The DO Book Club, Dec. 2025: Thought-provoking reads for the holidays and beyond

With the busy holiday season in full swing, many of us are itching for an excuse to sit down and enjoy a quiet afternoon reading. With the new year on the horizon, some of us are also aiming to read more in 2026.

For those looking to be educated, entertained, inspired and moved, The DO staff and Book Club writers have pulled together our top suggestions for cozy winter reads. From historical fiction to a paramedic’s insight, there is something for everyone, and each selection has a medical component.

Below are The DO’s book recommendations for winter 2025. Let us know in the comments what your favorite recent read is!

‘Love, PRN: An Emergency Room Romance,’ by Cadence Rush

Recommended by: Joan Naidorf, DO

Cadence Rush uses her years of experience as an emergency department nurse to create the realistic setting for her delightful romance novel,“Love, PRN: An Emergency Room Romance.”

The plot details seem lifted from any random urban emergency department where complex men and women work incredibly hard to tame the onslaught of the busy night shifts. The patients code, the babies cry, the physicians give orders and the nurses pass the meds. Running beneath and alongside are all the emotions of frustration, excitement, compassion, jealousy and yes, desire. The characters excel at their jobs, but they also get to live full, human lives.

The medical jargon and situations will place readers right in the middle of the busy unit. Physician readers will recognize the highly accurate representation of some grinding emergency department (ED) shifts and the interactions of trainees with the veterans. In between the episodes of patient care, alliances form and occasionally, embers of passion start to burn.

The main character, Quinn, struggles to balance the load of training as a nurse with paying back her student loans and making rent. She cannot shake the memories of a family tragedy as she navigates the trauma cases and sadness that inevitably come with working as a nurse in a busy emergency department.

Her love interest, Soren, leads with intensity and directness during his chaotic physician shifts. The relationship between him and Quinn grows over months as her training period proceeds and they work together from time to time. With rare insight, Quinn gets therapy to help her process her previous trauma and move on with her life.

“Love, PRN” works well as a debut novel with pleasant tension and chemistry as the main characters sort out their conflicts with each other and within themselves. Can the love interests trust themselves as they learn to trust each other? Do they get their happy ending? “Love, PRN” is a quick and satisfying read that keeps the pages turning.

‘Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas,’ by Adam Kay

Recommended by: Tim Barreiro

Adam Kay’s “Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas” returns to the diaristic voice that made his breakout book, “This Is Going to Hurt,” so powerful. The book’s diary entries span six Christmases. It is a wrenching, honest tribute to the unsung heroes of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) and an important reminder that for some healthcare workers, holidays are not a respite but a time to answer the call of duty.

Kay’s writing is graphic, caustic and verbally direct. This memoir is far from a cozy holiday tale. Kay offers a sharp, bittersweet chronicle of hospital life through Christmas shifts, when the wards are both quieter and more unforgiving.

A former junior doctor in the NHS, Kay’s use of personally experienced vignettes is alternately hilarious, horrifying and heartbreakingly earnest. One memory finds him wincing as his novelty Christmas tie goes off at an inopportune moment (wearing such a tie was a rookie mistake made by the junior doctor). Another recounts the grim necessity of a providing a late termination in order to save a patient’s life. In Kay’s typical fashion, he does not shy away from politics, outlining issues with administrative underfunding, understaffing and “efficiency initiatives” that betray the very humanity that medicine requires.

In his longitudinal collection of stories, Kay relays a dual compassion for both his patients and his colleagues. He honors those who spend the holidays on call. In his words, this is “a love letter to all those who spend their festive season on the front line.”

At times, the book leans into the gross-out humor that made Kay famous. Readers hear about a Christmas partygoer wrapped in tinfoil and a patient who used peanut butter in a dangerously creative way. These events underscore the strange lengths that some people go to at the holidays to find relief in times that are emotionally difficult. The book’s brevity plays to its strength: it’s not a sweeping memoir, but a pocket-sized reckoning with what sacrificial service really means. At the end, you linger on the weight of essential workers spending Christmas on the job so others can safely celebrate.

‘A Thousand Naked Strangers: A Paramedic’s Wild Ride to the Edge and Back,’ by Kevin Hazzard

Recommended by: Rose Raymond, AOA director of content

I was inspired by a previous Book Club review on “American Sirens,” the story of the world’s first emergency medical service (EMS) with advanced paramedic training, to read the author’s memoir, which covers the decade he spent as an Atlanta EMT/paramedic.

Kevin Hazzard walks readers through the arduous process of becoming a paramedic, which begins with passing the National Registry exam to become a certified emergency medical technician (EMT)—a test that has a failure rate around 50%.

Hazzard manages to pass this exam and begins working as an EMT as he completes additional training and testing to become a certified paramedic. He soon finds himself racing through metro Atlanta’s toughest neighborhoods at all hours of the day and night to help residents suffering from heart attacks, cardiac arrests, gunshot wounds and other medical emergencies.

