Complications / Better by Atul Gawande

I read or rather heard "Complications" on an audible version about six months ago, in fact my first purchase from them. I liked it. Gawande is a surgeon writing about his experiences, reflections and thoughts on being a doctor and a surgeon. the writing is simple but engrossing. when i saw "Better" in the local shops a month ago i bought that too. He kept up the level and quality. Easy reads but enough to ponder about. Highly recommended for anybody who likes non-fiction that is not specifically bios, self improvement etc. These books straddle all these areas without being in either end of the spectrum (spoon feeding to dry text).

The books also got me digging for my two books on practicing medicine by Dr. Robert Clifford. Those books followed the pattern set by James Herriot in giving comic twists wherever possible and human interest where possible. I have been trying to find more of his books but just haven't managed to. The quest shall continue.

The year of living biblically and The Know-it-all by A J Jacobs

I read these books a few months ago but realized had not put them in here. Highly recommended.

I found out about these books from a podcast i heard where AJ Jacobs was interviewed about his second book - year of living biblically. it sounded interesting and so i ordered it on amazon.

his first book consists of his describing his efforts to read the encyclopaedia brittanica in its entirety to make himself the smartest man on the earth. Interspersed with anecdotes from his life - home and work most of which he to connect to some of the words/phrases he is reading, it is not meant to tell you all about the book but just some interesting parts with observations.

following the success (?) of that effort, he decided to read and live by the Bible for an year. He follows most of the rules laid out in the Book and writes of the reactions, responses, work-arounds and so on of the effort.

While i was not to follow his footsteps, i would not mind reading about more of them.

Where in the world is Osama Bin Ladenby Morgan Spurlock

After months of reading thrillers and such like, i finally got down to reading a non-fiction and it was quite decent. While the premise of wanting to make the world better for his unborn child was to flimsy, it obviously gave him a chance to gallivant round the globe, with his wife's blessings.

The narrative is simple. Interviews kind of superficial. Analysis pretty much non-existent.

In spite of saying that he met very normal kids in the Pakistani madrassas, he acknowledged that for most part Pakistan was running with the hare and hunting with the fox in the "Global War on Terror." :-)

decent read. As long as you don't read too much into it.

Bill Bryson - Life and times of a thunderbolt kid

Bit of a let down. Interesting in parts, weird in parts, mundane in parts. references to USA in the 50's and 60's were apt but not incisive.


not very big and easy to read. but i think i like his travelogues better.

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man - John Perkins

Excellent read.

Culmination of his experiences in a consulting firm in US which specialized in ensuring developing countries are debt-trapped forever and therefore under the thumb of the empire. Arundhati Roy, Noam Chomksy and others write on this phenomenon in their style but Perkins gives a simpler yet powerful look at how the empire building happens.

I did not fall for the " i did it without knowing how not to but continued to feel bad" bit but yes continually doing something as unethical as that would get to you someday.

My own experiences with World Bank shows they do work on preconceived notions and plans which if nefarious is bound to hurt the country that they profess to want to help.

Identity and Violence by Amartya Sen

I have to be a part of the minority, that has a complaint against the book.

The book tries to establish the concept of identity in various ways and connects it to why the identity could lead to violence. But the tough part was going through the same concept for over several chapters. We all understand that we adopt different identities in different circumstances so i may represent women in a situation, an iyengar or an IIMA grad or a bibliophile or whatever in other situations. Compiling various lectures into a books leads to the kind of repetition that happened here. Each chapter talks of the concept of identity with maybe half a new idea. Became really tedious by the time i got to chapter III. Could have done with more tight editing to avoid the problem.

Mary Magdalene - Biography - Bruce Chilton

Must confess am not a christian, never read the bible and knew very little about mary magdalene except for knowing about the controversy of her role in Jesus' life. So when i saw this book picked it up to check what it was all about.

Chilton is unequivocal about the male conspiracy to malign and expunge Mary from all texts. He clearly outlines how each gospel removed more and more evidence and introduced confusion between various Marys to ensure that Mary Magdalene's role was reduced to nothing inspite of all evidence that she taught Jesus various things including the art of healing by anointing.

Nothing that the world has not carried out ever since and nothing that men will not continue to do. Those who like to read up on such erasure of details should read Rosalind Miles - Womens History of the World. Never got over what i read though its now 15 years since i did.

Both books Highly recommended.

Alwaleed by Riz Khan

I must confess i spent a lot o money buying a hard cover edition to just satisfy my curiosity about Al Waleed Bin Talal of Saudi Arabia fourth richest man in the world, saviour of Citibank (during a time when all my classmates were dying to get in there not knowing it was close to bankruptcy- ha - ha) and of course the guy whose money got rejected by Rudy Guiliani.

Decent read though not the best biography ever read. Clearly a Saudi prince can be a millionaire without doing anything but to be a billionaire he has to work hard. the book tracks his portfolio though does not give insights into his models or methodologies.

Riz khan is a bit of a disappointment. Clearly reading news is a whole lot easier than writing

Double Tap by Steve Martini

Very readable. kind of surprising ending - means more than the end itself, which to a jaded reader like I is kind of rare. Though makes military guys look like idiots - my dad would not have liked that part.

Call of the Wild - Jack London

Downloaded the book free to read with what was called a TK3 e-book reader. The reader is very hep and there are plenty of books mainly classics available on it for free. Had re-read the whole Louisa Alcott series of Little Women, Little Men and Jo's Boys a few years ago. Read This Jack London Book this weekend.

Amazing book in its structure, thought, language and simplicity where every word is possibly just where it should be.

It is a book about a dog, that lived peacefully at Santa Clara, California on a farm/ranch until he is stolen by a farmhand in debt to northerners and suddenly finds himself pulling sleds in Canada and Alaska.

The story tracks his change to a sled dog, his relationship with other dogs, his masters, how he copes with their differing ways, his fight for leadership of the pack, finally finding love for a human and then the call of the wild that leads him to join a pack of wolves.

Short, sweet amazing. Must read for all