2008 Reading List

1. Deprivers / Steven-Elliot Altman / **
2. Selected Short Stories of Franz Kafka / Franz Kafka / ***
3. The Plot to Save Socrates / Paul Levinson / ***
4. Total Freedom / J. Krishnamurti / *****
5. The Great Gatsby / Scott Fitzgerald / ****
6. Think on Your Feet / Kenneth Wydro / ****
7. Five Star Mind / Tom Wujec / ****
8. The Last Days of Socrates / Plato / ****
9. Golden Years of Science Fiction / Issac Asimov / ***
10. What Should I Do with my Life? / PO Bronson / ****
11. Siddhartha / Hermann Hesse / *****
12. Catch22 / Joseph Heller / ****
13. 90 minutes on Nitche / Paul Straug / ***
14. Understanding Islam / Houston Smith / ***
15. Don't Sweat the small stuff for men / Richard Carlson / ****
16. Finding the next starbucks / Michael Moe / ***
17. Great Tales of Classic Science Fiction / na / **
18. Way with Words II: Approaches to Literature / Professor Michael Drout / ****
19. The WalMart Effect / Charles Fishman / ***
20. Cryptonomicon / Neal Stephenson / ***
21. From here to Infinity / Professor Michael Drout / ****
22. Karl Marx in 90 Minutes / Paul straug / ***
23. Miracle of Mindfulness / Thich Nhat Hanh / *****
24. Moon is a Harsh Mistress / Robert Heinein / ****
25. Aikido for self discovery / Stan Waobel / ***
26. This Immortal / Roger Zelazny / ***
27. Eating Well For Optimum Health / Andrew Weil / ****
28. BABEL-17 / Samuel Delany / ****
29. Count Zero / William Gibson / ***
30. Aikido for Life / Gaku Homma / ****
31. Religions of the world / Houston Smith / *****
32. Epochs of European Civilization / Prof. Geoffrey Hosking / ***
33. My Life in France / Julia Child / ****
34. Breath! You are Alive / Thich Nhat Hanh / ****
35. Dubliners / James Joyce / ****
36. The Snows of Kilimanjaro / Ernest Hemingway / ***
37. Wrinkles in Time / George Smoot / ****
38. Reminiscent of a Stock Operator / Jessie Livermore / ****
39. Of Mice and Men / John Steinbeck / ****
40. Old Paths White Cloud / Thich Nhat Hanh / *****
41. Mr. Tompkins in Paperback / Gorge Gamow / ****
42. Five royal Safavid Manuscripts of the Sixteenth Centry / Stuart Cary Welch / ****
43. Pursuit of Happyness / Chris Gardner / ****
44. Eastern Religion / Modern Scholar / ***
45. Axiomatic / Greg Egan / ****
46. The Essential Laws of Fearless Living / Guy Finley / *****
47. Shop Girl / Steve Martin / ***
48. Beloved / Toni Morrison / ****
49. Alexander the Great / na / ***
50. Everything Eventual / Stephen King / ***
51. Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind / Shunryu Suzuki / *****
52. Psycho-Cybernetics / Maxwell Maltz / ****
53. The Rediscovery of Man / Cordwainer Smith / ****
54. Why smart People Make big Money Mistakes / Gary Belsky / ***
55. Introduction to Western Classical Music / Modern Scholar / ****
56. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon / Stephen King / ***
57. Trading in the Zone / Mark Douglas / ****
58. The 21 Irrefutable Truths of Trading / John Hayden / ****
59. The Carpet Makers / Andreas Eschbach / ***
60. Zen and the Art of Happiness / Chris Prentiss / ****
61. Practicing Peace in Times of War / Pema Chodroon / ****
62. Yoga Youth and Reincarnation / Jess Stern / ****
63. A shortcut in Time / Charles Dickinson / ***
64. Japanese Candlestick Charting / Steve Nison / ****
65. Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds / Charles MacKay / ***

Mr Tompkins In Paperback

When I was about twelve years old, on a raining afternoon, I went to visit my aunt in the university library. Back then I loved to visit my aunt at work, because it gave me a chance to duck into the big room with all the books for hours. Somewhere on the shelf I randomly picked up a book, flipped through it, and was instantly transfixed; I remember that moment vividly. I must have stood there read that book for a good hour and just could not put it down. What was so interesting? Well, it was about the adventure of a Bank clerk, Mr. Tompkins, who always somehow stumbles on these modern Physics concepts, with the help of a certain professor and his daughter. On top of that, it was all about relativity, fusion and fission, time travel - things a twelve-year old boy would just die for.

