Too many books too little time / energy

There is no secret I love books. Unfortunately, I love all sorts of books (perhaps except those boring university textbooks, which are expensive and frankly useless for me). Even more unfortunately is that I think I have spent too much on books - another good reason why I am so damn broke. And, from May to June, I actually have bought 4 books. I mean in one month! So, each per week! That's too much. I certainly need to stop myself from this crazy move!


Escape from Cubicle Nation is certainly a book that I desperately need in this desperate time. I am very stuck at my career, even though my job is still considered a "comfortable" job. However, I still can't see where I am heading to. So, perhaps it is good to see and learn what the practical entrepreneur move for future needs. I don't see myself as an employee for the rest of my live, at least not at this moment.

I love general science, or general history (something I have developed in me since couple years ago). I enjoy reading this kind of books, to learn new supposedly-boring subject in an interesting and engaging way. I found this What on Earth Happened... in Brief. I am fascinated on this book because I want to know how the author could describe (almost) the entire history of earth in one tiny book! So far, I am very enjoying reading it!

I am always bad at math (yet I used to be a computer scientist, what are the odds that I survived). And, this book is certainly the least I want to buy, yet I need to have. I want to grow in my career, and to grow is to gain experience and to gain knowledge. So, statistics is required for Six Sigma, and thus, I got this Statistics for Six Sigma Made Easy.

Last but not least, I got this Predictably Irrational. Two reasons, one I think it is useful for me for my job - to understand consumers. And, two I am very curious how our so-called rational decisions on something, most of the time are actually irrational. I am sold on the whole concept of the title. So far, I am thrilled on how our "subconscious" psychological power could be empowering us in our daily lives, even at the point when we need to make a critical decision.

Yes, I have started with all these books. My plan is (1) read "Predictable Irrational" before bed, (2) read "Escape from Cubicle Nation" on the way to and back from work, (3) read "What on Earth in Brief" during weekend when I am on the way to gym or some roaming around in the town, and (4) read "Statistics for Six Sigma Made Easy" when I need to study and work in the weekends. It is a slow, painfully slow progress, yet at least I am making progress!

好久

哇！好久没有在这里写些什么的。原因很简单。要不就是没劲，要不就是没梗。反正这两个理由都是缘于工作太忙，引致人太累，不想再干些其它的，只想什么也不干，就这样让自己的脑袋和精神在周末好好的recharge一下。这一个月里到底发生了什么？太多了。在工作，坦白说太多问题太多挑战。问题可以解决，挑战可以接受，可惜的是琐碎政治的事情太多太多了。在大公司里干活难免会有政治，但是有些时候我回想政治也是因为愚蠢自私的人所造成的。也不多说了。写写自己喜欢的事好了。

Wow, it has been a while since I last wrote something here. Simple reasons, either I didn't have any stamina nor any idea what to write. Anyway, these two reasons are caused by busy work, which causing exhaustion mentally and physically. So, in the weekends, I normally don't want to do anything (yet I have to do some work). At work, there are plenty challenges and problems. Well, I welcome challenges, and problems can be solved in time. However, the politics are the part that I dislike about the job. Too much. Anyway, lets write something that I enjoy here instead.

书籍 Books 我很爱看书，但是很可笑的是，我更喜欢在火车里看书。所以我很怀念在荷兰的日子，因为经常搭火车的关系，所以看的书也很多。到了香港，我也看书，但是相对的少了很多。有一点觉得很对不起自己。最近有两本书必须得看的，"The Next Big Thing: Spotting and Forecasting Consumer Trends for Profit"和 "Billions: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer"。也是为了工作，但还好书的内容不会太闷!
I love books, very much. I love reading books in the train, that's why I miss my time in The Netherlands where I got a lot of chances to ride the train. However, in Hong Kong, the time I spend on books is apparently reduced a lot. I feel a bit guilty about that. I have to finish these two books, namely "The Next Big Thing: Spotting and Forecasting Consumer Trends for Profit" and "Billions: Selling to the New Chinese Consumer", because of work. Luckily, they are not boring.

