Stop the race to finish a book

I finished reading Sönke Ahrens How to Take Smart Notes today. And like what one person commented on the book in Goodreads said, "This book is GOLD."!

I will try to do justice in giving it a good review soon, but what I can share now are these two important lessons that I have learnt. 

One, I will stop the race of finishing books. I have started challenges to read a certain number of books every year and even reading beyond that.

And when I read, I did it with two purposes: (1) to learn and gain insight and (2) to finish them to add to the list of books read as an accomplishment.

But after reading Ahrens book, I need to stop doing that. Of course I will still learn and gain insight from reading, but I will stop the race of finishing books. 

And that brings me to the second most important thing: when I read, I will think, elaborate by taking notes and then to connect the notes. And it doing so, I will have a stronger grasp in my learning, thinking and ideas.

This will no doubt take a lot of time but don't even refer to the books I have read in past years, on the 11 books I have read these two months, not counting Ahrens's one, I don't remember much, if anything at all.

So even though it takes a lot of time, it is what needs to be done if I want to read. 

If I don't do that, I had better not read anything at all to begin with because in the end, it wouldn't make a difference whether I read or not, if I don't remember or gain anything from it.

And with that, of all these books I have read this year, I will need to reread A More Beautiful Question. Next to Ahrens's, this is also very good.

But Ahrens did say that it is dangerous to reread books but I have to do it, though I think I will wait it out awhile before I do. 

My project now is to read Daniel Coyle's The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups. 

I need it badly for work.

pearlie

Started another book: How to Take Smart Notes

I know. I know.

I am already reading 4 books currently and I started on another one bringing it to 5.

But this is a good one.

How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking - for Students, Academics and Nonfiction Book Writers

by Sönke Ahrens

I have only read the introduction and I am in full agreement with it. 

He begins by quoting Luhmann, "One cannot think without writing."

Ah...Niklas Luhmann is very well-known in his circle of community and the book is based on his way of note taking: the slip box.

Here are some more of what I found in the introduction that so interesting that I'm looking forward to digging in further over the weekend:

Writing is not what follows research, learning or studying, it is the medium of all this work. And maybe that is the reason why we rarely think about this writing, the everyday writing, the note-taking and draft-making. Like breathing, it is vital to what we do, but because we do it constantly, it escapes our attention.

Just having it all in your head is not enough, as getting it down on paper is the hard bit. That is why good, productive writing is based on good note-taking. Getting something that is already written into another written piece is incomparably easier than assembling everything in your mind and then trying to retrieve it from there.

The quality of a paper and the ease with which it is written depends more than anything on what you have done in writing before you even made a decision on the topic.

pearlie

Reading vs. Watching TV

I spent the last two years watching too much television. So I have decided to cut it down and get back to reading. 

But I am asking the question, is reading really better than watching television?

Compare reading and watching The Game of Thrones or Sherlock Holmes. What's the difference? Disclaimer: I've never read the books and I've just watched a little of both.

I read a lot of non-fiction. I do read fiction but I find it a challenge to find a good story to read. Compared to non-fiction, I don't know what I am getting into when I read fiction. 

But fiction is good. Alan Alda says it gives us "the chance to enter into another person’s life, to feel what they feel, to see life through their eyes, to enter their inner world." 

We can experience life vicariously in areas we have no chance whatsoever to live in. 

We can make decisions in decisions we will never get to make. We can see how life will unravel in lives we will never get to live. 

So does it matter if it's in a book or in a movie or television?

I think this picture says a lot.

Ok, let's look at the similarities and differences. 

Reading

- vicarious experiences

- heightened imagination

- need more discipline

- improves language and vocabulary

Watching TV

- vicarious experiences

- heightened senses

Anything else?

Since cutting down on TV, I have read more books but so far all non-fiction. And I'm watching a little TV.

Best of both worlds. Hence, I am happy.

pearlie

What happened to the ebook revolution?

I read this article today: What happened to the ebook revolution?

And I thought it was interesting to note that about 10 years ago, around the same time when I picked up on my reading again, experts have confidently said that, "in the dim and distant future of 2020, print books will be largely relegated to the role of decorative shelf fillers, and we would all have a personal pocket electronic library."

