Chongqing Classic Bookstore Releases 2021 Good Books How Many Books Have You Read?

Looking back at the past 2021, the first word that may pop up in many people's minds will be "uncertain". This, in fact, has also affected the field of reading - the local veteran independent humanistic bookstore Classic Bookstore, which has always been respected by Chongqing book fans as "the most talented book", has just released its own 2021 annual good book, and its theme is "dancing with uncertainty".

▲The theme of this year's good book is "Dancing with Uncertainty"

"In the midst of 'uncertainty', life is still wonderful, and we also need good books to give us the strength to dance with 'uncertainty'." Yang Yi, the founder of Jingdian Bookstore, told the upstream news reporter.

As the oldest independent humanistic bookstore in China, Jingdian Bookstore has been insisting on publishing the annual list of good books for more than 10 years. "Good books change every year, but our values have never changed." Yang Yi said, for example, he has always insisted on giving a title to the annual list of good books, "because we need it to convey to readers the views of Jingdian Bookstore on the past year." ”

In Yang Yi's eyes, a list of good books that are really useful to readers must reflect the present and cannot be left behind the times. The reason why he personally finalized "dancing with uncertainty" as the theme of the 2021 good book list, Yang Yi explained: "As long as you review 2021, you will find that there is a shadow of 'uncertainty' in many things. ”

"Coupled with the changes brought about by the rapid progress of science and technology, we can already foresee that human beings may live in 'uncertainty' for a long time to come." Yang Yi said that Jingdian Bookstore hopes to awaken readers' attention to this special "now" through such a good book list.

Looking at the 2021 good books of Jingdian Bookstore, its deep accumulation in the selection of books in the field of humanities and social sciences over the years can be said to be revealed.

Based on the present and looking forward to the future, Yang Yi recommended Bill Gates, one of the founders of Microsoft, "Climate Economy and the Future of Mankind", "Climate will be a big problem facing mankind. The concepts of carbon neutrality, carbon peaking, etc., and related economic topics mentioned by Bill Gates in this book, will certainly be very popular in the future. ”

In previous interviews, Yang Yi mentioned more than once that he would recommend science books to more readers through the Classic Bookstore, which is reflected in the 2021 good book list, and another mathematical book was selected: "The Power of Calculus" (by Steve Stogats).

Yang Yi said that the importance of calculus is that it is not only a tool, a mathematical course, it is more of an idea, a watershed between modern society and traditional society, "from the current research results, it can basically be said that without calculus, there is no civilization in modern society." Yang Yi stressed that the reason for launching this "The Power of Calculus" is to make it easier for everyone to read the thinking of calculus, "After reading the whole book, you should find that the lowest foundation of our modern society can be said to be derived from it." ”

Zhang Xiaoyu, a post-80s philosopher who came to Chongqing in May last year and was interviewed by upstream news, also had two masterpieces shortlisted this time: "Technology and Civilization" and "Commerce and Civilization". Yang Yi said, "Both works have realized a reinterpretation of real human society. At the same time, it can be seen from the book that China's post-80s scholars are rapidly rising. We need new people like this to come with new ideas and new perspectives. ”

"Traditional Chinese Colors: 100 Lectures on Color General Knowledge" is also particularly respected by Yang Yi, "Which clearly explains the color origin and aesthetic characteristics of traditional Chinese colors." For example, while there are popular science contents such as "pepper room" and "oriental white" are all names of colors, but more importantly, "it also contains a deeper meaning, which is the national self-confidence and cultural self-confidence that we Chinese."

Of course, like last year's regret to abandon the good book related to digital heritage, "Online Heritage", Yang Yi said that there are still "regrets" when the list of good books and books in 2021 is screened, "I very much want to choose a work related to the 'metaverse' to go in, from now on, this is a trend that human life will definitely face." Yang Yi said that he only picked and chose, and only reluctantly selected three alternatives, "but the content is basically just an introduction to general knowledge, and in our opinion, the depth is not enough, and finally we have to give up." ”

▲Classic Bookstore 2021 Good Book of the Year

Upstream journalist Qiu Jinyi