April 2020 Books

All (abridged) summaries taken from Good Reads. Notes are my own.

#1: The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh

​Summary: 
For the first time an award-winning Harvard professor shares his wildly popular course on classical Chinese philosophy, showing you how these ancient ideas can guide you on the path to a good life today...The Path upends everything we are told about how to lead a good life.

Notes:
- “While we have been told that true freedom comes from discovering who we are at our core, that “discovery” is precisely what has trapped so many of us in the Age of Complacency. We are the ones standing in our own way,” (13).
- “As you make room for interests, opportunity open up to you...By being responsive to how your interests change over time, you will not be locked in—you will be more able to alter your life and your schedule to allow for growth,” 81).
- “Triggering events of any sort—whether they make us giddy or jealous or furious—are external,” (129).
- “The opposite of mindlessness and complacency is not mindfulness. It is engagement,” (194).

Personal Rating: 
5.5/10

​#2: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

Summary:
It is about a London lawyer named John Gabriel Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde.
​
Personal Rating:
2/10

#3: Dracula by Bram Stoker

Summary:
Dracula is an 1897 Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. It introduced Count Dracula, and established many conventions of subsequent vampire fantasy. The novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England so that he may find new blood and spread the undead curse, and of the battle between Dracula and a small group of men and a woman led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. 

Personal Rating:
​3/10

#4: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, illustrated by Jules Feiffer

Summary: 
For Milo, everything’s a bore. When a tollbooth mysteriously appears in his room, he drives through only because he’s got nothing better to do. But on the other side, things seem different. Milo visits the Island of Conclusions (you get there by jumping), learns about time from a ticking watchdog named Tock, and even embarks on a quest to rescue Rhyme and Reason! Somewhere along the way, Milo realizes something astonishing. Life is far from dull. In fact, it’s exciting beyond his wildest dreams.

Personal Rating:
10/10

#5: The Boy, the mole, the fox, and the Horse by Charles Mackesy

Summary:
"A wonderful work of art and a wonderful window into the human heart," Richard Curtis.

Notes:
- “The truth is I need pictures. They are like islands, places to get to in a sea of words.”
- “What do you think success is? asked the boy “To love,” said the mole”
- “Sometimes I think you believe in me more than I do,” said the boy “You’ll catch up,” said the horse”

Personal Rating:
​10/10

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