And this comic from the year 2010 certainly alludes to that. 

But the article says that it's not quite the way it turned out. 

I can attest to it that the Gen Z loves reading print books. I had a hard time convincing my son to go electronic. He prefers the print version and would drag me to Kinokuniya to get him the books he wants. 

Apparently, only 20% of book sales are electronic and the main users of e-readers are the Gen-Z's parents and even grandparents. 

I know the statistics would be different for us here in Malaysia (don't even get me started on the extremely low percentage of readers here, let alone electronic or otherwise) but it looks like it applies to me. 

As much as I rather not admit it, this library of mine has become decorative.

And this is where my entire library is displayed now: in Goodreads. 

Yeah...another decorative library but virtual. Except that I do post book reviews there once in awhile. However, it's not my complete library because I don't add the ebooks I buy until I have finished reading them. 

And I have not been reading all that I have purchased. I still have the habit of buying books but not reading them!

At the last count, I probably have 1700 books and if I can read 30 in a year--that is a comfortable number for me--it will take me 57 years to complete.

That is provided I can live that long and if I can stop buying books. Both of which I can't.

Anyway, my son has a Kindle now but I'm sure he still buys print books from Amazon once in awhile. 

pearlie

What are you reading?

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how I have not been reading much last year and that I wanted to catch up on it this year.

And catch up I certainly did. I was so much on the roll that I read 6 books in just half a month. 

I began with Bruce K. Waltke's Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion? followed by the rest you see below. The sequence is quite logical as I progressed on from one book to another. 

Then I wanted something a little lighter and decided to read Tolkien's The Hobbit. I'm still at it. It started off quite good and fun but got dreary as it moved along. The story gets harder and darker. Just like Bilbo, I wished he was back in his hobbit-hole in The Shire. And just like him, I'm good just staying at home with no adventures. And yes, this is how boring I am.

As a result of reading NT Wright's The Case for the Psalms: Why They are Essential, I started another reading plan in the YouVersion bible app to read the whole of The Psalms in 31 days. I am on track with the plan but I do find myself glossing over the Psalms at times and thought I should read it together with a good but simple commentary. I must say, I have many commentaries on The Psalms but Derek Kidner's TOTC version would be a good one to start with. 

Then I found this in my stash - Walter Brueggemann's From Whom No Secrets are Hid: Introducing the Psalms. I started reading it and it's really good.

However, I also have these two books still hanging in there unfinished. 

I'm still holding on to Jay Heinrichs's Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer can Teach Us about the Art of Persuasion. It's a difficult but good read, and I do need to acquire the skill of persuasion and so I will get back to it soon.

Finally, it's this one by Bonnie Hagemann - Leading with Vision: The Leader's Blueprint for Creating a Compelling Vision. It started off well but I'm not too sure if I'll get back to it though. 

There, my reads and current reads. 

What are yours?

pearlie

I need a really good book!

I have been doing considerably well in reading.

Until last year, for I only read 9 books! 

That is so few compared to the 30 to 50 over books I have read per year in the past years.

I hope for a comeback in 2020.

And?

So far so good! We are only halfway through January and I have already read 6 books, and quite good reads all of them. 

I wanted to keep the ball rolling but I wanted something fun. The 6 books were pretty serious and heavy ones at that. 

So I needed something lighter but it has to be really good. 

What should it be?

I scrolled through the books I have and then voilà! 

I found it!

The Hobbit

by J.R.R. Tolkien

What could be better than Tolkien's The Hobbit?!

The only problem, though small, is that I don't have the ebook version. 

When I started reading again from year 2011, it was ebooks that got me a back into serious reading. I have never read a print book ever since. And I got so used to ebooks--the convenience, mobility and versatility--that I'd now prefer an ebook anytime. 

Alright, I'm mistaken. Now that I checked into my records, I did read The Hobbit in 2013, a printed copy. 

And so I'm doing it again this year, reading my printed copy of The Hobbit. 

I'm now at page 28 and I'm loving it.

pearlie

Reading the Bible in a Year

My church has started a very good communal practice: sign up to read Scripture together as a church. 

