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)