Leglessbird Reading guide

My book is out. Official site http://MyCambridgeDays.com

八載劍橋 My Cambridge Days 陳志邦 博士 Dr Dominic Chan, PhD MA BA (Cantab.) 輕輕的我走了, 正如我輕輕的來... 我揮一揮衣袖, 不帶走一片雲彩。 摘錄 徐志摩 的 再別康橋

The four-hour work week - Timothy Ferriss

I really like this book!
It is about attitude change towards the work-life balance and pursuing passions and life goals
It is about time-management, do things efficiently and effectively, not do work for work sake.
It is about freeing yourself from a lot of unneccessary constraint such as your boss, an office, even a particular location and a lot of the time-wasting/zero value generating activities.
It is about eliminating the burdens.
It is about beating the game not just playing the game.
It is about over-coming the fears that have been stopping you from taking actions!
Most importantly, it is about getting rich in a combination of money, time, freedom and spiritual.
And the advices are actually practical, I have started applying some of the tips IMMEDIATELY!

We had a book club session, there were 8 of us and we shared the following books:

Business Cycles: History, Theory and Investment Reality - Lars Tvede
The four-hour workweek - Timothy Ferriss
A pale view of Hill - Kazuo Ishiguro
中國大歷史 - 黃仁宇
Screen play - Syd Field
0-1 - 澤田尚美
香港社會企業妙點子 - 謝家駒
關於跑步，我說的其實是… - 村上春樹

Wonderful event, always fun to hear about what other people are reading and why they like the book.

By Malcolm Gladwell

As the name of the book suggests, it talks about people who are different from others and so they stand out and become successful. It attempts to explain why certain people succeeded where other failed, moreover, the book inspects the cases where the success is not necessary the ability of the person alone or in some cases, the person doesn't really have any real outstanding ability, what is important in a lot of cases is the circumstances and the system has somehow favoured someone or a group of people. On the other hand, thre are people with remarkable ability but has been mirginallized by the system.

While the idea of book is pretty interesting, I found the cases and description a bit repetitive and long-winded. This is the 3rd book that I read from the same author, the other two books were "Tipping point" and "Blink" which I enjoyed a lot, but I must say I was a bit disappointed about "Outliners".

Date: Saturday, 14 June, 2008
Time: 4:00pm - 6pm
Location:Epoch Coffee Bar
12-14 Wing Fung Street (near Pacific Place 3), Wan Chai, Hong Kong

If you enjoy reading and want to meet others who do, come to our gathering and bring along your favourite book and share with others!

Please reply by Fri 13 June

9 people turned up (7 in the photos) at our book club gathering and we talked about many things and we talked about 6 books

La sagesse des contes (buy from Amazon) by Alexandro Jodorowsky

The God Delusion (buy from Amazon) by Richard Dawkins

"I think therefore I am" - A collection of short article by a Hong Kong writer - Chan Wan

"Il Decamerone", written by the Italian humanist writer Giovanni Boccaccio almost 650 years ago, Il Decamerone contains a hundred tales supposedly told in ten days.
Visualizing Boccaccio: Studies on Illustrations of the Decameron, from Giotto to Pasolini (Cambridge Studies in New Art History and Criticism) (buy from Amazon) by Jill M. Ricketts

"All kind of gods in ancient China"

Margin of Safety: Risk-Averse Value Investing Strategies for the Thoughtful Investor (buy from Amazon) by Seth A. Klarman

The God Delusion (buy from Amazon) by Richard Dawkins

A very deep and comprehensive book that talks about why there is no God, not an easy book to read. "God delusion" covers a very wide angle, "Respects that religion doesn't deserve", "God Hypothesis", Why human is receptive to the idea of religion and how religion arised as a result, the inconsistency in scriptures people simply choose to ignore, the alternatives to God that can still explain the world, the human moral standard with or without God, Science Vs Religion. Dawkins is a firm believer in Evolution/Darwinian world.

I have enjoyed reading this book very much, it will help you to decide one way or the other.

7 people turned up for a nice group discussion on books, life, polities and else. We discussed 3 very interesting books. They are:

Wolf Totem: A Novel (buy from Amazon) by Jiang Rong

Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia (buy from Amazon) by Joe Studwell

Freakonomics [Revised and Expanded]: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything (buy from Amazon) by Stephen J. Dubner

We shared 4 books together and had great chat

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (buy from Amazon) by John Perkins

The Starbucks Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary Into Extraordinary (buy from Amazon) by Joseph Michelli

Fooled by Randomness Revision (Not Available in US): The Hidden Role of Chance in the Markets and Life (buy from Amazon) by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

And a book on back problem, what exercise can help.

By Robert H. Schuller

"By my God, I can leap over a wall. As for God, His way is perfect." -II Samuel 22:30,31

What is courage? Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is deciding to go ahead even when you're scared stiff.

If you make a decision where there's no risk involved, it does not require courage. If you are moving ahead and you know you cannot fail, that doesn't take any courage.

Do you want to stay where you are the rest of your life? God has bigger and better things for you and me, but we'll never advance 'til we take a chance. Taking a chance means you run the risk of possible failure, real hurt. Courage! Somebody said to me, "But some people have it and some people don't."

Courage isn't a gift. Courage is a decision. Courage is that scary emotion that motivates you to make the right decision. Courage is always a choice! Courage is something I can never lose. Because courage is something I can always choose. Courage is when you know it's what God wants you to do. I've got that courage, and I get it, frankly, from Jesus Christ. If you believe that God is alive, that He loves you, that He's forgiven you and that He has a plan for your life, automatically you have courage.

"Thank you, Lord, that you are giving me courage. You have called me to make daring decisions, to put my feet on a road, and only You know where that road will lead, only You know how far it will take me. Lord, touch me and let me know that the beginning of success is when I reach up and put my hand in Yours and decide to walk faithfully with You all through life. Amen

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I am living today controlled by my God-inspired positive ideas!