Ad

Book cover of Old Man Country

Old Man Country by Thomas R. Cole,

This book follows the journey of a writer in search of wisdom as he narrates encounters with 12 distinguished American men over 80, including Paul Volcker, the former head of the Federal Reserve, and Denton Cooley, the world’s most famous heart surgeon.

In these and other intimate conversations, the book…

Book cover of The Masters of Medicine: Our Greatest Triumphs in the Race to Cure Humanity's Deadliest Diseases

Edward G. Rogoff Author Of Scary Diagnosis

From my list on dealing with a scary health diagnosis.

Why am I passionate about this?

Healthcare and the system that delivers it have been central to my life since I was a child. I was born with hemophilia and experienced many complications and hospitalizations. I received a liver transplant thirteen years ago because a blood transfusion-acquired Hepatitis C damaged it. I have been active in advocacy organizations, including being President of the Hemophilia Association of New York, being on the Board of LiveOnNY, and being the founder and President of the Hemophilia Services Consortium. I have interacted with many patients and their families and strongly felt the need to offer a book that informs, inspires, and helps them manage the challenges of a scary diagnosis.

Edward's book list on dealing with a scary health diagnosis

Edward G. Rogoff Why Edward loves this book

This is a fascinating book about the history of medical advances. It is an engaging and well-written book that offers short and sweet – yet inspiring – stories of medical conquests and progress.

These include development of drugs, advances in knowledge that lead to improvements in the care of heart disease, cancer, and even childbirth. I have often said that advances in medicine are akin to building a brick wall one brick at a time. This book informs the reader about many of the most important bricks.

It is inspiring to see the progress that has been made, and one should expect will continue to be made. 

By Andrew Lam ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Masters of Medicine as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Human history hinges on the battle to confront our most dangerous enemies - the half-dozen diseases responsible for killing almost all of mankind. The story of our medical triumphs reveals an inspiring tapestry of human achievement, but the journey was far from smooth. It is a tale replete with dramatic episodes as spellbinding as any blockbuster Hollywood movie.

In The Masters of Medicine, Dr. Andrew Lam, an award-winning author and retinal surgeon, distills the long arc of medical progress down to the crucial moments that were responsible for the world's greatest medical miracles. He brings to life heroic tales of…


Book cover of Humor and the Health Professions: The Therapeutic Use of Humor in Health Care
Book cover of Laughter Therapy: How to Laugh About Everything in Your Life That Isn't Really Funny
Book cover of Laughter the Best Medicine: A Laugh-Out-Loud Collection of our Funniest Jokes, Quotes, Stories & Cartoons

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in medicine, healing, and laughter?

Medicine 109 books
Healing 30 books
Laughter 15 books