November Reads

One Curious Doctor by Dr Hiton Koppe is a gentle walk through one doctor’s life. Hilton’s humanity shines through at every step and his writing is captivating. 

He uses lots of different techniques to tell his stories with raw honesty that at once owns his humanity and demonstrates the thoughtfulness of a deeply reflective practice. 

I enjoyed Hilton’s imagination describing his ancestors and cried at his plain distress at some of the trauma he has experienced as a small town GP. 

Everyone who reads this book can learn something about relationship, community, self care

Priya Parker is an authority on how to bring groups of people together for a purpose as demonstrated in The Art of Gathering. It has opened my eyes to the potential we have to catalyse our groups of doctors as we build community.

I started reading it again as soon as I finished it and will likely read it again in 2023. I found her insights inspiring and now totally aspire towards what she describes. 

I read Danger Music by Eddie Ayres (now Ed Le Brocq) after meeting him at The Gathering of Kindness. 

This story of the rebirthing of music in Afghanistan after the Taliban had me completely captivated. The very idea that anyone would do such a thing still seems wild to me. 

Weaved throughout the story of music in the mayhem, Ed describes his depression, his decision to transition as a transgender man and the very many human interactions that kept everyone going.

Finally after a busy month of traveling, talking and intense reading, a sort of grounding with Oscar Trimboli’s new book How to Listen. In a way sitting in this meditation with Oscar’s wisdom is perfect for this time of year as I reflect on so much from 2022.

I love his idea of tuning your listening as an ongoing practice like an orchestra tunes their instruments EVERY time they play. And how about this - the deeper you breath, the deeper you listen. Oscar is not talking about active listening, deep listening is a whole other level and I am ever grateful for his guidance.