I was a teenager when, at Kuala Lumpur Railway Station, I fell in love with books; until then, I just read them. But these were the recently produced Penguin Modern Classics, addictive in their light grey paperback tones, their shape and feel. Among their authors Evelyn Waugh was an early favourite, with his richly laconic prose and his ironic understanding of how and why people behaved in a certain way, and of their often thoughtless assumptions of class and upbringing. For the next 10 years, during which I did a classics degree then a medical degree, a stream of paperbacks (and an unfortunate habit of hoarding them) informed my process of becoming a doctor. The problem of reading good writers, however, is the contrast they make with the appalling prose of your standard textbook or journal article.

The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) is the most comprehensive global epidemiological study, and the analyses of the 2015 data have recently been published (thelancet.com/gbd). This is a rich data-set including observation on the general increase in global life expectancy, with the gains due to significant improvement in HIV outcomes balanced against the significant war-related decreases in male life expectancy in Syria. Interestingly, the age-standardised mortality rate for mental and substance use disorders dropped by over 12% between 2005 and 2015, though with considerable variations between conditions and countries, and the authors further note the difficulty in accurately attributing and coding excess deaths – for example, the years of life known to be indirectly lost to schizophrenia. Total deaths due to self-harm and interpersonal violence did not change much during this period.

Writing this essay on ten books has been incredibly enjoyable and surprisingly helpful in clarifying my ideas. Before I wrote it I had no idea my tastes were so consistent – some might say predictable! The following list includes classic texts that have had a fundamental influence on my thinking, and books that highlight important issues in an original way.