Although not too bright, Mr. Tompkins can dream well. And what dreams he has had! Witnessing a murder in a time-dilated world, playing quantum billiards with friends, or having a conversation with Maxwell's devil. It was absolutely fantastic! I couldn't help being pulled into this weird and crazy trip Mr. Tompkins was having. I remember hearing the rain drops outside, flipping the pages literally quivering with excitement, and totally forgetting about time until my aunt came to fetch me.

Ah, what fun that was! With all the innocence of a twelve-year old boy, I looked at the universe with wonderment.

However, it was a translation that I was reading. I never wrote down the name of the book, nor the author. Over the years I tried to find that book again but never succeeded. I could only remember bits and pieces of what I read, and they are not enough.

And then, out of the blue one day, as I was reading Wrinkles in Time, the author talked about an outstanding physics book written by George Gamow, and that many world-renowned physicists named it as the source of their inspiration during interviews. Some included quotes from the book jogged my memory instantly. Could this be my book?! Could it?

I rushed to my computer, ordered it from Amazon, and with breathless anticipation, waited.

And it is my book! So after 20 some years, I am reunited with my favorite physics book. As I read it for the second time, here in America, somehow I am transported to that distant library back in China, and I can almost hear those raindrops in my head.

Dubliners

James Joyce was one of those great writers that I never, well, dared to read. Sure, I knew about Ulysses , but who wants to read eighteen chapters of two guys wondering about in an Irish town? And as for Finnegans Wake, it simply has a reputation as being the most difficult and abstractly written piece of work. So I never read James Joyce, but I was Okay with that; after all, there were plenty of other great writers to read and life is short. Right?

Well, I thought so, until recently that is. I discovered this little gem of his called Dubliners and I just fell in love with it!

Dubliners is a collection of short stories. As you might have guessed, it is about people who live in Dublin, how they go about their lives, and how they cope with their dreams and fears. The characters are your everyday people: priest, schoolboy, teacher, mother, daughter ... and what they do are quite ordinary too - there are no heroic actions, in fact, almost no actions whatsoever. James Joyce just observes how they go about their lives, and captures a snapshot here and there. But that image, under the examination of unhurried eyes, is captivating.

A few things about the book that I found particularly charming.

First, James Joyce's mastery of writing. He is simply a great writer. He knows how to describe a scene, choose the right words, or tell you about a person. His characters jump right out of the page at you, full of blood and flesh. He can really take the readers to the center of his story.

Second, he really loves Dublin. And you can't help but love it with him. His passion for the city, for its people, is touching. He loves it not because of it is without faults, but despite of its faults. It is that love that made him write passionately about each story, and that becomes one of the central theme that holds all the stories together, and the reader.

Another central theme of the book is the state of paralysis of Dublin and its people at that time. Everywhere you look, there is decay, inaction, complacency, and idleness. You are gripped with this hopeless feeling, and suffocated by it. This theme is not in just one or multiple stories of the book, but all of them; it is pervasively present, which creates an ambient context that is most difficult to shake.

And lastly, the stories work together to put a group portrait right in front of the reader. Each story is unique and wonderful to read, but their combined effect is a powerful unique experience that I did not expect. I have not read another book that so effectively interweaves central themes through separate pieces like this. Each additional story adds another dimension to the tapestry, until he brings it all together in a superbly written story fittingly called "The Dead."

Beyond its brilliant and almost brutal realism, it is also a book full of enigmas, ambiguities, and symbolic resonances. Dubliners remains an undisputed masterpiece, a work that, in Terence Brown's words, "compels attention by the power of its unique vision of the world, its controlling sense of the truths of human experience as its author discerned them in a defeated. colonial city."

Beyond the Known

In the world we live in today, martial art has many forms and interpretations. Sometimes we see it in a movie, sometimes a UFC event where two guys try to bash each other's brains out, there is even a reality TV show that is based on martial art. But even with all the exposure, it is still a somewhat mystical, foreign concept with many faces. At times it seems to be something people practiced a long time ago, mostly from the Far East, in a time when technology was non-existent and civilization under-developed.

Is martial art for real or just for shows? Is it still useful today? What does it mean to be a martial artist?