饮食 Food 说实在，对吃我是没有什么要求的。也因为这天赋的无所谓，我在哪里都能很适应（就好像在荷兰过了6年一样）。在香港，周五或周末的时候，我会有时候和朋友或同事吃吃饭。最近吃过的两家不错的餐厅，Backenheim Cafe & Backery和Applegreen。都是西餐，但味道很不错。尤其是Applegreen。只是Applegreen略贵了一点。


Honestly, I don't have any strict requirements on food. Perhaps because of this gifted "not-care" manner, I can be very adaptive to any sort of living environment, just like how I did spending 6 years in The Netherlands. In Hong Kong, on Friday or weekend I normally will go out dining with some friends. And, since I came back from Malaysia, Backenheim Cafe & Backery and Applegreen are two restaurants that I have been. Western food, not bad at all, especially Applegreen. However, Applegreen is a bit pricey.

长周末的星期六

今天是香港一个长周末的开始。所以我少有的赖床到9点左右，然后又“摸摸索索”到12点左右，就决定到尖沙嘴的辰衡书店跑一趟。本来是打算找一下对工作有用的书，结果很失望的没有找到。但是，很厉害的，我还是买了两本书，一本audiobook，花了不少钱啦！有一点后悔，曾经在荷兰的时候告诉自己不要再买太多的书，结果还是忍不下手。 一本勉强跟工作有关--"The Truth about What Customers Want"，一本是完全引起我的好奇--"What Next? Surviving the Twenty-First Century"。最后就是Dan Brown的最新著作--"The Lost Symbol" 但是因为没有paperback的关系，所以我决定试一试audiobook。我花钱还是挺厉害的！

Today is the beginning of Hong Kong long weekend. So today I woke up around 9-ish, and took my time to roam around in the house till around 12-ish. Then, I have decided to go to Swindon Bookstore down in Tsim Sha Tsui. I was supposed to hunt for a book for work, but unfortunately couldn't find it. However, I did buy some books -- what a waste! One is "The Truth about What Customers Want", which is remotely related to my work. One is really just out of my curiosity, "What Next? Surviving the Twenty-First Century". The last one is Dan Brown's new book, "The Lost Symbol". Since it doesn't have a paperback (the hardcover is too freaking huge), so I have decided to give audiobook a try. I certainly have spent a lot of money in that one short hour!

What does Black Swan has to do with our lives?

Our minds are wonderful explanation machines, capable of making sense out of almost anything, capable of mounting explanations for all manner of phenomena, and generally incapable of accepting the idea of unpredictability.



I got this book, "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable", by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I am still half way through the book, and I have to say this is one of those books that I have difficulty to follow, yet I am attracted by it. It is a book with the combination of (modern) philosophy, science (maybe more on anthropology and with plenty of what he calls "thought experiments"), and psychology. All these aspects center on one thing (so far where I got), randomness. What is the relationship between human and randomness (e.g. unpredictable events)? The impact is huge! One example of the book (which I hope I didn't misplace) is that the "appearance" of the Internet is not planned, it is just appeared randomly (or invented out of expectation). And, look how Internet is changing our lives forever! This book looks into all these randomness (what the author calls Black Swans) and how we human beings naively trying to explain or make sense of all these randomness.

I have to say, it is quite fun to read. I like the author's way of explaining stuff. He has used what I call plain English to explain something I wouldn't understand, and he likes to use simple examples. However, I am not entirely convinced though at some parts of the book (even though I am only half way through). For instance, in a way I feel like the author is asking us "give up" on explaining stuff, just accept as it is. Maybe he is right about some aspects, but for some other aspects, probably we need to find explanation. Anyway, just my own thought, I could be wrong, cause again, this book for me is quite informative, and quite a lot to digest.

Overall, I enjoy it! It is quite a ride so far! And, I believe he still has a lot on his belt to surprise me.

