When I first saw the Ip Man movie billboard starring Donnie Yen, I was intrigued by the title, which is the name of the legendary Wing Chun grandmaster. I must admit I was attracted to the fact that Donnie Yen (my favourite martial arts star) is playing the role of the grandmaster. I decided I must read the grandmaster’s life story before I watch the movie to appreciate it better.

I did some research and found this book, IP MAN: PORTRAIT OF A KUNG FU MASTER, written by his son, Ip Ching, who is now the grandmaster. The book is co-written with Ip Ching’s disciple, Ron Heimberger. I also decided to write this review only after I watch the movie. The book offers stories of the great Wing Chun Master’s life. It also provides a set of fifteen principles as a guide to mastery but none of the actual Wing Chun moves. […]

THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD by J.K.Rowling is a collection of five tales:

1. The Wizard and the Hopping Pot

2. The Fountain of Fair Fortune

3. The Warlock's Hairy Heart

4. Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump

5. The Tale of the Three Brothers

What makes the book even more interesting is the comprehensive commentary after each story, including extensive footnotes, by Professor Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (my favourite guy apart from Harry Potter, of course). […]

THE MCKINSEY MIND is researched based on “interviews with and questionnaires from more than 75 McKinsey alumni who have successfully implemented the Firm’s techniques and strategies in their post-McKinsey organizations.”

Why read this book? Because you will discover a problem-solving and decision-making process; management techniques needed to implement that process in your own career; plus presentation (and communication) strategies that will ensure all your hard work in that earlier process pays off. The authors, Ethan M. Rasiel and Paul N. Frida, were both consultants in McKinsey & Company. […]

THE GRAVEYARD BOOK by Neil Gaiman is inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book. Such wonderful storytelling. If you are looking for something exciting and magical, imaginative and adventurous, you will not be disappointed with this. Garth Nix said: “I wish my younger self could have had the opportunity to read and reread this wonderful book, and my older self wishes that I had written it.”

The story opens with a man named Jack coming to the house to accomplish what needs to be done: to kill the whole family. When the man Jack is done with the father, the mother and the sister, he goes to look for the fourth and youngest member—a baby boy. Before this, the baby is awaken by some crashing sound and feeling bored after being awaken, ‘plots’ for an escape from his cot. He just decides to leave the house and totters up the hill, to the graveyard.

Page 206: That people's memories are maybe the fuel they burn to stay alive. Whether those memories have any actual importance or not, it doesn't matter as far as the maintenance of life is concerned. They're all just fuel.

After Dark by Haruki Murakami tells the story of what happens to a few particular persons between 11.56 P.M. and 6.52 A.M. in Tokyo on a particular night.

I revisited this book again in August this year for a book discussion with my colleague, Eugene Foong. He was preparing a presentation for his Masters degree based on the same book. One day during lunch, he asked if I’ve read Nassim Taleb’s FOOLED BY RANDOMNESS and I answered yes. That’s how the book discussion came to be.

It is interesting to note Taleb’s observations on how chance plays a part in success. Luck is democratic and hits everyone regardless of original skills, he says. Take the example of millionaires: […]