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.