端午节的两天

首先，端午节快乐。中国的公共假期。这一天我是完完全全的当了一个宅男，完全没有出过门，就在家煲之前买的DVD Bones。结果煲了一天一夜，还是没有煲完。今天，公司强制放假（经济实在是不景气）。为了不想再当宅男，所以早上到了健身房去。然后，下午就决定到韬奋西文书局去。因为很久没有到书局去闻闻书香了，顺便看看能物色到一些网上买不到（即没有电子版本）的书。结果，很幸运的让我找到《The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable》。书的背面提出了几个很有趣的问题：“What have the invention of the invention of the wheel, Pompeii, the Wall Street Crash, Harry Potter and the internet got in common?”。其实，这本书说的是那一些看起来非常随意的事情却成为了我们生活的基础。听起来很玄，所以我才买下来。接下来的周末，看来就是刨书了！

First of all, Happy Dragon Boat Festival. It was yesterday, also China public holiday. I didn't go out at all, stayed in all day. Spent whole day watching Bones, the DVD I got. Even after a whole day, I still haven't finished the DVD. Today, the company initiated compulsory day off (you can tell how bad the economy is). So, instead of staying in all day like yesterday, which from common sense very unhealthy, I have decided to go out. After going to the gym in the morning, I have decided to go to Garden Books. Main reason is that I haven't been to any book store for a while now, and I kinda miss the book smell and the sensation of surrounded by books. Also, I hope to get a book, which I couldn't get online (i.e., ebook). Lucky for me, I found one, namely "The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable". The reason I got this book (well, heard about this book before) is that there are plenty of interesting questions at the back of the book, one of which is "What have the invention of the invention of the wheel, Pompeii, the Wall Street Crash, Harry Potter and the internet got in common?". So the book is about the random events that underlie our lives. Kinda interesting, and that attracts my attention. So, coming weekend, apparently I will just start enjoying this book.

Alan Banks never seize to amaze me

He is back after a long year. Alan Banks is back as Detective Chief Inspector, and this time, he is not the only main character in the book. Annie Cabbot seems like is going to steal the show, almost anyway. I think I really have all his books in his Inspector Banks series. So, when this one is out last year as a hard copy, I can't wait to get my hand on it. Finally, after almost 6-month waiting, and thanks to eBook technology and Waterstones (which somehow is the only online book retail that sells Sony Reader compliant eBooks), I am reading it now! I won't read it at bed time cause I will never able to put it down. The only time I am going to read it so far now is in the shuttle bus to and from work... I know this book is going to rock too!

有趣的书--科学和烹饪

最近都是在烦着搬家的事情，而且工作也不见得很顺利，所以我整个人是看起来很没趣的，连到健身房的热忱也没有了一大半，以往可以操上2小时，现在只有一点精神操1小时不到。我想，可能因为一天不搬一天都不会觉得是settle了。工作上是有一些很大的转变，是好是坏，我想要时间来判定。不过至少目前为止我看到的是好的发展。要开始干一些自己完全不熟悉的东西，例如marketing intelligence之类的，还要干一些food science(i.e., gastronomy)之类的东西。不能说没有趣，只能说太有挑战了--自己也不是chemistry和biology的料。这两本书就是自己必须在短期内熟悉的书。把烹饪和科学合并起来是我从来也没有想过的--为什么在微波炉里烤鸡的时候，鸡的皮会变脆，而内部不会那么容易熟--诸如此类的问题，让我们来用科学回答。加上，如何能利用科学把烹饪出来的食物更有味(至于营养嘛，好像还不是专注)是很有趣的。


Lately, I am just troubled with trivial yet annoying affairs of moving. Besides, work is not really as smooth as I want it to be. That's why I am not really in my best shape and mood. I don't even have the drive and enthusiasm to hit the gym. I used to be able to drive myself in the gym for at most 2 hours, but lately I could only bear for 1 hour top. I guess the main reason is that I haven't really feel settled yet... due to all the moving. At work, certainly I am facing a big change, doing something I haven't done before. I can't tell if the change is good or bad, but at least at this moment, any change is welcomed. One is marketing intelligence, certainly is one interesting thing I want to do. The other one is cooking and science, or the so-called gastronomy. These two books are the books that I have to read (or finished reading) in a real short time. I have never thought of combining science and cooking -- why is it the chicken skin become crispy yet the inside is not cooked easily when it is put in the microwave -- questions like this we are going to use science to answer them. Additionally, we are going to see how science could be applied to make food more tasty (well, nutrition is not really a consideration just yet, but I think it is definitely also a vital part). It is definitely a challenge to me -- I am totally a chemistry and biologic idiot!