Following his first day in EMS in Fulton County, Georgia, Hazzard writes: “All I can think about when I get home is the start of the next shift. All I want to do is run calls, treat patients, drive the ambulance, stand in line at a convenience store in a rough part of town. … The feeling is electric, knowing that should anything happen, I’ll be the one called out to fix it.” (p. 52)

Hazzard candidly describes some of his best moments on the job, which include safely delivering babies and saving patients’ lives. He also shares in detail the most intense days, including when he lost a patient who was having an asthma attack and his error in judgment that he believes may have caused a patient to suffer a cardiac arrest.

Readers follow Hazzard through the arc of his paramedic career, from the early days when his passion and energy for his exciting new role seemed boundless, to a later slump after years on the job when staffing changes at the hospital contributed to his spiral of burnout and exhaustion.

Hazzard’s memoir is a fascinating glimpse into one of the most important and also most overlooked professions in the medical field. It is also very well-written, with many suspenseful narrative accounts of life-or-death moments that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

‘Anatomy: A Love Story,’ by Dana Schwartz

Recommended by: Katie Arvia, multimedia digital specialist

If there are two genres I love, they are historical fiction and horror, and any book that successfully blends them immediately has my attention. “Anatomy: A Love Story” by Dana Schwartz does exactly that by delivering a gothic tale set in 19th-century Edinburgh that is grounded in the social and medical realities of 1800s Scotland.

The story follows teenaged Hazel Sinnett, an upper-class rebel determined to become a surgeon. Hazel’s ambitions clash with the limitations placed on women at the time, forcing her to sneak into anatomy theaters, pose as a young man to enroll in medical training and, ultimately, turn to the unsavory world of resurrection men to continue learning.

As the title suggests, the novel’s love interest is Jack, a young resurrection man. Hazel and Jack’s story ends with a cliffhanger that had me scrambling to order the sequel, “Immortality: A Love Story,” as soon as I closed “Anatomy.” Normally, I try to avoid multi-part stories, but the “Anatomy” duology is one I will happily continue.

“Anatomy” is considered a young adult novel—the book’s writing reflects that, but not in a bad way. The prose is clear and easy to follow; it makes complex historical and medical details accessible. While some elements of the plot and character development may seem slow or simplified compared to adult historical fiction, the story’s captivating energy keeps readers fully engaged. Some of the plot points are predictable, but twists and Easter eggs keep that momentum going until the final page.

Hazel is a daring and determined protagonist whose journey will resonate with anyone who has worked tirelessly toward a dream, particularly in the high-stakes world of medical training. Schwartz expertly blends a dark, immersive atmosphere with meticulous historical detail, creating a narrative that feels both educational and eerily captivating, with just a touch of the supernatural.

Overall, “Anatomy” is an exciting, immersive read that will appeal to fans of all ages who enjoy historical fiction and gothic horror. With its well-rounded characters, captivating atmosphere and an ending that leaves readers eager for more, “Anatomy” is a duology well worth diving into, and one I cannot wait to continue with “Immortality.”

‘Atmosphere,’ by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Recommended by: Alexa Wilkerson, AOA multimedia content specialist

As a big Taylor Jenkins Reid fan, I’m always excited when I see a new release from her—however, seeing how much this one centered on space made me a little unsure going in. As much as I do think space is cool, I don’t normally seek out reading material on it. I decided to give it a chance anyway, and I was immediately sucked in. The characters of this book were so easy to connect to—Joan, one of the main characters, learns a lot of vulnerability and resiliency throughout the book. I loved her right away and enjoyed watching how much she grew throughout “Atmosphere.”

The book begins in 1980, when things were harder for women who worked in the sciences.

While it’s so reassuring to see how far we’ve come, the book can also make readers emotional when they realize how little some areas have changed. But the book is about much more than the women’s journeys—in “Atmosphere,” people with various sexual orientations, races and societal backgrounds all must learn how to work together at Houston’s Johnson Space Center.

With space travel being a newer concept back then, the characters deal with experiencing the inherent risks of space exploration and subsequently getting readjusted back to Earth. Spoilers aside, there is also an emergency situation that some of the astronauts experience together, leading to one character in particular needing to act in crisis mode. The book references real-life preparations and equipment, and educates readers on how astronauts handle various scenarios in space.

The emotions that the author is able to bring up within the first few chapters alone made me want to devour the book, and I finished it within a few days. At 332 pages, “Atmosphere” is a manageable length, and worth every page for the thrilling story that unfolds. The book covers new friendships, finding your path in life and falling in love. This read was emotional, heartbreaking, educational and thought-provoking.

“Joan was always moved by the fact that everything—all matter on Earth and beyond, up past the atmosphere, going as far as the edges of the universe, as it expands farther and farther away from us—is made from the same elements. We are made of the same things as the stars and the planets. Remembering that connection brought Joan comfort. It also brought her some sense of responsibility. And what was kinship but that? Comfort and responsibility.” (p. 90)

Throughout the book, the characters navigate health scares, deaths, education, love, friendship and astronaut training. If you’re looking for an emotional read to get your holiday feelings out this winter, this book is for you.

Related reading:

The best holiday gifts for DOs and osteopathic medical students in 2025

A year in review: The DO’s top 10 stories of 2025