Community Canon: Books

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones is a 2018 self-help book by writer James Clear on habit reversal. Its general assertion is that the willpower a person needs to overcome a negatively-affecting habit, such as an addiction, is most easily developed by slowly replacing it with a small and minimally exerting positive habit—"getting 1% better each day".

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone is a fantasy novel by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the first novel in the Harry Potter series and was Rowling's debut novel. It follows Harry Potter, a young wizard who discovers his magical heritage on his eleventh birthday when he receives a letter of acceptance from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. With the help of his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry unravels a mystery involving the dark wizard Lord Voldemort.

Rich Dad Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not! is a 1997 book written by Robert T. Kiyosaki and Sharon Lechter. It advocates the importance of financial literacy, financial independence and building wealth through investing in assets, real estate investing, starting and owning businesses, as well as increasing one's financial intelligence.

Diocesan Boys' School (DBS) is a day and boarding Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui boys' school in Hong Kong, located at 131 Argyle Street, Mong Kok, Kowloon. Having run as a grant-aided school since it was founded, the school commenced operation in the Direct Subsidy Scheme in September 2003. It uses English as the medium of instruction. As of 2026, the headmaster was Ronnie Cheng Kay-Yen.

Spanish may refer to:Items from or related to Spain: Spaniards Spanish language Spanish cuisine Spanish history Spanish culture Languages of Spain, the various languages in Spain Spanish Empire

The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment is a book by Eckhart Tolle. It is a discussion about how people interact with themselves and others. The concept of self-reflection and presence in the moment are presented along with simple exercises for the achievement of its principles. Published in 1997, the book was recommended by Oprah Winfrey and has been translated into 33 languages. As of 2025, the book has sold 16 million copies worldwide.

The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167, when Henry II prohibited English students from attending the University of Paris. After escalating conflict between students and the Oxford townspeople, some Oxford academics fled northeast to Cambridge, where they…

The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Bilbao, Biscay, Spain. It is one of several museums affiliated to the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation and features permanent and visiting exhibits of works by Spanish and international artists. It was inaugurated on 18 October 1997 by King Juan Carlos I of Spain, with an exhibition of 250 contemporary works of art. It is one of the largest museums in Spain.

Saint Joseph's University is a private Jesuit university in Philadelphia and Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, United States. The university was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851 as Saint Joseph's College, named after Saint Joseph. It is the seventh oldest Jesuit university in the United States and the sixth largest university in Philadelphia. The university has an additional campus in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is also the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh-largest by population, with over 214 million people. Brazil is a federation composed of 26 states and a Federal District, which hosts the capital, Brasília. Its most populous city is São Paulo, followed by Rio de Janeiro. Brazil has the largest Lusophone population in the world and is the only Portuguese-speaking country in the…

Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country in Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the largest country in the world, spanning eleven time zones and sharing land borders with fourteen countries. With a population of over 140 million, Russia is the most populous country in Europe and the ninth-most populous in the world. It is a highly urbanised country, with sixteen of its urban areas having more than 1 million inhabitants. Moscow, the most populous metropolitan area in Europe, is the…

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, a city-state that was also the capital of Arzawa, by Attic and Ionian Greek colonists. During the Classical Greek era, it was one of twelve cities that were members of the Ionian League. The city came under the control of the Roman Republic in 129 BC.

Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country situated primarily in Central Asia, with a portion of its territory extending into Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the north and west, China to the east, Kyrgyzstan to the southeast, Uzbekistan to the south, and Turkmenistan to the southwest, and it has a coastline along the Caspian Sea. The capital is Astana, and the country's largest city and principal cultural and economic center is Almaty, which served as the…

The Battle of Marathon took place in 490 BC during the first Persian invasion of Greece. It was fought between the citizens of Athens, aided by Plataea, and a Persian force commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. The battle was the culmination of the first attempt by Persia under King Darius I to subjugate Greece. The Greek army inflicted a crushing defeat on the more numerous Persians, marking a turning point in the Greco-Persian Wars.

Justice: What's the Right Thing to Do? is a 2009 book on political philosophy by Michael J. Sandel.

Pride and Prejudice is a novel by English author Jane Austen. Written when she was aged 20–21, it was her third novel written and became the second to see print when it was published in 1813. A novel of manners, it follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the protagonist of the book, who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreciate the difference between superficial goodness and actual goodness.

