Book Reviews

Upward Bound

It is no surprise that this is such an insightful book. The author Woody Brown has lived or sat alongside most of what he writes about here, with such eloquence and feeling. He is the first nonspeaking autistic graduate of UCLA, where he received top writing honours in English, and this is his first novel, drawing compellingly on his own experiences and empathic perceptions.

Sonny: love with no limit

A compassionate, unexpectedly comic and deeply thought-provoking book about life with Sonny, a young lad with multiple disabilities that leave him unable to move, or breathe or eat or, perhaps, even understand at the most basic level the world around him. This is his story and the story of his amazing parents and siblings, who hold him at the heart of their extraordinary family.

The Unfragile Mind: making sense of mental health

“Our minds are not brittle or rigid, they are dynamic, resilient and adaptive: they are not fragile but unfragile. Their capacity for change is part of their very nature.” With these inspiring words, the GP author of this beautifully written and thoughtful book sets out his stall.

Hallucination-focused Integrative Therapy: a specific treatment that hits auditory verbal hallucinations

Despite its unprepossessing appearance, this book is full of good ideas to guide work with people with psychosis who are distressed by the voices they hear.

The Divided Mind

The title of this book by eminent psychiatrist and neuroscientist Edward Bullmore could not be more apposite.

The Gift of not Belonging

According to American psychiatrist Rami Kaminski, one can be other than either extravert or introvert; he calls it being an otravert – “facing in a different direction” and having an innate (so he asserts) lack of need to belong.

Inner Sense: how the new science of interoception can transform your health

Every so often, a new understanding about the body captures both scientific and public imagination, inspiring much research and seemingly explaining almost all oddities and ills.

Crave: the hidden biology of addiction and cancer

Denise Winn reviews 'Crave: the hidden biology of addiction and cancer' by Raphael E Cuomo

Photo of teenage girl looking out of window

The Lost Girls of Autism

Denise Winn reviews 'The Lost Girls of Autism' by Gina Rippon

Searching for Normal

Denise Winn reviews 'Searching for normal' by Sami Timimi

The Age of Diagnosis

Denise Winn reviews 'The Age of Diagnosis: sickness, health and why medicine has gone too far' by Suzanne O’Sullivan

Tribal: How the Cultural Instincts That Divide Us Can Help Bring Us Together - Book

Tribal: How cultural instincts that divide us can bring us together

Denise Winn reviews 'Tribal: how cultural instincts that divide us can bring us together' by Michael Morris

Book Review - The shape of things unseen

The Shape of Things Unseen: a new science of imagination

Denise Winn reviews Tribal: how cultural instincts that divide us can bring us together' by Michael Morris

You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here: a psychiatrist’s life

Denise Winn reviews 'You Don’t Have to Be Mad to Work Here: a psychiatrist’s life' by Dr Benji Waterhouse

Ritual: how seemingly senseless acts make life worth living

Denise Winn reviews 'Ritual: how seemingly senseless acts make life worth living' by Dimitris Xygalatas

Lost Connections

Denise Winn has read Lost Connections: uncovering the real causes of depression – and the unexpected solutions, and talked to its author, Johann Hari.

Science Fictions: exposing fraud, bias, negligence and hype in science

Denise Winn reviews 'Science Fictions: exposing fraud, bias, negligence and hype in science' by Stuart Ritchie

The Buddha Pill: can meditation change you?

Ivan Tyrrell reviews "The Buddha Pill: can meditation change you?" by Miguel Farias and Catherine Wikholm (Watkins Publishing).