生活的一个小点滴

我以往都不买杂志的（现在也只是冲动的情况下买而已）。来上海将近2年了，发现自己也浪费了不少钱买了不少杂志，而且大部分还是有关games，gadgets，只有两三本和business扯上关系。真的很喜欢能在进行所谓自己的hobby是也能吸收到一些工作上所不能吸收的东西。现在我是尽量看和买《第一财经周刊》（CBN Weekly）杂志而已（其他关于games啦gadgets啦的我就上网看好了）。价钱不贵（10元）而且内容还是挺贴近时代和易明白的。真的很想干一点和business有关的东西。
I normally don't buy magazines because I always think it is a waste of my money (considering Internet already has so much information). Nowadays, I only buy magazine under impulsive push! Almost 2 years I have stayed in Shanghai, and I found out I really have spent (or wasted to be more exact) a lot of money on a lot of unnecessary magazines, such as games, gadgets, etc. Only a couple of them related to business, which nowadays I certainly like to do, or wish I could do. I certainly hope I have the persistence to learn something new during my so-called hobby, reading. That's why now I try only buy and read "CBN Weekly". It is about business, the content is up to date, and not too difficult to understand. Moreover, it is not expensive -- 10RMB.

现在工作之余，在办公室我也干一些吸收知识的事情，就是每一个星期都会向自己公司的人和其他branch的人发一份所谓的newsletter。内容虽然是抄这抄那（newsletter上已经说明清楚了，所有copyrights都归那一些source所拥有），但是我还是觉得ok的，要花的时间和精力还是挺多的。还好自己也挺享受那一个过程，也能同时学到东西。而且，加上能和同事分享一下还是挺不错的。目前为止，大家还是挺支持的，这我很欣慰啦。至少没有觉得自己是在白费力气和时间（平均每一天，包括周末都要花上至少1-2小时来搞这一个东西，不知不觉也做了一年了！）。我其实对这一个newsletter还抱有一点野心的。就是能做到好像一些interactive magazine一样，不但有文有图，还有video，music之类的！但是，花的时间会更可怕。。。
Now, in the office, I have a "part-time" task (i.e., not related to any projects). Every week I will send around a copy of so-called newsletter collecting (or well, copy-and-paste) information on the Internet (closely related to so-called Lifestyle) to my colleagues and other colleagues overboard. Even though they are copy-and-paste (with slight editing), the copyrights, clearly stated on the newsletter, belong to the news sources. And, it definitely consumes a lot of my time and energy, considering in average I have to spend 1-2 hours on that, including weekends. Luckily, I enjoy doing that. And through the process, I certainly am up-to-date with a lot of stuff. Moreover, colleagues are showing quite support, I feel relieved. At least I don't think my time and effort have been wasted. In fact, I still have a little bit ambition with this newsletter. In addition to picture and text, I certainly hope I have the energy and time to make it more interactive, with video, audio etc.

Quantum theory can hurt you!

Been reading this book on the way to the office every morning, which I got from Waterstones. I have been quite interested in this sort of books - teaching / talking about hardcore science in a more easily to be understood and interesting way. "Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You" by Marcus Chown is the first ebook I purchased. I think he belongs to the same category of Simon Singh and Bill Bryson.

Allow me to quote a phrase from the book:
Atoms and their kin can do many impossible things before breakfast. For instance, they can be in two or more places at once, penetrate impenetrable barriers, and know about each other instantly even when on different sides of the universe. They are also totally unpredictable, doing things for no reason at all -- perhaps the most shocking and unsettling of all their characteristics.

OK, I don't understand all what he said in the book - even though he has tried to use the most plain description and some very realistic examples in real life for explanation. However, I do know a bit now what the whole new generation of physic Quantum something something something is about. I am quickly hooked by for example "telepathic", "breaking time-distance limit barrier for information transmission", "parallel universe" sort of things mentioned in the book. And, they are not science-fiction, they are science!

