read: speaker for the dead

It's like a totally different story and background from the first book, but Ender comes back in, grown up. 

Really enjoyed the way the story builds up, revealing human ego(?) resulting in humans imposing their way of thinking or doing things to understand the world around them erroneously. The common thread is Ender coming in with his empathy and unveiling the true nature of the aliens.

The village story reveals all the petty vices of human nature, bullying, ostracizing, selfishness, generally very dark. Tension between mayor, bishop and the other religious faction. Tension between Novi and the normal villagers. The self created torture by Novi I cannot relate to, nor can I relate to the love Ender had for her. She's not an attractive heroine. 

read: enders game

Fascinating read that captures so much that the movie could not. The background of being a third child and how Ender became the boy he was, a mix of his elder brother who was too vicious and his sister who was too soft. Ender was a captivating hero who broke all odds to emerge victorious and yet the author gave him a depth of character to feel mixed about him saving the world. Giving the buggers an alternative angle changed what would have been a very stereotypical plot to a deep story about humans and their flaws. The buggers invaded earth as they weren't able to communicate telepathically with the earthlings as they do within themselves and concluded that there was no intelligent beings. What if humans have been conquering farmland and cities, decimating all in its pathway just because we speak a different language from these lives

lessons in chemistry

Powerful story about women empowerment and sexism in that era. Beautiful love story. And love the addition of six thirty the dog.  

Will definitely recommend.

read: strange houses

Intriguing mystery that went right into the story.

Easy to follow with the supporting floor plan illustrations.

Story was built up piece by piece and however improbable the premise seemed to be it felt realistic given the way the author built it up through dialogues.

Each character was given depth, motives, emotions.

Look forward to reading the series!

read: the heaven and earth grocery store

A story set in the US set in the backdrop of racial discrimination. White, Jews, Negroes.

But it goes beyond the simple class stereotypes. Friendship between Chona (Jew) and Bernice (Negro), between Dodo and Monkey Pants, between Fatty and Big Soap. Also within class, there is the Isaac (Jew who wants to be white and upper class), Moshe who cos of Chona stayed true to his roots; the Lowgod, the Loves, and the rest.

read: 斗破苍穹

Took me a few months of intensive reading to finish this series but it was so addictive I stopped reading everything else. I guess it's the typical story of a hero, who through many coincidences, obtain heroic powers. But it's his hard work and not talent that makes him more endearing. He also meets an amazing number of gorgeous girls along the way, which is a bit odd but kind of helps the story along. Will recommend.

read: sapiens

A simple to read but long story of humans evolution, questioning what have we actually achieved for ourselves other than more diseases and longer working hours.

There was a section on pursuing happiness, culminating in the Buddhist belief that it's the pursuit of happy feelings that makes one's life perpetually unhappy.

It ends with a scary picture of a future where we slave for machines/ AI who control the world, a world that they can no longer explain to us, like how we cannot explain how wall street works to a monkey

long time gone by Charlie donlea

Easy to read thriller with plenty of action

A little unnecessary with the detailed write ups of the heroine's cross fit obsession but otherwise good relaxing read.

read: don't believe it by Charlie Donlea

Story of an investigative journalist who writes a documentary to uncover the potential innocence of a person in jail.

She uncovers evidence to prove the innocence but at the same time uncovers the real murderer. The plot twist was interesting. Ends with a sort of cliffhanger I suppose.

read: Holly

When I got to Chapter 2 it was perplexing given that it seemed I jumped to another story. But loved the build up with each of the murder and how Holly unraveled the threads.

This is not a supernatural horror story unlike many of Stephen King's. But of a natural evil that exists in humans, greedy, in this case, for life.

It references to another story which I'm now drawn to read.

read: if you like it darker

I enjoyed Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream because of the way it panned out and what that said about human nature and the creepy cop who's obsessed with numbers. 

I found the Dreamers somewhat Lovecraftian.

I actually quite like the Turbulent Expert, felt like an interesting concept with a tidy end where he found a successor. 

read: the anxious generation

Makes me very self-conscious for working for a social media firm.

Totally agree that kids these days are overprotected in the real world but underprotected in the virtual. should not be brainwashed by social media. And not just kids but also adults.

Interesting the different effect on boys and girls. Girls being more driven to be integrated in a community hence the obsession with social media and boys being more driven to build agency or competency hence obsession with gaming.

Doesn't feel like things will change soon so we are stuck with a generation of people who are highly anxious, overprotected and unable to function in the social world as we know it today.

read: 太白星金有点烦

I love the irony of the office politics in the celestial setting and some of the common office headaches: reimbursements, writing reports, bureaucracy, backstabbing.

1. One action but split into 4 reports to write as though you completed 4 projects

2. Reimbursement is late according to policy but it's ok cos it's a P00 project from above

3. Vague instructions from management due to not wanting to be explicit in interfering with the politics

4. Nepotism: only works if you have a backing

But I thought it was really sweet he puts in some principles. How the monk left his body to pursue the real decoding, how thr God left part of his soul to reincarnate and experience life, how there's real collaboration and sentiments between the guanyin and him. 

read: funny story

Feel good story about two people who got together because their exes dumped them. And better still, their exes didn't end up together.

read: first lie wins

Indeed fast paced intriguing novel with an improbable but feel good happy ending. Enjoyed it.

Feel good book

About a con artist who infiltrated into a handsome rich guy's life and how she got away from the grasps of those the organization that controlled her and into the perfect life that started as a con

read: all the light we cannot see

Illustrates poignantly the lives of everyday people in World War 2, just people trying to cope with their lives in the best way they can in a war context. From the locksmith who fiercely protects his museum treasure, the blind girl who just wants her papa and lives through the struggles not bravely but because she has no choice, the German officer who searches for the jewel to prolong his life, the white hair orphan who just wanted to escape his fate to be a miner, the war veteran who stepped up to protect his ward, the housemaid who wanted to play her small part in defending her country. 

read: normal people

About not normal people

In a not normal relationship.

A relationship that explores class differences, childhood trauma and teenage peer pressure.

Thoroughly odd on off relationship that lasted decades but didn't really happen at the same time.

A couple who felt like only they know each other but also seemed like they barely knew the other.

read: 长安的荔枝

A fictitious story set in ancient china about a government official tasked to do an impossible task of importing lychee fresh in the heat of summer across a vast distance.

The story explores modern relatable concepts. Doing unreasonable things just cos the big boss says. Big boss has no grasp of the reality setting unreasonable tasks. Middle management not daring to say no and try to delegate the blame away. Affected (positively or negatively) by the politics in the court. Doing things cos of mortgage. Going against your conscience for work. 

read: thinking, fast and slow

We have two cognitive systems, system 1 and 2.

System 1 works easily and automatically

System 2 takes more effort and operates methodically

These systems interact continually.

When walking use System 1 but can also think problems use System 2. If switch to running, System 1 is used more and System 2 is less and harder to think problems 

System 1

1. Seek causes in random events

2. Hindsight bias

3. Loss aversion and endowment effect

4. Anchoring

People who are cognitively busy are more likely to make selfish choices, use sexist language and make superficial judgement

Experience self lives the life and remembering self evaluates these experiences

System 1 intuition in experts. Only works in fields where challenges don't vary greatly, luck doesn't determine success and no gap between action and feedback e.g. stock.

read: the coaching habit

The 7 questions

1. What's on your mind - people project pattern

2. And what else

3. What's the real challenge

4. What do you want

5. How can I help

6. If you're saying yes to this, what are you saying no to

7. What was most useful for you