Recommendations for Books

It’s been a while since my last email. I’ve been very busy at work these days, as the Logistics Manager here in Cleveland, for Avery Dennison’s Automotive Products Division. Sorry about not keeping in better touch.

One of the things that I enjoyed doing in my past emails was to recommend movies, activities, places to visit, and interesting books.

Well, three of my former classmates from Harvard have written books. So, I would like to recommend that you take a look. Perhaps someday maybe I will write a book. On what topic, I don’t know yet.

Here are the three books:

1) A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body, by Darshak Sanghavi

2) Vault Guide to Conquering Corporate America for Women and Minorities, by Susan Tien

3) The Angel with One Hundred Wings: A Tale from the Arabian Nights, by Daniel Horsh

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1) A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body, by Darshak Sanghavi.

Quite a large number of you are either expecting or have young kids. Here’s book you don’t want to miss. Darshak (MD in Pediatrics) wrote in his email:

Capping three years of hard work, my book, A Map of the Child: A Pediatrician's Tour of the Body, will be available at booksellers nationwide beginning January 8th. It's written for the general public, but has particular interest for parents, grandparents, health care workers, and anyone interested in children's health and welfare. Through 8 chapters titled after body parts (e.g. Lungs, Heart, Blood, etc.), the book is a deeply personal tour of the child's body, through the stories of children dealing with illness. It explores anatomy, health, politics, public policy, religion, controversial issues such as child abuse, and many other areas in a dramatic and readable style.

Check out:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?isbn=0805067248

http://www.amazon.com

The book has been well received so far. It is:

* Endorsed by the parenting editor of Good Morning America, Anne Murphy

* Recommended by Child magazine as a "Best Buy" among books about children

* Excerpted at length in the February 2003 issue of Working Mother magazine

* Likely going to be featured on NPR's All Things Considered next month..

Early reviewers have said:

"Outstanding."-- Library Journal (starred review)

"Sanghavi seems to be the pediatrician all parents wish they had." -- Booklist

"An example of expert storytelling-a true page-turner...Deserves a wide audience." -- BookPage

"An elucidation of the human child's organs, the how and why of illnesses that strike them, and such related issues as circumcision, vaccination, abortion, learning disabilities, and child abuse-all enriched by the author's personal memories...Heartwarming...Appealing and informative." --Kirkus Reviews

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2) Vault Guide to Conquering Corporate America for Women and Minorities, by Susan Tien

Every year many new college and professional school grads find their first jobs as entry-level employees in Corporate America. The client service industry in particular - management consulting, investment banking, law, and accounting - employs a new army of young worker bees every fall season. Lured by the opportunity to make a great deal of money and gain a broad education in the business world, recent grads often enter the corporate environment with neither technical skills to perform their job nor understanding of the written and unwritten rules of Corporate America to guide their behavior. They simply expect their new employers to train them completely.

We wrote this book for the benefit of this latter group of new hires with no insight to the inner workings of the corporate world. The advice we present comes from our personal experiences and those of our friends and colleagues. We are presenting everything we wish we had known our first day on the job.

Check out:

https://www.vault.com/bookstore/order.jsp

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3) The Angel with One Hundred Wings: A Tale from the Arabian Nights, by Daniel Horsh.

Here’s what another classmate, Dara Meyers, wrote in her email describing the book:

Hello and happy holidays to all,

I am writing to tell you that our friend and fellow Hunterite [my high school in NYC], Dan Horch, has a novel coming out. It should be available in stores tomorrow. It's called "The Angel with One Hundred Wings." I read an earlier draft of it- and I would highly recommend it. I love the book. If you don't believe me, you can read on-line reviews at Amazon and barnesandnoble.com. Here's a link:

http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbninquiry.asp?ISBN=0312284187

Impressive, no? It really is that good.

Congratulations to Dan...

Happy New Year!

Hi,

Happy New Year! It's been a while since my last email. Greetings from
Toronto, Canada. How's life?

Quite a lot of things have happened on my end. I got engaged this past
year to Melissa Tam, whom I met at my church in Singapore. We were
planning a church wedding in Los Angeles in January of 2003. We even
booked the church and Chinese restaurant for the banquet. However we
actually got married by the mayor of my town in June of 2002, before we
went back to Singapore for vacation.

After we got married, in order for Melissa to enter the U.S., we had to
apply for a spouse visa through the U.S. immigration and then have an
interview at the U.S. consulate in Singapore. We have sent in the
application and are still waiting to hear from the INS. As a result, we
put our church wedding on hold. Once Melissa comes into the U.S., we will
plan for a church wedding either in LA or in Cleveland.

Melissa waited in Singapore for a few months, and then I came up with the
idea of having her move to Toronto while we wait for the visa. Every
weekend, I either drive up to Toronto from Cleveland, or fly. That's why
I'm writing you from Toronto.

We like it here in Toronto. It's one of the most ethnically diverse cities
in North America. There are people from all over the world and restaurants
for all types of food. The Chinese restaurants here are especially good,
due to all the Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

We know two couples here in Toronto, Irv and Liz Ng, and Sam and Teresa
Chan. Liz Ng, formerly Liz Pang, is the cousin of my friend Genevieve
Owyang, who along with her husband Charles, went to my church in Boston
(BCEC). Irv and Liz attend the Toronto Chinese Alliance Church, and they
serve on the music team there.

Many years ago, I came to Toronto for a friend's wedding. In fact, a group
of us from BCEC came. We crashed at Teresa Hum's brother Lyndon's
apartment here in Toronto. Teresa is good friends with Mag Chen (formerly
Mag Wong, who also attended BCEC). At that time, Teresa was dating Sam
Chan and not yet married. Now, they have been married for many years and
they have an adorable boy named Justin, who just started to walk. So, I
met Sam and Teresa Chan years ago, but we didn't keep in touch after that
weekend. Last night, we were invited to Sam and Teresa's friends place for
a New Year Eve's dinner party. Teresa's brother Lyndon was there, so we
talked about the fact that I visited Toronto years ago and crashed at his
place. It's quite a small world!

Here are a few of our pictures:
http://community.webshots.com/album/30661338LqfqzgHveW
(In one of the pictures, Melissa and I posed with Justin, who is Sam and
Teresa's cute son.)

Irv and Liz and Sam and Teresa have really helped us to get adjusted to
life in Toronto. They have introduced us to several restaurants. They
have shown us different sections of town and given us advice on where to go
grocery shopping and visit, etc. They also invited us to visit their
churches, the Toronto Chinese Alliance Church and the Cornerstone Church.
We pretty much attend either of these two churches on Sunday mornings.

My job in Cleveland is going well. I'm on the last rotation in Avery
Dennison's General Manager Development program. I'm serving as the
Logistics Manager, responsible for the customer service department, and
warehouse inventory and shipping department. I quite enjoy the challenge
of managing a group of people, helping to train, develop, and mentor them,
and to slowly change the workplace culture in a positive way.

Melissa is keeping herself busy in Toronto by taking all kinds of classes,
exploring the city, reading, and cooking. In fact, as I'm typing this
letter, she is in the process of making her cinnamon raisin bread again.
Very yummy!

As we reflect back on 2002, we have a lot of praises to God. We thank God
for leading us from Singapore to the U.S. and now to Canada. We thank God
for friends such as Irv, Liz, Sam, and Teresa to help us settle into life
in Toronto. We thank God that my job in Cleveland is going well. We thank
God for helping us to both grow as individuals and as a couple.

Well, take care and keep in touch! Please write and let me know what you
are up to.

May the Lord bless you in 2003!

-Josh & Melissa