"Qin Er Shi Must Die" by Ma Boyong.马伯庸著《秦二世必死》。
I finally finished reading this novel before my business trip, and the Ma Boyong I'm familiar with is back! This is his forte – historical fiction with a fantastical twist. His imaginative storytelling in these kinds of stories constantly surprises me, and his ability to portray history is unmatched in China. Although his writing on love and martial arts isn't as good as Jin Yong's, in other aspects, he's already on par with Jin Yong. One of the main themes of this novel is how to change dynasties, and I saw the shadows of many contemporary figures in it, such as Trump, and that other guy. The second theme is to praise the idea of the great unity of the Chinese nation, so Qin Shi Huang is portrayed as a positive character. This might not be to everyone's liking, but I have a neutral attitude towards it, and it's something that can be discussed. The protagonist of the novel, Zhang Cang, is actually Ma Boyong himself – a chubby, bookish man who loves food. If someone were to adapt it into a TV series in the future, they should let Ma Boyong play the role himself.出差前终于读完了这本小说，我熟悉的马伯庸又回来了！这就是他的强项——带有奇幻色彩的历史小说。他在这种故事中极具想象力的叙事总是让我感到惊喜，而且他在中国描写历史的能力无人能及。虽然他在爱情和武侠方面的描写不如金庸，但在其他方面，他已经与金庸不相上下。这部小说的主题之一是如何更迭朝代，我在其中看到了许多当代人物的影子，比如特朗普，还有那个人。第二个主题是赞美中华民族大一统的思想，所以秦始皇被塑造成了一个正面人物。这可能并不合所有人的胃口，但我对此持中立态度，这是一个可以讨论的话题。小说的主角张仓其实就是马伯庸本人——一个爱吃书的胖子。如果将来有人把它改编成电视剧，应该让马伯庸自己来演这个角色。
《The Devotion of Suspect X》by Keigo Higashino东野圭吾著《嫌疑人X的献身》
After listening to this book, I found it to be quite average. The mystery plot has quite a few loopholes, and the twists aren't that impressive. More importantly, the protagonist's self-sacrificing spirit is a bit too extreme, which makes it less convincing. I don't understand why it has such a high ranking.听完这本书，我觉得它相当一般。悬疑情节有不少漏洞，反转也不怎么令人印象深刻。更重要的是，主角的自我牺牲精神太极端了，这使得它缺乏说服力。我不明白为什么它会有这么高的排名。
《Malice》by Keigo Higashino.东野圭吾著《恶意》。
Although this novel also tells a story about extreme perversion, the final plot twist is well-designed, and the overall quality is much better than "The Suspect X." After listening to it, I couldn't help but feel that this is Keigo Higashino's autobiography, and he probably once had that kind of perverse desire for revenge!虽然这部小说也讲述了一个关于极端变态的故事，但最终的情节反转设计得很好，整体质量比《嫌疑人X》好得多。听完之后，我不禁觉得这是东野圭吾的自传，他可能曾经有过那种变态的复仇欲望！
"The Door to Killing" by Keigo Higashino.东野圭吾著《杀人之门》。
It’s a very unique novel that tells the tragic story of a person being mentally controlled by another, and the mystery element has been reduced to almost zero. This kind of story seems difficult to work in other cultures; Japan is truly a rather perverse country!这是一部非常独特的小说，讲述了一个人被另一个人精神控制的悲剧故事，悬疑元素几乎被降为零。这种故事似乎很难在其他文化中行得通；日本真是一个相当变态的国家！
"The Strange House Mystery" - Rain Cave ***《怪屋谜案》 - 雨穴 ***
This novel is said to be the breakthrough work of visual-style mystery novelist Amezawa. The mystery part in the first half is decent, but the solution is a bit too weak, making it a case of a strong start and a weak finish.据说这本小说是视觉系悬疑小说家雨穴的突破之作。前半部分的悬疑部分还不错，但解谜过程太弱了，属于虎头蛇尾。
"The Enigmatic Painting" - Rain Hole ****《诡画谜案》 - 雨穴 ****
This book is much better than Yūzuru's famous work, "The Mystery of the Strange House." The design of the mystery part is more ingenious, which shows that a person's writing skills can constantly evolve. The theme of this story is that excessive protectiveness can actually harm people, which is a common occurrence in everyday life.这本书比雨穴著名的作品《怪屋谜案》好得多。悬疑部分的设计更巧妙，这说明一个人的写作技巧是可以不断进化的。这个故事的主题是过度的保护实际上会伤害人，这是日常生活中常见的情况。
