Here are 85 books that Grain Brain fans have personally recommended if you like Grain Brain. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Artist's Way

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 mum had this book on her bookshelf for many years, and one day, I decided to read it, hoping it would help me learn to paint and draw. I didn’t learn anything about drawing or painting but instead learned how to slow down a bit and regather my energy.

This is an inspiring yet practical guide that helped me put aside my critical, doubting, worrying ‘adult’ self and allow myself to explore what I love and value in life. I found Cameron’s tools, such as the Morning Pages and Artist’s Date, so life-changing that I recommend them to many of my patients, especially those struggling with chronic illnesses, fatigue, or burnout.

By Julia Cameron ,

Why should I read it?

15 authors picked The Artist's Way as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

"With its gentle affirmations, inspirational quotes, fill-in-the-blank lists and tasks — write yourself a thank-you letter, describe yourself at 80, for example — The Artist’s Way proposes an egalitarian view of creativity: Everyone’s got it."—The New York Times 
 
"Morning Pages have become a household name, a shorthand for unlocking your creative potential"—Vogue

Over four million copies sold!

Since its first publication, The Artist's Way phenomena has inspired the genius of Elizabeth Gilbert and millions of readers to embark on a creative journey and find a deeper connection to process and purpose. Julia Cameron's novel approach guides readers in uncovering problems…


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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 Heal Your Body: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Way to Overcome Them

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

I love all of Louise Hay’s books and struggled to choose which one to put in my top five. I chose this one because I’ve been using it for nearly 30 years now and have never known it to be wrong. I see it more as a tool than a book—a tool you can use to empower yourself on your healing journey.

Whenever I have a physical problem, I turn to this little booklet to find the underlying emotional link, and then I write out and frequently repeat the corresponding affirmation. As Louise Hay often says, “the point of power is always in the present moment”, and this little book gives one great power!  

By Louise Hay ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Heal Your Body as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Unlock the connection between your physical ailments and your mind, and discover powerful affirmations and practical techniques to help you reclaim your health.

World-renowned teacher, Louise L. Hay has helped to heal and inspire millions of people worldwide. She was diagnosed with cancer more than 20 years ago and used the methods she describes in Heal Your Body to cure herself. Louise L. Hay simply explains how our attitude to life and the language we use cause our ailments.

Using her simple and practical techniques, you will be surprised to discover patterns in your own ailments that reveal a lot…


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…


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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 The Healing Garden: Cultivating and Handcrafting Herbal Remedies

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

This book combines two of my great lovesmedicine and gardening! What I love so much about this book (apart from the gorgeous photographs) is that it contains everything you need to know about medicinal herbs in one beautiful book. 

If you want to know when to plant a specific herb, how to grow it, and what its medicinal uses are, you only need to pick up this book instead of searching from one book to the next. To top it all, it has an abundance of fascinating recipes such as Calendula Tulsi Chai, Chickweed Crepes, and Creamy Nettles Potato Soup. What a combination!

By Juliet Blankespoor ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A comprehensive and lushly photographed guide to growing and using healing plants, including recipes, from the founder of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine

This is the ultimate reference for anyone looking to bring the beauty and therapeutic properties of plants into their garden, kitchen, and home apothecary. Both informative and accessible, it covers how to plan your garden (including container gardening for small spaces); essential information on seed propagation, soil quality, and holistic gardening practices; 30 detailed profiles of must-know plants (including growing information, medicinal properties, and how to use them); foundational principles of herbalism; step-by-step photographic tutorials for…


Book cover of An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales

John E. Dowling Author Of Understanding the Brain: From Cells to Behavior to Cognition

From my list on healthy and compromised brains.

Why am I passionate about this?

I began research as an undergraduate at Harvard College, initially studying the effects of vitamin A deficiency on the photoreceptors in the eye that capture the light and initiate vision. After receiving my PhD and starting my own laboratory, I became fascinated with the other four classes of cells/neurons found in the retina, which begin the analysis of visual information: two being in the outer retina and two in the inner retina. We mapped out the synaptic interactions among the neurons, recorded from them, and began to put together the neural circuitries that underlie the visual messages that are sent to other parts of the brain. 

John's book list on healthy and compromised brains

John E. Dowling Why John loves this book

One of Oliver Sack’s delightful books containing stories of individuals with various neurological disorders. I read the first one, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, back in the 1980s  when it first came out and was hooked, now having read almost all of them.

The one I am recommending is, I believe, more relevant to an understanding of brain mechanisms. One criticism I have had of Sack’s books is that there is little in the way of neurobiological explanations for the conditions described. In my book, most chapters begin with a Sack-like story about a specific neurological condition that is then explained, as far as possible, neurobiologically in the chapter.

