Recently my wife was prescribed two different medications by her doctor. Taking them together could have been a threat to her life, neither the druggist nor the prescribing doctor warned her about the side effects that would take place if she took both medications within 4 to 6 hours of each other. The Pill book did! GET THIS IN YOUR HOME! Think generics are exactly the same as brand name drugs? Think again!
Being a pharmacy technician, I keep this at home as one of my family go to books. I would recommend that every home have one. It is good for checking interactions and general information in understandable english.
This book lets you look up every prescription medication in the USA, even recent ones, whether by trade name (e.g., Halcion) or generic description (Triazolam) -- if there are exceptions to that universality I don't know of them. The listing will tell you much more than a doctor will, or even a pharmacy information sheet -- common dosages (even photos of the most popular pills, for example Plate "M" for Halcion/Triazolam), class of medication (such as Benzodiazepine sedative), what it's for and how it works, common and rare side effects, what to do if you've missed a dose, what not to take concurrently, what to do if you overdose or have negative reactions, and so on.