Agatha_Ngai - aNobii

Books (64)

All books Finished (Newest) Title (A to Z) Title (Z to A) Rating (Highest) Rating (Lowest) Finished (Newest) Finished (Oldest) Published (Newest) Published (Oldest) Added (Newest) Added (Oldest)

- Emotions Revealed (69)
- By Paul Ekman
- Finished on Sep 20, 2011
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
Emotions Revealed

Interesting to know that some emotional expressions are universal. Dr Ekman is not only creative in his hypotheses, but also diligent in proving his points. He writes to teach how to recognise subtle emotions, functions of every of those emotions, as well as how to handle them. Besides, it helps me ... (continue)

Interesting to know that some emotional expressions are universal. Dr Ekman is not only creative in his hypotheses, but also diligent in proving his points. He writes to teach how to recognise subtle emotions, functions of every of those emotions, as well as how to handle them. Besides, it helps me to communicate my feelings. However, as Dr Ekman also mentioned, the book only deals with the major five clusters of emotions - sadness and agony, anger, surprise and fear, disgust and contempt, enjoyable emotions. Other emotions that are not unfamiliar, such as embarrassment, shame and guilt, are left out. At the end of the book, there are photos to test your ability in face-reading.

Is this helpful?

— Sep 20, 2011 | Add your feedback
- Change (14)
- Principles of Problem Formulation and Problem Resolution
- By Paul Watzlawick
- Finished on Jul 12, 2011
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
Change

The title is interesting - Change, but the book actually begins with times when people don't change. It suggests that we look to the "solution" already applied. It is usually the more-of-the-same solution. At the end, we discover that problematic is not the problem itself, but denials, utopian myths ... (continue)

The title is interesting - Change, but the book actually begins with times when people don't change. It suggests that we look to the "solution" already applied. It is usually the more-of-the-same solution. At the end, we discover that problematic is not the problem itself, but denials, utopian myths or paradoxical thinking. Therefore, to change, one has to think out of the box.
Maybe my mathematics is not good. I find it confusing to consider "change" with the group theory. I'd rather skip the theory part and read the practical section alone.
Just a note of caution. I sometimes find the solution that the book provides weird. For example, a mother has her son doing homework by exploiting the boy's hatred towards the principal. She lied that the principal has betted on the boy's failure to hand in homework. Well, homework is done. But what else has the boy learnt?

Is this helpful?

— Jul 15, 2011 | Add your feedback
- Gone For Good (61)
- By Harlan Coben
- Finished on Jul 9, 2011
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
Gone For Good

This is the second book by Coben I've read. The style of storytelling is a bit coarse. I think there are too many self-revelations. Yet the character design is inspiring. It is more to the truth than such cliche as poison tree with poison fruit. There aren't necessarily evil parents behind every cri ... (continue)

This is the second book by Coben I've read. The style of storytelling is a bit coarse. I think there are too many self-revelations. Yet the character design is inspiring. It is more to the truth than such cliche as poison tree with poison fruit. There aren't necessarily evil parents behind every criminal character. In hindsight, parents could of course have made different decisions here or there. But who knows at the moment of action.
Will Klein always feels indebted to his brother Ken, once a prominent tennis star. Ken however broke his arm during a fight involving Will. Will has therefore have every reason to repay his brother with his loyalty - though blindly at times. This burden of guilt or indebtedness is an important theme in life, which I believe finite humans are not able to resolve on their own.

Is this helpful?

— Jul 15, 2011 | Add your feedback
- The Road Less Traveled (25)
- By M. Scott Peck
- Finished on May 22, 2011
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
The Road Less Traveled

No doubt this book was written in the 1970s, and many new ideas on psychotherapy have come between the years. Still I read it with enjoyment. One inspiration, I suppose, is the emphasized value of pain. I used to think that pain should be avoided. Yet, as Dr. Peck points out, pain usually leads to g ... (continue)

No doubt this book was written in the 1970s, and many new ideas on psychotherapy have come between the years. Still I read it with enjoyment. One inspiration, I suppose, is the emphasized value of pain. I used to think that pain should be avoided. Yet, as Dr. Peck points out, pain usually leads to growth. We agree that one who can delay gratification is a step closer to success. Acceptance of responsibility and balancing are essential too. "The problem lies not in the complexity of these tools but in the will to use them. For they are tools with which pain is confronted rather than avoided." (p.18)

Is this helpful?

