* In Chronological Order
* <No. of Hours>H
*<Reading/Comprehension/Understanding Difficulty Rating out of 5>/5D
Orange is a New Black, Piper Kerman, Q1
5H
3/5D
Prison is a terrible place to be, which has lost much of its purpose. It is an unfair system easily abused, it doesn't help the inmates and the guards do not care. The author was lucky to be well-off and hence able to reduce her time there, but most others are not so lucky.
But even in such a place, fun and relationships are what keeps the inmates sane and alive.
Lord of the Flies, Q2
* <No. of Hours>H
*<Reading/Comprehension/Understanding Difficulty Rating out of 5>/5D
Orange is a New Black, Piper Kerman, Q1
5H
3/5D
Prison is a terrible place to be, which has lost much of its purpose. It is an unfair system easily abused, it doesn't help the inmates and the guards do not care. The author was lucky to be well-off and hence able to reduce her time there, but most others are not so lucky.
But even in such a place, fun and relationships are what keeps the inmates sane and alive.
Lord of the Flies, Q2
6H
4/5D
It has taken me almost 7 years to finally get around to reading this classic novel (2014). I found the central premise of the novel, that is "Man has an inherent evil, and order can only be established by authoritarian means as the Royal Navy or the English school system" partially flawed. On one hand, public school kids left to their own devices could well end up like as a "Lord of the Flies" situation. Bullies, hierarchies do exist. On the other hand, authoritarian, hierarchical institutions help create these evils. And so we discover a vicious cycle of bullies creating authoritarian regimes, which spawn more bullies and punishes the meek and rational.
The natural rise of leaders should not be confused with the above issue. Some people take initiative for leadership in certain situations more than others.
Leaders draw power from the focus of their followers. Demanding your followers make sacrifices to a god you made up, creating a common fear are all nice and twisted ideas to gain power.
The regime on the island could only exist in isolation, like North Korea. It disappeared as soon as outsiders appeared.
American Gods, Neil Gaiman, Q2
5H
3/5D
Gods and Ghosts have power because people believe in them.
American Gods, Neil Gaiman, Q2
5H
3/5D
Gods and Ghosts have power because people believe in them.
It's better to be a Man than a God in Today's World, because of rapid trend change. The Gods of yesterday are fearful of being forgotten. The Gods of today believe there is no room for the past anymore. They share the same fear as Yesterday's Gods.
And so they fight each other. Every death of another God, every battle dedicated gives a God more power.
But man wants peace. So he takes initiative and gets the Gods to make peace.
Without Gods who draw their power from people, the new man now needs to find his own way in life.
And so they fight each other. Every death of another God, every battle dedicated gives a God more power.
But man wants peace. So he takes initiative and gets the Gods to make peace.
Without Gods who draw their power from people, the new man now needs to find his own way in life.
Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card, Q2
4H
3/5D
4H
3/5D
Life is unfair, get over it or you're dead. Let the Enders do their best, for our good.
Geniuses have hard personal problems.
Non-communication leads to wars.
Global democratic autocracies will take children and raise them to be soldiers for government ends.
Always fight with uncertainty and surprise on your side.
With forceful governments comes weak parents and mean children, leads to a world of bullies.
Cut the Knot!
>Speed of light travel!
How Babies Talk, Q2
7H
4/5D
7H
4/5D
Humans are ready to learn any language AND become social since birth. Communication is a skill developed from the time we become fetuses to when we die. Nature AND Nuture. Empathy is developed as a result of many age-critical factors. Don't miss them!
Basic: Learn by Imitation.
An_Occurrence_at_Owl_Creek_Bridge (Short Story), Ambrose Bierce, Q2
<1H
5/5D
A man is tricked into revealing his allegiance to the Confederacy and plotting sabotage on the union railroad.
Time is bendable for a short while, but eventually reality sets in. The beautiful twists in the story where he dreams of daring escape, as he falls from the bridge to the moment of death.
The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce, Q2
2H
4/5D
OK, I didn't actually read this. But I do like looking it up once in a while.
The Devil's Dictionary is an essential volume for any serious cynic or people interested in truth.
Try this!
“LAWYER, n. One skilled in circumvention of the law.”
Why we suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud and Stupid, Q2
3H
3/5D
Nothing is more ironic than a satirist ending up advocating the material he is making satire out of, eh? Well, here he is, making fun of fat people, drug-taking celebrities, violent radical islamists, politicians, stupid people...and all of a sudden, he says "drug your kids" and "You have to hit kids. You have a responsibility to do so. Just to show them who’s in charge and to remind them that there are boundaries that need to be respected."
Uggh.. couldn't read on.
US Combat Bible, Chinese, Q2
<1H
2/5D
Awesome black and white line-drawn picture book. Probably aimed at boys.
Very well explained. I think you can pass as an expert armchair military expert with it. It even got a test at the last few pages, which I got 90/100. Whooo!
How to Beat Up Anybody, Judah Friedlander, Q2
<1H
2/5D
It was a dark and rainy day when I found this book. When I finished, the sky was clear and beautiful.
Hilarious Page-Turner with rough, ridiculously exaggerated, lowly American humor!
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman, Q2
5H
3/5D
More light-hearted than the previous Neil Gaiman book American Gods, this has all the similar themes and traits. Gods, dead people, journeys, traumatic events, light romance are all part of Fat Charlie's life described in Anansi Boys.
