Monday, February 11, 2019

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

by Yuval Noah Harari
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“Fascinating . . . a crucial global conversation about how to take on the problems of the twenty-first century.”—Bill Gates, The New York Times Book Review

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY FINANCIAL TIMES AND PAMELA PAUL, KQED

How do computers and robots change the meaning of being human? How do we deal with the epidemic of fake news? Are nations and religions still relevant? What should we teach our children?

Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today’s most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future. As technology advances faster than our understanding of it, hacking becomes a tactic of war, and the world feels more polarized than ever, Harari addresses the challenge of navigating life in the face of constant and disorienting change and raises the important questions we need to ask ourselves in order to survive.

… offering advice on how to prepare for a very different future from the world we now live in: How can we retain freedom of choice when Big Data is watching us? What will the future workforce look like, and how should we ready ourselves for it? How should we deal with the threat of terrorism? Why is liberal democracy in crisis? …

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

談古論今話香江

江啟明
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承《香港.舊事重提》,本書收錄了香港著名畫家江啟明先生多年來走訪香港大街小巷寫生描繪的畫作,並以簡煉的文字把舊時香江、現在香港的一面,按題細說對照一番。細讀本書,讓我們知道香港的那些年、那些事,然後更了解我城。

本書以七個章節述說出香江的變幻:
.地區和地方:由以前的滄海桑田,到今天的高樓處處,香港地的樣貌已今非昔比。
.日漸消失的店鋪:講述人情濃到化不開的小店如何興盛與被淘汰。
.節日與民間傳說:節日源遠流長,現在,大家又如何看待節日和各種民間傳說。
.時事民生:回憶跟大家生活息息相關的民生大小事。
.生活與娛樂:重提香港人的「舊式」的生活習慣和「蚊型」娛樂活動。
.飲食與人:「民以食為天」,細說香港人粗茶淡飯的日子。
.香港趣聞:重現香港的「輕」新聞,又開心又長了對香港的認識。

(摘錄自cp1897.com.hk)


Monday, February 4, 2019

Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China

by Evan Osnos
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Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction finalist
Winner of the 2014 National Book Award in nonfiction
An Economist Best Book of 2014

A vibrant, colorful, and revelatory inner history of China during a moment of profound transformation

From abroad, we often see China as a caricature: a nation of pragmatic plutocrats and ruthlessly dedicated students destined to rule the global economy-or an addled Goliath, riddled with corruption and on the edge of stagnation. What we don't see is how both powerful and ordinary people are remaking their lives as their country dramatically changes.

As the Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, Evan Osnos was on the ground in China for years, witness to profound political, economic, and cultural upheaval. In Age of Ambition, he describes the greatest collision taking place in that country: the clash between the rise of the individual and the Communist Party's struggle to retain control. He asks probing questions: Why does a government with more success lifting people from poverty than any civilization in history choose to put strict restraints on freedom of expression? Why do millions of young Chinese professionals-fluent in English and devoted to Western pop culture-consider themselves "angry youth," dedicated to resisting the West's influence? How are Chinese from all strata finding meaning after two decades of the relentless pursuit of wealth?

Writing with great narrative verve and a keen sense of irony, Osnos follows the moving stories of everyday people and reveals life in the new China to be a battleground between aspiration and authoritarianism, in which only one can prevail.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

過一個歡樂的宋朝新年

李開周
online access from iRead eBook
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◎ 肥冬瘦年,餛飩餺飥
冬至不吃湯圓,年夜飯只吃麵條

◎ 隨年壓歲,大小有別
壓歲錢大放送,哥哥、姐姐領得多

◎ 義會、關撲樣樣來
辦年貨缺現金?沒關係,分期付款或賭運氣都行

◎ 宋朝人過年愛打馬
宋朝人過年打什麼馬?怎麼打?

◎ 李清照其實很愛賭
暗器功夫了得,骰子、牌戲都擅長

◎ 十五元宵,華麗收尾
雜技、魔術、馬戲、說書通通有,全部免費同樂

會吃,會玩,
宋朝新年比聖誕節更熱鬧

宋朝是個魅力十足的朝代,商業發達、文化繁榮,市井小民的小日子過得舒舒服服、多采多姿。距離我們七、八百年,但現今的新年習俗幾乎都能從宋朝找到源頭,像是祭灶、擺春飯、壓歲錢、除夕守歲、元旦燒香、貼春聯、放鞭炮、初二回娘家、十五元宵等,都能和宋朝遙相呼應。

但宋朝過年還是有些與現代不太相同的地方,你知道皇帝過年仍然得上朝嗎?宋朝人的春節假期比現代人短?宋朝的冬至和臺灣的尾牙有何異同?送灶神的習俗有何特殊之處?宋朝人採買哪些年貨?春聯怎麼貼?壓歲錢怎麼發?怎樣祭祖、拜年?年夜飯餐桌上有哪些菜色?且聽作者娓娓道來,看看會吃、會玩的宋朝人怎樣把新年過得豐富又熱鬧,書末並附宋朝新年小辭典和新年習俗。閱讀本書,有如身歷其境般趣味盎然,彷彿與宋朝人一起度過既熱鬧又舒心的新年。

(摘錄自cp1897.com.hk)

Monday, January 28, 2019

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist

by Kate Raworth
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*Winner of the Transmission Prize 2018*
*Longlisted for the FT/McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award 2017*
**The Sunday Times Bestseller**

Economics is broken, and the planet is paying the price.

Unforeseen financial crises. Extreme wealth inequality. Relentless pressure on the environment. Can we go on like this? Is there an alternative?

In Doughnut Economics, Oxford academic Kate Raworth lays out the seven deadly mistakes of economics and offers a radical re-envisioning of the system that has brought us to the point of ruin. Moving beyond the myths of ‘rational economic man’ and unlimited growth, Doughnut Economics zeroes in on the sweet spot: a system that meets all our needs without exhausting the planet.

The demands of the 21st century require a new shape of economics. This might just be it.

(Excerpt from amazon.com)

在學術界謀生存

李連江
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學術界是怎樣的江湖?在其中要如何生存?作者以二十多年在學術界探索的親身經歷與清醒思考,揭開學術圈的生存法則和注意事項、規則與潛規則,分享學習研究的方法與捷徑。所涉及內容包括選題、研究方法、論文寫作、期刊發表、英語學習、學者生涯等等,皆是當下年輕學者或學生切實面對、卻往往無路可循甚至誤入歧途的問題。

作為出色的政治學研究者和教授者,作者不僅清楚了解研究的方法與訣竅,也深知當下年輕學者的問題和苦惱。全書既有生存之「道」,又有生存之「術」,誠懇直率,不弄玄虛,傾囊相授,令人讀來豁然開朗,不僅適用於社科、人文領域,對所有想進入或剛進入學術圈的研究者都極有啟發。

「在這本書中,李老師始終以資深學者罕見的平視視角,為我們講了許多心底話和良心話。」──田雷(香港中文大學政治學博士,華東師範大學法學院教授)

(摘錄自博客來網路書店)