| Reader | Group | Book Title | Book Author | Book Review or Favorite Quotes |
| lianyun pang | Faculty | The Wisdom of Life | Arthur Schopenhauer | This book offers a clear and thoughtful reflection on what truly shapes a good life. Schopenhauer suggests that happiness depends less on external conditions and more on one’s inner world — character, mindset, and the ability to be at peace with oneself. Recently, while organizing a series of tea culture activities, I found these ideas becoming more tangible. The experience of tea is often slow and quiet, inviting people to step away from external distractions and return to a more attentive and present state. In this sense, tea becomes not just a cultural practice, but a way of reconnecting with one’s inner balance — something that resonates strongly with Schopenhauer’s philosophy. One quote that stayed with me is: “A man can be himself only so long as he is alone.” In the context of tea, this “being alone” does not necessarily mean isolation, but rather a state of focused and conscious presence with oneself. It also reminds me that cultural experiences can go beyond knowledge transmission — they can create space for reflection and inner awareness. |
| Anonymous | Staff | 叶卡捷琳娜大帝-通往权力之路 | Robert K. Massie | 作者以诚恳的学术态度和卓越的文字功力生动且客观地描绘了叶卡捷琳娜大帝无与伦比的一生，很久没看到这么棒的传记作品了，赞! |
| Anonymous | Staff | 远见: 如何摆脱短期主义 | Richard Fisher | 作者从哲学的角度阐述远见是命运的指南针。除了提供了一条避开未来危险的路之外，还揭示了已经走过的道路中总结出的经验与教训。我们在前进的过程中，总有许多可能性与转折性。书中的时间伦理很有意思：随着越来越多的行业用时间来约束和规范劳动力，道德主义也随之兴起。他们将贫穷归咎于懒惰，鼓励努力勤奋工作。这就是工业时间观。 |
| Bai Ting Xue | Staff | 嫌疑人x的献身 | 东野圭吾 | 有些人只要好好活着，就足够拯救某个人。 |
| PengCheng Tan | Staff | 臣服的力量 | 朱迪斯·欧洛芙（Judith Orloff） 著，顾淑馨 译 | 臣服是否代表软弱、失败或者放弃？ 臣服是否是一种不好的品质，需要被摒弃？ 面对难以解决的问题，我们应该抵抗到底还是适时放下？ 在生活、工作等领域，我们应该怎样理解并恰当利用“臣服”？ 在《臣服的力量》一书中，蜚声国际的能量治疗师兼医生朱迪斯·欧洛芙详细剖析了何为臣服，以及如何应用臣服。朱迪斯认为，臣服指的是懂得何时坚持，何时放下，全然拥抱当下的变化。而这样的臣服具有强大的力量，能让我们拥抱更多的可能性，收回错用的抵抗，摆脱完美主义、害怕失败、过度敏感、思虑过多等带来的问题。 朱迪斯还告诉我们，臣服是一种与自己，与他人，与外界事物达成和解的艺术。通过《臣服的力量》一书，朱迪斯结合精神医学、直觉疗愈和灵性指引，详细剖析了在面对金钱、工作、爱情、病痛、死亡等11大人生课题时应该怎么做。很多时候，当我们不问成败反而能轻易地达成目标。 |
| Kenneth Richie Jr. | Undergraduate student | How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching | Susan Ambrose, Michael Bridges, Michele DiPietro, Marsha Lovett, Marie Norman | I enjoyed this book. The way It explains learning after you build a foundation is extremely insightful. It helped me reform my outlook on how we understand concept maps, the relationships upon prior knowledge, and how the environment affects how much we learn. Having read this after WOC 208, A lot of the ideas I was exposed to during the class were further solidified. The book also has great graphics and stories that you can use to apply the concepts wrote about. The book will consistently remind you of the same concept more times than is necessary, but that does make sure you remember that days after reading. After reading, I was left hoping for more content compared to the number of pages this book had, It might’ve been a little better if there was further depth into the content. The structure was great but the clarity of the argument could’ve been better. 7/10 |
