Left hand "Su Chao", right hand "Shu Chao" | International Academy July Reading Recommendation

Life is like a heavy book, with different stories and insights written on each page. This summer, there are both struggles on the green field and contemplations in quiet reading.

This month's reading recommendation column is curated by English teacher Huang, who specializes in high school and Japanese studies in his sophomore year. He recommends three books with distinct styles that strike deep into people's hearts - "Extraordinary Ways of Living," "Courage to Be Disliked," and "How to Read a Book Effectively.

A book that awakens your delicate perception of daily life and the courage to start anew with gentle yet firm words;

A book that takes you into the world of Adlerian psychology, bravely facing yourself and breaking through difficulties;

A book that teaches you to enhance your thinking and reading skills in the torrent of information.

Left hand Su Chao, right hand Shu Chao, loves more than one side. Looking forward to you running and thinking at the same time, making this summer more abundant.

Recommended Books for This Month

《Extraordinary way of living》

Reason for recommendation

We often say that life is like "thousands of troops crossing a single wooden bridge", as if life is a predetermined path, and leaving carries the risk of "derailing". But recently, more and more people have begun to pursue the "wilderness of life" and explore different directions of development.

What kind of activities are there outside the grid

In this warm and inspiring book, Japanese Chinese writer Ren Yoshii attempts to answer this question. Over the course of seven years, she visited 12 ordinary people who had jumped out of the mainstream track: some collected garbage during the day and performed on stage at night to talk about comic talents; Someone resigned from their job at a large bookstore and started a 5.5 square meter second-hand bookstore in Okinawa; Some people built a building with their own hands in 2019 to resist the social rule of "efficiency first".

They are not legendary heroes, but ordinary people around us. Faced with academic pressure or future confusion, this book presents a possibility for high school students: life does not have to be trapped in a single track, dignity comes from being loyal to the heart; For parents, it is an opportunity to understand the diverse definition of "success" - the value of a child may not necessarily require a standard answer to define.

The sentence in the book, 'The road has narrowed, but there is still room to walk,' is precisely the gentlest encouragement for the younger generation: exploring one's own 'extra' life in an uncertain world is a kind of courage in itself.

《The courage to be hated》

Reason for recommendation

Exploring how to overcome interpersonal anxiety through dialogue, with Adlerian psychology at its core. The book emphasizes the concepts of "topic separation" and "living in the present", helping readers establish a self-worth system that does not rely on others' evaluations. Providing practical methods for breaking through inferiority complex through philosophical speculation, with sharp yet healing language, is a psychological guide for reshaping oneself

In this era surrounded by "good person mentality" and "pleasing personality", we are often trapped in the expectations of others, exhausted from pleasing and losing ourselves. The Courage to Be Disliked "uses a dialogue between a philosopher and a young man to explain the core viewpoint of Adlerian psychology -" All troubles come from interpersonal relationships "- in a simple and understandable way, reminding us that the freedom of life is not to be liked by everyone, but to dare to be the true self.

This book is not an empty chicken soup, but a guide to transforming one's way of thinking. The process of reading it is like a practice of reconciling with oneself and gradually rebuilding inner order. Suitable for you who are in adolescence and thinking about 'who am I' and 'what kind of person do I want to become'.

《How to read a book effectively》

Reason for recommendation

This book was written by Ono Xuanzhi, known as the "notebook writer". This book emphasizes that reading should be purposeful. During reading, we should constantly refine the essence of the book and record what we think. Through the accumulation of notes, knowledge can be precipitated into personal wisdom. For high school students who need to read extensively, this book will help them establish more effective reading habits, improve their logical and systematic thinking, and is an indispensable reading tool on the road to learning and growth.

Faced with a dazzling array of new books in bookstores and an endless "annual must read list", we often fall into the anxiety of "buying books like a mountain, reading like a thread". The book 'How to Read a Book Effectively', written by Japanese book reviewer Shunichi Ono, is like a caring reading mentor, not only teaching you how to read, but also how to 'use books'.

It proposes that 'books are meant to be processed into one's own thoughts', transforming reading from passive input to active output by taking reading notes and establishing one's own knowledge system. This is a tool book that teaches you to improve learning efficiency, systematic thinking ability, and expression ability, especially suitable for students in middle and high school who need to absorb a lot of knowledge and organize their thinking.