Wild Swans by Jung Chang (1991).  This book is like a detailed photograph of the recent history of China, and by reading it I gained some new insights and understanding of  the Chinese people. The core of this book starts early in WW2  when a good part of China was still under the control of […]

The Redemption of Michael Hollister by Shawn Inmon. This is the sequel to “The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver.” The new book begins when serial killer Michael, while in prison, takes his own life and then time-travels ten years into the past to live his life again as a six-year-old version of himself. In

Penpal by Dathan Auerbach. This the most disturbing book that has come to my hands in a while. My jaw dropped to the end of the second tale “Balloons”. An elementary school teacher asks the kids to use balloons to send letters to start a penpal correspondence. A kid starts receiving letters and photos of

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values by Robert M. Pirsig. Written in 1974, it explores the concept of ‘quality.’ It examines why something is or isn’t considered good. This is not really about ethics; rather, it focuses on perception.

Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain by David Eagleman. This is probably one of the best non-fiction books I’ve read. It is not only beautifully written and well-organized but it really teaches something. This book is about the evolutionary psychology of consciousness. The author explains with many examples how our physiology has evolved from

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson. This was really good and hilarious reading. I enjoyed every page and every moment. Bryson has that uncanny power of bringing the reader into the stage of what he is writing. Reading this book made me feel like I was just

The Phantom Lover and Other Thrilling Tales of Thailand by Jim Algie. Most of the stories in this book are good. Probably the one I enjoyed the most is the story of See Ouey, who was a convicted multiple murderer in the past century. Ouey immigrated from China to Thailand after fighting in World War

Looking at the Sun: The Rise of the New East Asian Economic and Political System by James M. Fallows (1995). Twenty years ago, journalist James Fallows spent more than five years in Asia collecting information and building a compelling case for how and why this area of the planet was growing so fast, especially in

Class Matters by Bill Keller. This book from The New York Times is both depressing and distressing, but some parts are quite enlightening and deserve special attention. One of the key messages is that class is not just about money or power. It is more about intangible resources, mostly coming from within the family. This

Triple by Ken Follett. This book is a really nice description of the stealing of uranium to produce nuclear weapons in Israel in the late 60’s. They made a fake company to buy a freighter, which would transport a covert shipment of uranium to Italy. At some point during the trip, they would stage the