Articles

I just finished Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese and my mom is smiling down from Heaven above. Twelve years ago she gave me an autographed copy that she got when Dr. Verghese was passing through Short Hills, New Jersey

Here are eight of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations that I found great meaning in over the course of 2021. He is foundational in Stoic thought and philosophy, and Roman Emperor in his spare time.

In 2021, I set a goal/challenge of reading 2 #books a month. Happy to say that I achieved the goal. My reading list is here.

What Robert Caro’s The Power Broker Taught Me about Linking History and Current Events. Book Review and More.

A short book review of All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A review of "Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War" by Karl Marlantes. With a son of my own following a career as a Marine, this was an intriguing and challenging book.

How do we make sense of the senseless? On July 15th, 2020, people from as far afield as Russia and Canada came together to listen to Dr. McLaughlin help us make sense of it all.

Review of Christopher Ahmad’s book SKILL: 40 Principles That Surgeons, Athletes, And Other Elite Performers Use to Achieve Mastery, along with my pick of the top three skills for neurosurgeons to adopt.

Today, women neurosurgeons remain a rare species; they represent only about 5% of the total in the United States. But at the time Dr. Nash became one, they were even scarcer; there weren’t any at all! She was the very first neurosurgeon of her gender in the U.S.

Firlik covers the entire territory of being a neurosurgeon, the highest of highs and lowest of lows. The need for a surgeon to be a ray of hope, as well as the relater of harsh truth. Dealing with surgeons with big egos. Recognizing when a seemingly straightforward condition may indicate a potentially fatal brain infection.

Psyched Up: How the Science of Mental Preparation Can Help You Succeed, written by Harvard Business Review journalist Daniel McGinn, covers the entire landscape of mental prep for high achievement. I thought I knew the whole story on this topic, but Psyched Up taught me new techniques that I can use in my daily life.

I became a huge fan of Andy Andrews, a New York Times Best Seller author, seven years ago. If you haven’t read any of his books, I urge you to pick up a copy of The Traveler’s Gift. It won’t disappoint. An Entertaining and Inspiring read.

My review of Turning Pro by Steven Pressfield. A worthwhile new book to add too your reading list. How can we glimpse the world of the gods with more frequency, even regularity?

Book Review of Edmund Morris' Book "The Living Hand". Highly recommended by Dr. McLaughlin. Brain-like, it [The Library of Congress] silently throbs with knowledge, and invisible connections-fact to fact, thought to thought..

Concussion- A movie about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy in the NFL. What the movie should tell us.

The New York Times and The New Yorker gave Do No Harm, by Henry Marsh. solid reviews, which it deserves. It’s by an English neurosurgeon who chronicles his career experience, the highs and lows.

I just finished listening to Eben Alexander’s Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife. Because I am in the car driving so much I often “read” books this way and I highly recommend it.

Edward Weston was a famed (in his time) long-distance and endurance walker who in 1909, at age 70, walked cross-country in 105 days. Wayne Curtis weaves a fascinating read about the power of walking.