The DO Book Club, July 2025: Summer beach reads with a medical twist

Summer is in full force, and many of us have plans to kick back and relax at the beach this season. For those who are always looking to pack along a good book, The DO staff and Book Club writers have pulled together our top suggestions for summer beach reads—ranging from romance to memoir to fiction, there is something for everyone, and each selection has a medical component.

Below are The DO’s recommendations for summer 2025—let us know in the comments what your favorite beach read is!

“Love Sick: A Novel,” by Deidra Duncan, DO

Recommended by: Joan Naidorf, DO

Nothing makes a rainy vacation day fly faster than a spicy romance set in the trenches of a grueling OB-GYN training program. Who would know better than the author, practicing OB-GYN Deidra Duncan, DO, who calls her novel “Love Sick” completely fiction but grounded in fact. For those of us who love a good medical drama with a side of romance, this novel absolutely delivers.

Grace is a talented and anxious new intern entering a competitive residency program. Julian Santini is an osteopathic physician who also landed a spot in a residency program where DOs are rare. Both must fight imposter syndrome and doubts about whether they can thrive in the program. Can they handle the pressures of long hours, sleep deprivation, pandering from their attendings and board exams?

The two main characters butt heads but find themselves relying on each other more and more as the rotations and years fly by. Physician readers may feel taken back in tone and exhaustion to those chaotic days of residency and overnight call. The close-knit group of residents feels like a family, but sometimes families keep some devastating secrets.

Can two people overcome their previous heartaches and current misunderstandings to make it together? Duncan is a talented writer who keeps readers guessing in her debut novel. “Love Sick” will be a fun addition to your beach bag or airplane carry-on.

“The Great Gatsby,” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Recommended by: Daniel J. Waters, DO, MA

Even if it’s 100 degrees without a breeze and the sand scorches your feet on the way to your chair, you’ll look way cool reading this book—especially if you get an edition with the original indigo “Celestial Eyes” cover art by painter Francis Cugat. Sure, “Infinite Jest” might allow you to feel intellectually superior, but your pricey beach trolley will sink to its axles trying to haul that.

In this, its centennial year, Gatsby is perhaps more relevant than ever. And, depending on where you plant your umbrella, it might be just a little too spot-on for your surroundings. It’s hard to say what the best thing about Fitzgerald’s most enduring work really is. The stunningly beautiful writing, the elegant wordplay, the mischievous character names, the dramatic structure or simply the way it transports you while you’re reading it. And, trust me, this won’t be the same book you remember reading in high school.

We may be living in our own version of the “Roaring ‘20s,” but even without flappers and bathtub gin, you’ll recognize some version of the cast of characters in yourself, your colleagues or your neighbors. At just over 100 pages, it’s a fast read, so you can lose track of time—make sure to put on your sunscreen first!

“Singular Intimacies: Becoming a Doctor at Bellevue,” by Danielle Ofri, MD

Recommended by: Tim Barreiro, DO

Life in medicine is complex, emotionally exhausting, intellectually demanding and deeply rewarding in ways that defy description. The pursuit of healing requires balance, reflection and above all, humanity. “Singular Intimacies” chronicles the author’s training with grace, humility and touching honesty. This collection of short, autobiographical essays about being a doctor-in-training, from the first day on the wards as a third-year medical student through the final months of residency, provides poignant longitudinal reflections for health care professionals on the journey to becoming healers.

Dr. Ofri is a brilliant writer. Daniel J. Waters, DO, MA, reviewed her book “When We Do Harm: A Doctor Confronts Medical Error” for The DO back in 2023. Dr. Ofri’s memoir is touching.  It was hard not to connect with her journey into becoming a fully formed physician—one shaped not just by knowledge or skill, but also by the act of caring. This book forces readers to confront the fact that care providers also need healing and compassion as much as their patients do. Dr. Ofri’s book is a touching memoir about becoming human, as she intimately shares how she found herself in the pursuit of helping others.

What makes “Singular Intimacies” distinct is its unique structure. We walk alongside Dr. Ofri as she floats between her patient encounters as a medical student, then resident in internal medicine at the oldest public hospital in the country, New York’s Bellevue hospital system. Ofri shares with us her memorable firsts, which are familiar to anyone who has trained in medicine—the first patient who called us ‘Doctor’; the first patient we successfully cured, treated or delivered; the first patient who died on our watch—all rendered with uncommon tenderness and clarity. “Singular Intimacies” is not so much about the onerous hours of medical training that once existed, but rather, it captures the awe, fears and small triumphs that mark the evolution of becoming a healer.

Today’s doctors are placed in a health care system that is profoundly advanced and yet vulnerable, with the system placing trainees in many ethical and personal dilemmas. Insecurity haunts many of us—the feeling of not being smart enough, capable enough or worthy of the responsibility. Others cannot understand this feeling fully if they don’t cloak themselves in a white jacket. “Singular Intimacies” does not attempt to solve these dilemmas, but it does illuminate a path through training. Her stories are profoundly personal, heartbreaking and inspiring.

The book touches on the concept of how precious and humbling the doctor-patient relationship is and the intimacies that take part while caring for others one-on-one. The book is a must-read for anyone striving to become an exceptional healer. Personal growth and self-reflection are possible while taking care of others, even in a system that at times works against the clinician and patient. Dr. Ofri’s prose navigates the tangled vulnerabilities of not just the battling of disease, but also the human condition itself.

“The Third Gilmore Girl,” by Kelly Bishop

Recommended by: Alexa Matthews, AOA multimedia content specialist

This one is for all the “Gilmore Girls” fans dreaming of living in a small, gossip-filled town like Stars Hollow. Kelly Bishop, who portrayed matriarch Emily Gilmore on the hit television show, shares her incredible journey with readers, ranging from her extensive Broadway career to filming the Gilmore Girls reboot, “A Year in the Life.” Opening with a foreword by the show’s creator, Amy Sherman-Palladino, this memoir is touching, poignant and full of nostalgia.

