Steeped in Stories: Timeless Children's Novels to Refresh Our Tired Souls

Mitali Perkins
online access from JSTOR Books
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The stories we read as children shape us for the rest of our lives. But it is never too late to discover that transformative spark of hope that children's classics can ignite within us.

Award-winning children's author Mitali Perkins grew up steeped in stories--escaping into her books on the fire escape of a Flushing apartment building and, later, finding solace in them as she navigated between the cultures of her suburban California school and her Bengali heritage at home. Now Perkins invites us to explore the promise of seven timeless children's novels for adults living in uncertain times: stories that provide mirrors to our innermost selves and open windows to other worlds.

Blending personal narrative, accessible literary criticism, and spiritual and moral formation, Perkins delves into novels by Louisa May Alcott, C. S. Lewis, L. M. Montgomery, Frances Hodgson Burnett, and other literary "uncles" and "aunts" that illuminate the virtuous, abundant life we still desire. These novels are not perfect, and Perkins honestly assesses their critical frailties and flaws related to race, culture, and power. Yet reading or rereading these books as adults can help us build virtue, unmask our vices, and restore our hope. Reconnecting with these stories from childhood isn't merely nostalgia. In an era of uncertainty and despair, they lighten our load and bring us much-needed hope.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

極端經濟 : 當極端成為常態, 反思韌性, 復甦與未來布局 (Extreme Economies)

理查・戴維斯 (Richard Davies)
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今日的極端，明日的常態
深入全球九大地區，深掘九個極端案例
預見2030最重要的經濟新趨勢
────探知彈性應變、扭轉危機、開創新局的關鍵，
在於「韌性」────

★2019開明經濟學家獎（Enlightened Economist Prize）★
★2019《新政治家》（New Statesman）年度最佳書籍★
★2020愛德華．斯坦福旅行寫作獎（Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards）年度最佳新人作家★
★2019《金融時報》和麥肯錫年度最佳商業圖書獎（FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year）入圍★
★《紐約時報》編輯選書（New York Times Editor's Choice）★
★《出版人週刊》（Publishers Weekly）星級評論★
★耶魯大學、紅杉資本指定「創業者、高階主管」必讀經濟著作★
★美國智庫布魯金斯研究院（Brookings Institution）推薦防疫期間必讀「經濟發展類」著作★

作者並非象牙塔裡的經濟學家，他親自走訪全球十六萬公里以上，採訪五百多人，包括政府官員、難民、罪犯等，透過真實發生的故事，為我們還原難民營、監獄、超高齡社會的經濟、市場乃至日常生活的真實面貌。

書中的九個地點，代表三種極端經驗——極端的生存（再生）、失敗與未來——不論現在或未來，都在人們的生活中扮演舉足輕重的地位。作者透過獨特的觀點，逐一闡明在極端惡劣的條件下，人們如何透過自發市場、非正規經濟、傳統交易、保險機制、人力與社會資本等，來面對巨大衝擊、恢復經濟活力，並展現過人韌性；擁有一手好牌的政府，為何經濟會輸得一敗塗地？以及，在代表未來十年趨勢的極端經濟體，人們如何因應兼具「超高齡化、最尖端科技、極度貧富不均」三種條件的社會？

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close

Aminatou Sow, Ann Friedman
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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A close friendship is one of the most influential and important relationships a human life can contain. Anyone will tell you that! But for all the rosy sentiments surrounding friendship, most people don’t talk much about what it really takes to stay close for the long haul.

Now two friends, Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman, tell the story of their equally messy and life-affirming Big Friendship in this honest and hilarious book that chronicles their first decade in one another’s lives. As the hosts of the hit podcast Call Your Girlfriend, they’ve become known for frank and intimate conversations. In this book, they bring that energy to their own friendship—its joys and its pitfalls.

An inspiring and entertaining testament to the power of society’s most underappreciated relationship, Big Friendship will invite you to think about how your own bonds are formed, challenged, and preserved. It is a call to value your friendships in all of their complexity. Actively choose them. And, sometimes, fight for them.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

正常人 (Normal People)

莎莉‧魯尼 (Sally Rooney)
online access from HyRead ebook 
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為何我們渴望關係，卻又一再受傷？

「一部代表未來的經典。」──《衛報》
未來會怎樣我不清楚，但我們就是這樣開始的。

康諾和梅黎安在西愛爾蘭的小鎮一起長大，但兩人的共同點僅止於此。在學校裡，康諾人氣高，大家都喜歡他；而梅黎安則是獨來獨往。然而當兩人一開始對話，那是一段尷尬卻振奮的對話，足以改變他們人生的變化就此展開。

