after a year of 'forcing' myself to develop a reading habit in 2024, i found out that my reading preference is at two extreme > romance in Chinese and self-help books in English
reading Chinese romance books started way back when i was only 12, a year or two after 蔡妈咪 picked up the habit as i had to tag along her to book stores to rent them so very often... every visit would last at least an hour so might as well make my time and her money worth...
in my peak, usually during the school holidays, i could finish 3 books a day... headache was a norm from long hours of reading and crying over all the misunderstandings and unacquitted love of the characters...my eyes would be so puffy from the crying that i had multi-layer eyelids... 😂😂😂...
i stopped reading them during JC times, after an S-0 told me that they made me form unrealistic expectation of him... and i think i also got busier with school, then with work and definitely with more fun hobbies & activities to occupy my time with...
then Covid hit, confined at home, watched one show after another on Netflix and i was hooked onto a C-drama that was adapted from a "juicy" novel... and the floodgate is open once more... now even more so because of the many many online platforms... 就是喜欢谈恋爱的感觉, 甜甜的... 以前是希望发生在自己身上... 现在是接受现实, 享受想象就可以了... 😍😍😍
i think i was only an English reader in primary school... have recollections of reading all, if not most of the books by Roald Dahl and the series of Nancy Drew, Secret Seven, Hardy Boys, Famous Five, Sweet Valley Twins... moved on to Reader's Digest in secondary school and stopped reading altogether when silent reading was no longer mandatory in my life... 😂😂😂... completed the first few books of Harry Potter before it got too dark and sadist and Twilight because of the movies...
Read an English suspense / adventure book hoping that it would ignite my love for reading in English... nah, didnt like it... too adulty for me with the much violence and sexual references... eventually it was books on how to be better at my job and how to better my life that kept me willing to continue reading...
so for this year, i'm gonna continue my love for trashy romance novel in Chinese as nutrients for my heart and self-help books in English as tonic for my brain...
the trashy romance novels that i read / listen to are so trashy that i'm too embarrassed to mention the titles to anyone... hence the title of this post is "Beneficial" reading where i only document the worthy reads... 😅😅😅
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(XXXI) Completed on : Dec 2025
saw kiddo marcus reading this book when i went in for relief... title intrigued me enough to google on it and had to wait in queue for close to 2 weeks before it was available for e-loan...
I think i'm a teal cos it seems like i'm quite a equal mix of GREEN for being calm, balanced, and a BLUE for being predictable and just doing my job (well enough) without the need to toot my own horn unless infront of people whom i can be thick skin with...
add in a tiny tinct of red @ work for being decisive & always want to chop chop finish work in double time so that i can go home on time!!! 😅
and also a tinct of yellow for being optimistic, concentrating on finding opportunities & solutions, believing that things will all sort themselves out cos i believe in gan-cheong 也没有用.
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(XXX) Completed on : 14 Dec 2025
As i read, i worked!!! 😅😅😅... with the help from chatgpt as suggested by this book, i created letter to parents, art LJ to National Gallery worksheet on portraits & sustainability
Learnt a plentiful from this book:
> suggest books for kiddos to read before going on a LJ / learning about a certain topic
> craft emails & can even copy paste the long chain of email and ask chatbot for a summary
> ask for counterargument to make myself sound smarter... hahahaha
> teach older kiddo how to use AI to set criteria, assess their own work with rubrics, suggest area for improvement
> suggest differentiated activity for each art module
> rewrite something with reference to things kiddos like. eg : photosynthesis with video games
> peer marking with a AI generated piece of work to prevent singling out any individual
> Ask the artist: answer as if you are van Gogh.... (class input)
> Guess the artist: assume as the persona of one artist out of a few. Answer with yes / no
> create true / false question about an artist / topic
> create poem about each child and about artists too
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(XXIX) Completed on : 8 Dec 2025
too number-y for my liking... only luv the theory of Economics and never the data analysis...
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(XXVIII) Completed on : 26 Nov 2025
Great teaching is knowing the difference between I taught it and they learned it. ~ John Wooden
So my job is to do my very best to ensure as much of what i taught is learnt by as many kiddos as possible...
gonna try these in 2026; silent silo, turn & talk, raise & rise, cold call, track & add on to the speaker...
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(XXVII) Completed on : 11 Nov 2025
就是这样咯... 没办法...if tio了 就是 tio了... so living positively is the key, enjoy & appreciate all the nows... cannot give up nor stop doing everything even if it's gonna get difficult cos being too idle will also cause the brain damage to escalate everything downwards...
i hope i remember i have my tangtangland if i have to go thru this...
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(XXVI) Completed on : 1 Nov 2025
of frequent revisit, encouraging thinking-aloud, prediction & bell-ringer, praise effort & not natural talent,
i really should do more 'work' reading cos it will definitely make me relook into my routines & pedagogies... so inspired was I this round that i created a deck for next year use... 😍😍😍
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(XXV) Completed on : 22 Oct 2025
a good reminder on what's & who's important & what's & who's not... would appreciate this book a lot more if it wasnt so god-centric... the author is a jesuit... no wonder... 😑😑😑
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(XXIV) Completed on : 19 Oct 2025
my first ebook just cos the library @ hougang mall is closed for reno for the next 1.5 years and my love for reading is not strong enough to make me travel further to other libraries... 😅😅😅
this book was recommended by our Beliner Unterwelten guide who took us on an engaging tour through the (replica) escape tunnels beneath the Berlin Wall back in June...
