Title, Author, Reflections 

1. Medical Apartheid, Harriet A. Washington, History of oppression in medicine, should be required reading for everyone 

2. The Fire Next Time, James Baldwin, essays reflecting on the state of Black Americans in the 1950s and stingy criticisms of white America and their inability to see their own parts in oppression  

3. Patholgies of Power, Paul Farmer, Amartya Sen, part 1, narratives of folks living as victims of structural violence and illness, Haiti, Mexico, Russia, part 2 philosophical essays underpinning Paul Farmers' belifes 

4. Born into This, Adam Thompson, pseudo fictional stories of aboriginal Australians navigating the erosion of their land and culture while living in modernity  

5. The Sum of Us, Heather McGee, this might be my new favorite book, probably the best modern history of America I've ever read 

6. This is All I Got, Lauren Sandler, an intimate look at the life of a new mom living in the NYC shelter system, despite her determination she faces bureaucracy and system failures that she cannot overcome 

7. Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson , History of Bryan Stevenson's work with death row persons in the south (Alamba and Georgia mostly), interconnectedness with jim crow, lynching, failed police and justice systems, lack of evidence or representation, extrajudicial and judicial killings 

8. The Gay Revolution, Lillian Federman, Overarching history of the gay rights movement in the last century in the united states 

9. An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, This was good, but very dense and a true history book, no real narrative, more a historical record 

10. Yellow Dirt, Judy Pasternak, Really excellent. Documents the origins, operations, fall out, and health effects of mid 20th century uranium mining on Navajo tribal land. The story is almost too tragic and too extreme to come to terms with. 

11. Caste: The Origins of our Discontent, Isabel Wilkerson, Foundational text on the origin, history, and modern consequences of the racial caste system in the united states of america 

12. About Us, Series of Essays published in NYT, Really fantastic series of essays written by authors with a wide range of disabilities reflecting on their lived experiences and digging into the social construct of disability in a very intimate and open way 

13. The Young Lords - A Radical History, Johanna Fernandez, Deep dive into the history of the young lords and the YLO, specifically into the garbage offensive, lead offensive, and breakfast offensive, how the organization based its philosophy on anti-imperial anticolonist funamentals and drove change in harlem and around the country 

14. From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, really good book tying in the often written about 1960s civil rights movement with the modern #BLM movement and the distinctions and friction between the two 

15. Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men , Caroline Criado Perez, Excellent book at the missing data and impacts on the life and safety of women across multiple societal sectors 

16. You Can Stop Humming Now, Daniela Lamas, Book of narratives written by critical care doctor investigating stories of technology that prolongs patients' lives and the wider considerations of those stories 

17. Black Marxism , Cedric J Robinson, Origins of the black radical tradition and understanding of racial capitalism  

18. Killing the Black Body, Dorothy Roberts, Nonfiction describing the history of reproductive injustice and oppression, really excellent 

19. Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey, a great and sharp critique of capitalism and white supremacy culture and an analysis of rest, imagination, and community as vehicles for liberation 

20. The Big Myth, Erik M. Conway and Naomi Oreskes, a intellectual history of how corporations intentionally cultivated an anti-government, anti-public ownership narrative in the US that allowed them to exploit the US people and its resources and amass wealth, a critique of the "natural" forces of the market and that ideas centrality to America  

21. Teaching to Transgress, Bell Hooks, A series of essays reflecting on how to cultivate transformative pedagogy and classrooms through multiple lenses with a specific emphasis on intersectionality and feminism 

22. Decolonizing Wealth, Edgar Villanueva, Easy and insightful read into the world of philanthropy and an excellent critique of power and access in charity and finances in general  

23. The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander, Should be required reading, long but excellent dive into system of control and the mechanism of the racial caste system as it relates to mass incarceration and its connection to education, racial segregation, racial profiling, police discretion, prosecutorial power, and post incarceration dehumanization  

24. Under the Skin - The Hidden Toll of Racism on American Lives and on the Health of our Nation, Linda Villarosa, Probably the best book I've read this year, a well written review of research with the narrative framework of the authors own mental journey in understanding the causes of health inequity and with several impactful patient narratives to accompany each major point, really fantastic  

25. Dangerous to Your Health: Capitalism in Health Care, Vicente Navarro, A good foundational read linking healthcare quality and coverage to class consciousness, a little dated at this point as it ends in the Clinton era, but the foundational concepts are still of use 

26. Disability Visibility, Edited By Alice Wong, A series of first person essay about the experiences of living with disabilities in modern america with a focus on how to bring diasbility justice into the spotlight, particularly moving essays around being a parent with a disability and disability justice work in academic spaces

27. The Black Agenda, Edited By Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman, a series of essays imagining solutions to a wide array of issues centering on the Black experience, really great read for folks tired of reading about problems and looking for answers

28. The Deepest Well: Healing the Long term Effects of Childhood Adversity, Nadine Burke Harris, the definitive book on ACEs written in a very accessible and interesting way that follows Dr. Burke's own journey of discovery and engagement with ACEs in her practice, family, community, and on the national landscape

29. Push Out: The Criminalization of Black Girl in Schools, Monique Morris, "“A powerful indictment of the cultural beliefs, policies, and practices that criminalize and dehumanize Black girls in America, coupled with thoughtful analysis and critique of the justice work that must be done at the intersection of race and gender.”— Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow 

30. Undoing Drugs: The Untold Story of Harm Reduction, Maia Szalavitz, a deep dig (mostly through first person narratives) into the history of harm reduction in western medicine and an analysis of the implications of that philosophy on today's medical practice and set up, challenges the question of our typical goals of treatment of sobriety and centers the idea of saving lives rather than souls

31. We've Got You Covered: Rebooting American Healthcare, Liran Einav and Amy Finkelstein, a comprehensive look at American health insruance from an economists view that also asks fundamental questions like what is the purpose of health insurance, what is our social contract, and more probing questions about whether health insurance is an effective tool for eliminating health disparities, very informative, sometimes a little dense

32. What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, Oprah Winfrey and Bruce D. Perry, an engaging read on the effects of childhood trauma on our lives through neuro-developmental lenses but told in a really engaging narrative structure

33. Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from red states, Samantha Allen, interesting dive into the experience of 2sLGBTQI+ folks in red states, rural communities, and smaller cities across the US, particulary interesting on the commentary between exposure and acceptance 

34. The Ungrateful Immigrant: What Immigrants Never Tell You,  Dina Nayeri, part memoir part empathetic journalism recounting the journey of multiple immigrants seeking asylum, really drives home the arbitrary and dehumanizing process, offers a thoughtful take on the lived experience of asylum seekers, only criticism is that the time skips are sometimes hard to keep track of between the multiple narratives

35. The Uninhabitable Earth, David Wallace-Wells, probably the most terrifying book I've ever read. The book is alarmist, but makes the case that we all should be alarmed. A good deep dive into the likely effects of climate change on the earth over the next 100 years which is bracing