Klara and the Sun

Kazuo Ishiguro
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BOOKER PRIZE NOMINEE • NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • Once in a great while, a book comes along that changes our view of the world. This magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate and author of Never Let Me Go is “an intriguing take on how artificial intelligence might play a role in our futures ... a poignant meditation on love and loneliness” (The Associated Press).

A NEW YORK TIMES Notable Book of the Year • GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick

“What stays with you in ‘Klara and the Sun’ is the haunting narrative voice—a genuinely innocent, egoless perspective on the strange behavior of humans obsessed and wounded by power, status and fear.” —Booker Prize committee

Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

不丟東西的整理術:放不掉的記憶與情感, 再也無須斷捨離!

米田瑪麗娜(Komeda Marina）
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從小抱到大的布偶、滿是破洞的牛仔褲、磨壞底的球鞋、
暗戀對象送的禮物、第一次約會的電影票……，
捨不得丟？我們都懂！

囤積症必學的佛系收納！
徹底顛覆斷捨離的新時代整理術！

本書作者米田瑪麗娜是日本新生代收納專家，
東京大學經濟系畢業的她，具有數據分析的專業背景，
現任職於日本居家收納服務Sumally股份有限公司。

她從「城鄉住房經驗差異」的田野調查中得到靈感，
自2018年起展開「不丟東西也能整理住家環境」系列活動，
協助無數難以向人生中重要物品告別者，重拾井井有條的美好生活
其中包括多位作家、設計師與企業家。她說：

「越是有創意的人，擁有的物品越多；看看大藝術家，根本沒多少人徹底奉行極簡主義。」
「那些讓自己又哭又笑、拿在手裡就覺得十分幸福的寶物，正是創造獨特人生的泉源。」
「越是渴望活出自我，就越會將物品視為妝點人生的夥伴，並享受、熱愛與物品的邂逅。」

淚流滿面了嗎？沒錯，如果你也是：
►棄置恐懼症、超級重感情，什麼都不想丟，卻又希望能舒適過活的人。
►獨自在外租房，居住空間超小、東西卻一年比一年多的人。
►無法在一天內就把房間打掃乾淨，想認真評估每件物品、慢慢整理的人。

這本超佛系的囤積症收納專書，你一定要讀！

不丟東西的整理術只有四個步驟：評估→整理→收納→維護。
1.評估：確實估算待整理物總量，依據礙眼度和使用率安排順序與日程。
2.整理：根據使用率和喜愛程度進行物品分類，然後先這樣放著沒關係。
3.收納：每月使用超過一次的物品定點收納；其餘則透過共享經濟送出，放手但不丟棄。
4.維護：每週花30分鐘確認空間與物品的平衡，避免再次爆棚。
除此之外，還有更多不丟東西的整理小撇步......

讀完這本書，
你會更懂得如何妥善保存所有捨不得丟的東西，
同時擁有井井有條的美好生活。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Exercised：Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding

Daniel Lieberman
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If exercise is healthy (so good for you!), why do many people dislike or avoid it? These engaging stories and explanations will revolutionize the way you think about exercising - not to mention sitting, sleeping, sprinting, weight lifting, playing, fighting, walking, jogging, and even dancing.

“Strikes a perfect balance of scholarship, wit, and enthusiasm.” (Bill Bryson, New York Times best-selling author of The Body)

● If we are born to walk and run, why do most of us take it easy whenever possible?
● Does running ruin your knees?
● Should we do weights, cardio, or high-intensity training?
● Is sitting really the new smoking?
● Can you lose weight by walking?
● And how do we make sense of the conflicting, anxiety-inducing information about rest, physical activity, and exercise with which we are bombarded?

In this myth-busting book, Daniel Lieberman, professor of human evolutionary biology at Harvard University and a pioneering researcher on the evolution of human physical activity, tells the story of how we never evolved to exercise - to do voluntary physical activity for the sake of health. Using his own research and experiences throughout the world, Lieberman recounts without jargon how and why humans evolved to walk, run, dig, and do other necessary and rewarding physical activities while avoiding needless exertion.

Exercised is entertaining and enlightening but also constructive. As our increasingly sedentary lifestyles have contributed to skyrocketing rates of obesity and diseases such as diabetes, Lieberman audaciously argues that to become more active we need to do more than medicalize and commodify exercise.