— May 28, 2011 | Add your feedback
- Supercrunchers (70)
- How Anything Can Be Predicted
- By Ian Ayres
- Finished on Jan 15, 2011
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
Supercrunchers

Promo for Statistics 101, with interesting real-life examples. Those who claim to have no mathematical mind cannot find any excuses avoiding numbers. Still, nothing should be put to extremes. Higher mortality when surgeons with unclean hands may prompt us to pay attention to hand hygiene in OR. Howe ... (continue)

Promo for Statistics 101, with interesting real-life examples. Those who claim to have no mathematical mind cannot find any excuses avoiding numbers. Still, nothing should be put to extremes. Higher mortality when surgeons with unclean hands may prompt us to pay attention to hand hygiene in OR. However, a baseball player who walks a lot doesn't necessarily make the best athlete. Human beings are more complicated than a set of formula. One's attitude towards sports/psychological quality/family support and more, all contribute to his/her success. Numbers may help, but do not tell the only truth.

Is this helpful?

— Jan 15, 2011 | Add your feedback

- Getting The Girl (12)
- By Markus Zusak
- Finished on Dec 26, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
Getting The Girl

One wouldn't mistake the gender of Cameron (the protagonist). It is not that he wants his brother's girl and has a boy's name, but the way and the pace he speaks/acts/thinks reveals that he is a boy. Still there are many moving moments. While Cameron chases after his romance, the story is more about ... (continue)

One wouldn't mistake the gender of Cameron (the protagonist). It is not that he wants his brother's girl and has a boy's name, but the way and the pace he speaks/acts/thinks reveals that he is a boy. Still there are many moving moments. While Cameron chases after his romance, the story is more about finding one's voice than romance. Once again, Markus Zusak (author of "The Book Thief") proves himself to be a wonderful storyteller.

Is this helpful?

— Jan 6, 2011 | Add your feedback
- A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Future (6)
- Twists And Turns
- By Michael J. Fox
- Finished on Dec 1, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Future

Fox has been my favorite actor since I was 12. He is charming and witty, but more than that. He is real. In the first book, he called himself a lucky man. I must admit that I fell off my chair upon hearing that as it's difficult to make such a claim in circumstances like his. As told in this book, h ... (continue)

Fox has been my favorite actor since I was 12. He is charming and witty, but more than that. He is real. In the first book, he called himself a lucky man. I must admit that I fell off my chair upon hearing that as it's difficult to make such a claim in circumstances like his. As told in this book, he had days in denial and anger when things twisted and turned. Yet special about Fox is that he did not give up then. He is determined to get the lessons about life and here he is to share them. He doesn't call himself a "battler", but says, "if winning means achieving and maintaining a happy and balanced life, the only way I could win is to surrender (p.85)". The lessons are not easy, but Fox always tells them with a touch of delight and gratefulness. From the wording he chose, I read his strength. Fox is not only a wonderful performer, he is also a gorgeous storyteller. He lets the ideas of living stand out vividly with stories, metaphors and many mental illustrations. I cannot hold back my cheers and applauses for him while I was reading this book or watching his guest performance in a sitcom, in which he played a wily lawyer using his neurological condition to distract jurors.
The only chapter I find a bit perfunctory is on books and films under the umbrella of comparative literature. Anyway, "Fight Club" is included. And for people who know me, they know why. I read with content. After all, Fox simply wants to illustrate how we can live to learn.
I am a lucky person. Still, we all have our moments of twists and turns (however minor they may be). I pray, when we encounter them, we are able to summon the same optimism, courage, curiosity and hope to get the lessons learnt.
I had an impression that his book is a good choice for graduation gifts. After reading it, I think it can be a great gift for everyone. Who is not a student of the college of life?

Is this helpful?

