Sort of a medical memoir, Brain on Fire is an interesting and somewhat disturbing story of one young woman's fall into madness and slow recovery. It's disturbing, in part, because her story could so easily have been different. What comes across as a possible psychiatric problem is eventually diagnosed as an infection. It could have been missed entirely, leaving Cahalan at the mercy of psychoses, seizures and perhaps even leading to her death. 
 I also found the book disturbing in that Cahalan lost so much of her memory. As she explains, her brain simply wasn't able to make memories while she was sick. Memory's dear to me, and fascinating. I can imagine what it would feel like to watch video of yourself and barely be able to recognize the person. Interesting and chilling. 
 Reads quickly, probably thanks to Cahalan's reporting style, with short chapters. She does a good job explaining medical issues.