12/06/2024

2024: Stories From the Shadows: Reflections of a Street Doctor

Join us for a poignant discussion of Stories From the Shadows by Dr. James J. O'Connell at the 2025 ACHNE Novel Conversations Book Club meeting during the Annual Institute in Columbia, SC.

This deeply moving memoir offers a firsthand account of Dr. O'Connell's experiences as a physician serving marginalized populations in Boston. Through his compassionate storytelling, he sheds light on the challenges faced by those living on the streets and the power of human connection.

04/13/2022

2022: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Join Novel Conversations at the 2022 Annual Institute as we discuss The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy.

Lia's parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman's compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest.

Join us on Friday, June 10, during the "Meet, Greet, and Eat" social event at the 2022 Annual Insitute in Old Town Alexandria, VA.

11/04/2020

2020: How to Be an Antiracist

Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America--but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. Instead of working with the policies and system we have in place, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an active role in building it. 

In his memoir, Kendi weaves together an electrifying combination of ethics, history, law, and science--including the story of his own awakening to antiracism--bringing it all together in a cogent, accessible form. He begins by helping us rethink our most deeply held, if implicit, beliefs and our most intimate personal relationships (including beliefs about race and IQ and interracial social relations) and reexamines the policies and larger social arrangements we support. How to Be an Antiracist promises to become an essential book for anyone who wants to go beyond an awareness of racism to the next step of contributing to the formation of a truly just and equitable society.

Click here to download the Discussion Question Document.

Click here to download the document Addressing Harmful Bias and Eliminating Discrimination in Health Professions Learning Environments. Shared by Book Club participant Sally Richter, EdD, RN.