"After School" by Keigo Higashino.东野圭吾著《放学后》。
I finished listening to another of Keigo Higashino’s famous works. It was okay, and it matched my stereotypical impression of Japanese mystery novels, which is that they use mystery to critique social problems in Japan. In this novel, it’s about the various forms of bullying that female middle school students experience. I guess this is due to Japan’s widespread pornography culture? I just didn’t expect that this level of bullying in Japanese culture would be enough to lead to murder; in China, it would easily be covered up.我听完了东野圭吾的另一部名作。还可以，符合我对日本悬疑小说的刻板印象，即利用悬疑来批判日本的社会问题。在这部小说中，内容是关于女中学生经历的各种形式的欺凌。我想这大概是因为日本普遍存在的色情文化吧？我只是没想到日本文化中这种程度的欺凌竟然足以导致谋杀；在中国，这很容易被掩盖过去。
《The Story of Your Life》by Ted Chiang特德·姜著《你一生的故事》
After finishing this short book, I found that I disliked it just as much as I disliked the movie. When I was younger, I probably would have enjoyed this novel, and I would have thought the author had a very creative mind. But now, I have a much better understanding of concepts like time, causality, randomness, and determinism, and the author still writes a cover story about free will, so I feel that this kind of creativity is just that – creativity – and the author can't even explain it coherently. If a person really knew the future of the universe, how much information would they need to store in their mind? This alone is something the author can't explain, let alone the other, more obvious flaws. In short, the older I get, the more critical I become of science fiction works. Many science fiction writers are actually writing fantasy novels. In this regard, Liu Cixin is still relatively reliable; Liu Cixin's only problem is that his worldview is very outdated, but the science fiction part is still quite solid.读完这本短篇集后，我发现我像不喜欢那部电影一样不喜欢它。年轻的时候，我可能会喜欢这本小说，也会觉得作者很有创意。但现在，我对时间、因果、随机性和决定论等概念有了更好的理解，而作者仍然写一个关于自由意志的封面故事，所以我感到这种创造力仅仅就是——创造力——而且作者甚至无法连贯地解释它。如果一个人真的知道宇宙的未来，他们需要在脑海中存储多少信息？单是这一点作者就无法解释，更不用说其他更明显的缺陷了。总之，我年纪越大，对科幻作品就越挑剔。许多科幻作家实际上是在写奇幻小说。在这方面，刘慈欣还是比较靠谱的；刘慈欣唯一的问题是他的世界观非常过时，但科幻部分依然相当扎实。
《怪屋谜案2》Rainhole****《怪屋谜案2》雨穴 ****
The second part is better than the first, with a much more imaginative plot and a story that is several times more complex. The theme of this book is Japan's cult traditions and sexual perversion. I don't know how others see it, but in my opinion, Japanese society seems to be famous for these two things.第二部比第一部更好，情节更有想象力，故事复杂了几倍。这本书的主题是日本的邪教传统和性变态。不知道别人怎么看，但在我看来，日本社会似乎以这两件事闻名。
《Profits, Prophets, Coaches, and Kings》Jared Diamond贾雷德·戴蒙德著《利益、先知、教练和国王》
Diamond's new book explores the question of whether leaders or timing are more important. Through extensive historical research, Diamond developed a scientifically based evaluation method to analyze the importance of politicians, corporate executives, religious leaders, and sports coaches. Obviously, it is difficult to find control groups for politicians and religious leaders, but it is easier for corporate executives and sports coaches. After his analysis, Diamond concluded that both leaders and timing are important, and each situation must be analyzed specifically. This is almost like saying nothing at all, but we cannot blame Diamond, because that may very well be the reality. In short, this book is a scientific interpretation of the proverb "the right time, the right place, and the right people," and the conclusion is that all three are indispensable.戴蒙德的新书探讨了领导者和时机哪个更重要的问题。通过大量的历史研究，戴蒙德开发了一种科学的评估方法来分析政治家、企业高管、宗教领袖和体育教练的重要性。显然，很难为政治家和宗教领袖找到对照组，但对于企业高管和体育教练来说则更容易。经过分析，戴蒙德得出结论：领导者和时机都很重要，每种情况都必须具体分析。这几乎等于什么都没说，但我们不能责怪戴蒙德，因为那很可能就是现实。总之，这本书是对“天时、地利、人和”这句谚语的科学解读，结论是三者缺一不可。