We have four tracks to choose to take part in:

1. The Old Testament and New Testament in One Year with D.A. Carson's For the Love of God via the YouVersion Bible app.

2. The New Testament in One Year with The Bible Project via the YouVersion Bible app.

3. Table Talk by Martin Luther printed or online. 

4. I can't remember what the fourth plan is. It's a light version of an introduction to the Bible and a reading of Galatians in 6 days. 

My hubby and I both chose Option 2. I was contemplating to choose Option 1 but I thought I had better not over commit myself. Reading 4 long passages and one D.A. Carson devotional per day is no joke. 

So I am glad I picked NT in a Year by The Bible Project. And their videos are very well done. I am very impressed with their introduction video to the New Testament.

Check it out here.

pearlie

I don't read the news

Yes, you heard me right. I don't read the news. I always forget to. 

And I would feel guilty and left out and stupid when people talk about the big headlines. 

Until I read Chapter 99 of The Art of Thinking Clearly. Anyway, this will be the final post on that book, for now. But it will still be a book I will refer to every now and then. It is indeed very useful to train myself into thinking more clearly. 

Ok back to Chapter 99, on the News Illusion. 

Dobelli says, "We are incredibly well informed, yet we know incredibly little. Why? Because two centuries ago, we invented a toxic form of knowledge called 'news'. News is to the mind what sugar is to the body: appetizing, easy to digest—and highly destructive in the long run."

Really? 

But isn't news suppose to keep us in the loop, inform us about current issues and what matters?

I am still not sure about this.

But Dobelli brings out three points:

1. Our brains react disproportionately to different types of information. It is attracted to the sensational, shocking and scandalous. It filters out the subtle, complex, abstract, and profound. Think about it, would we rather read The Star or The Edge?

2. News is irrelevant. It is difficult to remember what we read and much of the time we can still get by not knowing. 

3. And as a result, news is a waste of time. He took the example of the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. He said, "Out of sheer thirst for recognition, terrorists murdered two hundred people. Let’s say a billion people devoted an hour of their time to following the aftermath: They viewed the minute-by-minute updates and listened to the inane chatter of a few “experts” and “commentators.” This is a very realistic “guesstimate” since India has more than a billion inhabitants. Thus our conservative calculation: One billion people multiplied by an hour’s distraction equals one billion hours of work stoppage. If we convert this, we learn that news consumption wasted around two thousand lives—ten times more than the attack. A sarcastic but accurate observation."

I still want to be in the know, but I won't worry too much now about missing out on current issues. I will still do what I do now—scanning headlines in Google News. I only read a couple that I find interesting. 

And the rest I will go read up when I hear people around me talking about it. 

What do you think?

pearlie

Steve Jobs called it "the bozo explosion"

I posted last week about a book that I began reading and it is an absolutely excellent read thus far.

The Art of Thinking Clearly

by Rolf Dobeli

I got my colleague to also get a copy (as of today it is still selling at $1.99) and we have been talking and discussing about what we read and what had intrigued and even amused us. 

Rolf Dobelli is a witty fella and we were both caught laughing so loud in the office today, when we exchanged notes and talked about his expressions and explanation. 

Especially his section on Social Comparison Bias, which he explains is "the tendency to withhold assistance to people who might outdo you, even if you look like a fool in the long run."

And he quoted Guy Kawasaki who "says: 'A-players hire people even better than themselves. It’s clear, though, that B-players hire C-players so they can feel superior to them, and C-players hire D-players. If you start hiring B-players, expect what Steve [Jobs] called ‘the bozo explosion’ to happen in your organization.' In other words, start hiring B-players and you end up with Z-players. Recommendation: Hire people who are better than you, otherwise you soon preside over a pack of underdogs."

This really had both of us in fits of laughter today. It's so funny but sadly it's so true. 

And I really like it when he ends the section with, "Admittedly, in the short term, the preponderance of stars can endanger your status, but in the long run, you can only profit from their contributions. Others will overtake you at some stage anyway. Until then, you should get in the up-and-comers’ good books—and learn from them."

Go get the book already. It's definitely worth a read. 

pearlie

How much do you read, if at all?

I was having a meeting with my boss today to discuss about the learning culture in an organization and the discussion went into the subject of reading.

I posted about the dismal statistics on reading in Malaysia back in year 2016, and upon checking out more recent research, it has not gone any better. 

And this article even say we rank eighth from bottom global literacy list. 

We buy books, but we don't seem to be reading them. 

This 2017 report from WorldAtlas does not even have us in the list when the top 4 countries that read the most are in Asia: India (10.42 hours per week!), Thailand (9.24), China (8.00) and Philippines (7.36).

10.42 hours a week is about 1 hour and a half a day, which in fact is quite doable. 

So let's max it out and assume we take on average 5 hours to read a book and that would be 2 books in a week, about 100 books in a year.

Ok, maybe that is too ambitious for us. 

What if we do a book a month? And that would come up (or down) to 1.25 hours a week. 

Nope, we still won't make it to the list.

And everyone says reading is a good thing, but nobody here seem to believe in it. 

pearlie

The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis

The Magician’s Nephew

by C.S. Lewis

As a result of going back to reading C.S. Lewis recently, I bought the Kindle version of The Chronicles of Narnia Complete 7-Book Collection and read The Magician’s Nephew today. 

I know I read the book before when I read it to my son when he was small, but with me having a short memory and all, I couldn’t remember the story at all. 

What I do remember is that I wasn’t really captured by the story nor could I identify with it. 

But it’s different this time, very different. 

Louis Markos wrote in his book Lewis Agonistes that those “who read the Chronicles as a child solely for their stories, and then read them again as an adult [is] to be stunned into wonder by their deeper Christian message, a message made all the more real because it had already been experienced in childhood in a purely aesthetic way.”

Sadly, I have not read the Chronicles when I was young. I didn’t know about the books back then. 

But now that I am reading it, I am seeing the deeper meaning it holds. 

And whilst I am rarely moved to tears, this one did me. 

I don’t think I can put any quotes here. I will not do it justice. You will have to read it and experience it for yourself, truly. 

pearlie

I’m finally back to reading C.S. Lewis

In my attempt to get back into a more extensive reading regime, I found myself to be gravitating towards C.S. Lewis’s books and books about him. 

C.S Lewis still remains after all this time my most favourite author and I happen to remember this saying that I found most apt in describing him. 

I usually forget what I read, and so it’s interesting I actually remember it but I am even more amazed that I actually remember which book it’s found in. 

It’s in Lewis’s God in the Dock where Walter Hooper said this in his preface - C.S. Lewis is one writer of this century of whom the Greek epigram about Plato seems eminently exact: “In whatever direction we go, we meet him on the way back.”

And if you have read C.S. Lewis, you will totally agree with Hooper. 

The book which I have just finished reading explores Lewis’s thoughts in modern and post-modern thinking. 

Lewis Agonistes: How C.S. Lewis can Train Us to Wrestle with the Modern and Post-Modern World

by Louis Markos

I must say that books by C.S. Lewis and books about C.S. Lewis are tough reads, including this one but I found it is one of the best and most interesting book I have read in awhile. 

The topics that Markos brought up to be argued alongside with Lewis include:

- The War of Reason and Intuition

- Wrestling with Science

- Wrestling with the New Age

- Wrestling with Evil and Suffering

- Wrestling with the Arts

- Wrestling with Heaven and Hell

The chapters on science and on evil and suffering are good but not new to me. 

The chapter on new age was interesting. Markos says, “The pendulum has indeed swung far in the direction of science, empiricism, and objectivity, and it was only a matter of time before this relentless swing towards secularizarion set off a counter-swing back toward the sacred...This reaction has surfaced in various different forms, but it has come (since the 1980s) to be referred to under a single all-inclusive heading: the New Age...the reaction was to be expected, the unchecked, headlong progress of Enlightenment thought could not help but breed its own antithesis.”

The author’s opinion for us Christians is “if we are to accept the New Age not as an all-out threat to the church but as an opportunity to reach a multitude of souls hungry for spiritual truth, then we must learn to identify, understand and sympathize with the desires and yearnings that drive these passionate neopagans.”