Duolingo, Inc. is an American educational technology company that produces learning apps and provides language certification. Duolingo offers courses on 42 languages, ranging from English, French, and Spanish to less commonly studied languages such as Hawaiian, Māori, and Navajo, and even constructed languages such as Esperanto and Klingon. It also offers courses on music, math, and chess. The learning method incorporates gamification to motivate users with points, rewards and interactive…

Wah Yan College Kowloon is a Catholic secondary school for boys run by the Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus. It is located in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and is a grant-in-aid secondary school using English as the primary medium of instruction. The total land area of its campus is among the largest for Hong Kong secondary schools, and it's one of the most prestigious schools in Hong Kong.

St Stephen's Girls' College (SSGC) is a grant school in Hong Kong under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. Established in 1906, SSGC is a top girls' school and among the oldest schools in Hong Kong. It is managed by the St. Stephen's Girls' College School Council.

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Western and Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north with the Alps to the south. Its 16 constituent states have a total population of over 83 million, making it the most populous member state of the European Union (EU). Germany borders Denmark to the north; Poland and the Czech Republic to the east; Austria and Switzerland to the south; and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands…

The Persistence of Memory is a 1931 painting by artist Salvador Dalí and one of the most recognizable works of Surrealism. First exhibited at the Julien Levy Gallery in 1932 and sold for $250, The Persistence of Memory was donated to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City two years later in 1934 by an anonymous donor, where it has remained ever since. It is widely recognized and frequently referred to in popular culture, and sometimes referred to by more descriptive titles, such as…

St. Paul's College is an Anglican day school for boys in Hong Kong. It was established in 1851, the oldest continuously operated school in Hong Kong. The college first opened in 1851 with only one tutor and nine pupils. Today, it has more than 1,200 pupils in the secondary section and nearly 600 pupils in the primary section.

The German Swiss International School is an international school in Hong Kong established in 1969 by German and Swiss families looking for a bilingual German–English education in an international setting. Beginning with 73 students in its inaugural year, GSIS now has approximately 1,300 students from over 30 countries.

The Han dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China established by Liu Bang, and preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC) and the interregnum known as the Chu–Han Contention (206–202 BC). It was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD) and also briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by the usurping regent Wang Mang. It is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). The Han dynasty is considered a golden age in…

Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world with a population of almost 177.8 million people within an area of 148,461 square kilometres (57,321 sq mi). Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the north, west, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast. It has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal to its south and is separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor, and from China by the…

The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's third-oldest university in continuous operation. The university's founding followed the arrival of scholars who left the University of Oxford for Cambridge after a dispute with local townspeople. The two ancient English universities, although sometimes described as rivals, share…

The Scream is an image first created by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893, and later repeated by him in different versions. The agonized face in the painting has become one of the most iconic images in art, seen as representing a profound experience of existential dread related to the human condition. Munch's work, including The Scream, had a formative influence on the Expressionist movement.

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the second-largest country by total area, with the longest coastline of any country. Its border with the United States is the longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. With a population of over 41 million, it has widely varying population…

Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636, and named Harvard College in 1639 in honor of its first benefactor, Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Its influence, wealth, and rankings have made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.

Mount Nemrut or Nemrud is a 2,150-metre-high (7,054 ft) mountain in southeastern Turkey, notable for the summit where a number of large statues are erected around what is assumed to be a royal tomb from the 1st century BC. It is one of the highest peaks in the east of the Taurus Mountains.

Thinking, Fast and Slow is a 2011 popular science book by the Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman. Its main thesis is a differentiation between two modes of thought: "System 1" is fast, instinctive and emotional; "System 2" is slower, more deliberative, and more logical.

Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Comprising between 13,000 and 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guinea, it is the world's largest archipelagic state and the 14th-largest country by area. Indonesia has extensive tropical forests and marine ecosystems that support one of the world's highest levels of biodiversity.

The Battle of Hastings was fought on 14 October 1066 between the Norman-French army of William, Duke of Normandy, and an English army under the Anglo-Saxon King Harold Godwinson, beginning the Norman Conquest of England. It took place approximately 7 mi (11 km) northwest of Hastings, close to the present-day town of Battle, East Sussex, and was a decisive Norman victory.

