15 Books to Read ASAP If You’re Obsessed With ‘Grey’s Anatomy’

‘How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy’ by Lynette Rice

If your obsession with Grey’s Anatomy includes revisiting key plotlines, shocking departures, and behind-the-scenes drama, then Lynette Rice’s book How to Save a Life: The Inside Story of Grey’s Anatomy is the one for you. Rice takes readers behind the camera and analyzes the series’ cultural significance in this book. Any longtime Grey’s fan should have this book on their shelf.

‘The Queen of Hearts’ by Kimmery Martin

If you’ve always loved the bond between Meredith Grey and Christina Yang, then this is the novel for you. The Queen of Hearts follows Zadie Anson and Emma Colley, two best friends who go all the way back to medical school. Now two successful doctors living in Charlotte, North Carolina, their lives (complete with spouses and children) seem better than ever, until someone from their past resurfaces, causing them to reevaluate all the decisions they made at the start of their careers and whether they even know each other at all.

‘The House of God’ by Samuel Shem

Samuel Shem’s The House of God follows main character Basch and his colleagues as they try to come to terms with all the chaos and fulfillment that comes with being a doctor. Not only does this page-turner highlight the life and death decisions these physicians have to make, but it also finds the levity and dark comedy of such an intense profession.

‘Perfectly Undone’ by Jamie Raintree

In Perfectly Undone by Jamie Raintree, Dylan Michels is a seemingly successful doctor, beloved daughter, and perfect partner. But when her boyfriend Cooper proposes, she can’t bring herself to say yes. Dylan has been living with the guilt of her younger sister’s death — and the part she played in it — for years. Perfectly Undone is about looking back to the past in the hopes of moving life into a better future.

‘When Breath Becomes Air’ by Paul Kalanithi

A Pulitzer Prize Finalist and New York Times Bestseller, When Breath Becomes Air is written by the late Dr. Paul Kalanithi. Dr. Kalanithi worked for years to become a neurosurgeon. At 36, he was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer, and everything shifted into perspective. Kalanithi’s book chronicles his years as a naive medical student, his time as a physician, and his final years as a patient. It’s a moving portrait of self-reflection and transformation you won’t soon forget.

‘Flight Season’ by Marie Marquardt

Yes, even teens watch Grey’s Anatomy and we have a novel perfect for them! In Flight Season, TJ and Vivi are two college-age students who find themselves in the heart ward of a university hospital, spending their summer together babysitting a patient named Ángel Solís. But what TJ and Vivi, whose complicated history bubbles to the surface, don’t know is that this problem patient may have something to teach them about life and love.

‘The Pull of the Stars’ by Emma Donoghue

Emma Donoghue’s The Pull of the Stars features one of the most thrilling stories in this line-up. Julia is a nurse in 1950s Ireland, tending to pregnant women who are battling a mysterious new strain of Flu. She’s aided by two outsiders, volunteer Birdie Sweeney, and Dr. Kathleen Lynn — the latter of whom may be on the run from police. The women band together as they mourn the mothers they cannot save, and welcome new life into a world full of chaos.

‘The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot’ by Marianne Cronin

Lenni Pettersson is a 17-year-old girl who refuses to believe that she is dying. The teenager spends her days in the Terminal Ward at the Glasgow Princess Royal Hospital, but an excursion to an arts and crafts session leads her to a person who will change her young life. Lenni meets Margot, a sprightly, rebellious 83-year-old whose time on Earth is also coming to an end. With 100 years’ worth of life experience between them, Lenni and Margot devise a way to leave their mark on the world in The One Hundred Years of Lenni and Margot by Marianne Cronin.

‘This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor’ by Adam Kay

Comedian and former medical resident Adam Kay gets candid in his book, This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Young Doctor. In it, she shares a “no-holds-barred account” of the craziness and horrifying moments he experienced while trying his hand at becoming a doctor. 

“Hilarious, horrifying, and heartbreaking by turns, this is everything you wanted to know—and more than a few things you didn’t—about life on and off the hospital ward,” the description reads. 

‘In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope’ by Dr. Rana Awdish

As Dr. Rana Awdish recovers from major medical surgeries, she realizes some hard truths about the medical field in her book, In Shock: My Journey from Death to Recovery and the Redemptive Power of Hope. “Repeated cavalier behavior from her fellow physicians―indifference following human loss, disregard for anguish and suffering, and an exacting emotional distance” are just some of the things she experienced – and she’s not keeping quiet about it. 

‘The Fake Mate’ by Lana Ferguson

If you’re a fan of rom-coms as well as Grey’s then The Fake Mate by Lana Ferguson is our suggestion. In it, readers follow Doctor Mackenzie Carter as she accidentally lies her way into a relationship with Noah Taylor, the “big bad wolf” and grumpy cardiologist from her hospital. Soon enough, however, they realize this fake relationship might be exactly what the two of them need. 

“But when the fake-mate act turns into a very real friends-with-benefits arrangement, lines start to blur, and they quickly realize love is a whole different kind of animal,” the description reads. 

‘Failure to Thrive: A Medical Student’s Novel’ by C.C. Green

In another real-life depiction of what it actually feels like to be a medical resident, Failure to Thrive: A Medical Student’s Novel by C.C. Green follows the writer Dani, and her friends Sam and Anna as they navigate their first year together in completely different ways. “Together, these friends will navigate some of the toughest parts of medical school – mistreatment by superiors, competition with peers, and the elusive idea of ‘wellness,’ on top of the everyday woes of family drama, friendships, and dating,” the description reads. 

‘The First Harm’ by Steven Piskula

The First Harm by Steven Piskula is much more than a medical drama like Grey’s, it’s a thriller too. The book follows main character Tanna Christensen as she prepares for her first anatomy dissection only to be wholly surprised. “Beneath her scalpel lies a cadaver riddled with disturbing genetic abnormalities—evidence pointing to an unthinkable crime,” the description reads. 

As she begins to follow the clues to find out what happens, she gets entangled in the murder – and even becomes the next victim. 

‘Mount Mercy’ by Helena Newbury

If your favorite part of Grey’s is the love stories, then Mount Mercy by Helena Newbury might be the book for you. The novel follows a new doctor as she meets and gets almost immediately wooed by Doctor Dominic Corrigan, a “tattooed, cocky and gorgeous” doctor in her hospital. But as they start to navigate what their attraction means, a disaster strikes their hometown and they’re thrust into saving the ER, and their patients, closer together than ever. 

‘That One Patient: Doctors and Nurses’ Stories of the Patients Who Changed Their Lives Forever’ by Ellen de Visser

In a book that’ll likely make you laugh, cry and believe in humanity, science journalist Ellen de Visser’s book, That One Patient, combines the stories of different medical professionals about ‘that one patient’; the patient who changed everything for them.

“That One Patient is brimming with intimate stories of connection and of the unanticipated ways we can affect one other’s lives,” the description reads. “All of them remind us of just how extraordinary humans can be, and of our incredible capacity for bravery, strength and humor.