Category Archives: Books & Reviews

Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Posted on February 9, 2018 by sinyaw

Time exists only when heat exchanges. Heat exchanges only when particles interact with each other. Really? Read on. Imagine a pendulum that swings back and forth and imagine it swings with no heat exchanges what-so-ever. Since there cannot be any … Continue reading →

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A Village with My Name: A Family History of China’s Opening to the World

Posted on January 22, 2018 by sinyaw

In 2006, I visited the village where my ancestors settled late in the Song Dynasty, about 800 years ago. I found myself in a village where half the inhabitants shared my last name and probably more were my blood relatives. … Continue reading →

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Saturn Run

Posted on December 26, 2017 by sinyaw

If you need to go to Saturn, the planet, in a big hurry, how would you do it? Oh, about 50 years in the future. John Sanford tried to solve the problem, in two ways: the traditional rocket or an … Continue reading →

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Before the Wind

Posted on December 5, 2017 by sinyaw

I was into sailing, I was also living in Seattle. I visited the Bellevue branch of the King County public library and there was this display table for “Seattle themed books” and this book stared at me. I put it … Continue reading →

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Aliomenti Saga (7 books series)

Posted on October 10, 2017 by sinyaw

The 8th book, Adam’s journey, appeared to be a sequel or “release to video directly” after thought. For all practical purposes, the story ended by book 7. As a pretty standard marketing tactic by now, the 1st 3 books are … Continue reading →

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The First 15 Lives of Harry August

Posted on June 28, 2017 by sinyaw

This book reminded me of Life after Life. I don’t know if Claire North was inspired by Kate Atkinson, or it was the other way around. Both books were excellent, this one being a thriller. Life after Life was about … Continue reading →

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A Day at Woodinville

Posted on June 14, 2017 by sinyaw

Woodinville is a phenomenon. There are over 95 wineries in this small city. Most of them are simply a store front in a strip mall. The wines were made miles away with grape grown elsewhere. You come to Woodinville to … Continue reading →

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Manresa

Posted on June 1, 2017 by sinyaw

It’s not every day I go to a Michelin 3-starred restaurant. On this lovely California evening, six of us arrived at the famed Los Gatos establishment, full of anticipation. David Kinch used to operate the famed Sent Sovi at Saratoga. … Continue reading →

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The Great Wall (the movie)

Posted on May 17, 2017 by sinyaw

In storytelling, there is the concept of genre rules. Stories must establish these rules early, else the readers/audience will assume the standard ones. In the movie Arrival, when they entered the spaceship, they found the aliens capable of manipulating gravity. … Continue reading →

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The Undoing Project

Posted on April 25, 2017 by sinyaw

I read several Michael Lewis: Liar’s Poker and Money Ball and liked them. What drew me to this one is the topic. I am a big fan of Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking: Fast and Slow. It is one of a very … Continue reading →

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