Chinese Sci-Fi/Writing advice/DIY aromatic shower in the new Recomendo

Recomendo is weekly newsletter that gives you 6 brief personal recommendations of cool stuff. I write it with Kevin Kelly and Claudia Dawson (my colleagues at Cool Tools Lab). You can subscribe to it here. We also published a book with our favorite Recomendo tips. To give you an idea of what Recomendo is like, here's the latest issue of the newsletter:

More Chinese science fictionA red-hot area in science fiction these days is China. Like many fans who enjoyed The Three Body Problem, I wanted more. So the translator of that mega hit, Ted Liu, has translated two volumes of Chinese short stories with a sci-fi/fantasy focus. The first anthology, Invisible Planets, is a sampler offering lots of magical realism, fantasy and a few hard-science pieces. The second, Broken Stars, has more speculative fiction, and feels more Chinese. As in any anthology, the quality is uneven, but a few stories are standouts and I got a solid feel for this embryonic movement. KK

Cut out everything thats not surprisingDerek Sivers was the founder of CD Baby and maintains an interesting essay blog. One of his recent posts offered good advice for writers and speakers: People only really learn when theyre surprised. If theyre not surprised, then what you told them just fits in with what they already know. No minds were changed. No new perspective. Just more information. So my main advice to anyone preparing to give a talk on stage is to cut out everything from your talk thats not surprising. MF

Shower with fresh EucalyptusIve been hanging fresh Eucalyptus in our shower because its said to reduce sinus inflammation, which I struggle with, but mostly because it makes showering feel like a spa experience with its soothing scent and how it looks so pretty. Read the rest