Recommendations

Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science -- by Atul Gawande.

Full review available here.

I just made an entry on The Lingual Nerve as well.

The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time

Finished it a couple of days ago. Easy to read, quite funny in the first half, but got a little tedious towards the end. Still, its novelty is a strong point, and Mark Haddon's writing displays great insight into the autistic mind.

The protagonist, Christopher Boone, is a memorable character who will prove a huge challenge to play on the big screen. To date, only one name comes to mind -- you guessed it: Haley Joel Osment. But Jamie Bell ( from "Billy Elliot" ) may be a surprise choice ( his performance on cable's "Nicholas Nickleby" -- based on a Charles Dickens tale -- was laudable ).

In any case, reading The Curious Incident was enjoyable partly because I was constantly reminded of Clay Aiken, whose lifelong work with special needs children ( in particular, Mike Bubel, who has autism ) has gained significant prominence since his profile shot sky-high on American Idol 2.

And speaking of Clay...

Learning To Sing -- by Clay Aiken

I just got this book from a fellow local Clay fan yesterday ( thanks, M! ). I'm currently halfway through it, but at the rate things are going, I'll probably finish it today, and use up every Kleenex in the house before I'm done.

A proper review will follow soon. So far, I've read chapters where Clay relates experiences from a painful childhood plagued by family conflicts, violence, alcoholism, and cruel schoolmates. It WILL get better, I'm sure, since we all know how the story ends, don't we? :)

The Kleenexes started disappearing last night as I sat in bed, riveted for more than an hour ( had to stop reading at midnight 'cos of church this morning ) by Clay's narrative, which switches easily from the past to the present, alternating between despair and hope, tears and laughter. Some stories have been told before, but others are new -- and heartbreakingly so.

Clay just turned 26 five days ago ( I failed to mention this on my blog, aargh! *smacks forehead* ), but his maturity and strength never fail to amaze me. Here is a young man whose ability to inspire and teach far exceed that of most many years his senior. And his mother, Faye, has indeed done extremely well in inculcating the right values and, more importantly, the conviction to live by them no matter how strong the temptation.

Last I heard, Learning To Sing recently sold out at Borders and Kinokuniya. Pre-order yours ASAP, 'cos it's going to fly off the shelves again, and this is one book no-one should miss out on.