You definitely will be missed, Michael

Today is certainly not a good day for me. One of my very favourite authors, the first English fiction I have ever read when I was 19, leaving Malaysia in United Kingdom for studying, staying in a tiny room with nothing but four walls, a bed and a table, was actually his, "The Lost World". Michael Crichton passed away of cancer on 4 Nov 2008 at 66. I have to say, this is certainly a shocking news to me. This may sound weird and geeky to a lot of people, but I really will miss him. I have read a lot of his masterpiece, and some of which I have actually revisited more than once, for example Congo I have read twice; The Lost World, probably three times, Jurassic Park, also two times, etc. The reason I love his books not only because the storyline is thrilling, fast-paced, but also because they are inspiring in a scientific kinda way. Truth to be told, I don't think anyone out there could do a better job than him... What a great loss to the world... He will definitely be missed, at least by me.


Check out the video to know more about his life... I almost wept for him...

胖弟的interview

也没什么特别，就是在《创业家》的杂志里出现了一下。

Nothing special, just appeared in a small corner in the Corporate Journey magazine.

T3 and Stuff

My boss bought me couple of magazines from Hong Kong, which is very generous and kind of him. Apparently, my geeky and nerdy love to those lifeless yet lovable gadgets is no secret to people around me, even those who do knot really know me. Stuff and T3 are two very famous (also with their prices) magazines about gadgets in United Kingdom. It has a lot of up-to-date information with a lot of nice pictures about the trendy gadgets nowadays. So, always nice to have a read. But, due to the damn pricey tags, I never bought any of them, just borrowed from a best friend of mine.

Books again but with an 'e'

Apparently, I have been reading more than I used to. Probably it is a good thing. On the other hand, I play less game. From the economic point of view, I am not really fully exploiting the money I have spent on PSP and NDSL. But, I do use my Sony Reader every day, at least 2 hours per day.

So, I finished one of Michael Crichton's older books, Congo in less than a week. I really really like his writing, easy to understand, to follow yet doesn't lost the touch of scientific and technological depth. And, now I am reading Robert Ludlum's very old book, namely The Bourne Identity. Coincidentally, both of these books have been made into movies. And, also quite frankly, I have seen the movies before reading the books. But, the deviation between the movie and the book can be quite huge.

In Congo, a team of people comprises a scientist who can understand gorilla (Peter Elliot), a high tech technician and researcher (Karen Ross), a notorious yet experienced explorer (Munro), and a gorilla who can "speak" in sign language (Amy) went deep into the Amazon forest to reach the lost city Zinj, with different agendas. One might remember the movie, but as I said the deviation is quite large. Compared to Michael's more latest work, I would say this is not one of his best works. But, luckily I enjoyed most of it.

We know about Jason Bourne played by Matt Daemon. The movies are great, certainly could match up with the Bond series. Now after the trilogy, 4th Bourne movie is going to be in production. So, I have decided to read the book, to see if it is really that good as the movie itself. How is it different from the movie then? I would have to say, more action-packed, more emotional thrilling, more make sense, and more difficult to follow. Robert's way of writing reminds me of the legendary Jin Yong. Each step of the action is described vividly and with some minor imagination, you could really see that in your head. So, even though it is quite difficult to follow sometimes due to my poor English, it is still very great to follow the story! And, it is a long book, so I am only like 1/5 of it. Still a bit far from finishing it.

My favorite authors of fictions

I love reading books. Don't know when exactly I picked up this luxurious (and for some considered quite money-wasting) hobby. I think my first (finished) English fiction is Michael Crichton's The Lost World. I think I was still in University of Southampton' Montefiore student hall, in a room with nothing but 4 walls, a table, a chair and a bed. Then, after moving to Netherlands, I guess this luxurious hobby of mine is like catching a rocket escalating. When I have to move out of Netherlands, I just realized my books (fictions) collection actually have occupied almost 3 big moving boxes (considering I have only 6 boxes of stuff). So, I know I have to stop... (that's the reason I bought Sony Reader).

Without a doubt, Peter Robinson is my favorite of all time. I have his series of fictions (and I believe they are complete). Inspector Alan Banks' journey to fight crime and struggle of his personal lives are never boring. I have all his books, but my favorite would be Friend of the Devil, Playing with Fire, The Summer that Never was, and Past Reason Hated.

The next author that I really like apparently is the one who has got me addicted with books, Michael Crichton. What I like about his masterpieces are not just the thrilling feature, but also his clever way of incorporating the stories with some documented facts (scientific and technology wise). I think I have most of his books, and my favorites would be Next, State of Fear, The Lost World, and Jurassic Park.

