Author: Aletha Cress Oglesby, M.D.

As a family physician, I explore the HEART of HEALTH in my work, recreation, community, and through writing. My blog, Watercress Words, informs and inspires us to live in health. I believe we can turn our health challenges into healthy opportunities. When we do, we can share the HEART of health with our families, communities, and the world. Come explore and share with me.

Reading-a resolution worth making and keeping

This post shares some medical/health-related books worth reading. ‘The NOTE THROUGH the WIRE’, a story of love amid war; ‘The Orphan Collector’, a novel set during the 1918 Influenza Pandemic. The list includes best books from Amazon, People Magazine, and new titles from Tyndale, appealing to different interests. Check them out.

Every year I find more and more book lists; best books, most popular, best selling, books recommended by a celebrity or other famous person, etc. I can’t possibly read them all, but some of them sound so interesting I wish I could.

In this post I’m listing some books from these lists, all medical/health-related books, a designation I tend to interpret loosely.

(These are affiliate links to sites where you can buy something which pays a small commission to this blog to pay expenses and donate to health-related causes worldwide.)

Here is one book I read recently

The NOTE THROUGH the WIRE

In this true love story that defies all odds, Josefine Lobnik, a Yugoslav partisan heroine, and Bruce Murray, a New Zealand soldier, discover love in the midst of a brutal war.

In the heart of Nazi-occupied Europe, two people meet fleetingly in a chance encounter. One an underground resistance fighter, a bold young woman determined to vanquish the enemy occupiers; the other a prisoner of war, a man longing to escape the confines of the camp so he can battle again. A crumpled note passes between these two strangers, slipped through the wire of the compound, and sets them on a course that will change their lives forever.

Woven through their tales of great bravery, daring escapes, betrayal, torture, and retaliation is their remarkable love story that survived against all odds. This is an extraordinary account of two ordinary people who found love during the unimaginable hardships of Hitler’s barbaric regime as told by their son-in-law Doug Gold, who decided to tell their story from the moment he heard about their remarkable tale of bravery, resilience, and resistance.

Although published in 2020, the author wrote it in 2019, not realizing how timely it would be.

The Orphan Collector

A Heroic Novel of Survival During the 1918 Influenza Pandemic 

In this well researched novel about the influenza pandemic of 100 years ago, Ms. Wiseman takes us into the heartbreak of the thousands of children orphaned by both the pandemic and the world war.

I started reading the book late in the year, by the time the COVID-19 cases and deaths were surging in number. I thought about all the people being left orphaned now, although they are not all children. Some are middle-aged adults losing their elderly parents, while others are older adults losing their young adult children.

(As of January 25, 2021, in the United States 25 million persons have been infected with COVID-19, and 420,000 have died.)

Whatever one’s age, losing loved ones to an out of control disease is heartbreaking. The Orphan Collector does not have a fairytale “happy ending”. But the main character Pia, a 12-year-old immigrant girl in Philadelphia, learns an ending different than one hoped for can be satisfying in unexpected ways.

Best Books from Amazon

Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World 

In Praise of Walking: A New Scientific Exploration

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art 

Listen to an excerpt at the link.

Best Books from People Magazine

Hidden Valley Road

Inside the Mind of an American Family

Hamnet

Penny who blogs at grownchildren.net wrote this about Hamnet

  The author paints a detailed portrait of Shakespeare’s wife as an herbalist; …he grows and culls her herbs for various ailments and dispenses them as a pharmacist today would do.

But the story is about grief and how the Shakespeares, man and wife, separately worked their way through the immense loss of their son. The portrait of her grief–we don’t learn much about his–is thrilling in its sensitivity. You don’t have to be in the medical or health field to be fascinated by this book.

What Are You Going Through

Notes on a Silencing: A Memoir

New from Tyndale

The Anxiety Reset

A Life-Changing Approach to Overcoming Fear, Stress, Worry, Panic Attacks, OCD and More 

exploring the HEART of health in literature

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

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Dr. Aletha
Come Read with me-Tyndale Rewards.com
Reader Rewards Club

My Reader Rewards Club is a great way to earn free books and Bibles for yourself, friends, and family! Your journey to earning free faith-based products starts HERE.
(When you sign up through these links, I can earn free books too.)

As a member, you’ll have access to inspiring literature, Bibles, special promotional offers, and much more. Earning points is easy—you’ll receive 25 points just for signing up!

