Encephalosponge » Soaking Up Life

We were learning about a few strange diseases in Microbiology today. Sadie loves to read books on weird diseases like the ones we were talking about. Most of them are nonfiction, and they all sound pretty bizarre. I’ll add a short list of books she has read or reviewed and their corresponding diseases.

• The Hot Zone: A Terrifying True Story (4/5) – Ebola and Marburg Viruses (and a dangerous outbreak that occurred near Washington, D.C.!)
• The Demon in the Freezer: A True Story (currently reading) – Smallpox and Anthrax
• The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History (4.5/5) – Influenza of 1918
• The Family That Couldn’t Sleep (5/5) – Fatal Familial Insomnia (a prion disease)
• Polio: An American Story (3.5/5) – Poliovirus
• The Speckled Monster: A Historical Tale of Battling Smallpox (3.5/5) – Smallpox
• Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body (4.5/5) – Congenital Malformations and Mutations
• The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic — And How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World (4/5) – Vibrio Cholera
• In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made (3.5/5) – Yersinia Pestis (Black Death or Bubonic Plague)
• See her entire nonfiction list for more…

Before you ask, yes, my girlfriend is a huge nerd when it comes to books like this Practically every time we’re at borders she’s got something like this in her hand with a more “normal sounding” fiction book. I don’t think some of those books could keep my attention long enough, but if you’re interested, check them out. I stick to to her fiction recommendations!