Jonathan Kellerman is not bad at all. But frankly not all of his books are that good. I think I have his Alex Delaware's stories in Dr. Death, Murder Book, Therapy and Rage. Next will be him, Henning Mankell. He is very interesting because he is Swedish author, who doesn't write English books. Somehow, I feel like his writing style is quite familiar with Peter. Probably that's why I like his collection as well. Not many, only couple of them on Kurt Wallander's mysteries, including Return of the Dancing Master and Firewall.

I bet a lot of us know who Dan Brown is. His books certainly has caused a riot in the Christian world. Anyway, he doesn't have a lot of works (only four so far), and two of which featured the famous Professor Robert Langdon's adventures. I think his writing skill is really similar to Michael's - fast-pace, breathtaking, and movie-like. I only have two of his books, which I think I enjoy, namely Da Vinci Code (of course) and Angels and Demons. Thomas Harris is very famous with his chronicles of Hannibal Lecter. I guess I bought his books because of this fame. However, I only have Hannibal and Red Dragon.

Last but not least are the two female authors that certainly have their respectable positions in thriller, detective and mystery genre. P. D. James's writing also similar to Peter. And, so far I only have read one of her books The Murder Room. If I could find more for the Sony Reader, certainly I won't let go the chances of enjoy her detective world. Patricia Cornwell is so famous that I believe no one (at least those who love to read this particular genre) know who she is. However, I guess I have been too familiar with English's way of writing (aka Peter's way), somehow I cannot get myself adapted with American's way (aka Patrica's way). That's why I haven't really read any of her fictions, but only one non-fiction, namely Portrait Of A Killer: Jack The Ripper. I guess sometimes soon I need to really see why she is so famous with her other books featured Kay Scarpetta.

The world is not round anymore

Whenever I went abroad, I always visit bookstores trying to get some books. Reason is that it is very difficult to get an English book (let alone a good one) in China. And this time, I have got two from Netherlands. They are not cheap in Netherlands really. I rather buy them from Malaysia or Singapore or even Hong Kong. But, I don't have a choice.

This time, I don't buy fictions. I bought some non-fictions. I heard about The World is Flat a while ago. Apparently this book is a big hit. And the author, Thomas Friedman "super-size" the book with 2 extra chapters and publish it in paperback. This gives me a good motive to buy The World Is Flat: The Globalized World in the Twenty-first Century.

I am certainly very curious why the world is not round anymore. And, after reading one chapter, the book certainly grabs my attention. The world has certainly changed a lot or (in Thomas' words) flatten a lot due to the globalization and freedom of information. I think you could use the same analogy that the world has been shrunk. Maybe I could use an example in the book (some of which are really amazing!): A 10-year-old American boy is tutored in Geometry at 7pm by an Indian highly-educated mother at her home at 4am online in real time. Now, you could see the world is really flat... I think I will finish this book very soon because it is very inspiring. Hopefully it would help me in my work (which is a bonus for me).

"Need to know" the unknown or unsure

Not to become a paranoid person about all sort of conspiracy theories, or not to become some sort of nerd that is obsessed with UFOs, aliens or out-of-space ET. Just curious. After finished latest Banks' encounter, I picked up this book that I have bought also in Malaysia months ago. I guess, now that I have finished my favorite books, and my family has gone back to Malaysia, I have some free time for myself in the evening. "Need to know" without a doubt is telling or documenting all kinds of UFOs related stories and news. I used to enjoy this type of story, i.e., mysterious or extraterrestrial unknowns (considering I really loved "X-Files" when I was young).

Not much I could talk about this book cause I have only finished like 30 pages. As I have said earlier, it is really about documenting the history of UFOs encounter. One thing makes it more believable (yes... believable), is that it has presented all kinds of "reliable" or "official" sources. It even includes some "confidential" reports from military, government and academy. So, believe it or not, I guess it is up to the reader. As for me, I think it always has a possibility that there is some sort of advanced life form out there in the spacious universe. I think I have heard this from somewhere before, "it is just too selfish and self-absorbed to think that there is only us in this huge borderless universe".