《The Invention of Nature》, by Andrea Wulf.安德烈娅·伍尔夫著《创造自然》。
This book, written 10 years ago, was the first Humboldt biography I read, and it seems to be the only one translated into Chinese, with the Chinese title being "Creating Nature." The author, Andrea Wulf, is a German-British historian who has written many books on European and American history in the 17th and 18th centuries. The image of Humboldt in this book is very positive, and the information is quite detailed. If you didn't know who Humboldt was before, reading this book will be enough. In addition, the last two chapters of this book devote a lot of space to telling the stories of several famous people who were greatly influenced by Humboldt, including Thoreau, who wrote "Walden," as well as Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club, and Marsh, the author of "Man and Nature," and so on. This part is also worth reading.这本书写于 10 年前，是我读过的第一本洪堡传记，似乎也是唯一一本翻译成中文的，中文译名为《创造自然》。作者安德烈娅·伍尔夫是一位德裔英国历史学家，写过许多关于 17 和 18 世纪欧美历史的书。书中洪堡的形象非常正面，信息也相当详细。如果你之前不知道洪堡是谁，读这本书就足够了。此外，本书最后两章用了大量篇幅讲述了几位深受洪堡影响的名人的故事，包括写了《瓦尔登湖》的梭罗，以及塞拉俱乐部创始人缪尔，还有《人与自然》的作者马什等等。这部分也很值得一读。
《Alexander von Humboldt - A Concise Biography》, author Andreas Daum.安德烈亚斯·道姆著《亚历山大·冯·洪堡——简明传记》。
The author of this book is a German historian, and his specialty is the study of Alexander von Humboldt. The German version of this book was first published in 2019, and Princeton University Press published the English version in 2024. It is probably the most recent Humboldt biography that I have been able to find. The information provided in this book is largely based on original German sources, making it highly authoritative. The author maintains a balanced perspective on Humboldt, offering candid criticism when necessary. It is the most objective Humboldt biography I have read. If you already have a general understanding of Humboldt's life and want to learn more about the various aspects of his life, I highly recommend this book as an advanced resource for Humboldt studies.这本书的作者是一位德国历史学家，他的专长是亚历山大·冯·洪堡研究。该书德文版于 2019 年首次出版，普林斯顿大学出版社于 2024 年出版了英文版。这大概是我能找到的最近的洪堡传记。书中提供的信息主要基于原始德语资料，具有很高的权威性。作者对洪堡保持着平衡的视角，在必要时会提出坦诚的批评。这是我读过的最客观的洪堡传记。如果你已经对洪堡的一生有了大致的了解，并想深入了解他生活的各个方面，我强烈推荐这本书作为洪堡研究的高级参考资料。
《Humboldt’s Cosmos》, author: Gerard Helferich*****《洪堡的宇宙》，作者：杰拉德·赫尔弗里奇 *****
The author of this book is a highly experienced New York publisher, as well as a non-fiction writer and editor, who specializes in writing large-scale works on humanities and history. This book focuses on Humboldt's journey through South America, and the writing is sophisticated, with extremely rich details. The scientific and research aspects are also very reliable, clearly demonstrating the author's expertise. I drew heavily on this book when writing about Humboldt's South American expedition. If you enjoy reading adventure stories, this book is an excellent choice.这本书的作者是一位经验丰富的纽约出版商，同时也是一位非虚构类作家和编辑，擅长撰写人文和历史方面的大型作品。这本书聚焦于洪堡在南美洲的旅程，文笔洗练，细节极其丰富。科学和研究方面也非常可靠，清楚地展示了作者的专业水平。我在撰写关于洪堡南美探险的文章时，大量参考了这本书。如果你喜欢读冒险故事，这本书是一个极佳的选择。
《The Passage to Cosmos: Alexander von Humboldt and the Shaping of America》, by Laura Walls.劳拉·沃尔斯著《通往宇宙之路：亚历山大·冯·洪堡与美国的塑造》。
