FICTION
1. STATE OF FEAR
by Michael Crichton
Avon
Reverse eco-terrorists create natural disasters to convince the public that global warming is real.
2. NIGHT FALL
by Nelson DeMille
Warner
A husband and wife who work for an anti-terrorism task force reopen the investigation into TWA Flight 800
3. WHITEOUT
by Ken Follett
Signet
In the middle of a Christmas Eve blizzard in Scotland, a canister filled with a deadly virus goes missing.
4. LIFE EXPECTANCY
by Dean Koontz
Bantam
A pastry chef must struggle all his life against a family of evil madmen.
5. NORTHERN LIGHTS
by Nora Roberts
Jove
In Lunacy, Alaska, the new chief of police finds romance and investigates a murder.
6. THE KITE RUNNER
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead
An Afghan-American returns to Kabul to learn how his
childhood friend fared under the Taliban.
7. LONDON BRIDGES
by James Patterson
Warner
The FBI agent Alex Cross
contends with two deadly
enemies: the Wolf and the Weasel.
8. WICKED
by Gregory Maguire
ReganBooks/HarperCollins
A little green-skinned girl grows up to become the Wicked Witch of the West; source of the Broadway musical.
9. TOM CLANCY'S SPLINTER CELL: OPERATION BARRACUDA
by David Michaels
Berkley
Further adventures of special operative Sam Fisher.
10. LIGHT ON SNOW
by Anita Shreve
Back Bay Books/Little, Brown
In the middle of a New England winter, a girl and her father come upon an abandoned baby.
11. MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
by Arthur Golden
Vintage
A young woman in Kyoto has to reinvent herself after World War II begins.
12. FAMILY BLESSINGS
by Fern Michaels
Pocket Books
Even though her house was destroyed by a tornado, a
matriarch plans a holiday
reunion to help her family solve their problems.
NONFICTION
1. A MILLION LITTLE PIECES
by James Frey
Anchor
A memoir by a man who was an alcoholic for 10 years and a crack addict for three.
2. JARHEAD
by Anthony Swofford
Scribner/Pocket Books
A memoir of the 1991 Persian Gulf War by a former marine.
3. IN COLD BLOOD
by Truman Capote
Vintage
A savage murder in Kansas in 1959 and its consequences.
4. THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY
by Erik Larson
Vintage
A great architect and a serial killer, linked by the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.
5. THE TIPPING POINT
by Malcolm Gladwell
Back Bay/Little, Brown
A journalist's study of social
epidemics, otherwise known as fads.
6. WHEN WILL JESUS BRING THE PORK CHOPS?
by George Carlin
Hyperion
Another volume of observations and opinions from the stand-up comedian.
7. MAGICAL THINKING
by Augusten Burroughs
Picador/St. Martin's Press
Life after rehab, from the
author of Running With Scissors.
8. READING LOLITA IN TEHRAN
by Azar Nafisi
Random House
A memoir of a female teacher's life in Iran, centered on a women's reading group she
organized.
9. GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL
by Jared Diamond
Norton
An argument that Western dominance is a result of
geographical advantages.
10. CHRONICLES: Volume One
by Bob Dylan
Simon and Schuster
Recollections and observations from the singer-songwriter.
11. GREEN RIVER, RUNNING RED
by Ann Rule
Pocket Star
The story of the Green River killer, who murdered dozens of women in the Pacific Northwest before he was
captured in 2001.
12. NICKEL AND DIMED
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Metropolitan/Owl/Holt
A social critic reports on what it was like to become a member of the working poor.
13. THE END OF FAITH
by Sam Harris
Norton
The clash between reason and religion in the modern world.
June 2 to June 8 Taiwan’s woodcutters believe that if they see even one speck of red in their cooked rice, no matter how small, an accident is going to happen. Peng Chin-tian (彭錦田) swears that this has proven to be true at every stop during his decades-long career in the logging industry. Along with mining, timber harvesting was once considered the most dangerous profession in Taiwan. Not only were mishaps common during all stages of processing, it was difficult to transport the injured to get medical treatment. Many died during the arduous journey. Peng recounts some of his accidents in
“Why does Taiwan identity decline?”a group of researchers lead by University of Nevada political scientist Austin Wang (王宏恩) asked in a recent paper. After all, it is not difficult to explain the rise in Taiwanese identity after the early 1990s. But no model predicted its decline during the 2016-2018 period, they say. After testing various alternative explanations, Wang et al argue that the fall-off in Taiwanese identity during that period is related to voter hedging based on the performance of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Since the DPP is perceived as the guardian of Taiwan identity, when it performs well,
The Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on May 18 held a rally in Taichung to mark the anniversary of President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on May 20. The title of the rally could be loosely translated to “May 18 recall fraudulent goods” (518退貨ㄌㄨㄚˋ！). Unlike in English, where the terms are the same, “recall” (退貨) in this context refers to product recalls due to damaged, defective or fraudulent merchandise, not the political recalls (罷免) currently dominating the headlines. I attended the rally to determine if the impression was correct that the TPP under party Chairman Huang Kuo-Chang (黃國昌) had little of a
At Computex 2025, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) urged the government to subsidize AI. “All schools in Taiwan must integrate AI into their curricula,” he declared. A few months earlier, he said, “If I were a student today, I’d immediately start using tools like ChatGPT, Gemini Pro and Grok to learn, write and accelerate my thinking.” Huang sees the AI-bullet train leaving the station. And as one of its drivers, he’s worried about youth not getting on board — bad for their careers, and bad for his workforce. As a semiconductor supply-chain powerhouse and AI hub wannabe, Taiwan is seeing
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