Four Books That Will Interest You to Travel the World

    There's truly nothing like travel when it comes to gaining life experience. To get you in the adventuring mood, we asked Amazon Senior Editor Chiris Schlep to help us come up with a list of books that transport readers to another time and place. Below, see his list of four books that will interest you to travel the world.

    SEATTLE: Where You'g Go, Bernadette? By Maria Sample

    Maria Sample's first novel is not exactly a love story to Seattle, but if you read it, you just might want to come here to see if people are really as self-involved as the characters in her book. What really shines through is the strange storytelling and the amusing incidents. Buy it on Amazon. price: $26.60.

    ENGLAND: Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

    You can't travel to Thomas Cromwell's England without a time machine, but reading Hilary Mantel's prize-winning novel is the next best thing. It will make you long to see the ancient buildings and green grass of the English countryside, much of which is still there. Buy it on Amazon. price$25.10.

    NANTUCKET: Here's to Us by Eli Hildebrand

    Eli Hildebrand has built a writing career out of writing about her hometown island of Nantucket. Her latest is Here's to Us, which, perhaps not surprisingly, is a great beach read. Buy it on Amazon. price: $30.80.

    ITALY: Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter

    This book by the popular author Jess Walters is a love story that begins on the Italian Coast in the early 60s and eventually concludes in contemporary Hollywood. As the settings shift from Italy to Edinburgh to Los Angeles, you will find yourself longing to go as well. Buy it on Amazon.price:$28.90.

    One of the biggest problems when we are talking is the awkward silence. Encountering this situation is so uncomfortable that you would avoid meeting new people in the first place. In the past, I struggled with this and I even thought it had to do with my DNA or something… But later I learned that once you know how to keep those words flowing, you can meet and talk to anyone you like, which helps create great possibilities for friendship, fun and shared activities that you would otherwise have missed out on.

    After studying this in depth, I had different opinions and found that one of these common behaviors is the habit of filtering (过滤)--holding back from saying something until you've "checked" to make sure that what you're about to say is cool, impressive and interesting. Another problem is not learning to get in the mood for conversation. If you don't know how to change from subjects, then it can take a lot of time to warm up.

    It is the reflex (习惯性思维) that allows you to say whatever goes on in your mind. It's fun to realize that you're allowed to say whatever is on your mind. As long as you don't say anything that could land you in jail (监狱).

    All of the "Oh! That's interesting…" "Hmm, I've never heard of that" "Hmm, cool!" expressions are reactionary (保守的) bits of conversation that prove to the other person that you're really listening. This works 99% of the time. So, if you show some interest, they'll hang around and want to talk to you even more.

    Everyone knows that stories juice-up conversations, but most people only talk about stories of their own lives. When someone mentions something related to any of them, just tell the story, even if it's not from your life. The more interesting, stranger or more frightening they are, the harder they are to forget.

    PhoneSoap: Charge and Clean Your Phone

    You may charge your phone every day, but do you clean your phone as much? Whatever your hands touch, your phones touch. It has been discovered that some phones have 18 times more bacteria and viruses than any surface in a public restroom. So it probably won't surprise you that a 2011 University of London study found that one in six of our phones have bacteria and viruses on them—specifically, the bacteria called E. coli.

    The research on bacteria and viruses led to the invention of PhoneSoap. It is not actually liquid like dishwasher soap. It is a phone charger that uses the electromagnetic radiation (辐射) used in hospitals to kill 99.9 percent of bacteria and viruses, cleaning your phone while it charges.

    “There are really certain types of bacteria and viruses that we should not be in touch with, and they are really on our phones,” says Wes Barnes, the PhoneSoap co-founder. It all started while his cousin and co-founder, Dan LaPorte, was in his cancer research lab at college. “He realized he got the idea of getting rid of bacteria and viruses on the phones,” said Barnes. “In the lab they used UV-C light for destroying them. He realized this would be the fastest, most powerful way to kill any bacteria and viruses living on electronic machines.”

    PhoneSoap looks like a little metal suitcase. Your phone rests in to charge and get cleaned at the same time. Instead of plugging your phone into the wall, you'd plug it into the PhoneSoap charger box. The process only takes a few minutes but, Barnes says, “The idea is that you can leave it in there overnight if you want to keep charging. Reflective paint keeps the light completely around the phone so it cleans the phone fully.”

    The co-founders spent 2013 finding the right companies and they started shipping the product in late November. By last week's International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, PhoneSoap was all grown-up. Both co-founders have left their previous jobs and are selling PhoneSoap nonstop. “We're shipping almost more than we can handle each day,” Barnes says. “It's been a great adventure.”

    When many people are worried that there are no more heroes in the modern times, two university students who lost their lives to rescue drowning children have shown that heroes still exist (存在).

    According to the Inner Mongolia Morning Post. the tragedy (悲剧) occurred on the afternoon .December 14,2002 when three school students skating on a frozen lake in Qingcheng Park in Hohhot fell through the ice into the freezing water. More than 20 university students who happened to be near the Spot immediately went to the rescue of the children. Two children were quickly rescued, but the third died. The child's body was not found for three hours. Two of the rescuers, Liu Ye and had Longbiao, also died of cold and exhaustion. The body of Hao who took the lead in jumping into the lake was not found until the next day. A student who was unwilling to tell his name said he and his Classmates from the local college were taking photos at the lake. When they heard the children's criestor help, they went to the ice hole hand in hand to rescue the children. But the ice kept breaking, causing most of them to fall into the icy water.

    Local residents held mourning ceremonies (祭莫仪式) at the lake. Eight of the students were seriously affected by the freezing water and were being kept in hospital for further observation, but their lives were no longer in danger.

    When my father married my mother in 1943 he gave my mother a 1937 crown coin and told her to keep it in the back of her purse and not spend it. This would mean that she always felt that she was protected and would always have money if she really needed it.

    When I was married in 1970 my husband who had heard this story obtained a 1937 crown for me and I have always kept it in my wallet and I have always had enough for my needs.

    A friend recently fell on hard times partly through external (外部的) circumstances and partly through poor planning. Friends and I have loaned her money, paid her bills, even given her food and tried to teach her budget techniques, but none of them has been a solution. She has just slipped deeper and deeper into financial trouble and depression.

    Last week she looked pale and unwell, very depressed and hopeless. I then thought about how the crown, a reminder of another's care and love, had protected me so I went to the bank for a $100 dollar bill. I told my friend the story and asked her to keep the $100 in the back of her wallet. It turned out that she didn't have a wallet so she put the money in a little pencil case where she kept her coins. She immediately felt better. "I feel rich and thank you for being a good friend" she said and we were both a bit teary.

    The reason for passing this on is not to praise any generosity on my part but to show the power of "random acts of kindness". I went home and remembered a little wallet I had that I'd never used and thought "I'll give that to my friend." I opened it and inside found $100. The universe is very just and if your heart is open the reward always comes.