His book is always better

I always love his book. I am glad the paperback of his latest masterpiece is out in the bookstore when I was in Malaysia few weeks ago. "Friend of the Devil" talked about two different murders happened at different locations, somehow linked with each other. I used to be able to see (or guess wildly) who the obvious suspect is, but this time, I am kinda lost, in a good way actually. That drives me to finish the book as soon as possible.

Alan is investigating hate crime

While I am still looking forwards to his (my favorite author Peter Robinson) latest fiction in paperback "Friend of the Devil", I am going to read one of his old release, "Blood of the Root" (or in UK it is known as "Dead Right"). It is released quite a while ago, in 1997. I thought I have all his books in the past, but I guess this one just somehow slip by my hands. Anyway, at that moment Alan Banks is still married but the marriage is on the edge of collapse. Well, I am not really fond of this relationship kind of story. The crime-solving part is what I like. Racism is a global problem. Hate crime happens almost every day in every corner of the world. In fact, I myself has experienced racism in UK back I was still doing my degree in Southampton -- being ignored by the shopkeeper, being chased and rocked by the teenagers on the street, etc. That's why somehow I could relate myself to this book.

Right, a man was murdered near a pub. At the beginning it seemed like a bar fight gone bad. But, once Inspector Banks and the team dug deeper, the can of worms is opened. It actually involved some sort of Neo-Nazi group, some immigrants and other political groups. Well, now this not-so-good-with-politics inspector has to scratched his head hard to solve the crime at the same time not pissing off some important people. I am only half way through the book. Peter's style of writing really suits my appetite. I sometimes hope he could co-write the stories for Law and Order: Criminal Intent, my favorite crime-solving TV series in America.

Genetic issues

Finished Michael's book. First of all, this book is a bit not what I have expected. I mean it is not really a science-fiction like Jurassic Park that he has worked on before -- considering it is (almost) definitely impossible (for the current "known" technologies) to clone a dinosaur -- that's what we call "science fiction". Somehow, I would expect the genetic storyline of his latest fiction would evolve into something horrifying -- like Jurassic Park where the T-Rex was preying on the human beings. But, no, this latest fiction, albeit talking about genetic is somehow based on facts (somehow, along the storyline I thought some sort of genetic mutated beings were going to turn up and chasing after those researchers).

OK. The whole book is composed of a lot of short chapters, which comprise different storylines and somehow intertwined with each other -- a talking parrot (which thought itself is a human), a talking orang-utan (which swore a lot in Dutch and French), a transgenic ape (which was created mixed of human genes), controversy of human genes patenting, and ownership controversy of one's cell tissue. And, all these stories are actually built around facts (the book has included a lot of snippets of news related to genetic issues). I must say Michael has done a great job by doing that. Frankly, I was a bit disappointed of no genetic mutated beings appear in the book, but then that is actually a surprise too. Anyway, the book is wisely written and far from boring - well, I have finished the book merely in one week...

Next

First of all, I regret (big time) that I didn't really buy more clothings in Hong Kong because they are much cheaper (most of them anyway) than in Shanghai. But, that is already a past, and I am pretty sure I will go back to Hong Kong again whenever I have a chance. However, I have bought several books - not that the books there are cheaper, just that it is just too damn difficult to get some decent English books in China. I haven't read any fictions for a while now, and this time I got one of my favorite authors, i.e., Michael Crichton's latest paperback, "Next". I think I have read most of his work, from "Jurassic Park", "The Lost World", to the not-so-long-ago "Prey" and "State of Fear". Frankly, his work is always full of scientific mysteries - an intelligent mix of current scientific affairs with futuristic and imaginative (or fictional) scientific facts and definitely some elements of thrills and mysteries. I guess if you want me to compare him with one of the Asian authors I know (which by the way sadly not many...), it would be 倪匡 who has written a number of sci-fictions.

This time, after dinosaur, nanotech, and eco-terror, Michael brings us to genetic world. I have only 1/4 through the book, and a lot of characters are introduced yet to know who the main ones are, a lot of storyline and mysteries are built, yet to be answered. Already I am thrilled and intrigued by the book. Even though it is not that cheap (HKD 110) it is still cheaper than in Netherlands (roughly EUR 13). So, I really think HK is a shopping paradise!