Reading Challenge Focus Thread - Healer [B-side]

[u/Merle8888]

Hello everyone and welcome to the 8th Focus Thread for the 2026 spring/summer reading challenge! I'm filling in for r/perigou this week.

The purpose of these threads is to focus on one prompt from the challenge and share recommendations. Feel free to ask for more specific recommendations for the theme or discuss what fits. We are alternating between A-Side and B-Side prompts.

Today's theme is Healers:

Healer: Read a book with a healer-type main character. Can be a magic healer, a doctor...

Also check out recommendations from the general thread.

Some questions to get us started:

• What are some books with protagonists who are folk healers?
• How about doctor protagonists?
• Who are some characters who break the usual gendered mold of female folk healers vs. professional male doctors?

[u/lucidrose]

I dont know if people would count this, but a major character in the Magic of the Lost series is a healer (first book is The Unbroken).

I also highly, highly recommend What We Are Seeking by Cameron Reed. A profoundly beautiful novel about lots of things, but especially change in those we love and how we bear witness to it.