Monday, April 18, 2011

Book Smart : Your Essential Reading List for Becoming a Literary Genius in 365 Days

Jane Mallison
online access from ProQuest Ebook Central
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind

Like taking a private class with an engaging literature professor, Book Smart is your ticket for literary enlightenment all year long and for the rest of your life. Whether you're a passionate turner of pages or you aspire to be better-read, Book Smart expands your knowledge and enjoyment with a month-by-month plan that tackles 120 of the most compelling books of all time.
Throughout the year, each book comes alive with historical notes, highlights on key themes and characters, and advice on how to approach reading. Here is a sampling of what you can expect:

January: Make a fresh start with classics like Beowulf and Dante's Inferno
April: Welcome spring in the company of strong women like Jane Eyre, Anna Karenina, and Vanity Fair's Becky Sharpe
August: Bring a breath of fresh air to summer's heat with comedic works from Kingsley Amis and Oscar Wilde
October: Get back to school with young people struggling to grow up in classics like Little Women and recent bestsellers such as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
December: Celebrate year's end with big prizewinners such as The Remains of the Day and Leaves of Grass
(Excerpt from amazon.com)

改變歷史的書 (Books That Changed the World)

唐斯(Robert B. Downs)
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind

本書介紹16本對世界命運發生重大影響的書,自天文、地理、政治、經濟,到醫學、物理,無所不包。這16本書各有其特色與重要性。作者用提要鉤玄,深入淺出的筆法,指其奧要,斷其得失,更博采眾家之議,以闡明其影響之所在。
16本書各成一個單元,每篇約一萬餘言,各篇中包括作者生平、著書經過、那本書的內容概要、出版後的反響與批評,以及對後世的具體影響;譯者並根據東方讀者需要,加以說明或補充。
社會與人文部分十冊:
馬基維利《君王論》;潘恩《常識》;亞當斯密《國富論》;馬爾薩斯《人口論》;梭羅《不服從論》;史佗夫人《黑奴籲天錄》;馬克思《資本論》;馬漢《海權論》;麥金德《地緣政治學》;希特勒《我的奮鬥》
自然科學部分六冊:
哥白尼《天體運行論》;哈維《血液循環論》;牛頓《數學原理》;達爾文《物種原始論》;佛洛伊德《夢之解析》;愛因斯坦《相對論》
(摘錄自博客來網路書店)

Monday, April 11, 2011

How to Read a Book

By Mortimer J. Adler and Charles van Doren
online access to this title (1967 ed.)
online access from EBSCOhost Audiobook Collection
online access from SuperStar Digital Library (Chinese)
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind

How to Read a Book, originally published in 1940, has become a rare phenomenon, a living classic. It is the best and most successful guide to reading comprehension for the general reader. And now it has been completely rewritten and updated.

You are told about the various levels of reading and how to achieve them -- from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading, you learn how to pigeonhole a book, X-ray it, extract the author's message, criticize. You are taught the different reading techniques for reading practical books, imaginative literature, plays, poetry, history, science and mathematics, philosophy and social science.

Finally, the authors offer a recommended reading list and supply reading tests whereby you can measure your own progress in reading skills, comprehension and speed.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

讀書的情趣與藝術

培根(Francis Bacon)等 著;林衡哲,廖運範 譯
online access from SuperStar Digital Library
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind

讀書能給人樂趣、文雅和能力。人們獨居或退隱的時候,最能體會到讀書的樂趣;談話的時候,最能表現出讀書的文雅;判斷和處理事務的時候,最能發揮由讀書而獲得的能力。那些有實際經驗而沒有學識的人,也許能夠一一實行或判斷某些事物的細微末節,但對於事業的一般指導、籌劃與處理,還是真正有學問的人才能勝任。耗費過多的時間去讀書便是遲滯,過分用學問自炫便是矯揉造作,而全憑學理判斷一切,則是書呆子的癖好。學問能美化人性,經驗又能充實學問。天生的植物需要人工修剪,人類的本性也需要學問誘導,而學問本身又必須以經驗來規範,否則便太迂闊了。
機巧的人輕視學問,淺薄的人驚服學問,聰明的人卻能利用學問。因為學問本身並不曾把它的用途教給人,至於如何去應用它,那是在學問之外、超越學問之上、由觀察而獲得的一種聰明呢 ……
(摘錄自書中“談讀書”,培根)

Monday, April 4, 2011

How We Grieve : Relearning the World

Thomas Attig
online access from EBSCOhost Ebooks
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind

If we wish to understand loss experiences we must learn details of survivors' stories. The new version (2011 ed.) of How We Grieve: Relearning the World tells in-depth tales of survival to illustrate the poignant disruption of life and suffering that loss entails. It shows how through grieving we overcome challenges, make choices, and reshape our lives. These intimate treatments of coping with loss address the needs of grieving people and those who hope to support and comfort them. The accounts promote understanding of grieving itself, encourage respect for individuality and the uniqueness of loss experiences, show how to deal with helplessness in the face of "choiceless" events, and offer guidance for caregivers.
The stories make it clear that grieving is not about living passively through stages or phases. We are not so alike when we grieve; our experiences are complex and richly textured. Nor is grieving about coming down with "grief symptoms". No one can treat us to make things better. No one can grieve for us.
Grieving is instead an active process of coping and relearning how to be and how to act in a world where loss transforms our lives. Loss forces us to relearn things and places; relationships with others, including fellow survivors, the deceased, even God; and our selves, our daily life patterns, and the meanings of our life stories.
This revision adds an introductory essay about developments in the author's thinking about grieving as "relearning the world." It highlights and clarifies its most distinctive and still salient themes. It elaborates on how his thinking about these themes has expanded and deepened since the first edition. And it places his treatment of those themes in the broader context of current writings on grief and loss.
(Excerpt from amazon.com)

學習樂觀•樂觀學習 (Learned Optimism)

馬汀.塞利格曼 (Martin E.P. Seligman)
check holdings in CityU LibraryFind



你習慣用什麼方式、以什麼角度來解釋發生在你身邊的事?特別是每個人在生活中難免遇到的不愉快。有的人會因為小小的挫折而全盤否定自己,有的人卻能在失敗中找到改進的方法繼續努力。這些截然不同的發展結果,源自不同的解釋形態。
解釋形態是一種習慣性的思考方式,但這並不是先天的特質,而是後天學習得來的;我們在不知不覺中養成了這些慣性思維,但是既然是學習得來,就有改造的可能性。本書特別針對經常有負面思想習慣(或悲觀解釋形態)的人,提供一套改變的技巧:從分析遭遇到不愉快事件時產生的信念及後果,檢視自己是以什麼樣的方式跟角度解釋周遭發生的事情,找出其中不合理的地方,然後提出證據反駁悲觀信念、轉移注意力,練習自我激勵,就能漸漸改變思考的習慣,走出無助感。


掌握樂觀思考的技巧讓人在困境中不至於流於冷漠、憂鬱或沮喪,幫助情緒管理,還能帶來良好的健康狀態,同時有助於開創事業上的佳績。無論你從事什麼行業、在人際關係中扮演什麼角色,根據書中方法勤於練習,你也可以學習樂觀,樂觀學習。


(摘錄自博客來網路書店)