— Dec 1, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The One I Love (4)
- By Anna McPartlin
- Finished on Nov 30, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
The One I Love

Lucky that I didn't judge a book by its title, otherwise I'd have missed this one. The title "The One I Love" doesn't sound articulated. Yet it tells what the story is about. This is not a romance, but about people looking for themselves. Sometimes, when we live in a web of relations and take up man ... (continue)

Lucky that I didn't judge a book by its title, otherwise I'd have missed this one. The title "The One I Love" doesn't sound articulated. Yet it tells what the story is about. This is not a romance, but about people looking for themselves. Sometimes, when we live in a web of relations and take up many roles as the parent, the child, the good friend, the good sibling, the good boss, the good employee, we lose who we really are. Then we don't know how to care for ourselves. This story is not only about Jane or the husband, but also about Jane's younger sister who has the tendency to hurt herself and their friend Leslie, who lives in fear for most of her life of dying from a cancer gene. The plots and dialogues are thoughtfully arranged. It is so moving that I cannot hold my tears even when I was reading on commune.

Is this helpful?

— Dec 1, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (90)
- By Aimee Bender
- Finished on Aug 18, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

*** This comment contains spoilers! ***

What does "gifted" mean? One has an uncommon sense and knows what others cannot? One can tell which factory a can of food from and the working conditions there by just having a bite? Then is "gifted" a gift? To Rose, the heroine of this novel, her ability to tell the feelings/desires/moods from the ... (continue)

What does "gifted" mean? One has an uncommon sense and knows what others cannot? One can tell which factory a can of food from and the working conditions there by just having a bite? Then is "gifted" a gift? To Rose, the heroine of this novel, her ability to tell the feelings/desires/moods from the food that people make is deinitely nothing to celebrate. SPOILER! Due to her "gift", she has to swallow down her mother's bitterness and later an affair. Vendor machines become her life support. SPOILER ends! The story is genuine; the writing is of style. It's like a lemon cake. The flavor is not strong but hard to resist. Rose becomes a friend when I see her grow from 9 to 22. From her eyes, George (her brother Joseph's buddy) reminds me of the boy lived next door when I was a child. I thought of giving this book 5 stars. However, the development of Joseph's character is not very convincing. I take away one.

Is this helpful?

— Aug 20, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Element (75)
- How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything
- By Ken Robinson
- Finished on Aug 14, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
The Element

The "Element" is where one's aptitude meets his/her passion, plus attitude. I love this book. It encourages me to re-think who I really am and what I like. I was, at the beginning, a bit skeptical. Most stories cited are successful ones, depicting the power of the "Element". Yet when I carried on re ... (continue)

The "Element" is where one's aptitude meets his/her passion, plus attitude. I love this book. It encourages me to re-think who I really am and what I like. I was, at the beginning, a bit skeptical. Most stories cited are successful ones, depicting the power of the "Element". Yet when I carried on reading, it answered my queries: One is never too old to look for his/her Element. The Element may not necessarily mean "rewards" in financial term or fame, but it definitely keeps us on our toes and therefore we can embrace tomorrow. True. Who can imagine a career in writing Apps, say 10 years ago? As the author says, "Being in Element... can bring a new richness and balance to (one's) life." I love one particular story about human creativity, in which three 4-year-olds took part in a nativity drama. Playing the wisemen from the East, the boys were supposed to recite the lines in order: I bring you gold, I bring you frankincence, I bring you myrrh. The second boy however skipped his line and stole the one from the third boy. When the third boy appeared on stage, he knew his line about the myrhh had been told. Then, he probably had not rehearsed the line about the frankincence. What should he do? He used his creativity and told his audience: "Frank sent this!" Who's Frank? He sent what? Well, children are not particularly worried about being wrong and it's where creativity comes in.

Is this helpful?

— Aug 16, 2010 | Add your feedback

- The Uncommon Reader (380)
- By Alan Bennett
- Finished on Jul 16, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
The Uncommon Reader

2 people find this helpful

I don't have much to say about the Queen, although I have some "nostalgic" feelings for her. When I was still a child and overslept in front of the TV, her portrait was the first image came to my eyes as they opened in the middle of the night. It was the colonial days of Hong Kong anyway.
Yet, Alan ... (continue)