Drawing on insights from evolutionary biology and anthropology, Lieberman suggests how we can make exercise more enjoyable, rather than shaming and blaming people for avoiding it. He also tackles the question of whether you can exercise too much, even as he explains why exercise can reduce our vulnerability to the diseases mostly likely to make us sick and kill us.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

香港電影 2020 : 紀實遺城

主編：鄭超、致寧
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電影是暗室中的光景。2020年，病毒徹底污染了這裏人所共想的自由氣息。但作息者耕耘不絕，始終守護光影無限。創作和評論的堅持，毋懼歷史，讓擦出的火花吶喊。這便是香港。──陳清僑（嶺南大學文化研究系教授）

這書或許不只是年度香港電影回顧。在此困頓的時代，依然用文字鐫刻電影的熱情。見證一份華語片風華勁挺的關愛。──黃建業（電影系教授、前國家電影資料館館長）

本書從「逆疫市」的現象電影、到現已無法完整在香港放映的紀錄片，乃至短片都一一論及，在艱辛的一年為香港電影留下了完整的紀錄及分析。絕對是香港電影愛好者的珍貴收藏書。──黃綺琳（《金都》編導）

(摘錄自香港電影評論學會)

Air & Light & Time & Space: How Successful Academics Write

Helen Sword
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From the author of Stylish Academic Writing comes an essential new guide for writers aspiring to become more productive and take greater pleasure in their craft. Helen Sword interviewed one hundred academics worldwide about their writing background and practices. Relatively few were trained as writers, she found, and yet all have developed strategies to thrive in their publish-or-perish environment.

So how do these successful academics write, and where do they find the “air and light and time and space,” in the words of poet Charles Bukowski, to get their writing done? What are their formative experiences, their daily routines, their habits of mind? How do they summon up the courage to take intellectual risks and the resilience to deal with rejection?

Sword identifies four cornerstones that anchor any successful writing practice: Behavioral habits of discipline and persistence; Artisanal habits of craftsmanship and care; Social habits of collegiality and collaboration; and Emotional habits of positivity and pleasure. Building on this “BASE,” she illuminates the emotional complexity of the writing process and exposes the lack of writing support typically available to early-career academics. She also lays to rest the myth that academics must produce safe, conventional prose or risk professional failure. The successful writers profiled here tell stories of intellectual passions indulged, disciplinary conventions subverted, and risk-taking rewarded. Grounded in empirical research and focused on sustainable change, Air & Light & Time & Space offers a customizable blueprint for refreshing personal habits and creating a collegial environment where all writers can flourish.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

思考的法則: 打造美好習慣的100個練習 (The Rules of Thinking)

理查‧譚普勒 (Richard Templar)
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以前，你一直習慣這樣……
為了出清折扣而搶購某些根本不需要的東西；
附和同事的意見而隱瞞自己反對的理由；
總覺得待辦事項永遠無法在期限內完成；
清單、行事曆、備忘錄、線上日程表、彈出式通知都沒辦法記住瑣事很困擾……

在日常生活中，與思考有關的一切往往都離不開習慣，
我們只要醒著就在思考，因而早已習以為常，
不再察覺自己的思考方式已經變得懶散、草率。

如果我們想要正確無誤地表達自己的意念，
必須更有效地掌握大腦的運作才行。　
只要養成好習慣，掌握大腦的運作一點都不吃力。

現在，你可以這樣做──
嘗試跨出同溫層（因為這裡聚集了價值觀、信念相同的人）
練習獨立思考（不必隨波逐流、不再人云亦云）
從容應付期限的祕訣，剔除無關緊要的待辦事項
發揮創意，運用非典型技術，找到組織自己的好方法。

本書不在教導思考的技巧和策略，而是思考的方式。
了解自己為什麼這樣思考，進而運用這種理解來改進自己的思考方式。
套一句古老的諺語：「教人一個想法，是滿足他的大腦一天。教他如何思考，是滿足他的大腦一輩子。」