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More recommendations from Smithsonian Magazine.com

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2020

These top titles deliver history lessons, wordplay and a musical romp through the animal kingdom

The Ten Best Science Books of 2020

New titles explore the mysterious lives of eels, the science of fear and our connections to the stars

President Joe Biden’s Plan for Healthcare-a review

In 2021, Joseph Biden became the 46th US President, succeeding Donald Trump. In his 2023 State of the Union Address, he addressed healthcare, proposing reforms like Medicare expansion and lower drug costs. His campaign focuses on affordable, quality healthcare, pharmaceutical regulation, reproductive rights, mental health support, and personalized community health plans, with future plans for specific communities.

updated February 10, 2023

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., was inaugurated as the 46th President of the United States on January 20, 2021. As the Democratic candidate and former Vice President, Biden defeated incumbent president Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

On February 7, 2023 President Biden gave the annual State of the Union Address to Congress and the nation. In it, he discussed several healthcare issues, including Medicare, drug costs, premiums for the ACA, veterans’ toxic burn pits exposure, and injuries due to gun violence.

Here is a review of what he proposed in his campaign for President three years ago.

This post was originally published August 18, 2020.

Due to the pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus, health has been a major topic in both world and national news this year and will continue to be so for months if not years. And health is a major issue in this year’s United States’ presidential election in November 2020.

Health care was a major issue in the 2008 election and proved to be momentous. In his campaign, the Democratic candidate, Barack Obama, promised health care reform and as President he delivered with the passage of the Affordable Care Act, (ACA) the first time Americans have had universal health care.

The ACA sparked heated debate in the 2016 election with the Democratic candidate pledging to build upon it and Republican candidate vowing to dismantle it . This year the debate continues.

Healthcare and the Presidential campaign 2020

In this and a previous post, I review and list what I think are some of the most important points in the health care philosophy of each major party candidate, according to information on their official websites.

I am not endorsing either of the candidates, their party,or their healthcare plans. My intent is to present a non-partisan look at what they have done and propose. If it sounds otherwise, that is unintentional. I’ll give you the links to their sites and encourage you to read them for yourself.

You should also review my post about the Democratic Party healthcare platform.

The challenging candidate-Democrat-Joe R. Biden

Joe R. Biden was a US. Senator from Delaware for 36 years. He served as the 47th Vice President of the United States. He was born November 20, 1942. Mr. Biden is married to Jill Biden and has had 4 children, 2 of them deceased.


The Biden Plan for Healthcare

Access to affordable insurance

  • create a public health option like Medicare
  • increase value of tax credits to lower insurance premiums .
  • expand coverage to low income Americans
  • premium-free access to the public option for those 4.9 million individuals who would be eligible for Medicaid 
  • opposes every effort to get rid of the Affordable Care Act

Affordable, quality healthcare, less complex system

  • Middle class families will get a premium tax credit to help them pay for coverage.
  • Stop surprise billing: bar health care providers from charging patients out-of-network rates when the patient doesn’t have control over which provider the patient sees (for example, during a hospitalization)
  • Lower costs and improve outcomes by partnering with the healthcare workforce .

Stop “abuse of power” by pharmaceutical companies

  • Repeal the law allowing pharmaceutical companies to avoid negotiating with Medicare over drug prices
  • Limit launch prices for new drugs facing no competition and limit price increases for existing drugs to no higher than general inflation
  • Allow consumers to buy prescription drugs from other countries
  • Stop drug companies’ tax break for advertising
  • Improve the supply of generic drugs.

Make healthcare a right for all, not a privilege for a few

  • Expand access to contraception and protect the constitutional right to an abortion
  • Restore federal funding to Planned Parenthood
  • Reduce the high maternal mortality rate, which especially impacts women of color
  • Defend health care protections for all regardless of gender, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
  • Double federal investment in community health centers
  • Improve access to mental health care and remove the stigma

“In the months ahead, Biden will put forward additional plans to tackle health challenges affecting specific communities, including access to health care in rural communities, gun violence, and opioid addiction.”

Oval Office replica
replica of the Oval Office at the Reagan Presidential Library, photo by Dr. Aletha

Exploring the HEART of healthcare politics

Thanks for reviewing this overview of Mr. Biden’s health care proposals. I hope you will take the time to review his website for yourself. In another post I reviewed the views of the incumbent Republican President, Donald Trump.

a group of lapel buttons, red, white and blue, saying VOTE

This photo and the cover photo of the White House are from the media site Lightstock.com, an affiliate which pays this blog a commission for purchases made from this link

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you transform challenges into opportunities for learning and growth.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha