wow.

So I'm on page 65 of the dog book and I really like it. It's so funny that he did a whole chapter about the The Monty Hall Problem. Last year a movie came out called 21 about these kids who would go to Vegas and cheat at Black Jack. Now, at the beginning of the movie, the main character Professor presents this exact problem and, like readers of Parade, you would think it is incorrect, but once Christopher shows you the diagram, you know he is right. It will literally hurt your head to think about this too much. I know because after we saw this movie, Mikey was obsessed with this statistics problem. He thought it was the most interesting thing he had ever learned. In fact, the next day, we went to dinner for his friend's birthday with a bunch of people and Mikey explained and talked about this problem at the table for like and hour. And, the lame thing was, his friend was totally interested too. But his friend didn't believe him until Mikey drew a diagram on a napkin. At Outback. Really. So I read this chapter to Mikey and he liked it. "And that is why [Mikey] like[s] The Monty Hall Problem."

Ta da!!!!!!!

This is totally a shot in the dark, but I want to read this book. I only heard about it from one person. Anyway, no more disclaimers. I'm choosing this book for our book club for February. Hey, it's red too!

Here's one guy's synopsis...

Mark Haddon's bitterly funny debut novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, is a murder mystery of sorts--one told by an autistic version of Adrian Mole. Fifteen-year-old Christopher John Francis Boone is mathematically gifted and socially hopeless, raised in a working-class home by parents who can barely cope with their child's quirks. He takes everything that he sees (or is told) at face value, and is unable to sort out the strange behavior of his elders and peers.

Late one night, Christopher comes across his neighbor's poodle, Wellington, impaled on a garden fork. Wellington's owner finds him cradling her dead dog in his arms, and has him arrested. After spending a night in jail, Christopher resolves--against the objection of his father and neighbors--to discover just who has murdered Wellington. He is encouraged by Siobhan, a social worker at his school, to write a book about his investigations, and the result--quirkily illustrated, with each chapter given its own prime number--is The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Haddon's novel is a startling performance. This is the sort of book that could turn condescending, or exploitative, or overly sentimental, or grossly tasteless very easily, but Haddon navigates those dangers with a sureness of touch that is extremely rare among first-time novelists. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time is original, clever, and genuinely moving: this one is a must-read. --Jack Illingworth, Amazon.ca

Ready.... set.... go!!!!!! And tell me what you think. -Camille