If you're interested reading more personal encounters like this, I highly recommend "When the Air Hits Your Brain". It follows the author's journey from resident to experienced neursurgeon with a wisecrack sense of humor and greusome detail.

I finished it in premed days when I was looking for an candid story of becoming a neurosurgen. Definitely kept me fascinated.

*http://www.amazon.com/When-Air-Hits-Your-Brain/dp/0393330494

If you've read Marsh's Do No Harm and you're interested in more stories like it, I strongly recommend When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales from Neurosurgery[1]. Its author-surgeon (Frank Vertosick) lacks much of the compassion shown by Marsh, but the stories cover his failures more than successes. I find failures and mistakes more interesting, as there are countless ways in which an operation can go wrong, but only one way it can succeed. Though sometimes morbid, the cases are always fascinating.

1. http://www.amazon.com/When-Air-Hits-Your-Brain-ebook/dp/B006...

I just started When the Air Hits Your Brain: Tales from Neurosurgery[1]. The author is a neurosurgeon and an excellent writer.

The last book I read was Abdel Haleem's translation of the Qur'an[2]. For an ancient religious text, it's rather short. Total reading time was maybe 16 hours over the course of a week. I'm not religious, but it was interesting to get a better idea of what Muslims believe and why. That said, the whole thing reads like a 7th-century version of Time Cube. I came away with the impression that the author was a schizophrenic who knew of parts of the Bible.

The most useful book I've recently read is Steve Blank's Four Steps to the Epiphany[3]. It's a more structured version of a lot of the stuff I learned in YC.

My favorite books of the past year are Confessions of a Yakuza[4] and Infidel[5]. The subjects of each book are as different as can be, but their stories are quite captivating. Both survived immense suffering and managed to thrive afterwards. Reading those books reminded me of how lucky I am and how insignificant my problems are.

1. http://www.amazon.com/When-Air-Hits-Your-Brain-ebook/dp/B006...

2. http://www.amazon.com/Quran-Oxford-Worlds-Classics-ebook/dp/...

3. http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steve-Blank-ebook/...

4. http://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Yakuza-Junichi-Saga-ebook/...

5. http://www.amazon.com/Infidel-Ayaan-Hirsi-Ali-ebook/dp/B000N...