Monday, December 27, 2010

The Nature Handbook : A Guide to Observing the Great Outdoors

Nature is full of fascinating stories, stories that attract our attention at a young age and keep us amazed throughout our entire lives. The need to understand nature draws us back to its simple beauty again and again, yet underneath this simplicity lies a complex web of associations and patterns. The Nature Handbook does what no other field guide does: explores and explains nature through these connecting patterns, revealing them to the many different types of nature lovers. All naturalists-- from birders to gardeners, hikers to environmentalists, wildflower enthusiasts to butterfliers-- will appreciate the different approach of the Handbook, even those whose interest in the natural world is just beginning to develop. Naturalists who are already well versed in one group of organisms--birders, for example--will find new explanations and patterns for their favorite group, as well as new patterns all around them that they had previously overlooked. Observations in the Handbook are arranged in the three main sections of plants, animals, and habitats. These sections are then connected through discussions of the relationship of size and shape, adaptations, distribution patterns, behavior, and diversity of life. Since the emphasis is on patterns rather than individual species, each chapter has cross-references to related topics …
The book is designed to invite browsing, and readers will gain a rich ecological perspective and insight. Curiosity about the world around us is a basis for human learning; The Nature Handbook serves to aid all nature lovers in their quest for understanding the many stories that our living world provides.
(Excerpt from amazon.com)



閱讀大師的智慧 : 19位世界哲學大師影響人生的150篇經典哲理散文

張秀華 編著
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
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智慧永遠不會衰老,衰老的是我們的心靈!
本書的寫作方向以當代著名哲學家、詩人、文學家等的作品為主,共十九位哲學家大師,將他們的精闢論點,用一種改寫的方式節錄而出,以形式簡短的文章呈現,內容富有深度,為一種文簡易賅的經典小品文,共有150篇經典哲理散文。並且此書為哲學家、詩人、文學家等的思想結晶,內容簡潔,富有意味,值得人們沉吟再三。
用心靈的筆,重現哲學大師的智慧,閱讀思想新世界。範圍內容,共分九個主題,為人性、生與死、女人、讀書藝術、愛情與婚姻、性、大自然、宗教與律法、生活與其他。
(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, December 20, 2010

Christmas at the Movies : Images of Christmas in American, British and European Cinema

Edited by Mark Connelly
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
online access from EBSCOhost Ebooks
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Whether we love it or hate it, Christmas has always played a special role in the cinema, and Christmas movies like It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street have a special place in popular affections. Christmas at the Movies takes a good look at these popular films, decoding the messages they convey about popular preoccupations and attitudes and about the different societies that produce them. Written in an entertaining and illuminating style, this book gives a brand new view of Christmas and its rituals.
(Excerpt from amazon.com)

During the nineteenth century the family reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was one of the rituals of Christmas. In the latter part of the twentieth century, the ritual television showing of Frank Capra’s film It’s a Wonderful Life took its place. This is symptomatic of the process by which cinema became an integral part of the celebration of Christmas in the twentieth century …
We can read about the role of the Christmas film in wartime both in Britain and America, the cinematic career of Santa Claus and the rise and rise in popular esteem of It’s a Wonderful Life. But all is not just joy to the world and peace and goodwill to all men in the cinematic Christmas. There is a darker side, gleefully analyzed by Kim Newman, in which the schmaltz and saccharine conventions of White Christmas are undercut by the depredations of a parade of psycho santas and Christmas slashers …
(Excerpt from “General Editor’s Introduction” of the book by Jeffrey Richards)



除了美麗之外 : 20個新世代成功女人的動人故事 (DotCom Divas)

伊麗莎白・卡拉賽 (Elizabeth Carlassare)
online access from McGraw-Hill Education
online access from EBSCOhost Ebooks
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本書是以故事型態來訴說20個女性的創業過程,每個故事都有動人的情節,不同的特色,作者文筆抒情,故事引人入勝。
這本書證明了機會的大門永遠為有才幹、有熱誠又能堅持的人們所敞開。令人耳目一新的是,這些創業家都剛好是優秀的女性,她們看到了潛在的機會並且緊緊抓住它們。」-麥拉.哈特(Myra Hart),哈佛商學院管理實務教授。
「卡拉賽這本書不單只適合女性,而是所有想嶄露頭角的創業者都必需一讀的好書。她精心歸納出創業成功之關鍵-也就是堅持、遠見、彈性、以及建立良好團隊的重要性-如同由領航者親身敘述一般。我大力推薦這本書。」-海蒂.羅森(Heidi Roizen),軟體銀行創業投資公司(Softbank Venture Capital)總經理 。
「卡拉賽從非常吸引人的角度來觀察這些充滿創業動機的女性,她們推動了許多現今處於領導地位的事業。在數位經濟之中,本書提供了追求成功所需學習的教訓和策略。」-艾倫.漢考克(Ellen M. Hancock),出行者通訊(Exodus Communications)董事長暨總裁。……
(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, December 13, 2010

