The number and variety of Western "self-help" books that are translated into Chinese for the Taiwan market is, to coin a phrase, enlightening. A recent trip to a large Taipei bookstore turned up the following foreign titles that are currently being devoured by readers in search of encouragement or advice in managing life's myriad "issues" and maximizing their bank accounts.
* The Golfer and the Millionaire: It's About Having the Drive to Succeed by Mark Fisher
* One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth by Ilanya Vanzant
* What You Need is What I Got by Larry and Valere Althouse
* The Positive Power of Praising People by Jerry Twentier
* How We Choose to Be Happy: The 9 Choices of Extremely Happy People; Their Secrets, Their Stories by Rick Foster
* Living on the Edge: Breaking Through Instread of Breaking Down by Elizabeth Wilde McCormack
* The Power of Hope by Maurice Lamm; Something More: Excavating Your Authentic Self by Sarah Ban Breathnach
* Toxic Work: How to Overcome Stress, Overload and Burnout and Revitalize Your Career by Barbara Reinhold
* Spontaneous Optimism by Michael Mercer and Maryann Troiani.
Self-help books are obviously a major hit not only in the countries they were written, but in Taiwan too.
Just around the corner
A while back, we asked readers what they thought the first decade of the next century should be called, since most decades have had names -- the 1890s were called the Gay Nineties and the 1920s were called the Roaring Twenties, for example.
Taipei Times reader Rory Cheeney e-mailed us a few days ago, suggesting that "the years between 2000-2009 should be called the Aughts, since aught means zero, according to the dictionary. This was one of the ways oldtimers in the US referred to the years 1900-1909. One might also call the 00s the Millies, short for `millenium.'"
Cheeney also commented that, "the next millennium actually begins on Jan. 1, 2001."
What's your opinion about this? E-mail us at offthebeat@taipeitimes.com and we'll print your responses. Hurry: Jan. 1, 2000 is just around the corner -- less than 50 days away!
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