Peculiar Books
2. 
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
by:
Deborah Blum
4.01 avg rating — 36,514 ratings 3. 
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory
by:
Caitlin Doughty
4.22 avg rating — 104,627 ratings 
9. 
10. 
Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, and Surprising Secrets of STDs
by:
Ina Park
4.44 avg rating — 1,047 ratings 11. 
Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
by:
Judy Melinek
4.26 avg rating — 26,521 ratings 12. 
In the Kingdom of the Sick: A Social History of Chronic Illness in America
by:
Laurie Edwards
3.49 avg rating — 433 ratings 13. 
A Short History of Drunkenness: How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry from the Stone Age to the Present
by:
Mark Forsyth
3.97 avg rating — 3,974 ratings 14. 
The Royal Art of Poison: Filthy Palaces, Fatal Cosmetics, Deadly Medicine, and Murder Most Foul
by:
Eleanor Herman
3.99 avg rating — 5,000 ratings 15. 
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death
by:
Caitlin Doughty
4.13 avg rating — 46,333 ratings 16. 
17. 
From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
by:
Caitlin Doughty
4.30 avg rating — 45,186 ratings 18. 
19. 
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
by:
Lydia Kang
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 9,425 ratings 20. 
The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine 4.31 avg rating — 21,432 ratings
21. 
Cat Tale: The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther
by:
Craig Pittman
4.16 avg rating — 967 ratings 22. 
23. 
Unhinged: On Jitterbugs, Melancholics and Mad-Doctors really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3 ratings
24. 
An Organ of Murder: Crime, Violence, and Phrenology in Nineteenth-Century America 3.12 avg rating — 8 ratings
24. 
26. 
The Wedge: Evolution, Consciousness, Stress and the Key to Human Resilience
by:
Scott Carney
4.04 avg rating — 712 ratings 26. 
28. 
29. 
The Unseen Body: A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy
by:
Jonathan Reisman
3.98 avg rating — 2,281 ratings 29. 
Sex in the Museum: My Unlikely Career at New York's Most Provocative Museum
by:
Sarah Forbes
3.65 avg rating — 324 ratings 
31. 
Medical Museums: Past, Present, Future
by:
Michael G. Rhode
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 12 ratings 33. 
The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession with the Unexplained
by:
Colin Dickey
3.66 avg rating — 1,803 ratings 
35. 
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age
by:
Annalee Newitz
3.78 avg rating — 7,115 ratings 35. 
35. 
Death's Acre: Inside the Legendary Forensic Lab the Body Farm Where the Dead Do Tell Tales
by:
William M. Bass
4.22 avg rating — 14,002 ratings 38. 
Swallow: Foreign Bodies, Their Ingestion, Inspiration, and the Curious Doctor Who Extracted Them
by:
Mary Cappello
2.97 avg rating — 106 ratings 
38. 
The Cause of Death: True Stories of Death and Murder From a New Zealand Pathologist 4.22 avg rating — 1,083 ratings
41. 
Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine 4.01 avg rating — 8,184 ratings
41. 
Out Cold: A Chilling Descent into the Macabre, Controversial, Lifesaving History of Hypothermia
by:
Philip Jaekl
3.58 avg rating — 276 ratings 
45. 
The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer
by:
Dean Jobb
3.61 avg rating — 5,220 ratings 45. 
Under the Knife: A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations 4.15 avg rating — 3,246 ratings
47. 
Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin
by:
Megan Rosenbloom
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 6,447 ratings 47. 
50. 
Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive
by:
Carl Zimmer
3.95 avg rating — 2,215 ratings 
52. 
The Knife Man: Blood, Body Snatching, and the Birth of Modern Surgery
by:
Wendy Moore
4.07 avg rating — 4,149 ratings 
54. 
The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery
by:
Sam Kean
4.26 avg rating — 13,463 ratings 56. 
The Icepick Surgeon: Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
by:
Sam Kean
4.01 avg rating — 9,591 ratings 57. 
The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth and Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
by:
Thomas Morris
3.79 avg rating — 4,482 ratings 
59. 
The Psychedelic Gospels: The Secret History of Hallucinogens in Christianity
by:
Jerry B. Brown
3.92 avg rating — 199 ratings 60. 