Stress, Coping, and Development : An Integrative Perspective

Carolyn M. Aldwin; foreword by Emmy E. Werner
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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How do people cope with stressful experiences? What makes a coping strategy effective for a particular individual? This volume comprehensively examines the nature of psychosocial stress and the implications of different coping strategies for adaptation and health across the lifespan. Carolyn M. Aldwin synthesizes a vast body of knowledge within a conceptual framework that emphasizes the transactions between mind and body and between persons and environments. She analyzes different kinds of stressors and their psychological and physiological effects, both negative and positive. Ways in which coping is influenced by personality, relationships, situational factors, and culture are explored. The book also provides a methodological primer for stress and coping research, critically reviewing available measures and data analysis techniques.
(Excerpt from amazon.com)

打不死的樂觀 (Hard Optimism)

普賴斯.普里切特 (Price Pritchett)
online access from McGraw-Hill Education
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用打死不退的樂觀面對人生中的每一個挑戰。現在這個年頭,思考模式、思維、以及情緒決定了我們的工作績效。舉凡我們對事情的看法、對自身的感受都會造成影響。《打不死的樂觀》書中提供十二道經過實地驗證的有力實踐法則,說明怎樣剷除心中負面的想法,並效法勝利者的態度 — 評估契機、克服阻礙、並以正面的能量影響周遭的人。
有了書中囊括的行動法則,你將能:
• 掌握並剷除悲觀的想法
• 無論發生的事情是好是壞,都要秉持樂觀的態度來解讀
• 以「正向再評價」(positive reappraisal)來面對問題和處理失望的情緒
• 了解何時、怎樣可以利用負面的想法取得優勢
• 運用個人優勢(signature strength)
• 以感恩和諒解趕走負面的想法
認真面對現實,不要粉飾太平,並對思考過程進行管理以改善處境;你將能了解「打不死的樂觀」的精髓,並順利迎戰事業和人生上的每一項挑戰。
(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Eat That Frog! : 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time

By Brian Tracy
online access from Books24x7
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Every idea in this book is focused on increasing your overall levels of productivity, performance, and output and on making you more valuable in whatever you do. You can apply many of these ideas to your personal life as well. Each of these twenty one methods and techniques is complete in itself. All are necessary. One strategy might be effective in one situation and another might apply to another task. All together, these twenty one ideas represent a smorgasbord of personal effectiveness techniques that you can use at any time, in any order or sequence that makes sense to you at the moment. The key to success is action. These principles work to bring about fast, predictable improvements in performance and results. The faster you learn and apply them, the faster you will move ahead in your career guaranteed! There will be no limit to what you can accomplish when you learn how to Eat That Frog!
(Excerpt from amazon.co.uk)

心裏的鎖—小故事大智慧

張健鵬, 胡足靑 主編
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…… 因為職業的關係,多年來我先後採訪過多位成功人士,成功當然都意味著財富、地位。他們在追述自己成功的經歷時,大多會抖落出一兩個小故事,有自己親歷困境時的頓悟與體驗,更多的是別人的小故事,甚至是流傳已久的寓言,童話或民間故事。這些故事給予他們莫大的精神營養,他們從中汲取的信念與智慧對自己的成功有著很重要的作用。他們也經常把這些故事講給員工部屬及朋友們聽:這比講別的更直接,形象,生動,傳神。
我問自己:許多故事也曾經聽過或讀過,為什麼人家就從中找到了成功的支撐,而我卻輕易地讓它們隨風飄去呢?……
解開桎梏心靈的鎖鏈,捕捉住小故事中的智慧精靈。
你給我講過一千遍大道理,我耳朵都聽出繭子了,從小到大,媽媽和老師都是這麼說的,語氣神態都差不多,一出門我就給忘了。
你給我講了一個小故事,一陣清風吹過,不經意間,我的心弦為之顫動,智慧與道理變成一個個可愛的小精靈,都慢慢融化在心裡。
有的小故事也許多年前曾聽過,有的乍一看覺得平淡無奇,但靜下心,帶著自己對生命與事業的體驗,細細品味,會有全新的感覺 ……
(摘錄自書中 “智慧在此隱藏—解開桎梏心靈的鎖鏈” — 總序,劍朋)