And I really like the chapter on Wrestling with the Arts where the author focused on language, poetry, metaphors and parallelisms. The post-modernists have reduced language from being inherently meaningful—that behind the words used was something real, words like love and justice and beauty meant something—to something that is arbitrary in that words are subjective in meaning. They have “killed the ‘illusion’ that words can point back to an absolute, eternal meaning.”

But language is centered on meaning and truth, and the “language of Scripture and of poetry at its most sublime is not singular or linear but polysemous (Greek for ‘many signs’)...[it’s] the slippery nature of poetry and of those images, metaphors, and symbols on which all of the arts finally rest is what enables it to hold in tension a supernatural meaning that could not be expressed in a closed, mathematical system...the Lord’s Supper is the most perfect of symbols, the great reservoir of polysemous meaning. The communion wine remains wine, and yet it is also simultaneously the blood of Christ...language is more meaningful precisely because it is slippery.”

The author then spent considerable time referring to the fiction that Lewis wrote based on mythologies, sagas, legends and medieval romances. 

With that, I promise myself that I must fully read the Chronicles of Narnia. I have read it but not completely. 

The Magician’s Nephew is now my next read. I just bought the Kindle version of The Chronicles of Narnia Complete 7-Book Collection and I am looking forward to digging in. 

pearlie

I’m loving it—my Kindle Paperwhite

I started to pick up read again extensively back in 2011 when I found that I could buy e-books from Kobo.com. 

And since then I have always wanted an e-ink reader. I tried to get a Kobo one but they will not deliver to Malaysia. 

It was only in 2016 that Amazon began to sell e-books to Malaysia. But till today, they still do not deliver their Kindle e-readers here. 

And so when I was in the US last month, I went to Target on the very day I arrived and bought the Kindle Paperwhite. 

But I did feel the pinch. It cost me more than RM500 but now after a month of using it, I have no regrets. 

It’s because I am reading again. 

2016 wasn’t a good year in reading for me. I only managed to read 20 books. I got caught up with too much television. 

So I’m happy. It’s only February and I’ve just finished my fifth book today. 

I am not very ambitious but I hope to read at least 25 books this year. 

pearlie

Read a book in a day!

My friend Ee-Tan posted two books in Facebook and one of them caught my eye. 

I have read a couple of books on defectors from North Korea but this is one I have not read even though I do have a copy of it. 

The Girl with Seven Names, Escape from North Korea

by Lee Hyeon Seo

I decided to start reading it and it is quite well written and easy to read, so much so I finished it in a day. 

I have read books in a day before, but not many and I’m quite happy to have done one this round. Though in my travel back from the US, I did finish one book in one day but that was quite an elongated day having traveled across the international time zone. So it won’t count. 

The book is quite engaging and you will feel like you’ve been alongside her in her journey across the different nations to finally reach South Korea. 

It would not be fair to compare between defectors, because their lives and experiences are different but I must say the other book I read, A Thousand Miles to Freedom by Kim Eun Sun, though not as well written, was more harrowing than Lee’s. 

And from our perspective, we would think that it would be an excellent idea for more North Koreans to defect to the South but after reading these books, I found that it may not be the case. 

Life for them in the South is usually hard and lonely, and it is very difficult for them to settle or to make a good living. Life for South Koreans themselves is tough and competitive, what more for the defectors who usually have no degrees, no family support or a good background to speak of. 

As oppressive and harsh life in the North was, many would wish they had never left. 

pearlie

I am starting my new reading year with this book

Praying Backwards, Transform Your Prayer Life by Beginning in Jesus’ Name

by Bryan Chapell

I am still in the midst of reading it but I’m finding it an excellent read. I have had so many questions about prayer and I have blogged before that even though I don’t understand it, I am still praying—and it’s tough sometimes—because God commands us to. 

I found some answers from this book—to some important questions. 

Here are some of the excerpts:

But how are we supposed to pray without doubting? Is it wrong to allow any thought that we might not receive the answer we desire? If so, how do we keep negative thoughts from invading our brain? Isn’t being told not to doubt a little like being told not to think about pink elephants? Once you have been told not to think about something, it’s practically impossible not to think about it...The basic problem with all definitions of believing prayer that make God the servant of our will is that the object of belief is misplaced...The success of our prayers does not lie in exceptional confidence that we have pumped enough of our own faith into our prayer (and extracted enough doubt) so that now God must respond. Our belief must be in God. He, not our desire, is the object of our faith.

