The Woman’s Pharmacy: An Essential Guide to What Women Should Know About Prescription Drugs

By Julie Catalano with Robert L. Rowan, MD (Dell Mass Market/new Your City). $6.99

This user-friendly volume profiles more than 300 prescription drugs, paying particular attention to side effects, interactions and special considerations for pregnant women and senior women. Most commonly prescribed anti-HIV and opportunistic-infection drugs are included, as are such women-specific meds as birth-control pills and hormones. Drugs listed by both brand and generic names; they’re also indexed by the condition they treat. Highlights: a section on managing health care and an appendix of resources for women with particular medical needs. HIV positive women juggling many meds may find The Woman’s Pharmacy is a must-have.

The Hepatitis C Help Book: A Groundbreaking Treatment Program Combing Western and Eastern Medicine for Maximum Wellness and Healing

By Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD, Lac, and Robert G. Gish, MD with Kalia Doner (St. Martin’s Press/New York City), $24.95

Although it contains little information on HIV/HCV infection, this book is nonetheless comprehensive resource for people with hepatitis C. In addition to up-to-date info on conventional treatment options, there’s a wealth of detail on Chinese medicine, herbal approaches, acupuncture, dietary recommendations, exercise, and meditation. While skeptics may smirk through passages on coping with “damp heat” and “Qi stagnation,” this book does a good hob on charting a treatment path for those who like both East and West.