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It has been a while – this is a book that gives the urge to do a review (or a recommendation).

“What I talk about when I talk about running” by Haruki Murakami (村上春樹) is a memoir of the author about his marathons; it is the casual thoughts of the author along with what he thinks and feels for running It is a book where the author wants to share what running means for him as a person.

This book covers his 4-month preparation for the 2005 New York Marathon, at the time when he is around 55 years old.  At times, he goes back to his first-ever experience in Athens, or at Tokyo’s Jingu Gaien Gardens, or the 62-mile run in a day or the Boston Marathon.

As Mr. Murakami closes his Jazz bar, and takes up writing full-time, he gives up smoking and turns to running to keep himself fit.  In 1983, he had his first –ever experience running (nearly) 26 miles in Athens gruelingly under extreme hot condition.  He was able to run the whole course by himself.  His immediate reaction was not one of pride, but one of relief that “I don’t have to run another step. Whew – I don’t have to run anymore”.   Since then, he has run a marathon every year.

Running for Mr. Murakami goes way beyond keeping him physical fit, most of what he knows about writing fiction he learns by running every day.  It helps him to crystallize the important quality of a novelist : talent, focus, endurance and patience to repeat the process again and again to train willpower.

What makes this book special is not just in the training and the story of his various marathons, but also in his writing style, and the parallel that the author is able to draw among running, writing and living.  He brings a refreshingly vivid account of his thoughts, as he experiences in his marathons.   If you are in middle-age, there is that additional appreciation on the bit of his struggle, when he has to accept below-his-expectation result, or being passed by other runners in some last stretch of a run.

Whether you are a runner, a to-be runner, or not a runner, you would enjoy this book.

I not only got inspired to run, it makes the bike work (to get rid of knee pain)  in a gym very enjoyable while reading the book.

Wall Street titles “Daniel Suarez sees into the future” in the reviews of thriller/scientific novels written by the author.  “His books have a lot of readers with important jobs” and “… 2006 novel ‘Daemon’ describes lethal driverless cars and assassins outfitted with Google Glass-type goggles that help them track down victims”.   Both his debut “Daemon” and the sequel “Freedom” turn out to be very enjoyable read, especially for readers with interest in computer technology.

The story starts with the death of Matthew Sobol, the legendary computer game designer, and the homicide of two computer professionals working in the same company.  When Matthew’s obituary is posted online, a previous dormant daemon (computer programs running in the background detecting events and takes actions) activates his intricate plans.  The daemon recruits smart people through a popular computer game and form a Dark net community with a different way or organizing the society.  As new layers of his daemon are unleashed, the Dark net takes control of things including corporations through hacking of its data.  The fight between the security officers of the government and Dark net begins to reflect the malfunctions of the governments and underlying issues of current world order.  The detective Peter Sebeck, the IT professional Jon Ross and the national security agent Natalie Philips have to face the choice of fighting the daemon or joining it for the new world order.  And it leaves the readers to ponder whether this plan is evil or be the catalyst of a better and new world order

It is an aggressive attempt of the author to tell a very sophisticated story with the bold concept on how the around-the-corner computer technology can change the world and redraw the order.

Certain chapters get pretty descriptive on the computer security and hacking, the computer games, the driver-less killer autos, the Google-glass like goggles and the fictional data-curse ability; in spite of the technicality, readers could follow along the story plot.  There are moments that the Cyber world and the real world look two of the same; and there are parts that mirror what is happening in real world.

The message is clear on the very possibility of Cyber Attack that no longer only happens in fictional stories of Daniel Suarez.

Do you know how the internet security works when you see this “https:” vs. “http:”? Are they secured enough?  The vulnerability of our data in the computer world is becoming apparent, and it seems inevitable that needs to be a priority for many.

University of Maryland Records Hacked

Target struggles to contain Cyber theft

Google bolstered encryption to prevent snooping

Google interest in the authentication technology

The Ballad of the Sad Café and other stories, by Carson McCullers, is one of those books on the 2013 Christmas shopping list of President Obama.  First published in 1951, it is a classic work for generations, with a number of different stories.