Bishop’s comical and lively personality comes through in every chapter, as the pages are filled with snarky comments, laughable anecdotes and relatable struggles. Readers will feel as though they’re truly getting to know the actress behind the fan-favorite character. Of course the behind-the-scenes details from “Gilmore Girls” are what fans might first tune in for, but her descriptions of her time at Radio City Music Hall as a dancer and her Broadway experiences, where she helped create her role in “A Chorus Line” (using her own painful childhood as inspiration), will keep readers glued to the page.

I can guarantee that almost every reader will discover something new within these chapters—for myself, as someone deeply in love with musical theatre, I loved when she described how she chose what vulnerabilities to share within the making of “A Chorus Line,” with the track “At the Ballet” becoming the result. Readers will feel compassion as her mom, whom the song is about, attends a showing of the musical in a pivotal moment.

If you’re like me and you love learning people’s stories, especially the stories of those you’ve loved for so long, you’ll want to tune into this memoir. Bishop is open with her readers, sharing what struggles she was facing behind the scenes of her career, including her familial tensions, romantic relationships and the losses of both her real-life and on-screen husbands after both fought health battles. She even mentions how impactful first reading the pilot script for “Gilmore Girls” was.

“Thanks to this extraordinary script, I might have an opportunity to explore Louise (Bishop’s maternal grandmother) and her strained relationship with my mom through exploring Emily and her strained relationship with Lorelai, and, to add to the perfection, play a cold, condescending, emotionally distant mother, which is infinitely more fun than playing a nice one,” she writes. (p. 159)

I absolutely loved every second of this read, even the parts that made me shed a few tears. As much as I had loved both Kelly Bishop and Emily Gilmore prior to delving into this, I gained an even greater appreciation of the truly incredible woman who is proudly both. Running only 239 pages, you can quickly catch up on this inspiring, bold and comedic read as you prepare for a “Gilmore Girls” rewatch in the fall.

“I’ve learned, that’s for sure. I haven’t always done it gracefully, or even willingly, but the fact that learning is still very high on my list of things I’m zealous about and refuse to quit gives me confidence that, personally and professionally, I’ve still got a long way to go.” (p. 238.)

“The Wonder,” by Emma Donoghue

Recommended by: Katie Arvia, AOA digital content specialist

If you’re like me, it’s scary season year-round—and “The Wonder” is the perfect blend of mystery, subtle eeriness and atmospheric historical fiction. It’s the perfect pick for a summer thunderstorm or a quiet afternoon, or any time you want a story that envelops you completely and makes you question everything.

The novel follows Lib Wright, an English nurse trained by Florence Nightingale, who’s sent to a remote Irish village to observe an 11-year-old girl named Anna. Anna’s family claims that the girl has not eaten in months and is surviving through divine means. Lib, a woman of science, is rightfully skeptical, and she is determined to uncover the truth behind this so-called miracle. Not only is Lib faced with this peculiar task, but she also grapples with feelings of isolation, rampant sexism and the fallout caused by the longstanding English control of Ireland. 

Although Lib and Anna aren’t real historical figures, Donoghue’s novel is based on the real-life “fasting girls” of the Victorian era. These girls claimed to survive without food as a form of spiritual devotion, much like Anna. “The Wonder” explores faith, science, trauma and power. It’s quiet and tense, unsettling in the best way and full of moments that are both heartbreaking and heartwarming.

If you’re looking for a story to balance your sunny pool days with something a little darker, “The Wonder” is well worth adding to your summer reading list (without being too chilling for the heat)!

“Crying in H Mart,” by Michelle Zauner

Recommended by: Rose Raymond, AOA assistant director of content

In this 2021 memoir and New York Times bestseller, Michelle Zauner, also known as the popular indie musician Japanese Breakfast, walks readers through her complicated relationship with her mother and how it evolved over time. At age 56, Zauner’s mother was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Zauner, then 25, quit her jobs and moved home to help her father take care of her mother until she passed. This time is at turns harrowing, exhausting, tender and beautiful—sometimes all of these things in a single 24-hour period.

Zauner recalls a poignant conversation with her mother: “‘When you were a child, you always used to cling to me. Everywhere we went,’ my mother whispered, struggling to get the words out. ‘And now that you’re older, here you are—still clinging to me.’ We let ourselves weep fully then, gently clinging to each other the way we had for 25 years, our tears seeping into each other’s shirts (p. 146).”

In the book, Zauner also covers in detail the dynamic between her parents—her mother is a native South Korean and her parents met while her father, an American, was in a training program there. They eventually moved to the U.S.; Zauner grew up near Eugene, Oregon.

With her mother’s sisters and mother still in the Seoul area, as a child Zauner spent every other summer there. Travel fans will enjoy her accounts of learning to navigate a different culture that is also a large part of her identity.

Here, she comments on her fascination with Korean grocery stores: “I could spend hours examining the freezers full of creamy melon bars and sweet red-bean popsicles, wandering the aisles in search of the plastic pouches of banana milk I drank every morning with my cousin Seong Young (p. 25).”

In that vein, foodies will enjoy Zauner’s accounts of learning to make kimchi, a Korean staple often made of fermented vegetables and red pepper flakes. Music fans will appreciate Zauner’s recounting of her burgeoning interest in music as a teen and how she eventually became a professional musician. All readers will appreciate Zauner’s authentic voice and narrative skill.

Related reading:

The DO Book Club, June 2025: ‘American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics’

The DO Book Club, May 2025: ‘Life in the Balance: A Physician’s Memoir of Life, Love and Loss with Parkinson’s Disease and Dementia’