India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the world's seventh-largest country by area and the largest by population. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is near Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat regions covered with wind-swept sand or dunes, with little or no vegetation, are called ergs or sand seas. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, but most kinds of dunes are longer on the stoss (upflow) side, where the sand is pushed up the dune, and…

Khan Academy is an American educational nonprofit organization founded in 2008 by Sal Khan. The organization provides free online learning resources for students and teachers worldwide.

Dual coding theory is a theory of cognition that suggests that the mind processes information along two different channels; verbal and nonverbal. It was first hypothesized by Allan Paivio of the University of Western Ontario in the late 1960s. In developing this theory, Paivio used the idea that the formation of mental imagery aids learning through the picture superiority effect.

Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the far south of South America. It covers an area of 2,780,085 km2 (1,073,397 mi2), making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourth-largest country in the Americas, and the eighth-largest country in the world. Argentina shares the bulk of the Southern Cone with Chile to the west, and is also bordered by Bolivia and Paraguay to the north, Brazil to the northeast, Uruguay and the South Atlantic Ocean to…

Man's Search for Meaning is a 1946 book by Viktor Frankl chronicling his experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps during World War II, and describing his psychotherapeutic method, which involved identifying a purpose to each person's life through one of three ways: the completion of tasks, caring for another person, or finding meaning by facing suffering with dignity.

The Queen's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford, England. The college was founded in 1341 by Robert de Eglesfield in honour of Philippa of Hainault, queen of England. It is distinguished by its predominantly neoclassical architecture, primarily dating from the 18th century.

Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. Spanning over 2,381,741 square kilometres (919,595 sq mi), it is the largest country in Africa and the tenth largest in the world. It is bordered to the northeast by Tunisia; to the east by Libya; to the southeast by Niger; to the southwest by Mali, Mauritania, and Western Sahara; to the west by Morocco; and to the north by the Mediterranean Sea. With a population of over 47…

St. Paul's Co-educational College is an Anglican, full-day secondary school located at 33 MacDonnell Road, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It was founded in 1915 as a girls-only school until the outbreak of World War II, after which it was converted into a co-educational school. It is the first school in the Round Square network in Greater China, and offers the HKDSE and IBDP curricula in parallel. It, along with its affiliated primary school, has also been under the Direct Subsidy Scheme since 2001.

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a dystopian and speculative fiction novel by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically, it centres on totalitarianism, mass surveillance and repressive regimentation of people and behaviours. Nineteen Eighty-Four has often been regarded as a classic and has been acknowledged for its impact on 20th-century literature.

Harry Potter is a series of seven children's fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, among others, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The main story arc concerns Harry's conflict with Lord Voldemort, a dark wizard who intends to become immortal, overthrow the wizard governing body known as the Ministry of Magic, and subjugate all…

The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday 18 June 1815, near Waterloo, being the last engagement with Napoleon I. The French Imperial Army under the command of Napoleon I was defeated by two armies of the Seventh Coalition. One was a British-led force with units from the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Hanover, Brunswick, and Nassau, under the command of field marshal Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington. The other comprised three corps of the Prussian army under Field Marshal Blücher. The…

Pui Ching Middle School, Macau is a private Baptist school in São Lázaro, Macau. It was established in 1938 as a sister school to Guangzhou Pui Ching Middle School and Hong Kong Pui Ching Middle School after the Japanese invasion of China caused the teachers of Guangzhou Pui Ching to flee to Macau.

Maryknoll Convent School is a Roman Catholic girls' school with primary and secondary sections in Hong Kong. It was established in 1925 by sisters of the Maryknoll Sisters, a Catholic institute founded by Mother Mary Joseph.

Epic commonly refers to:Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale

Crime and Punishment is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published in the literary journal The Russian Messenger in twelve monthly installments during 1866. It was later published in a single volume. It is the second of Dostoevsky's full-length novels following his return from ten years of exile in Siberia. Crime and Punishment is considered the first great novel of his mature period of writing and is often cited as one of the greatest works of world literature.

Ulysses commonly refers to:Odysseus, a hero in Greek mythology Ulysses (novel), by James Joyce