100條全新的思考法則，帶你探索「怎樣思考」，引領你發現「思考之道」。
這些法則是指引思考的基本原理，
告訴我們如何獲得更有智慧的決定、
改掉拖拖拉拉的毛病、明白何時應該有所退讓、
避免犯錯、尋找替代方案、與他人合作而思考得更完善；
停止偏執想法、保持大腦活躍，讓我們的想法更快樂也更健全。

好好練習本書的各條思考法則，將書中的法則化為習慣，
我們的生活與工作、家庭或人際關係早就大不相同。

如何使用思考法則
請記住：你沒有義務去做書中提到的任何事──
你去做只是因為你想要做。
讓我們把負荷量維持在可以勝任的程度，你才會持續想要做。

你可以依想要的方式來做，但是如果你想聽聽作者的意見，他的建議如下：
全書先讀過一遍，然後選出三、四條法則。
這些法則是你認為會讓自己大幅改變，
或是第一次讀到時就特別吸睛的，
再或者是看起來很適合作為你的起點。
請將它們寫下來！

請花幾週的時間練習這三、四條法則，
直到它們深植在你的內心，你不必特別努力就能做得到。
此刻，它們已經成為你的習慣，這是好習慣，你做得很棒。
現在，你可以選取其他想要克服的法則，並重複這個練習。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Stop Talking, Start Influencing: 12 Insights From Brain Science to Make Your Message Stick

Jared Cooney Horvath
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- What can a crowded bar teach us about effective PowerPoint presentations?
- What does binge-watching reveal about forming deep, lasting memories?
- Why is tihs setnecne so esay to raed - and waht deos it tlel us abuot thkining?
In this exciting new book, Dr. Jared Cooney Horvath breaks fresh ground on the vital topic of influence. By combining cutting-edge brain research with proven behavioral science, Dr. Horvath outlines 12 scientific principles of how to impart knowledge in a way that truly sticks with and impacts others.

For leaders sick of repeating themselves to clients and colleagues, for coaches tired of drilling athletes without seeing meaningful improvement, for teachers fed up with pouring their hearts into lessons only to see no lasting impact ... it's time to stop talking and start influencing!

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

心安即是家

王賡武、林娉婷 著 ・夏沛然 譯
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獲得「第十四屆香港書獎」

海外華人史學大家王賡武在年近九旬之際寫下自己「長年半游牧生涯」的故事。他的人生以殖民時代的東南亞為起點，歷經殖民、戰爭、動亂、革命，大半生在三大洲間遷徙， 構成二十世紀的歷史洪流之中一部豐富而獨特的流浪史。

接續上卷《家園何處是》，下卷《心安即是家》的故事從王賡武身份認同的廢墟上展開， 繼續述說他輾轉於新加坡、吉隆坡、倫敦、劍橋、坎培拉、香港的探索旅程。王賡武逐漸從滿腔熱血、致力於「建國造史」的年輕知識精英，轉而投向大學校園「尋求更大的自由」。

這段旅程的同行者是本書另一位作者林娉婷。我們會從她的角度回看那些年，她與年輕的鬍子詩人王賡武相識於馬來亞大學，兩人在倫敦成婚，在異鄉生子，先後遷居五個國家、七座城市，共同尋求身份認同的歸宿：「我們住在什麼地方，那裏就是我們的家。」

「在這本引人入勝的回憶錄中，王賡武娓娓道來自己的學術之旅，娉婷回憶他倆在新加坡和馬來西亞的日子更是充實了敍述，在這兩地，王賡武成為了啟發人心的老師、能幹的大學行政人員和享譽國際、研究中國和海外華人的歷史學家。此回憶錄讓我們看到是什麼造就了這位廣受讚譽的歷史學家的學術成就和世界視野，但最吸引人的是他如何描述對『家』的領悟。」 ─李錦興，馬來西亞新紀元大學副校長

(摘錄自cup.cuhk.edu.hk)

The Sweet Spot: The Pleasures of Suffering and the Search for Meaning

Paul Bloom
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“This book will challenge you to rethink your vision of a good life. With sharp insights and lucid prose, Paul Bloom makes a captivating case that pain and suffering are essential to happiness. It’s an exhilarating antidote to toxic positivity.” —Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again and host of the TED podcast WorkLife

One of Behavioral Scientist's "Notable Books of 2021"

From the author of Against Empathy comes a different kind of happiness book, one that shows us how suffering is an essential source of both pleasure and meaning in our lives

Why do we so often seek out physical pain and emotional turmoil? We go to movies that make us cry, or scream, or gag. We poke at sores, eat spicy foods, immerse ourselves in hot baths, run marathons. Some of us even seek out pain and humiliation in sexual role-play. Where do these seemingly perverse appetites come from?

