I just want to share something random today (but still tangentially related to learning, of course 😄).
I have shared many times before that I read a lot, and getting an e-reader (my first!) early last year really supercharged my reading habit even more. That’s why I picked the e-reader I use as the lucky draw prize for this Chinese New Year sale, haha. (If you are in the lucky draw - good luck! 🌸)
After reading a book that I really like, I often try to contact the author and tell her/him about what I think of the book and what delighted or inspired me in particular. Have you ever done that?
Book authors are often very happy to receive messages from their readers. This is especially true with authors of non-fiction books, many of whom are journalists or academics. (Novelists or fiction writers, on the other hand, if they are literary stars of any fame, can of course be as “out of reach” as other celebrities, haha).
Non-fiction writers usually write books on a topic because they really care about it and want more people to learn about it, so they are often very open to sharing more when contacted.
I wrote in the email on January 30th that I was reading an interesting book about “rogue archaelogists” -- or people trained in archaeology who try to recreate the actual lived experiences of ancient people through unconventional experimentation (like making a tattoo on themselves with ancient tools).
This book (called “Dinner with King Tut”) is by a science writer called Sam Kean. In the acknowledgements section at the end of the book, he mentioned specifically that he really appreciates readers reaching out to him for any reason -- so I did!
I wrote to him about the fact that I have a folder in my phone’s album called “LOL moments from reading” and that I saved multiple things from his book in it. (In this album, I save screenshots of lines from books or articles that made me really laugh out loud, literally, when I was reading.)
I also told him that I learnt a lot of interesting things from the book.
For example, one of the chapters was about eunuchs in ancient China. We are all of course familiar with eunuchs in Chinese history and literature (and media), but did you know that eunuchs were particularly tall because their lack of testosterone meant that their growth plates did not fuse together at the end of puberty like in other men? I never knew that, but that makes sense, because eunuchs are so often portrayed as formidable in appearance.
He replied with a lot of new insight about different parts of the book and suggested other related reading material to me, so it ended up being a fun and insightful exchange.
If you are a reader and haven’t tried reaching out to authors before, I really recommend it. 💻
Ms. Charlotte
今天想跟大家分享輕鬆點的（但還是和學習多少有點關係 😄）。
我之前分享過很多次，我平時看很多書，而去年年初買了我人生第一部電子閱讀器之後，我的閱讀習慣又被推上了一個新高度。所以這次農曆新年的優惠活動裡，我才會把我自己正在用的這款電子閱讀器選作抽獎禮物，哈哈。
（如果你有參加抽獎 —— 祝你好運！🌸）
每次讀完一本我很喜歡的書，我常常會主動去聯絡作者，告訴他／她我對這本書的想法，以及哪些地方特別啟發或打動了我。你們有試過這樣做嗎？
其實，作者通常都很樂意收到讀者的訊息。非小說類作家尤其如此，因為很多作者本身是記者或學者。（小說作者或文學作家如果稍微有名氣，就可能像其他名人一樣比較「離地」，哈哈。）
非小說類作家往往是因為非常關心某個主題、希望更多人了解，才會寫書，所以當讀者主動聯絡，他們通常都非常願意分享更多。
我在 1 月 30 日的電郵裡提過，我最近在讀一本很有趣的書，講的是「反正統考古學家」（rogue archaeologists）—— 也就是那些受過考古訓練，但會用非常特別的實驗去重建古人真實生活經驗的學者（例如用古代工具和方法在自己身上刺青）。
這本書叫《Dinner with King Tut》，作者是科學寫作者 Sam Kean。他在書末的致謝裡特別寫到，他非常歡迎讀者因任何原因寫信給他 —— 所以我就寫了！
我告訴他，我手機相簿裡有一個文件夾叫「LOL moments from reading」，裡面存的是我讀書時看到、會讓我真的在當下笑出聲的句子，而他的書就貢獻了好幾張截圖。（LOL 是「laugh out loud」，即「笑出聲」，的網絡用語。）
我也跟他分享，我從這本書裡學到很多有趣的事。
例如，其中一章講到中國古代的太監。我們對太監的歷史與文化形象當然十分熟悉，但你知道嗎 —— 太監通常都特別高，因為缺乏睪固酮會讓他們在青春期結束時，骨骼生長板不像普通男性那樣會及時閉合。我以前完全不知道這點，但仔細想想就很合理，因為太監在文學或影視裡經常被描繪成氣勢很強大的人物。
他回信給我時，分享了更多書裡不同部分的延伸背景，也推薦了其他相關的閱讀材料，結果整個交流變得既有趣又很長知識。
如果你平時也愛讀書，但還沒試過主動聯絡作者，我真的非常推薦你試試看。💻
Ms. Charlotte