1. Faith Conquers All (
By Tai Cheng-chih (
This is a collection of inspirational essays depicting how successful people in different professions pursue their dreams.
2. A Girl Called Feeling (
By Hiyawu
The story began six years ago when the boy accidentally met the cute girl at a cram school. He painstakingly courted her, but he found himself loved by another girl. How should he decide?
3. Cards on the Table
By Agatha Christie
Translated by Sha Hui (沙輝)
One of Christie's best works about four detectives, four potential murderers, and one corpse. Shaitana invites four detectives and four people he suspects may have gotten away with murder. Later, when the guests prepare to leave, it is discovered that Shaitana has been fatally stabbed. Who's the murderer?
4. Murder on the Orient Express
By Agatha Christie, Translated by Chen Yao-kuang
A remarkable set of characters are brought together for a journey on the Orient Express train as it travels from Istanbul to Paris. But who murdered the American passenger? How will Hercule Poirot, the dapper Belgian detective, unravel the mystery?
5. Goodbye, Kiulu
By Kengo Ishiguro (石黑謙吾) and Ryouhei Akimoto (秋元良平)
Translated by Lin Fang-erh (林芳兒)
This is the story of a guide dog for the blind, embellished with beautiful black-and-white photos. The book has sold close to a million copies in Japan.
6. The Bible of Reincarnation: Part I (
By Carmelita Chao
A mystical novel from the Hong Kong-born teacher of meditation who spent much of her life in Taiwan and is now based in the San Francisco area.
7. A Guide to Happiness
By Wu Tan-ju
What kind of happiness do you want? The famous essayist published her first account of her own marital love. This is the guide you will need in the quest for happiness.
8. Little S' Braces Diary
By Hsu Hsi-ti
This is a hotchpotch diary of cartoons sketches, photos and poetry from pop singer and TV host Hsu Hsi-ti
9. A Beautiful Mind: A Biography of John Forbes Nash, Jr., Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics, 1994 (美麗境界)
By Sylvia Nasar
Translated by Fu Shih-che
Written by economist and journalist Sylvia Nasar, this is a book about John Nash -- one of the world's most brilliant mathematicians. His most important work had been in game theory, which by the 1980s was underpinning a large part of economic practice.
10. Incontinence of Love
By Jen Erh Hsiung
Another comic-essay book about love and relationships.
11. This is My Answer
By Hiyawu
A romance about a young man falling in love with a young girl who asks him to do a questionaire in front of a certain Eslite bookstore.
12. Irish Coffee
By Tsai Chi-heng
Short- and medium-length romantic stories initially published on-line.
13. My Mother's Golden Watch
By Chi-chun
This is a collection of essays about the author's memories of her childhood and the time she shared with her mother.
14. Dream-catcher
By Liu Yung
A collection of 54 very short essays and stories from the maestro of inspirational writings. This one covers inspiration you can find in religion, plants, animals and love, among other things.
15. Say it to Your Heart II
(
By Liu Yung
A sequel to the successful inspirational book from the New York-based essayist Liu Yung.
16. Lavender
By Tu Hui-chuan
Another book of illustrated scribblings from a young triumvirate -- on the usual subject of young love. This one bears the distinction of refined art work and full-color printing.
17. Secret Lover at Paris Cafe
By Cheng Hwa-jiuan
The Germany-based author brings more amusing and heart-warming stories about life and relationships from her adopted home.
18. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
By J.K. Rowling, Translated by Peng Chien-wen
Harry, now 14, comes in touch with his godfather-in-hiding, Sirius Black, while Lord Voldemort and his sinister Death Eaters lurk on the Dark Side. Meanwhile, Hogwarts vies with two other magicians' schools in a Triwizard Tournament. Could Harry be one of the lucky contenders?
May 6 to May 12 Those who follow the Chinese-language news may have noticed the usage of the term zhuge (豬哥, literally ‘pig brother,’ a male pig raised for breeding purposes) in reports concerning the ongoing #Metoo scandal in the entertainment industry. The term’s modern connotations can range from womanizer or lecher to sexual predator, but it once referred to an important rural trade. Until the 1970s, it was a common sight to see a breeder herding a single “zhuge” down a rustic path with a bamboo whip, often traveling large distances over rugged terrain to service local families. Not only
Ahead of incoming president William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20 there appear to be signs that he is signaling to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and that the Chinese side is also signaling to the Taiwan side. This raises a lot of questions, including what is the CCP up to, who are they signaling to, what are they signaling, how with the various actors in Taiwan respond and where this could ultimately go. In the last column, published on May 2, we examined the curious case of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) heavyweight Tseng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦) — currently vice premier
The last time Mrs Hsieh came to Cihu Park in Taoyuan was almost 50 years ago, on a school trip to the grave of Taiwan’s recently deceased dictator. Busloads of children were brought in to pay their respects to Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正), known as Generalissimo, who had died at 87, after decades ruling Taiwan under brutal martial law. “There were a lot of buses, and there was a long queue,” Hsieh recalled. “It was a school rule. We had to bow, and then we went home.” Chiang’s body is still there, under guard in a mausoleum at the end of a path
Last week the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) released a set of very strange numbers on Taiwan’s wealth distribution. Duly quoted in the Taipei Times, the report said that “The Gini coefficient for Taiwanese households… was 0.606 at the end of 2021, lower than Australia’s 0.611, the UK’s 0.620, Japan’s 0.678, France’s 0.676 and Germany’s 0.727, the agency said in a report.” The Gini coefficient is a measure of relative inequality, usually of wealth or income, though it can be used to evaluate other forms of inequality. However, for most nations it is a number from .25 to .50