Good lightweight life-journey-style, down-to-earth fiction without much of a moral message.
Quantum Sociology, Q2
2H
4/5D
Lots of Discussion activities for realizing the "Quantum nature of reality", like
"Try to Describe everything about yourself."
Some Quotes:
"There is no one reality" "There are multiple universes" "Nothing can be perfectly described." "The map is not the territory" "E and E-Prime (language)"
PeopleWare (2nd Edition), Q2
4H, Ongoing!
4/5D
Office Environment, importance of privacy, isolation, quiet, management theory, productivity.
No estimate is the best estimate (for developer productivity)
Manager, if you go out of your way to make Developer happy, s/he will make you happy 100x more.
Companies can learn effectively only when key employees have their connections
The most successful companies in the long run (eg. for decades) know how to retain trained employees. There are strong community bonds that make the company just right.
Time, Eva Hoffman, Q2
6H
3.5/5D
Time perception is built from early on.
"The mother kept disappearing for too long; or on the contrary, never left the child at all, not allowing it to develop a tolerance for aloneness.) Suppose that such anxiety persists later in life, in subliminal and transformed forms, even though the person subject to it may not fully understand its source. Such a person might well develop a distorted sense of time - or evade the awareness of time altogether."
Time and Culture
Different unconnected cultures used to live in different time spheres. Event-driven time (eg. following Farming calendars, natural cycles of day/night, seasons) vs setting up timetables.
Biological time is very much event-driven. A stage is triggered by the previous and triggers the next. A broken, interrupted stage leads to problems.
Time in our Time
Real-time connectedness has allowed us to live on the same time-zone. Also increases stress when it clashes with biological time.
// Discontinued, now using label "reading2014"
An_Occurrence_at_Owl_Creek_Bridge (Short Story), Ambrose Bierce, Q2
<1H
5/5D
A man is tricked into revealing his allegiance to the Confederacy and plotting sabotage on the union railroad.
Time is bendable for a short while, but eventually reality sets in. The beautiful twists in the story where he dreams of daring escape, as he falls from the bridge to the moment of death.
The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce, Q2
2H
4/5D
OK, I didn't actually read this. But I do like looking it up once in a while.
The Devil's Dictionary is an essential volume for any serious cynic or people interested in truth.
Try this!
“LAWYER, n. One skilled in circumvention of the law.”
Why we suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud and Stupid, Q2
3H
3/5D
Nothing is more ironic than a satirist ending up advocating the material he is making satire out of, eh? Well, here he is, making fun of fat people, drug-taking celebrities, violent radical islamists, politicians, stupid people...and all of a sudden, he says "drug your kids" and "You have to hit kids. You have a responsibility to do so. Just to show them who’s in charge and to remind them that there are boundaries that need to be respected."
Uggh.. couldn't read on.
US Combat Bible, Chinese, Q2
<1H
2/5D
Awesome black and white line-drawn picture book. Probably aimed at boys.
Very well explained. I think you can pass as an expert armchair military expert with it. It even got a test at the last few pages, which I got 90/100. Whooo!
How to Beat Up Anybody, Judah Friedlander, Q2
<1H
2/5D
It was a dark and rainy day when I found this book. When I finished, the sky was clear and beautiful.
Hilarious Page-Turner with rough, ridiculously exaggerated, lowly American humor!
Anansi Boys, Neil Gaiman, Q2
5H
3/5D
More light-hearted than the previous Neil Gaiman book American Gods, this has all the similar themes and traits. Gods, dead people, journeys, traumatic events, light romance are all part of Fat Charlie's life described in Anansi Boys.
Good lightweight life-journey-style, down-to-earth fiction without much of a moral message.
Quantum Sociology, Q2
2H
4/5D
Lots of Discussion activities for realizing the "Quantum nature of reality", like
"Try to Describe everything about yourself."
Some Quotes:
"There is no one reality" "There are multiple universes" "Nothing can be perfectly described." "The map is not the territory" "E and E-Prime (language)"
PeopleWare (2nd Edition), Q2
4H, Ongoing!
4/5D
Office Environment, importance of privacy, isolation, quiet, management theory, productivity.
No estimate is the best estimate (for developer productivity)
Manager, if you go out of your way to make Developer happy, s/he will make you happy 100x more.
Companies can learn effectively only when key employees have their connections
The most successful companies in the long run (eg. for decades) know how to retain trained employees. There are strong community bonds that make the company just right.
Time, Eva Hoffman, Q2
6H
3.5/5D
Time perception is built from early on.
"The mother kept disappearing for too long; or on the contrary, never left the child at all, not allowing it to develop a tolerance for aloneness.) Suppose that such anxiety persists later in life, in subliminal and transformed forms, even though the person subject to it may not fully understand its source. Such a person might well develop a distorted sense of time - or evade the awareness of time altogether."
Time and Culture
Different unconnected cultures used to live in different time spheres. Event-driven time (eg. following Farming calendars, natural cycles of day/night, seasons) vs setting up timetables.
Biological time is very much event-driven. A stage is triggered by the previous and triggers the next. A broken, interrupted stage leads to problems.
Time in our Time
Real-time connectedness has allowed us to live on the same time-zone. Also increases stress when it clashes with biological time.
// Discontinued, now using label "reading2014"
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