The Ballad of the Sad Café is the longest story among a human triangle in an isolated Georgia town.  The human triangle surrounds the rising and the closing of a café owned by Miss Amelia. Miss Amelia is a formidable and rich southern woman who has lived her life alone, except for a marriage that lasted 10 days.   All things that could be made by hands Miss Amelia prospers, including people who are very sick.   She could not be at ease with most people, other than the very sick, as people could not be taken into her hands and changed overnight to something more worthwhile.   With the appearance of her cousin Lymon, a sick hunchback, her store changes overnight to become a café and a gathering place for the town.  Miss Amelia and cousin Lymon falls into a lover-and-being-loved relationship until the return of her ex-husband Marvin, and then the triangle relationship evolves to the demise of Miss Amelia, the café and the town.

There are other shorter stories in the book.  “Madame Zilensky and the King of Finland” is about an intriguing discovery of the head of the music department regarding a new faculty member Madame Zilensky.  Zilensky owns an impressive reputation as composer and pedagogue; and yet live her life in lies.  “A Domestic Dilemma” is about the relationship of Martin Meadows and his staying-home wife who is becoming an alcoholic.  And then there is the “Sojourner” that tells the longings for love and belongings.

Carson McCullers use stories to share her acute observation of individuals, their relationship and their emotion towards love, being loved, loneliness, longing and other irrational sentiment; these sentiment may be missed but was plainly to be seen in the real world.   This is what she writes about love in “the Ballad of the sad café” – “love is a joint experience between two persons – but the fact that it is a joint experience does not mean that it is a similar experience to the two people involved.  There are the lover and the beloved, but the two come from different countries”.

These stories leave a lingering flavor and remind the relationship subtlety we often miss in our busy daily life.  If you enjoy reading intriguing stories with delicate and in-depth portrait of relationship and emotions, this one would be for you.

Miss McCullers is the author of “The Heart is a Lonely Hunter”, published in 1940 when she was 23; the book was later adapted into play and film.

Having gone through a career break some months ago, this book comes as a fitting read.  In a way, a career break puts things in perspective, and helps with a deeper understanding of our own self.

If you long for a break, but do not have the conditions to do it, how about reading this book “One Year Off” by David Cohen?

The “One Year Off” of David Cohen is more than a career break.  It is a break from his job as a successful editor, his home and his friends.  It starts with how he feels about life at forty years old – “Shortly after my fortieth birthday, I began to experience vague twinges of spiritual uneasiness. I suppose you could call it a mid-life crisis”.  He quietly starts to dislike his home, his belongings and dissatisfies with his own production of books; he longed for a big adventure travel.

This is the book that describes how he actions this uneasiness into selling his home, breaking from his publishing job, and taking a year off travelling around the world visiting over fifteen countries.  If this does not sound easy, he adds to the challenge as he does it with his wife, his three children at age 9, 8 and 2 years old.

For readers who expect something of a life changing spiritual experience, they could be disappointed.   Even though the author “leaving it all behind for a Round-the-World Journey with Our Children”, he and his family returns home with rich memories and experience of the family travelling together for a year.  It feels more like that he comes home to pick things where he leaves off with subtle life style adjustment, than a total life transformation.     

He chronicles his year of “freedom” as he visits countries in Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia.  His travel log is light, engaging and entertaining. There are dramatic moments too, like how he almost loses his daughter as they go surfing in Australia; or their hospital experience as his children encounter injuries.  The book has a bit of everything, from humor to romance, from petty family life to drama, from typical travel to adventures and dangers.   His good sense of humor is in good display with the flight from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth, where after six flights, twelve hours later, and multiple failed attempts to land at Port Elizabeth, they are back to where they start.   There is also romantic moments as they tour through Istanbul of Turkey; there is moment of danger in the wild of Africa with the Hippo Attack; and his thoughts about life in the Buddha caves in Laos.

In as much as the book is enjoyable to read,  my biggest impression remains with how David and his wife pull this “stunt” off, with three young children; and enjoys so much their adventure.  What a travelling family!