I had all these questions at some point in my life, and in my training of Aikido. While searching for answers, I discovered Tri Thong Dang's "Beyond the Known" and my eyes were lit up - what a gem! Only after reading a few pages, I realized what I was holding in my hand was possibly the best martial art book I would ever read, and I was right about that even today.

The entire book is a fable about the journey of a young martial art practitioner, his relationship with his teacher, and how his understanding evolved over time. Although gifted, the young apprentice made many falls, and only through the guidance and love from his teacher, he was able to finally comprehend the true meaning of the Art and practice the Way.

Like all great books, as you read you begin to see the parallels between the fable and real life, between the protagonist and yourself, and between martial art and life. For martial art is but a vehicle for enlightenment; what you seek is not just techniques, or physical fitness, but a self-improvement deep within your heart and soul. In martial art, the real battle is between you and yourself.

This book didn't just teach me about how to be a better martial artist, but a better human being. I am much better prepared for the journey ahead, and in some ways, I know where I am going. Although there is plenty of work ahead, at least I know I am on the right path.

And as if that is not enough, the book is also written in a beautiful style of prose that is succinct and easy to read; it flows with ease and the quality is not in-your-face but hard to miss. It reminds me of the writing of the Buddha and that is probably not a coincidence.

The World's Religions

There might come a time in your life that you yearn to know more about Religion - maybe it is to seek meaning, maybe it is curiosity, maybe you are just down on your luck and need something uplifting. Whatever the reason might be, here you are and trying to figure it all out. But this is no easy endeavor by any means - one only need think of Christendom and its Eastern Orthodox Christians, Quakers, Jehovah's Witnesses, Christian Unitarians to get an idea, or a headache.

So where do you start?

Perhaps a great guidance in a time like this is The World's Religions by Houston Smith, who speaks on the subject authoritatively and eloquently. Smith covers Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity in less than 400 pages, but none of them is rushed through - each subject is well explained, delved in deep, and thoughtfully laid out for the reader, as if it is the sole concern of the book. Smith convincingly conveys the unique appeal and gifts of each of the traditions and reveals their hold on the human heart and imagination.

This is a book that takes religion seriously; All religions. It does not belittle, mock, or patronize. It is not a tourist guide either - the concepts explained are deep and significant. Religion is a serious matter and the author treats it as such. And I quote:

"Religion alive confronts the individual with the most momentous option life can present. It calls the soul to the highest adventure it can undertake, a proposed journey across the jungles, peaks, and deserts of the human spirit. The call is to confront reality, to master the self..."

This is also a book about values. The author's concern is the world's religions at their best - not much on histories or institutions, but ideas, and wisdom deposits - the empowering essence of religion. The author strives, almost painfully, to give reader the best of the best, and I think he succeeded admirably.

On top of everything, Smith writes well. His writing is clear and beautiful. He can take a complex idea - and believe me, in religion there are plenty of those - and put it in simple terms. He uses fables, stories, and quotes to make his idea even clearer. His prose is free flowing and poetic - a great pleasure to read.

So it would be fitting to end this entry with what the author wrote at the end of the book -

Said Jesus, blessed be his name, "Do unto others as you would they should do unto you." Said Buddha, blessed be his name as well, He who would, may reach the utmost height - but he must be eager to learn." If we do not quote the other religions on these points, it is because their words would be redundant.

The Miracle of Mindfulness

Wisdom is self-evident; perhaps it is analogous to love, you know it when you see it. And that is what I saw the moment I opened this book, and as I read each chapter, each page, until the very last page.

It is an experience to read something like this, not to mention life changing.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk from Vietnam. His life long dedication to Buddhism and meditation has given him insights into some of the most difficult questions of human life. In this book, he tackles the practice of Mindfulness - how important it is, how it impacts our lives, and some practical advices on how to achieve Mindfulness each and every day.

In short, how to live in the moment.

I know, through my own life experiences, that this is no simple task. It is especially true living in today's ultra-fast culture and lifestyle. Everything is in a hurry; you are always trying to get to that next thing. Your life inevitably becomes a blur right in front of your eyes. Where is the meaning of this kind of living?

To use an example from the book - in order to drink tea you need to wash dishes. If when you wash the dishes all you can think about is preparing the tea and drinking the tea afterwards, then you are really not living in the moment. As a result, you are really not living. That is the unfortunate consequence of not living a mindful life.

