Reddit reviews Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

Mostly from this book.

Genuinely one of the most mind blowing books I have ever read. It's been years since I read it though, and someone has pinched my copy so I'm sorry if I can't get you any actual quotes.



Also this book. I get the two mixed up because I read them both in the same short period of time, so information could be from either of them. Both highly recommended.

I don't know of any "popular science" books that would actually give you a head start in medical school.
For example, Oliver Sacks' books, especially Musicophilia are broadly neurological in topic and really interesting, but reading them won't actually give you any major advantage when it comes to your studies.

However, if you're determined to get that headstart, I'd recommend reading up on either anatomy or physiology.

For anatomy, I'd recommend the Thieme Atlas of Anatomy books, although I might be biased, since one of my professors co-authored them and therefore used them religiously.
The books aren't text books in the classical sense, so there is little explanation given, but the illustrations are arguably the best I've seen so far.
You might also want to check out the google body project, although I found it severely lacking in terms of features, you can't, for example, look up innervations or muscle insertion points. Or maybe those are available once you shell out for premium content, I haven't tried that.

For physiology, I found Boron/Boulpaep's Medical Physiology to be thorough, detailed and very easy to read and understand. So this might actually be the book you're looking for. Even with limited or no prior knowledge in physiology and minimal experience with science in general, you'll be practically guaranteed to gain a deep working knowledge of physiology, which is arguably the basis for medicine in general and will serve you well throughout your studies at medical school.

If you already feel confident in both anatomy and physiology, maybe because you've done both in your undergraduate studies, I can't recommend Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine enough. Almost everything you'll ever need to know about medicine is contained in this book and it is generally pretty well written. If you'd actually have enough time in medical school to thoroughly read and digest this two-volumed beast of a textbook, med school would be less about cramming than it is today.

So maybe get a headstart on that one.

Edit: On the other hand, you might as well enjoy your time before medical school and keep the fire burning by shadowing a physician from time to time or watching the first couple of seasons of House. That'll be more fun.

You can certainly find books on music psychology, but I doubt you'll find anything on personal preferences (because those depend on your own experiences and associations).

Try these:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/This-Your-Brain-Music-Understanding/dp/1843547163

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Musicophilia-Tales-Music-Oliver-Sacks/dp/0330523597/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Music-Instinct-Works-Cant-Without/dp/0099535440/

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Psychology-Music-Short-Introduction-Introductions/dp/0190640154/