Advice and inspiration on offer

This week’s books feature help from experts and examples of triumphs.

Tribe Of Mentors: Short Life Advice From The Best In The World Author: Timothy Ferriss Publisher: Vermillion, self-help

TIMOTHY Ferriss, the guru of simplifying life, first caught the world’s attention with his mega-selling 2007 book, The 4-Hour Workweek. Despite all his many bestselling books since then, Ferriss writes that, as he turned 40, he was still struggling with questions about life to which there are no simple answers.

So for his latest book, he drew up a list of 11 difficult questions and put them to more than 100 mentors to find out how they navigate life. Their answers, he claims, offer secrets for success, happiness and meaning.

Iron Bird Monika Author: Monika Anggreini Publisher: PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama, autobiography

WOMEN have come a long way in many areas of life – but it’s still very difficult for a woman to become a pilot. Monika Anggreini can testify to this; she overcame many challenges, endured multiple failures, to get her wings. Now proudly able to call herself a captain in an airline, Anggreini shares her story.

She writes about how a resilient mental attitude, the desire to learn continuously, and her parents’ prayers helped her on her difficult path. She also hopes to open readers’ eyes to the reality of the aviation industry and the life of a pilot.

The Dictionary Of The Asian Language Author: Todd Crowell Publisher: Blacksmith Books, nonfiction

AUTHOR Todd Crowell used to work at news magazine Asiaweek, which was in print from 1975 to 2001. As a senior writer there in the 1990s, he was responsible for compiling the reader-favourite column “The Dictionary of the Asian Language”, which highlighted trending expressions and words useful to understanding Asia and Asian news. This book is an updated and expanded version of that 1990s anthology.

There is, of course, no single Asian language, but plenty of words from this part of the world are cutting across language and cultural barriers to become globally understood. Gangnam style, anyone? In China, for instance, the word shengnu, literally meaning “leftover” now refers to the new phenomenon of unmarried women over 30. Crowell offers hundreds of words like these that explain Asian life and its many cultures.

Don’t Skip Out On Me Author: Willy Vlautin

Publisher: Faber & Faber, contemporary fiction

HORACE Hopper is a 21-year-old half Irish, half Native American who is wholeheartedly confused about who he is and what he wants to do with his life. He’s been working on a ranch owned by the Reeces since he was a teenager, and old Mr Reece, heading past 70, wants Horace to take over the place.

But Horace doesn’t think he’s worthy of such trust and instead decides to head for the city and reinvent himself as “Hector Hidalgo”, a Mexican boxer who wants to turn professional. The problem with reinventing yourself, though, is that you have to leave everything that you knew behind. Not to mention the people who love you too.

Bursting Fixed Mindsets Author: Freda Liu Illustrator: Clarissa Maskilone Publisher: MPH Publishing, nonfiction

IN this book, Liu presents the stories of courageous and remarkable women entrepreneurs who defied the odds to build their brands in Malaysia, in sectors from fashion and food to education and healthcare.

Each story comes with a unique takeaway, the important lessons these women learnt and key factors that made their ventures successful.

I’ll Be Gone In The Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search For The Golden State Killer Author: Michelle McNamara Publisher: Faber & Faber, true crime

FOR more than 10 years, a mysterious and violent predator committed 50 sexual assaults in northern California before moving south, where he perpetrated 10 sadistic murders. Then he disappeared, eluding capture by multiple police forces and some of the best detectives in the area.

Three decades later, Michelle McNamara, a crime journalist, was determined to find the violent psychopath she called “the Golden State Killer”. McNamara pored over police reports, interviewed victims, and embedded herself in the online communities that were as obsessed with the case as she was. Her book offers a snapshot of a moment in American history and a chilling account of a criminal mastermind and the wreckage he left behind.