SGO Wellness: Literary Adventures and an Invitation to Join Us | Fernanda Musa, MD, MS

Fernanda Musa, MD, MS

I was walking around the hallways of the SGO Annual Meeting in San Diego doing what I love to do most: seeing my friends, gossiping, laughing and learning about the latest and greatest life hacks of all (because, you know, that’s what I really gather from this crowd). Anyway, I was walking around when I noticed—peeking out of a friend’s purse—could it be? No way! That’s so and so we are talking about here. And her too? Oh My! Could it really be? Is that ACOTAR? I felt SEEN.

ACOTAR (short for A Court of Thorn and Roses by Sarah Maas), and the more spectacular, and my favorite, The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros, are Romantasy books. These are addictive three- to five-part series that turned into fifteen-book wormholes about a fantastical world—witches, dragons, magic, fairies, flying and a lot of non-PG romance. But there are also families, mother-daughter drama, father-son drama, coming of age, the challenge of becoming and fulfilling one’s destiny among other relevant themes relevant to a modern-day person.

The popularity of these series is intriguing. It is without a doubt one of the more accessible types of reading one can do. The genre is beloved by my entire office from the MA to the RN, the MDs, and the managers. The habit is prevalent among former co-residents, trainees and mentors. I wonder if this is a consequence of a post-pandemic universe. Clearly, I have been giving this some thought. Probably more thought that this deserves in the first place. Is our collective interest in this literary genre a consequence of needing to escape after living through an unsettling, near-apocalyptic scenario ourselves? Did the fact that the unfathomable happened bring us closer to believing in fantasy? Or are we drawn to the strong and powerful female leads who encourage us to dare and be bold?

For me, the books help complete the transition from my “work self” to my “home self.” I listen to the dragon books in the car on my way home, sometimes on a long commute, and sometimes on a long run. By the time I get home, I can temporarily shut down the grief and the hurt of our patients, the lives interrupted, the unfairness of telling someone we can’t fix their problem, cure their cancer, or have a trial for them. In Romantasy, nothing is that deep and everything unsurmountable gets surmounted in a few pages. The chapter ends. A mix of good luck and good sex. Simple, human, fun. I highly recommend it—and I hear it is mandatory reading at MD Anderson.

Let’s start a discussion. Do you read for fun? If so, what? I want to learn from you.

Fernanda Musa, MD, MS, is a Gynecologic Oncologist at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle, WA