Everything is Tuberculosis – John Green (audio narrated by John Green)

Well, it is John Green but I was astounded by how totally entertaining a book of the history of tuberculosis and its present day impact (primarily in poor countries and on people of color).  I’ve read some other histories of disease and medicine that I enjoyed, but they were fat books that required rather a lot of work.  Green is deeply informative and impactful without making us slog through things and that makes a very interesting subject matter “fun” to read about.  Green narrated the  audio version that I read.  His modern day story about a boy named Henry, who lives in Liberia and cannot get well-known but very expensive treatment for the tuberculosis that has plagued him (literally) since childhood is a compelling argument for spending money on this deadly wasting disease.  Many have died only because money is not spent to bring the newest treatments, often cheap to produce or even with completed patents that would make them definitely cheaper to produce.  A fascinating and meaningful book well worth reading.