How Starbucks Saved My Life-Michael Gates Gill

He was out of work, at the age of sixties. Out of what he had been doing for almost 30 years. He was kicked out from an advertisement company, because of some factors, namely age. The young managers decided that his idea are becoming old fashioned and all. 

But he has gained a lot of business contacts, and he opened a consulting company which could last only for few years. He's had a family to feed and in the meantime, in his "downtime" he settled in a short fling which added in a new son to the family. His wife decided to leave him.

Soon, his consulting company closed down but he still acted as though he was still a busy man always in contact with his client, wearing the suit, carrying a briefcase as he used to do. 

Until one day when he was having his hardly earned latte in Starbucks, a lady manager asked him if he would like to work in a Starbucks cafe. He was speechless, how could a young lady could detect his acting. So without much thinking he applied for the job. 

Soon his life changed. This book is a true story of Michael Gates Gill. How he had made comparison on his working behaviour pre-Starbucks and during Starbucks.There are a lot of things that he should do to adapt to the new environment, a change of life style indeed. 

How he gained a lot of respect by being just a coffee shop worker, rather than what he'd got when acting as a manager in a big company. He had reviewed on how he had wasted his life, with his daughters and sons because he had put the career on the top of his priority list before.

It was a moving story. It's not boring at all albeit it's an (sort of)  autobiography book. 

:)

The Little Prince / Le Petit Prince

I never imagined in a million years that a whimsical child’s fable could make me feel so downhearted. I can understand why this book was listed as one of the greatest classic. To a child, the fantasy about having a fren from outer-space is so appealing – this book has been used for elementary literature all over the world (err… except M’sia which I don’t quite understand why :p) and to an adult like me, the depth within the simplicity of the story is what captivated me the most.

This is a story about a strange encounter, self-narrated by an aviator, whose plane crashes in the middle of the desert. While stranded there, attempting to fix his plane, he stumbled upon a fine-looking, small prince who claimed to be originally from Asteroid B 612 – a planet no bigger than a house.

Slowly, the aviator learned about the simple life of this little prince whose daily routines involved uprooting the baobabs & sweeping up his 3 volcanoes, how he loves watching sunset whenever he’s sad, and most of all how intensely in love he is with the one and only flower in his planet - the rose.

As the story unfolds, the little prince shared the story of his journey, all the memorable encounters he had with adults from other asteroid and finally how he landed on earth. The main theme of this story is how simple life can be if we see it thru the eye of a child and how we tend to complicate things as we grow older.

This book is somewhat like Alice in Wonderland - on a surface, it’s simple & appealing enough to be read by a child but if you really try to comprehend the meaning behind it, it’s mind-blowing how deep the message can be. I won’t be a spoiler by giving it all out to you, you should read it yourself coz you might have a different interpretation of the story as compared to mine. 

But all I can tell you is, be prepared, you might need a tissue as this story has a bittersweet ending. And you’ll be surprised to learn how a simple tale like this can teach you a lot about life.

My fave quotes from this book: "One sees clearly only with the heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye" (On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux).

The Power of Now - Eckhart Tolle

if you are trying to figure out what makes you happy, or if there is anything that you should consider in order to make a better life, perhaps knowing the Power of Now would help you grasp the idea of enjoying the now.

the book, frankly is not exactly an easy read. there are parts that would make you ponder hard, parts that would make you feel defensive, parts that would make you hopeless of what you are now. but then again, Mr Tolle writes so much truth in it, you would definitely be thinking, the man seriously has a point. and he must be right 'coz what he said was what happened to me.

this book deserves to be revisited again and again, coz in life we experience different thing at a different time. and this book is better understood maybe in a different way at a different time.

i must say, i love this book. it's an eye opener. it's thought-provoking. it demands a full attention from its reader. i dare you to read it. :)

love from brussels.