By Oliver Sacks ,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked An Anthropologist on Mars as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As with his previous bestseller, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, in An Anthropologist on Mars Oliver Sacks uses case studies to illustrate the myriad ways in which neurological conditions can affect our sense of self, our experience of the world, and how we relate to those around us.

Writing with his trademark blend of scientific rigour and human compassion, he describes patients such as the colour-blind painter or the surgeon with compulsive tics that disappear in the operating theatre; patients for whom disorientation and alienation - but also adaptation - are inescapable facts of life.

'An…


Book cover of Lange Clinical Neurology

Greg Siofer Author Of Getting Out: My Story Plus The Exercises And Experience I Learned That Can Help You Get Out From The Wheelchair

From my list on physiotherapy for your recovery.

Why am I passionate about this?

Losing something is exceedingly difficult to accept, however, in sharing my story I hope it gives the personal motivation to recover the things that have been taken away. There is light in a tunnel you just must find it, my story I hope gives you that light.

Greg's book list on physiotherapy for your recovery

Greg Siofer Why Greg loves this book

There were numerous articles I have read regarding the nervous system however, the most memorable book I read would be Clinical Neurology. It contained the information I required with it being an easy read, it provided clinically relevant information with an easy-to-follow guide that was outlined in the chapters. From my perspective student material relating to neurology have the best learning format of the material that is being presented like in this book.

By David A. Greenberg , Michael J. Aminoff , Roger P. Simon

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Publisher's Note: Products purchased from Third Party sellers are not guaranteed by the publisher for quality, authenticity, or access to any online entitlements included with the product.

The clearest, most concise coverage of one of the most complex topics in medicine-updated with the latest advances in the field

Clinical Neurology, Eleventh Edition, provides a comprehensive overview of basic and clinical neurology in a concise, digestible format. It links clinical neuroscience to current approaches for accurately diagnosing and effectively treating neurologic disorders. Covering all the advances in molecular biology and genetics, this popular guide emphasizes history-taking and neurologic examination as the…


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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 Tone Deaf and All Thumbs? An Invitation to Music-Making

Laurie Scott and Cornelia Watkins Author Of From the Stage to the Studio: How Fine Musicians Become Great Teachers

From my list on music teaching and learning.

Why are we passionate about this?

Laurie grew up in a rural community and had the good fortune of working with kind and dedicated teachers who were both skillful pedagogues and encouraging mentors. Their passion for quality teaching and high-level musicianship instilled in Laurie the powerful relationship between teaching and artistic performance. Cornelia dreamed of playing the cello beautifully but didn’t have a real teacher until she was twenty. While the work required relearning almost everything she thought she knew, she was old enough to observe her own transformation, guided by a thoughtful and dedicated teacher, and teaching and performing became the inseparable “two sides of the same coin.” They've worked together ever since, writing, teaching, presenting, and sharing great ideas.

Laurie's book list on music teaching and learning

Laurie Scott and Cornelia Watkins Why Laurie loves this book

Neurologist Frank Wilson wrote this smart, funny, insightful book to connect his understanding of neuroscience to his own experience learning to play the piano as an adult.

While sharing his expertise about neural pathways and auditory perception, he pokes fun at himself, offers amusing anecdotes about other “experts” in various fields, writes lymmerics, and makes jokes when you least expect it: “We all know about biceps, triceps, deltoids, and ‘pecs’ but who ever heard of somebody having a knockout set of abductor digiti quinti minimi, or a breathtaking flexor pollicis brevis?”

His light touch creates an engaging and enlightening balance of science and music, and one can’t help but be encouraged by his enthusiasm and love of learning.  

By Frank R. Wilson ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Tone Deaf and All Thumbs? An Invitation to Music-Making as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A neurologist and amateur musician explores the connections between neurology and music and provides an informative look into how and why people make music, how human beings hear music, and how musicians remember what they're playing


Book cover of The Integrated Mind

James Blachowicz Author Of The Bilateral Mind as the Mirror of Nature: A Metaphilosophy

From my list on the nature and capacities of our bilateral minds.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always had equally balanced interests in the arts/humanities and the natural sciences. I like to think that I inherited much of this from my analytical “algebraic” mother, who was a nurse and tended to our family finances, and my holistic “geometrical” father, who was a carpenter. It’s probably no accident that my double major in college was in physics and philosophy...and, down the line, that I should develop a focused interest in human brain laterality, where the division between analysis and holism is so prominent.

James' book list on the nature and capacities of our bilateral minds

James Blachowicz Why James loves this book

Utilizing data from split-brain patients (whose left and right cerebral hemispheres had been surgically separated), the authors of this book focus on how our “two minds” yield a unitary consciousness.