The author of this book is a professor of American literature, specializing in American literary history, natural history, and the history of the founding of the United States. The book focuses on Humboldt’s influence on America, covering not only slavery and the westward expansion but also, in particular, Humboldt’s impact on Americans’ understanding of nature, including the establishment of national parks and how cultural figures such as Thoreau, Church, Whitman, Emerson, and Poe drew inspiration from Humboldt’s works. If you are interested in American history, this book is a must-read. However, I don’t dwell on this part in the cover story, as most Chinese readers are not interested in this topic.这本书的作者是一位美国文学教授，专攻美国文学史、自然史和美国建国史。书的重点是洪堡对美国的影响，不仅涵盖了奴隶制和西进运动，还特别探讨了洪堡对美国人自然观的影响，包括国家公园的建立，以及梭罗、丘奇、惠特曼、爱默生和爱伦·坡等文化人物是如何从洪堡的作品中汲取灵感的。如果你对美国历史感兴趣，这本书是必读之作。不过，我没有在封面故事中详述这部分内容，因为大多数中国读者对这个话题不感兴趣。
《The Humboldt Current》, by Aaron Sachs.亚伦·萨克斯著《洪堡洋流》。
The author of this book is a professor of environmental history at Cornell University. The book focuses on Humboldt’s influence on the environmental protection movement. The author’s thinking is quite expansive, and often Humboldt is just a starting point. The author uses this as an opportunity to write extensively about various aspects of environmental history and the development of the environmental protection movement, including many personal opinions. If you are interested in this topic, this book is a good choice. Unfortunately, I haven’t delved into it much either, because the main focus of this cover story is still Humboldt, and environmental protection is just one part of Humboldt’s contributions.这本书的作者是康奈尔大学的环境史教授。书的重点是洪堡对环境保护运动的影响。作者的思维相当开阔，洪堡往往只是一个起点。作者借此机会广泛地撰写了环境史和环境保护运动发展的各个方面，包括许多个人观点。如果你对这个话题感兴趣，这本书是个不错的选择。遗憾的是，我也没有深入研究它，因为这个封面故事的主角依然是洪堡，环境保护只是洪堡贡献的一部分。
《The Great Ages of Discovery: How Western Civilization Learned About a Wider World》, by Stephen J. Pyne.斯蒂芬·J·派恩著《大发现时代：西方文明如何了解更广阔的世界》。
The author of this book is a distinguished professor emeritus at my alma mater, ASU, and specializes in the history of fire. I visited him in Tempe a couple of years ago when I was writing a cover story about wildfires, and I was deeply impressed. He has also written about the Age of Exploration, dividing it into two phases and defining the entire era as one of "discovery," which gave me a lot of inspiration. P.S. There are many books about the Age of Exploration, but I highly recommend this one because it is one of the few that explains the significance of the Age of Exploration from a scientific history perspective, which can complement the traditional history books that only focus on the historical or commercial aspects of the era.这本书的作者是我母校亚利桑那州立大学的杰出教授，专攻火的历史。几年前我写关于野火的封面故事时曾去坦佩拜访过他，印象深刻。他也写过关于大航海时代的内容，将其分为两个阶段，并将整个时代定义为“发现”时代，这给了我很多启发。附：关于大航海时代的书很多，但我强烈推荐这一本，因为它是极少数从科学史角度解释大航海时代意义的书，可以补充那些只关注历史或商业方面的传统历史书籍。
《The Bible, Protestantism, and the Rise of Natural Science》, by Peter Harrison.彼得·哈里森著《圣经、新教与自然科学的兴起》。
I didn't read this book in its entirety; I only read some of the passages that interested me, and I found it to be very rewarding! The author is a renowned scholar who studies the history of European medieval thought and philosophy. This book discusses how the Protestant Reformation led to the rise of science. Anyone with even a basic understanding of history knows that this event was one of the most critical turning points in human history. The author attempts to explain why modern science only developed in Protestant countries, and his arguments are presented in a clear and logical manner. I was convinced by his reasoning.我没有通读这本书；只读了一些我感兴趣的段落，觉得收获很大！作者是一位研究欧洲中世纪思想和哲学史的著名学者。这本书讨论了新教改革如何导致了科学的兴起。任何对历史有基本了解的人都知道，这一事件是人类历史上最关键的转折点之一。作者试图解释为什么现代科学只在新教国家发展起来，他的论点清晰且有逻辑。我被他的推理说服了。