Praying in Jesus’ name requires seeking first the kingdom of God and his righteousness with the absolute trust that God will then add all that is best for us (Matt. 6: 31–33). This is the way that Jesus prayed and the way he taught us to pray. 

All who are so bold as to tell God exactly how to answer are expressing a kind of belief, but it is great faith in human wisdom and faint confidence in our God.

“The better you know the Shepherd, the easier it is to trust his heart.”

And I am in love with any writer that quotes and draws the truth from CS Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia:

In The Magician’s Nephew, C. S. Lewis has his lion king, Aslan, send two children, Polly and Digory, on a mission with Fledge, the flying horse. After a while, they discover they have no food. Polly and Digory are dismayed: “Well, I do think someone might have arranged our meals,” said Digory. “I’m sure Aslan would have, if you’d asked him,” said Fledge. “Wouldn’t he know without being asked?” said Polly. “I’ve no doubt he would,” said the horse. . . . “But, I’ve a sort of idea he likes to be asked.”

We may grow concerned that faith in God’s sovereignty may also tempt us to reason: Why ask if God already knows?...no doubt he knows what to do, but he likes to be asked. God is like that. He knows what we need before we ask (Matt. 6: 8), but he still likes to be asked. He urges us to pray in ways that deepen our love and trust of him.

Isn’t it an excellent book to start the year with?

pearlie

My Projects for 2018

Happy New Year and a Blessed 2018! 

Selamat Tahun Baru! 

新年快乐 万事如意! 

새해복많이 받으세요!

It was since 2016 that I am giving myself three projects every year. I don’t want any resolutions because they have a bad reputation of being broken. 

My projects don’t get broken. They are either completed or I don’t find them interesting enough and I abandon them. 

I know. I know. It’s the same thing but I’m still calling them my projects. 

I had these three in 2016, with their success and failure noted here. 

And in 2017, (1) I kind of succeeded in completing my 20-book challenge but I’ve always gone way beyond the minimum count of 20 consecutively since 2012. But I’ve only manage 20 in 2017. (2) I wanted to join a more “technical” choral group. I passed the audition but on my first rehearsal, I didn’t like the way it was done and so I quit. (3) I wanted to learn a new language. I started on Korean and with the progress using the tools I have, I went into Mandarin as well. But I’m still a beginner. Language isn’t an easy thing. 

So what’s in it for me in 2018?

1. I just started my 2018 book challenge in Goodreads and I’m being realistic. I know my limitations but I want to do more than 20 and so I have set it at 25. I hope I can surpass that and despite sounding rather resolution-ish, I have to do something about my recent addiction to the television. 

2. I am giving my language learning another year. I feel I am really plateauing at the moment but I need to press on and so I will. I hope to give a good report at the end of the year. 

3. I’ve inadvertently set my mind to lose some weight beginning September 2016 and walk more since December 2017. And I have done quite well. Maintaining it is much harder and so my third project will be to maintain my current weight, though I’m quite set on losing a couple more kilos and for a person who doesn’t like to walk, I need to keep on walking. 

So there you go, let’s see how I will fare this time round. 

pearlie

2017: My Year In Books

I’ve made reading challenges for the past few years and I’ve read 30 in 2012, 37 in 2013, 56 in 2014, 41 in 2015 and 30 in 2016. 

I’ve read the least this year since I’ve started the challenge. 

I’m not sure if I really did challenge myself—because I’d put it at 20 books every year, that is, I must at least read 20 a year. 

I’ve done well from 2012 to 2016, but not this year. 

I literally had to get myself to sit down today to complete the book I’m reading so I can complete the challenge, if I can call it a challenge. 

And if you take a look at the books I read this year, because of my interest in the Korean language, I’ve been reading a lot about the country as well, and it is a fascinating country. But that’s another post. 

And I better get back to more reading for 2018. 

But even though I’ve only done 20, I’m proud to be part of the mere 1% who have completed their challenge. 