Making the Monster: The Science Behind Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
by:
Kathryn Harkup
3.90 avg rating — 610 ratings 60. 
For the Good of Mankind?: The Shameful History of Human Medical Experimentation 3.72 avg rating — 196 ratings
62. 
Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher: A Monkey's Head, the Pope's Neuroscientist, and the Quest to Transplant the Soul
by:
Brandy Schillace
4.09 avg rating — 718 ratings 63. 
The Poisoned Embrace: A Brief History of Sexual Pessimism
by:
Lawrence Osborne
3.71 avg rating — 31 ratings 64. 
Patient Zero: A Curious History of the World's Worst Diseases
by:
Lydia Kang
4.14 avg rating — 2,548 ratings 64. 
Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus
by:
Bill Wasik
3.72 avg rating — 11,393 ratings 
67. 
Can't Find My Way Home: America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000
by:
Martin Torgoff
4.23 avg rating — 423 ratings 68. 
The Chick and the Dead: Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors
by:
Carla Valentine
3.91 avg rating — 2,456 ratings 68. 
It Was Vulgar and It Was Beautiful: How AIDS Activists Used Art to Fight a Pandemic
by:
Jack Lowery
4.50 avg rating — 707 ratings 70. 
Born With a Junk Food Deficiency: How Flaks, Quacks, and Hacks Pimp the Public Health
by:
Martha Rosenberg
3.32 avg rating — 57 ratings 71. 
72. 
Medieval Bodies: Life and Death in the Middle Ages
by:
Jack Hartnell
3.93 avg rating — 2,489 ratings 73. 
Cranioklepty: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius
by:
Colin Dickey
3.56 avg rating — 248 ratings 73. 
Smile Stealers: The Fine and Foul Art of Dentistry
by:
Richard Barnett
4.19 avg rating — 142 ratings 
76. 
The Sick Rose: Disease and the Art of Medical Illustration
by:
Richard Barnett
4.42 avg rating — 1,002 ratings 
79. 
The Red Menace: How Lipstick Changed the Face of American History
by:
Ilise S. Carter
3.76 avg rating — 170 ratings 79. 
Holes in the Head: The Art and Archaeology of Trepanation in Ancient Peru (Dumbarton Oaks Pre-Columbian Art and Archaeology Studies Series)
by:
John W. Verano
it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 2 ratings 81. 
81. 
Part of a Complete Breakfast: Cereal Characters of the Baby Boom Era
by:
Tim Hollis
4.09 avg rating — 43 ratings 83. 
Last Laughs: Cartoons About Aging, Retirement...and the Great Beyond
by:
Mort Gerberg
3.33 avg rating — 33 ratings 
84. 
Why Do Men Have Nipples?: Hundreds of Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Martini
by:
Mark Leyner
3.40 avg rating — 9,337 ratings 86. 
86. 
Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex? More Questions You'd Only Ask a Doctor After Your Third Whiskey Sour
by:
Mark Leyner
3.52 avg rating — 1,301 ratings 88. 
Chasing Ghosts: A Tour of Our Fascination with Spirits and the Supernatural
by:
Marc Hartzman
3.55 avg rating — 372 ratings 88. 
Let's Play Doctor: The Instant Guide To Walking, Talking, and Probing Like a Real M.D.
by:
Mark Leyner
3.12 avg rating — 114 ratings 
90. 
Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms
by:
Eugenia Bone
3.82 avg rating — 1,365 ratings 92. 
The Other Dark Matter: The Science and Business of Turning Waste into Wealth and Health
by:
Lina Zeldovich
4.26 avg rating — 80 ratings 
93. 
What Body Part Is That?: A Wacky Guide to the Funniest, Weirdest, and Most Disgustingest Parts of Your Body
by:
Andy Griffiths
4.02 avg rating — 280 ratings 
95. 
Honey, Mud, Maggots and Other Medical Marvels: The Science Behind Folk Remedies and Old Wives' Tales 3.73 avg rating — 227 ratings
97. 
The Luck Archive: Exploring Belief, Superstition, and Tradition
by:
Mark Menjivar
3.74 avg rating — 43 ratings