I don't have much to say about the Queen, although I have some "nostalgic" feelings for her. When I was still a child and overslept in front of the TV, her portrait was the first image came to my eyes as they opened in the middle of the night. It was the colonial days of Hong Kong anyway.
Yet, Alan Bennett's remarks about reading hit my nerve. There has been a time when I thought reading can only be good but my mother objected. Frowning disapproval on my postgraduate application, she said: "Girl, you've got a degree that is enough to find you a decent job. Why bother to read more?" I therefore sympathise with the fictional character when nearly everyone in the palace opposed her passion for reading. This short novel is filled with inspiring (and interesting) quotations. I just take few examples here:
"Books are not about passing the time. They're about other lives. Other worlds. Far from wanting time to pass, one just wishes one had more of it." (p.29)
"Authors, she soon decided, were probably best met with in the pages of their novels, and were as much creatures of the reader's imagination as the characters in their books." (p.53)
"You don't put your life into your books. You find it there." (p.102)

Is this helpful?

— Jul 23, 2010 | Add your feedback
- 妒忌私家偵探社：活路 (144)
- By 張妙如
- Finished on May 15, 2010
  
  Review Tradable
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
妒忌私家偵探社：活路

過得去的消遣書. 人物是非典型中的典型, 如女主角天生麗質觀察力強, 卻愛不修邊幅, 聘請了貴家公子當偵探社助手, 故事簡單歸類是妒忌的殺意. 讀的時候剛好工作繁悶, 用來謀殺巴士上的呆時間也不錯.

Is this helpful?

— May 31, 2010 | Add your feedback
- 盛世 (603)
- 中國．2013年
- By 陳冠中
- Finished on Feb 12, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
盛世

《盛世－中國2013》是一部偵探小說，主角在尋找中國步入「盛世」前、在中國人腦海裡失蹤了的廿八天。
《盛世》是一個警世故事，讓我想到George Orwell的1984。
《盛世》如幻似真，有些對白仿似在文革記實一類的資料中讀過，但故事明明白白是虛構，說的是2013年的未來世界。
總之，讀完《盛世》，再讀每日的新聞，心中生出一股驚悸，真實世界中不會有人真的認為虛擬的「冰火盛世計劃」可行吧？真實世界裡，人民不會忘記的吧？事實卻又真的很難說。唯有在驚惶中迫出一點動力，不單自己要常自我警惕，盡力分辨是非，也要盡諸般方法幫助下一代明辨善惡。
書中一段，談到「滿心幸福」的人成千上百的湧到教堂，獨 ... (continue)

《盛世－中國2013》是一部偵探小說，主角在尋找中國步入「盛世」前、在中國人腦海裡失蹤了的廿八天。
《盛世》是一個警世故事，讓我想到George Orwell的1984。
《盛世》如幻似真，有些對白仿似在文革記實一類的資料中讀過，但故事明明白白是虛構，說的是2013年的未來世界。
總之，讀完《盛世》，再讀每日的新聞，心中生出一股驚悸，真實世界中不會有人真的認為虛擬的「冰火盛世計劃」可行吧？真實世界裡，人民不會忘記的吧？事實卻又真的很難說。唯有在驚惶中迫出一點動力，不單自己要常自我警惕，盡力分辨是非，也要盡諸般方法幫助下一代明辨善惡。
書中一段，談到「滿心幸福」的人成千上百的湧到教堂，獨一的黨政府也喜見此象，佈道者心裡卻突然生出了一種莫明的張力，怎樣評估現在；我想到約翰福音1.5：「光照在黑暗裡，黑暗卻不接受光」，感受到要再走一步的謹慎。

Is this helpful?

— Feb 12, 2010 | Add your feedback
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (1704)
- By Stieg Larsson
- Finished on Feb 5, 2010
  
  Review
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

As a detective story, it is engrossing. I've read some books about violence against women and found the portrait of Salander (the female protagonist) convincing. However, I can't agree with the male protagonist, the journalist Blomkvist, whose soul and body are somehow split. May I say the psycholog ... (continue)

As a detective story, it is engrossing. I've read some books about violence against women and found the portrait of Salander (the female protagonist) convincing. However, I can't agree with the male protagonist, the journalist Blomkvist, whose soul and body are somehow split. May I say the psychology presented is surreal?

Is this helpful?

— Feb 8, 2010 | Add your feedback
- Twilight (9708)
- By Stephenie Meyer
- Finished on Jan 23, 2010
  
  Tradable
- Add...
  - My Shelf
  - Wish List