This is the book that first lit the fire of inquiry for me. The whole idea was to understand the “integrated” mind by first understanding the minds of individuals that had been divided by severing the corpus callosum (which connected their two cerebral hemispheres) in order to alleviate medically intractable epilepsy.

It was suggested that in such individuals, their “minds” were divided as well. Yet some later studies did suggest that some intercommunication (through other channels) did survive.

By Michael S. Gazzaniga , Joseph E. LeDoux ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

In this book we are trying to illuminate the persistent and nag ging questions of how mind, life, and the essence of being relate to brain mechanisms. We do that not because we have a commit ment to bear witness to the boring issue of reductionism but be cause we want to know more about what it's all about. How, in deed, does the brain work? How does it allow us to love, hate, see, cry, suffer, and ultimately understand Kepler's laws? We try to uncover clues to these staggering questions by con sidering the results of our studies on…


Book cover of The New Mind Readers: What Neuroimaging Can and Cannot Reveal about Our Thoughts

Mark Bartholomew Author Of Intellectual Property and the Brain: How Neuroscience Will Reshape Legal Protection for Creations of the Mind

From my list on how neuroscience will change our lives.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a law professor who has been teaching and writing in the area of intellectual property for 20 years. As my career went along, I came to realize how important it is to not just mechanically apply the legal rules but to think about why they are there. Intellectual property law—a 7 trillion-dollar legal regime governing one-third of the U.S. economy—continually guesses as to how the minds of artists and audiences work. The more I read about neuroscientific advances, the more I realized that these guesses are often wrong and need to be updated for a new technological age.

Mark's book list on how neuroscience will change our lives

Mark Bartholomew Why Mark loves this book

This book does a great job of describing what is possible and what is not when it comes to neuroscience. Poldrack, a professor of psychology at Stanford, makes sure we don’t lose the forest for the trees, boiling down the basics of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a way that anyone can understand. He is particularly strong on describing about how this technology might be used outside of university laboratories, discussing potential applications in law, advertising, and treatment of mental illness.

By Russell A. Poldrack ,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A revealing insider's account of the power-and limitations-of functional MRI

The ability to read minds has long been a fascination of science fiction, but revolutionary new brain-imaging methods are bringing it closer to scientific reality. The New Mind Readers provides a compelling look at the origins, development, and future of these extraordinary tools, revealing how they are increasingly being used to decode our thoughts and experiences-and how this raises sometimes troubling questions about their application in domains such as marketing, politics, and the law.

Russell Poldrack takes readers on a journey of scientific discovery, telling the stories of the visionaries…


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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 Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat And Other Clinical Tales

Pepper Stetler Author Of A Measure of Intelligence: One Mother's Reckoning with the IQ Test

From my list on exploring what it means to be smart.

Why am I passionate about this?

I never really thought much about how limited and exclusionary our society’s ideas about intelligence are until my daughter, who has Down syndrome, was required to take her first IQ test before she started kindergarten. That experience led me to research the history of the IQ test and how it has shaped our culture’s ideas about intelligence in pernicious ways. I am a college professor who is working to change the educational and employment opportunities available to people with intellectual disabilities. I hope you enjoy the books on this list. May they lead you to reconsider what you think it means to be smart. 

Pepper's book list on exploring what it means to be smart

Pepper Stetler Why Pepper loves this book

I love Sack’s empathy toward his patients and his commitment to telling a different and highly unique narrative about the human experience. His classic collection of essays is not about intelligence, but each patient he writes about knows and understands the world differently than what is considered normal.

Sacks makes room for the challenges and brilliance of all ways of being in the world.

By Oliver Sacks ,

Why should I read it?

14 authors picked The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat And Other Clinical Tales as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Celebrating Fifty Years of Picador Books

If a man has lost a leg or an eye, he knows he has lost a leg or an eye; but if he has lost a self - himself - he cannot know it, because he is no longer there to know it.

In this extraordinary book, Dr. Oliver Sacks recounts the stories of patients struggling to adapt to often bizarre worlds of neurological disorder. Here are people who can no longer recognize everyday objects or those they love; who are stricken with violent tics or shout involuntary obscenities, and yet are gifted with…


Book cover of The Artist's Way
Book cover of Heal Your Body: The Mental Causes for Physical Illness and the Metaphysical Way to Overcome Them
Book cover of Radical Healing: Integrating the World's Great Therapeutic Traditions to Create a New Transformative Medicine

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5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in neurology, nutrition, and sugar?

Neurology 21 books
Nutrition 29 books
Sugar 22 books