And what happens next? When you drink the tea, you inevitably think about something else too - it is a chain reaction, and becomes a habit.

It is very easy to read this book and relate it to your life. The author does not preach, but the wisdom and truthfulness in what he writes come across easily and effortlessly. I suppose truth is self-evident as well. Deep down in the human heart it possesses the incredible ability to recognize it.

"Thich Nhat Hanh speaks with the voice of the Buddha," one critic claims. I suppose there is very little one needs to add to that.

Launch Fever

Tim Taylor is quite a character - author, entrepreneur, NASA rocket man, family man, venture capitalist, inspirational speaker; you name it. I had the good fortune to listen to him speak one time, and he was just as charismatic in person as in his writing. "Launch Fever" is about Tim's life, the journey he took to become the person he is today, and all the ups and downs life had to offer along the way. He has had an interesting life, to say the least. The book is adventurous, exciting, moving, and very educational. You can learn about a number of things, such as what does a NASA engineer do, and how to become a successful entrepreneur.

But beyond all the specifics, Tim makes a real connection with his readers. He speaks honestly and passionately about his life, and sometimes you can really get a sense of what he went through. I read this book six months ago and even today I can vividly remember many things from the book: the sensation he felt when he first walked on a beach; his relationship with his mentor at NASA; the frustration he felt when he decided to leave NASA; the day when his wife told him they were expecting their first baby. When I read these passages, I could almost feel what he was feeling, and it was powerful.

"Launch Fever" also offers some good insights into life in general. There are not many of them in the book, but every one is good. Tim has a way of making the sophisticated sound simple, and what he says never come across as lecturing, but more as sharing among friends. Tim, despite his success, is a very grounded individual with a set of deep-rooted internal principles. To me, he is a good example of someone who has what Covey calls "Private Victory."

What Should I Do with My Life?

Who hasn't asked this question in his or her life? I know I have. All the time. The older I get, the more frequently I ask myself that. What should I Do with My Life? Perhaps this is the single most important question for every human being alive. When I first picked up Po Bronson's book I thought this was just another one of those self-help books. You know, the ones with inspirational quotes, catchy phrases, and mind-numbing platitudes, the ones that look just like every other help book you can get. But I was wrong about that.

This book is simply a collection of real life stories about real people - people with imperfections, quirks, flaws, fears. Just like you and me. It is filled with stories about how these ordinary people deal with extraordinary challenges life has to offer. The problems they face are real, the choices they have to make are often tough, and they don't always succeed. There are no easy answers but their struggle is the good stuff, dripping with the honey of life. You feel connected to them, sometimes cheer for them, or sympathize with their pain. By looking at their lives, you reflect on your own. Reading this book reminds me that, well, I am not so alone in my struggle. My path is the same path shared by many other travelers, and they know how I feel. It connects with me on a personal level.

Unlike most of the self-help gurus, coaches you see today, this book is not trying to offer some clear-cut solutions. It is not trying to say "Just do these five things and your life will be better." It does not try to oversimplify the complexities of our life experiences; it simply let each person tell his/her own story, and let life unfold by itself. Instead of trying to be the teacher, it is letting life be the teacher, and it is asking the readers to just sit quietly, and listen, without judgment and prejudice.

Think On Your Feet

I am a pretty bad speaker; just ask my friends and they will tell you. I get nervous; I blank out; and I lose my focus. And that is why I found Ken Wydro's book so useful; I can only kick myself for not reading it earlier. "Think On Your Feet" shows you, very convincingly, why it is so hard for so many people to be afraid of speaking in public, and think/execute under pressure. Ken does not focus on the superficial elements of the techniques, but digs deep into the inner workings of one's psychology, and shows you the real reason. His theory makes a lot of sense to me.

But Ken doesn't stop there. He also demonstrates how you can change all that with just a handful of techniques. His techniques are simple, easy to practice, and most important, they work! I spend a few minutes everyday working on his techniques, and they are making a big difference. No, this is not some magic potion you can drink to cure all illness, but a set of disciplines and mental conditioning you can integrate into you life that will make a huge difference.

This book is not limited to just public speaking, but really all aspects of life. You can apply his principles to a number of different things - it changes your overall attitude and perspective. This is one of the best self-help books I read in recent years, and deserves to be revisited on a regular basis.

2007 Reading List

Books I read in 2007