| Kenneth Richie Jr. | Undergraduate student | Draw! | Brett Bean | This is a really good introductory book to the discipline of art. The way the book is delivered in an informal, yet informative and applicable style is really refreshing. I also love how its made as if it was a graphic novel that keeps the whole artistic idea across the whole piece. It found a positive middle ground between the textbook and “How to Draw…” books to provide practice to new artist, saving theory for another time theory. I recommend this book to anyone interested in visual arts. 9/10 |
| Coco Zhang | Undergraduate student | 活着 | 余华 | 一个人命再大.要是自己想死，那就怎么也活不了 |
| 云衣故家 | Undergraduate student | The nightingale and the rose | Osca Wilde | “will you let me kiss your hand? “ “I’m glad that you’re going to Egypt at last, little Swallow. You will have stayed too long here, but you must kiss me on the lips, for I love you.” “It is not to Egypt that I I am going. I am going to the house of Death.” |
| Kenneth Richie Jr | Undergraduate student | How Art Works: A Psychological Exploration | Ellen Winner | This was a great read on the psychology behind art, not just understanding how art works but we’re really digging into the why. This book also doubles an an amazing reference for academic writing that I would recommend to anyone who gets their hands on it. 8/10 |
| HMOB | Undergraduate student | Much Ado About Nothing | William Shakespeare | “I can see he’s not in your good books,’ said the messenger. ‘No, and if he were I would burn my library.” “Let me be that I am and seek not to alter me.” |
| HMOB | Undergraduate student | Sing, Unburied, Sing | Jesmyn Ward | An incredibly striking and moving read– I would recommend this author and her works to anyone and everyone. |
| Kenneth Richie Jr | Undergraduate student | The Art of Producing | David Gibson and Maestro B. Curtis | This is the best book I’ve read since coming here! This gives a deep dive into understanding musical theory and how you can apply this to production, both for yourself and others. The writting is clear and easy to understand, and if possible I would sit with this book for weeks to truely absorb all of its content. There are many other concepts in music talked about beyond what you’d learn in band that bring any song you make to the next level. I will definitely be checking this book out year after year to learn this! 10/10 |
| Ceyun Zhang | Undergraduate student | 局外人 | 加缪 | 本人非常信迪斯提.诺瓦的一句话，“世界上没有正常与疯狂，只有疯狂的一千种面貌。” 个人认为加缪在这里面刻画的主人公是粗糙而失败的。虽然本人不懂法，更不懂小说里的法，但倘使一个人杀了人，大抵是要偿命的。因此主人公杀了人还鞭尸被判死刑难道不是理所应当的吗？还是说只因为他认为他精神上独立，就能漠视生命逃过一死？因此，虽然对他审判的依据很大一部分来源于他在他妈死的时候没哭，但他本来就该死这件事实削弱了加缪希望通过审判体现社会荒诞。 个人以为更多的是“多数正义的强迫性”。抛开杀人该死不谈，你不能强迫一个人在母亲的葬礼上做出悲伤的行为。比如四川人会在守灵的晚上打通宵的麻将，随便吃上供的祭品等。毕竟尽孝应该是生前而非死后，具体可以参考邱炯炯的《椒麻堂会》。这里面还让养老院其他八九十的老人去给主人公他妈守灵，直接一个脑梗一块埋了算了。当然，我认为这也是一种荒诞的体现。除此之外，还有老太太找老伴等，当然这种事情在现在很常见。 但正如诺瓦的话，实际上每一个人都是荒诞的。如果主人公认为社会是荒诞的，那社会中的每一个个体也会认为其他个体和主人公是荒诞的。荒诞是没有优先权的，凭什么主人公就可以批判社会的荒诞？凭什么加缪就可以以他的视角去批判社会的荒诞？还是说他只是希望用批判荒诞，提醒别人世界是荒诞的？ |
| Mei Chen Yap | Graduate student | Four thousand weeks: time management for mortals | Oliver Burkeman | A must-read book for every person who has been through the productivity struggle and is striving for a purposeful life in the modern world. “This is the maddening truth about time, which most advice on managing it seems to miss. It’s like an obstreperous toddler: the more you struggle to control it, to make it conform to your agenda, the further it slips from your control.” |
