Your coronavirus reading list

By Siddhi Jain

New Delhi, Sep 8 From poetry to fact-based non-fiction, the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown has inspired the literary interests of authors and writers across the spectrum.

Here is a short curation of books on Covid-19 readers can choose from.

‘COVID-19: The Pandemic that Never Should Have Happened, and How to Stop the Next One’ by Debora MacKenzie

In Covid-19, journalist Debora MacKenzie lays out the captivating, authoritative, and eye-opening full story of how and why the pandemic happened. With the accumulated knowledge of our failings and a wealth of expert opinions, she charts a forward path for protecting humanity from even worse threats to come.

Over the last 30 years of epidemics and pandemics, we learned every lesson needed to stop this coronavirus outbreak in its tracks. We heeded almost none of them. The result is a pandemic on a scale never before seen in our lifetimes. In this captivating, authoritative, and eye-opening book, science journalist Debora MacKenzie lays out the full story of how and why it happened: the previous viruses that should have prepared us, the shocking public health failures that paved the way, the failure to contain the outbreak, and most importantly, what we must do to prevent future pandemics.

‘Deadliest Enemy: Our War Against Killer Germs’ by Michael T. Osterholm and Mark Olshaker

A world-leading epidemiologist shares his stories from the front lines of our war on infectious diseases and explains how to prepare for epidemics that can challenge world order.

Drawing on the latest medical science, case studies, policy research, and hard-earned epidemiological lessons, Deadliest Enemy explores the resources and programmes we need to develop if we are to keep ourselves safe from infectious disease. The authors show how we could wake up to a reality in which many antibiotics no longer cure, bio-terror is a certainty, and the threat of a disastrous influenza or coronavirus pandemic looms ever larger. Only by understanding the challenges we face can we prevent the unthinkable from becoming the inevitable.

Deadliest Enemy is high scientific drama, a chronicle of medical mystery and discovery, a reality check and a practical plan of action.

The 21-Day Immunity Plan by Dr Aseem Malhotra

The simple, evidence-based plan to rapidly improve your metabolic health, help with normal immune function and likely reduce the risk of severe effects of the coronavirus, from the doctor at the forefront of the health debate around Covid-19.

Dr Aseem Malhotra is a leading NHS-trained cardiologist and a pioneer of lifestyle medicine. Giving evidence-based science behind the plan, the authot shares how simple changes to our diet as well as daily exercise and stress relief can have remarkable results in improving our markers for metabolic health, even helping to put Type 2 diabetes into remission, reduce risk factors for heart disease, decrease weight and enhance vitality.

The Immune Organisation by Jaspreet Bindra

A cracking new book that helps organisations leverage technology and design to overcome current calamities and crises like the novel coronavirus. The book is available as an e-book edition only.

Much like vaccines train a human body to produce antibodies to destroy the virus and build immunity, can we use certain learnings from the Covid pandemic, and start building antibodies within our organisations, so that when the next big crisis comes, our organisations are far more ready. The business will be back on its feet faster, and we would have created ‘The Immune Organisation’.

Singing in the Dark, an anthology of poems

A collection written under the lockdown to inspire, and to encourage optimism and empathy. With the world facing strange and unprecedented times, this book of poetry is on the challenges we have been facing in the throes of the pandemic.

Singing in the Dark will reflect the mood of these times, when the coronavirus pandemic has dramatically altered our lives. The collection will include works by over a hundred poets from across six continents writing in twenty languages. The poems capture the anxiety and agitation of isolation, the unparalleled joys of witnessing the revival of nature, the cruel realities of an inequitable world, besides reflecting on the impermanence of life.