1. Angela's Ashes
By Frank McCourt
An Irish-American writer recalls his childhood amid the miseries of Limerick.
2. The Green Mile
By Stephen King
A six-part thriller set in death row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary.
3. The Testament
By John Grisham
A reclusive billionaire, a burned-out lawyer
and a missionary are brought together
by a startling secret in this new novel by
the US author.
4. Rainbow Six
By Tom Clancy
A new unit based in the UK aims to stamp out
the latest threat -- global terrorism.
5. Devil's Teardrop
By Jeffrey Deaver
A thriller that follows a forensic scientist's
attempt to track down a simple-minded but brutal mass murderer.
6. Tuesdays with Morrie
By Mitch Albom
A New York Times bestseller that details the visits between the author and his former professor who is stricken with a terminal disease.
7 Lonely Planet Taiwan (Fourth edition)
By Robert Story
One of the most comprehensive English-language books on travel in Taiwan.
8. Chicken Soup for the Single's Soul
By Jack Canfield
A look at the ups and downs of being single with extra doses of wisdom and inspiration that the Chicken Soup series is known for.
9. Teach Yourself I Ching
By Andy Baggott
A how-to manual that looks at the ancient Chinese practice of I Ching.
10. Ancient & Healing Art of Chinese Herbalism
By Anna Selby
Plentiful full-color illustrations accompany numerous methods for using herbalism to treat common ailments.
Source: Caves Books
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
It’s hard to know where to begin with Mark Tovell’s Taiwan: Roads Above the Clouds. Having published a travelogue myself, as well as having contributed to several guidebooks, at first glance Tovell’s book appears to inhabit a middle ground — the kind of hard-to-sell nowheresville publishers detest. Leaf through the pages and you’ll find them suffuse with the purple prose best associated with travel literature: “When the sun is low on a warm, clear morning, and with the heat already rising, we stand at the riverside bike path leading south from Sanxia’s old cobble streets.” Hardly the stuff of your