FICTION
1.BOOK OF THE DEAD
by Patricia Cornwell
Putnam
The forensic pathologist Kay Scarpetta opens a private practice in Charleston, South Carolina.
2. A LICK OF FROST<
by Laurell Hamilton
Ballantine
In the sixth Meredith Gentry paranormal romance, Meredith's wicked uncle presses charges against her guards.
3. PLAYING FOR PIZZA<
by John Grisham
Doubleday
An American third-string quarterback joins the Italian National Football League's Parma Panthers.
4. WORLD WITHOUT END<
by Ken Follett
Dutton
It's love and intrigue in Kingsbridge, the medieval English cathedral town at the center of Follett's Pillars of the Earth.
5. THE ALMOST MOON<
by Alice Sebold
Little, Brown
A woman murders her mother; from the author of The Lovely Bones.
6. THE CHOICE<
by Nicholas Sparks
Grand Central
How the choices made by a North Carolina man and the neighbor with whom he falls in love play out their lives.
7. A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS<
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead
A friendship between two women in Afghanistan against the backdrop of 30 years of war.
8. NOW AND THEN<
by Robert Parker
Putnam
What looked like a simple matrimonial case for a Boston private investigator turns out to involve a group that sponsors terrorists.
9. DARK OF THE MOON<
by John Sandford
Putnam
Virgil Flowers, a character from Invisible Prey, investigates three murders in a small Minnesota town.
10. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED<
by James Patterson and
Howard Roughan
Little, Brown
An aspiring photographer working as a nanny and in love with the children's father has terrible visions.
11. PANDORA'S DAUGHTER<
by Iris Johansen
St Martin's
An Atlanta doctor discovers she is part of an ancient family of psychics and searches for the book of its secrets.
12. BRIDGE OF SIGHS<
by Richard Russo
Knopf
The entangled lives of an upstate New York couple and their best friend, from the author of Empire Falls.
NONFICTION
1. I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU!)<
by Stephen Colbert et al
Grand Central
The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central's Colbert Report.
2. CLAPTON<
by Eric Clapton
Broadway Books
The great guitarist looks back on his life and his music.
3. MY GRANDFATHER'S SON<
by Clarence Thomas
Harper
A memoir from an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
4. LONE SURVIVOR<
by Marcus Luttrell with Patrick Robinson.
Little, Brown
The only survivor of a Navy SEAL operation in northern Afghanistan describes the battle, his comrades and his courageous escape.
5. THE AGE OF TURBULENCE<
by Alan Greenspan
Penguin Press
A memoir by the longtime chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.
6. FAIR GAME<
by Valerie Plame Wilson
Simon & Schuster
A former undercover CIA officer who was exposed by the Bush administration describes
her experience.
7. MUSICOPHILIA<
by Oliver Sachs
Knopf
A neurologist examines the interaction between music and the brain.
8. QUIET STRENGTH<
by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker
Tyndale
A memoir by the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. (He did it with the Indianapolis Colts last February.)
9. IF DEMOCRATS HAD ANY BRAINS, THEY'D BE REPUBLICANS<
by Ann Coulter
Crown Forum
A collection of the columnist's provocative quotations, some from previous books and interviews, some new.
10. THE NINE<
by Jeffrey Toobin
Doubleday
A portrait of the Supreme Court since the Reagan administration focuses on the influence of its moderates.
11. ESCAPE<
by Carolyn Jessop with Laura Palmer
Broadway
A former member of a fundamentalist polygamous sect describes her forced marriage to a much older man.
12. THE HEROIN DIARIES<
by Nikki Sixx with Ian Gittins
The Motley Crue bassist's record of a year of drug addiction.
Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
When 17-year-old Lin Shih (林石) crossed the Taiwan Strait in 1746 with a group of settlers, he could hardly have known the magnitude of wealth and influence his family would later amass on the island, or that one day tourists would be walking through the home of his descendants in central Taiwan. He might also have been surprised to see the family home located in Wufeng District (霧峰) of Taichung, as Lin initially settled further north in what is now Dali District (大里). However, after the Qing executed him for his alleged participation in the Lin Shuang-Wen Rebellion (林爽文事件), his grandsons were
Jan. 20 to Jan. 26 Taipei was in a jubilant, patriotic mood on the morning of Jan. 25, 1954. Flags hung outside shops and residences, people chanted anti-communist slogans and rousing music blared from loudspeakers. The occasion was the arrival of about 14,000 Chinese prisoners from the Korean War, who had elected to head to Taiwan instead of being repatriated to China. The majority landed in Keelung over three days and were paraded through the capital to great fanfare. Air Force planes dropped colorful flyers, one of which read, “You’re back, you’re finally back. You finally overcame the evil communist bandits and
I am kneeling quite awkwardly on a cushion in a yoga studio in London’s Shoreditch on an unseasonably chilly Wednesday and wondering when exactly will be the optimum time to rearrange my legs. I have an ice-cold mango and passion fruit kombucha beside me and an agonising case of pins and needles. The solution to pins and needles, I learned a few years ago, is to directly confront the agony: pull your legs out from underneath you, bend your toes up as high as they can reach, and yes, it will hurt far more initially, but then the pain subsides.
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