本書是關於兩個人互相吸引、友誼與愛的小說，從第一句對話開始，展開長達數年的故事發展。我們陪著這對年輕人，看著他們想離開彼此身邊，卻始終做不到。

我不知道我是有什麼毛病，梅黎安說，我不知道我為什麼就不能像正常人一樣。
我不知道我為什麼沒辦法讓別人愛我……

何謂正常？正常性？
渴望被愛，想擺脫孤獨感；害怕跟別人不一樣，卻一再失去自我……
「正常人」 維持親密關係的極限何在？

面對這個動盪的世界和現實的社會，舉世各地的年輕人內心充滿了虛無飄渺的想像與無力感，批判他人頭頭是道，但是對於自己總是舉棋不定。害怕被孤立、被比下去，拼命跟上他人的節奏；渴望被人理解，卻又恐懼真實的自我；渴望受人喜愛，卻又害怕袒露自己。1991年出生的作家莎莉‧魯尼被文壇肯定，在於她捕捉到千禧世代的脆弱不安和階級意識，一直小心翼翼，但世界令他們充滿無力感；想在親密關係中彼此依賴，但彼此之間存在的某種權力關係，像一種危險力量，令他們幾乎無法抓住對方，這種自我保護與逃避間的矛盾，引發無數年輕讀者的強烈共鳴──害怕面對未來，也害怕面對自己。

「我十分確定我所有的經驗都是極為日常的生活經驗，如果不是的話，根本不值得去寫。」──莎莉‧魯尼

一對從日常對話開始靠近的年輕男女，一段從生活表面走進靈魂深處的情感關係。乍看不過是生活的《正常人》，卻在當代不乏辭彙定義的各種關係中，寫出了一種更加熱情、親密的「深度」關係，也讓讀者清楚感受到人物在時光中愈加成長與複雜。徜若每個世代都需要一個膾炙人口的愛情故事，可以說繼村上春樹《挪威的森林》後，不曾有一本青春戀愛小說掀起全球文壇如此熱烈回響。同樣刻劃涉世未深的年輕人，同樣懷藏著難以明說的心理迷惑與混亂，全球眾多書評將兩本書相提並論。曼布克獎官網也在本書入圍網頁上將村上的經典列入《正常人》四本延伸書單之一。

獲獎紀錄
　　●美國前總統歐巴馬年度選書
　　●入選《時代雜誌》年度「次世代」百大影響人物──莎莉‧魯尼
　　●《時代雜誌》評選十年來最好的小說
　　●《衛報》評選21世紀百大圖書
　　●榮獲2019年英國國家書卷大獎暨小說獎
　　●榮獲2018年柯斯達文學獎
　　●榮獲2018年英國水石書店年度好書大獎
　　●榮獲愛爾蘭圖書獎
　　●榮獲英國皇家文學學會安可獎
　　●入圍2019年女性小說獎
　　●入圍2018年布克獎
　　●《衛報》年度選書
　　●《紐約時報》年度選書
　　●《時代雜誌》年度選書
　　●「歐普拉讀書俱樂部」年度選書
　　●哈佛大學《深紅雜誌》年度選書
　　●《旁觀者雜誌》年度選書
　　●《新政治家雜誌》年度選書
　　●《華盛頓郵報》年度選書
　　●《Vogue》年度選書
　　●《君子雜誌》年度選書
　　●《ELLE》年度選書
　　●《美麗佳人》年度選書
　　●《時人雜誌》年度選書
　　●《Slate》年度選書
　　●Vox年度選書
　　●「美國公共廣播」年度選書
　　●「紐約公共圖書館」年度選書
　　●《倫敦標準晚報》年度選書

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience

Brené Brown
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
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#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In her latest book, Brené Brown writes, “If we want to find the way back to ourselves and one another, we need language and the grounded confidence to both tell our stories and be stewards of the stories that we hear. This is the framework for meaningful connection.”

In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.

Over the past two decades, Brown’s extensive research into the experiences that make us who we are has shaped the cultural conversation and helped define what it means to be courageous with our lives. Atlas of the Heart draws on this research, as well as on Brown’s singular skills as a storyteller, to show us how accurately naming an experience doesn’t give the experience more power—it gives us the power of understanding, meaning, and choice.

Brown shares, “I want this book to be an atlas for all of us, because I believe that, with an adventurous heart and the right maps, we can travel anywhere and never fear losing ourselves.”

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

筆下 ── 文學經典的六個專題

葛亮
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獲得「第十四屆香港書獎」

《筆下》是葛亮博士長期研究、寫作與教學的專業經驗結晶。

在書中，作者深入而透徹地論析文學經典之作，涉獵J.D.塞林格、伊恩‧麥克尤恩、帕特里克‧莫迪亞諾、石黑一雄、太宰治、白先勇、黃碧雲等中外名家；全書以主題設章，同中釋異，捭闔古今，在文學評論著作中可謂匠心獨具。藉由作者解讀，可一窺方家創作軌跡，並對其作品文字風格、內容意蘊、審美意趣等有豐瞻而全面的認識；亦從文學創作導引之角度，令讀者在題材選取、遣詞用句、敘述手法等層面皆有所獲益，進而由好讀者邁向好作者之境。

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)