What eyecare providers are reading this summer

What is the last book you read? Would you recommend it, why or why not?

We asked your colleagues about their latest reads.

I always get my best book recommendations from other readers. I know that I’ve added more than one to my summer reading list!

Got other suggestions? Add yours in the comments below.

Michelle Bouchard

Boothbay Harbor, ME

Via ODs on Facebook

Just finished Sand by Hugh Howey. I'm really enjoying the dystopian, science fiction type of stories lately. It keeps me interested, and I’m not bored.  Be prepared to read the whole series quickly. It’s all good.

Janet Carter, OD, FAAO

Elko, NV

Via ODs on Facebook

In One Person by John Irving. I definitely would recommend it, and it’s very timely in its subject matter. For some reason, I found it to be a much more difficult read than many of his other novels. I kept putting it down and going back to it much later. I sometimes didn’t want to go on, but I felt that I had to. Usually I read a book almost at one sitting, but not that one.

Kelly Selbert

Cincinnati, OH

Via ODs on Facebook

I just read The Jungle Books by Rudyard Kipling and found them magnificent. The movies are based on only one or two of the many remarkable and interesting stories found in the books. Thinking about humans and animal cultures from the perspective of the Jungle Creatures really stirred my imagination.

Andrew Hans

Valley Stream, NY

Via ODs on Facebook

I am still reading and savoring The Incarnations by Susan Barker. It’s about a man in China who has been reincarnated multiple times. The story weaves through time and place from ancient China to the present day. It’s part history, comedy, love story, and horror-this has it all yet the storytelling is very taut.

Dan Krall

Rancho Cucamonga, CA

Via ODs on Facebook

Scarlet (Lunar Chronicles, Book 2) by Marissa Meyer. It's a retelling of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and other fairy tales in future China. For example, instead of Cinderella slipper, it’s her cyborg foot…don't judge me. It’s a well-written, imaginative retelling of classic fairy tales with a modern twist. The characters are well rounded and the story arcs mesh together well. There were a few “I saw that coming,” but there were even more “Wow, I was not expecting that.”

Shelby Rookstool

Glendale, AZ

Via ODs on Facebook

Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susanna Callahan. I would highly recommend the book. It was a medical mystery book with a journalistic approach to an autobiography. I was pretty wrapped up in the book-I finished it just a few days.

Ivana Obradovic, OD

Miramar, FL

Via ODs on Facebook

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. It’s a good mystery/thriller book with so many interesting twists in the story.

Niti Mistry, OD

Ridgewood, NJ

Via ODs on Facebook

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. Great book. I would definitely recommend. It’s written by a doctor facing a terminal diagnosis-true story.

Ted Bryand, OD

Ithaca, NY

Via ODs on Facebook

Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmer’s Markets, Local Food, and Saving the Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard. I couldn’t put it down. His steadfastness in creating his brand is an inspiration.

Melanie Schultz Ruoff, OD

Gales Ferry, CT

Via ODs on Facebook

Archangel’s Enigma (A Guild Hunter Novel) by Nalini Singh. I would absolutely recommend it. It is part of a series with excellent worldbuilding.

Mary Lou French, OD

Orland Park, IL

Via ODs on Facebook

As I was going to Key West for the first time this year, I read The Old Man and the Sea. Ernest Hemingway was amazing, and the book was excellent. I visited his home there and saw the room where he wrote almost all of his books. Sometimes it is a good thing to revisit the classics.

Ernie Bowling, OD, FAAO

Chief Optometric Editor, Optometry Times

Via ODs on Facebook

Just finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. An American classic, it was Capote’s magnum opus. He never wrote another book after this.

Todd Hostetter

Lancaster, PA

Via ODs on Facebook

Ken Follett’s The Third Twin is wonderful mystery of genetics experiments gone wrong. Little love story, can’t-put-it-down energy, a little medical mystery-all that made it a quick read for me.

Dave Tabak, OD

Barrington, IL

Via ODs on Facebook

Just finished Erik Larson’s Dead Wake about the Lusitania sinking. It’s an excellent read but not as good as his greatest-Devil in the White City. Living in Chicago area makes that one even more powerful.

Nick Earls, OD

Bloomington, IN

Via ODs on Facebook

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason. It’s great for getting your head around the importance of savings.

Susan Miyabe, OD

Los Angeles

Via ODs on Facebook

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. It was excellent and thank you to all the ODs on Facebook colleagues who recommended it. It has helped me tremendously in dealing with hard conversations that I need to have with my mother at the end of her life. I have passed it on to others to share.

Brendan Bohl

Peterborough, NH

Via ODs on Facebook

Helliconia Winter by Brian W. Aldiss. It’s the final book of a trilogy about an earth-type planet that orbits a small sun every 480 days and orbits a larger sun every 2500 or so Earth years. It showcases the continuous rise and fall of civilizations while being observed by an orbiting space station from the now-dead Earth. It also showcases how society, climatology, microbiology, religion, geobiology, and other -ologies interact and affect one another. It’s a rather insightful read into the human condition. The first two books are Helliconia Spring and Helliconia Summer. I’d recommend all.

Viktoria Davis, OD

Madelia, MN

Via ODs on Facebook

I recently finished A House for Happy Mothers by Amulya Malladi. It’s a very interesting story exploring varied cultures and ethics of international surrogacy.

Lindsay Slemp, OD

Memphis, TN

Via ODs on Facebook

When Rabbit Howls by Truddi Chase. This is a book about a woman’s experiences/revelation to herself of her multiple personalities.

Sheila Grieve, OD

Mitchell, SD

Via ODs on Facebook

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. It’s a great book on understanding depression while also being absolutely hilarious and a little off color at times. Probably not a good read if you’re the sensitive type.

Justin Bazan, OD

Brooklyn, NY

Via ODs on Facebook

Smile: Sell More with Amazing Customer Service by Kirt Manecke. It includes lots of selling tips that work for patient care. It helps you build a better chairside manner in 60 minutes. (It’s a quick read. No fluff.) For those who own a business, it’s packed with customer service pearls.

Michael Barris, OD

Fredonia, NY

Via ODwire

I recommend Outside Color: Perceptual Science and the Puzzle of Color in Philosophy by M. Chirimuuta because it emphasizes the extent to which academic philosophers are actively involved in neuroscience.

Michael Davis, OD

Eldersburg, MD

Via ODwire

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Fun read. It’s a great nerd wank. I am looking forward to reading his second book.

Steve Silberberg, OD

Matawan, NJ

Via ODwire

Just read a book that is fiction but scary. Space Wars: The First Six Hours of World War III, A War Game Scenario by Coumatos, Scott, and Birnes. I recommend it because the plausibility of what we can face now is scary, and most don't know our national vulnerabilities.

Jeff Kiener, OD

Columbus, OH

Via ODwire

Peace Child by Don Richardson. It's about missionary work in the early 1960s, which in and of itself is interesting. You won’t believe the courage of this missionary. But most fascinating is the accurate description of the New Guinea head-hunting/cannibal tribes that never had contact outside their world. From an anthropological viewpoint, it’s amazing. The completely uplifting part is what was ultimately done by the natives with the help of God’s radical change to their culture. It’s all true.