Reading about the individuals in the book & watching documentaries about them provided greater emotional and sensory experience of the severity of the cold war, the tunnel diggers and the escapers... 😨😨😨
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(XXIII) Completed on : 13 Oct 2025
learnt a new acronym :
surprisingly, i'm quite well prepared to retire by 45... 无债, 无孩, 真的一身轻... just need to wait for a trigger & the corresponding "老娘不干了 !!!"... 😂😂😂
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(XXII) Completed on : 3 Oct 2025
first book after a 2 months break... very happy with this book cos it got me to re-organised my kitchen cabinets on Monday... woohoo!!!..
shall keep the strategies in mind as i pack for woodlands move end of this year... also looking forward to mx completing the reno @ enabling village soon then i can also start my home sweet home 3.0 mini reno... 😍😍😍
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(XXI) Completed on : 16 July 2025
need to refresh my memory of how money works in times of Trump caused market turbulence 😡😡😡
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(XX) Completed on : 9 June 2025
“It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.” ~ John Steinbeck
so des neh!!! my committee of sleep has been very creative & efficient! i like!!!
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(XIX) Completed on : 4 June 2025
about Singapore from the very beginning, even before Raffles landed...
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(XVIII) Completed on : 29 May 2025
one of two books that i 'took' from the SG60 booth @ Chen San library... a photobook of Singapore from 1950s till present...
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(XVII) Completed on : 26 May 2025
author connects her love & lack of love life to Joni Mitchell's 4th album; Blue (way too much i feel)... 一样米真的养百样人; some people have more emotions & desires, choose to live in the moment and care less of the consequences that arise from repeated decisions that bring pain and trouble and stress and regrets... 真的摸不着我的头脑... 😅😅😅
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号外 号外 插播
the watercolour illustration caught my attention but it was the beautiful sentences that had me reading and re-reading it cover to cover at least 3 times there and then in the library and still had to borrow it home for more repeated admiration...😍😍😍
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(XVI) Completed on : 16 May 2025
a book that's half fiction, half non-fiction as it explores the lives of two amazing and inspiring women; Mary Agnes Chase and Marguerite Williams written elegantly in poetry verses detailing how they rose up the ranks in botany (specialising in agrostology) and geology respectively, at a time when women were not allowed to vote and white & black arent allowed to eat at the same cafe nor poo-ed in the same toilet... 😓😓😓
first book this year that i gave a 5 stars out of 5 stars!!! Was such a joy to read that i finished it two days ahead of 'schedule'... 😍😍😍
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(XV) Completed on : 12 May 2025
my favourite article in this book is "Learn when to say NO" by Bruce Tulgan... giving a well-reasoned NO without making oneself looks bad is an art act!!!
useful for future mentoring &/or CT sessions though i very much wish there wont be any anymore... heee
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(XIV) Completed on : 4 May 2025
book cover is in the same colour scheme as my bookmark, a chers' day gift from a kiddo 2 years ago... this book is a fun read with comic on one side and 繁体字 in vertical arrangement on the other side... 😎😎😎
thanks and no thanks ah, Snowie!!! 😂😂😂
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(XIII) Completed on : 29 Apr 2025
Fantastic book that suggests strategies and tips for ADHD-ers to better their life cos apparently children with ADHD can be developmentally delayed in executive functioning skills by 30% or 3 to 6 years... no wonder they have difficulties doing what most kids their age can do. And even when they reached adulthood, they may be functioning at only 80% of what the masses are capable of too...
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(XII) Completed on : 13 Apr 2025
exercise & healthy diet do reduce risk of cancer & reoccurrence... bra & sugar do not cause cancer... never ever trust alternative medicine / treatment... trust science & data collected from the many years of scientific work of doctors, patients & researchers, not a page of testimonials on websites or friends of friends of friends (whom could be paid influencers) who claim otherwise...
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(XI) Completed on : 1 Apr 2025
my dog-ther definitely dont think so!!! 😅😅😅
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(X) Completed on : 29 Mar 2025
i think i'm quite safe from those authority scam and love scam cos i dont pick up calls and i dont care about making new friends nor making big money... i just have to be more mindful about my love for cheap bargains... 😅😅😅
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(IX) completed on : 19 Mar 2025
Don't be drawn to 'potentials', those who need to be healed or reformed... not an investor nor a doctor... 😂😂😂
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(VIII) completed on : 17 Mar 2025
a mini just for fun book that sadly has no pic of any of the designs mentioned nor of Xiao Zhan... 😅😅😅
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(VII) completed on : 2 Mar 2025
simple short story about alien invasion with many many 'ink' sketches; the style of drawing that i like...
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(VI) completed on : 25 Feb 2025
so familiar... over committing then under delivering and the endless boom & burst cycle... yet it's not a valid reason for dishonourable choices & actions...
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(V) completed on : 10 Feb 2025
finished in one seating cos it's a comic book about the life of 8 local artists and i was super bored while being confined to my hospital bed... 😅😅😅
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(IV) completed on : 8 Feb 2025
about the author's journey thru grief over the sudden loss of a 青梅竹马 > bf > fiancé... a sharing on her 10 years of escape, depression, 放飞, attempts to seek help, guilt, struggles...
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(III) completed on : 27 Jan 2025
interesting read about the 典故 behind the idioms... 😍😍😍... suitable for kiddos who need to write compos...
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(II) completed on : 6 Jan 2025
started this book on Friday afternoon and received the heart aching news that night... it's as if whoever / whatever here there is prepping me for the terrible news... my viet green bean cake whom was under my form-ship for 4 years has passed on last December... if only... but there's no 'if only' in life after it happens... 早知如此 何必当初...
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(I) completed on : I.II.MMXXV
> happy breathing technique to wake the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex when the amygdala is in control
> notice, comment and celebrate character strengths that lead to achievement and not of achievement itself
> additional printable @ myHappymind