Drawing on groundbreaking findings from psychology and brain science, The Sweet Spot shows how the right kind of suffering sets the stage for enhanced pleasure. Pain can distract us from our anxieties and help us transcend the self. Choosing to suffer can serve social goals; it can display how tough we are or, conversely, can function as a cry for help. Feelings of fear and sadness are part of the pleasure of immersing ourselves in play and fantasy and can provide certain moral satisfactions. And effort, struggle, and difficulty can, in the right contexts, lead to the joys of mastery and flow.

But suffering plays a deeper role as well. We are not natural hedonists—a good life involves more than pleasure. People seek lives of meaning and significance; we aspire to rich relationships and satisfying pursuits, and this requires some amount of struggle, anxiety, and loss. Brilliantly argued, witty, and humane, Paul Bloom shows how a life without chosen suffering would be empty—and worse than that, boring.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

深度數位大掃除：3分飽連線方案，在喧囂世界過專注人生 (Digital Minimalism)

卡爾．紐波特 (Cal Newport)
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如果無法長時間聊天而不瞄手機，
這本書就是為你而寫。

15個實作法，打造連線與離線的黃金比例。
取回數位生活的自主權，
重拾你對人事物的專注力。

◎亞馬遜年度最佳商業／領導書《Deep Work深度工作力》作者最新力作。
◎甫上市，旋即登上《紐約時報》、亞馬遜等各大暢銷榜。
◎被譽為科技界的《怦然心動的人生整理魔法》，足以為生活帶來奇蹟式轉變。

＼許多科技造成的果，早已背離發明的初衷／

為什麼需要進行數位大掃除？在選擇數位產品時，我們往往著眼於便利性，而忽略了它們造成的危害，例如iPhone原意是要作為結合iPod（聽音樂）和手機功能的新裝置，如今卻成了app商人綁架用戶的平台。

在數位科技令人上癮的特質中，少部分是偶然產生，絕大部分是商人刻意為之（許多科技企劃案皆是以「讓人忍不住想用」為起點）。我們為了追求些許便利，把新科技盲目地添加到生活中，回過神才發現自己淹沒在日益喧囂的科技產品裡。

＼線上人生愈蓬勃，真實生活愈淺薄／

連線與離線生活有如一場零和賽局，過度連線正在全面蠶食我們的生活品質：

．喪失獨處能力：
獨處並非孤身一人，而是一種大腦不受他人干擾的狀態。研究證實，缺乏獨處是導
致焦慮等相關心理疾病的主因；而適度的獨處，有助於發想創意、解決問題、強化人際關係。
．沉溺線上世界，虛應現實互動：
點擊社群媒體通知的衝動，是科技商人精心設計的結果，可以為他們賺進大把銀子，
但無法為你贏得大好人際關係。成功戒除數位成癮的一名讀者說：我與孩子的互動更「有心」了。

．緩慢累積的疲累能量：
不斷接觸朋友在網路上精心展現的生活，容易讓人產生自我貶抑，對青少年來說，
這也是受到公開排擠的殘酷方式。社群媒體上的負面情緒總是比正面、有建設性的
言論吸引更多關注。一再與這種負面情緒互動，會累積成一股令人疲累的負能量。

所以，與其被商人的設計牽著走，我們要自訂科技的使用方法。

＼30天數位大掃除，找回自己珍視的人事物／

在一場上千人參與的大型實驗中，《深度數位大掃除》的15個實作法，已為許多重度連線者帶來翻天覆地的改變：

．我不再對社群媒體上的貼文按讚或留言，不再頻繁透過簡訊與人聯繫，人際關係反而更深厚。
．可以長時間交談而不瞄手機；可以和朋友、家人共度美好時光，而沒有非得記下所有經歷的衝動。
．知道當天的新聞，但不覺得自己被新聞疲勞轟炸。
．不再擔心自己錯過什麼，因為知道哪些活動能真正帶來意義和滿足。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)