Alright everyone, time for a nursey book review!
Please note, I was not compensated for this book review in any way.
I am an extremely picky reader. I have been known to read two pages and stop. I’ll stop reading a book when I’m ¾ done if it gets boring. It drives my husband nuts.
Being part of the nurse author crew (which is an awesome group to be a part of) we will exchange books to get one another’s perspective. Joe, who teaches critical care nursing in Nepal – so awesome, wrote a book called The Sacrament of the Goddess. He sent me a copy all the way from Kathmandu, Nepal! I read it earlier this summer and loved it.
So this book is not what I expected. Honestly, looking at the cover I didn’t really know what to expect! The Sacrament of the Goddess is about a medical student who spent some time in Nepal during college. He goes back after he finishes his surgical residency in Boston. He’s looking for a lady he met during his time in Nepal. There is a love story between the two as well as his development as a brand new surgeon fresh out of his surgical residency. Joe immerses the reader into the culture of Nepal. There is war and unrest. There are cultural differences. There are challenges I did not anticipate! Needless to say, it kept me on my toes.
I really enjoyed the storyline, it was a page-turner. I read until about 0200 the first night. For those of you that don’t know me, I am a grandma and go to bed super early. And I love every second of it.
Joe’s mixture of intricate details of Nepali culture with medical scenes was amazing. It was so interesting hearing about how a hospital functions halfway around the world, from the perspective of a brand new surgeon. It was really interesting to hear the thoughts of a surgeon, fresh out of school who is in an environment completely different from his training. None of the equipment he’s used to having or the nearby resources are there. You hear his thoughts, comparing his current situation to how he learned how to do it in the States.
The love story was intriguing (and I usually am not a fan of love stories), but was not the absolute core of the book. Hearing about details of Nepali culture, the wars and unrest they have endured, and how the medical staff at the nearby hospital responded was the center of it all. It’s incredible. I really appreciate his ability to tell their story and connect it so deeply to a culture that is so very different.
The author and some of his students in Nepal!
I really loved reading this book. There were a few intimate scenes in the book that are R-rated (just two) – so just a heads up.
You can get the book on Amazon for about $14 (print) or about $10 (ecopy) at this link.
You can follow Joe on Twitter @ccnepal2013 or check out his blog here.