And for those who haven’t been reading much, I challenge you to start. Create an account in goodreads.com and use it to motivate you to start and keep reading. 

And add me as your goodreads friend!

pearlie

The Golden Pockets of Time

I was scheduled to attend a meeting with the bosses today at 4:30pm. I got prepared, walked over to the venue and waited to be called in. 

And I waited for one whole hour before I went in. 

And what did I do during the hour? Fret? Complain? Got annoyed?

Nope. I did none of those. 

As much as I did not pick up some work to do, since I am not sure when I will be called in and I didn't really want to get into the zone and get lost and lose focus on the stuff  I'm suppose to present to the bosses, I opened my Kindle and started reading. 

And it was a good solid one hour of reading about Praying Backwards by Bryan Chapell. 

These times are hard to come by, but it's the golden pockets of time that I get to do some stuff of value. 

We always tell ourselves we don't have time. 

Why don't you read?

No time. 

Why don't you exercise?

No time. 

Why don't you learn something?

No time. 

But deep down we know that time is not the main reason why we don't those things we know that are good for us, things that take a lot of effort and time. 

It all boils down to our intention, our purpose and what we want out of our lives. 

And we need make time for it. 

pearlie

What are the opening lines of the books you read?

It took me two and a half months to finish reading The Korean Mind, Understanding Contemporary Korean Culture  I can't wait to get it over with so I can get on with life. It was tough and I'm glad I finally flipped the last page. 

With that book out of the way, I wanted to get my hands on a new one. 

And looking at the 19 books I have read so far this year—which is the least number of books in the last 6 years since I went back to serious reading—I have not read a single novel. 

I started hunting for one and happened upon this. 

The End of Your Life Book Club

by Will Schwalbe

I love books about books and as I read it, I also like its voice and feel. 

How could a book lover and avid reader ignore a book that is labeled as "a true meditation on what books can do"?

But as I got on with it, I began to realize that it is not a novel after all, but an account of the writer's last days with his dying mom. 

But I was already invested in the book and could not put it down. 

The novel will have to wait. It will have to come after this, or never, for the year at least. 

One part of the book that I really like was when the author said: 

Mom and I loved opening lines of novels. “The small boys came early to the hanging” was one of our favorites, from Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth. How could you not go on reading? And the first sentence of John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany: “I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice—not because of his voice, or because he was the smallest person I ever knew, or even because he was the instrument of my mother’s death, but because he is the reason I believe in God; I am a Christian because of Owen Meany.” And E. M. Forster’s first line in Howards End: “One may as well begin with Helen’s letters to her sister.” It’s the “may as well” that draws you in—casual, chatty even, yet it gives the reader a strong sense that there’s a lot of story to come.

Obviously I went to check out his first line after reading that paragraph, and it was this:

We were nuts about the mocha in the waiting room at Memorial Sloan-Kettering’s outpatient care center.

I don't know about you but I was hooked right there and then, and didn't even know it. 

But I have always believe in only reading books that start well for me. Only that I didn't really pay attention to the opening lines. 

Now I do. 

pearlie

Decipher Chinese: a HSK-based reading app

I had another serendipitous (this is fast becoming my favourite English word) find: an excellent Chinese reading app called Decipher Chinese. 

It is a service that provides HSK graded articles written by Mandarin teachers through a learn-as-you-read activity that you can do on a daily basis with their  new articles posted everyday. 

I think this would work better than the HSK-based books I found earlier, which I have not purchased any yet. 

This is how the app looks like today:

I am still using the free version and therefore, I do not get access to all their articles. Each article is marked with the HSK level, which you can choose to attempt reading. 

And this is one of the articles I was reading today. Each word is marked with the HSK level and as such I should know all the words in grey and green, which is from HSK1-3 and some of the words in yellow, which is HSK 4. When you tap on each word, you will have its meaning, pinyin and audio. 

I am also able to add words into a vocabulary list that can be used as an SRS-based flashcard deck. 

But alas, as it is with free apps, there are limitations to it. Articles I have read will become inaccessible after a few days and I have a limit of only 30 words in the vocabulary list. 

Subscription is at RM20.90 per month, which isn't too bad but I think I will try it out further before I decide. 

pearlie