Reggiegram: Are you a real book lover? How do you show your love?

Reggiegram：你是一个真正的书籍爱好者吗？如何证明？

I tore up my books. I confess that in medical school, I tore up my textbooks. Even though I loved books, I hated the massive size of medical textbooks. I think I subconsciously loved the persona of being a scholar, always going about carrying one or more books in one hand. But I couldn’t carry all those huge heavy ones! So, I just tore them all up into sections and rebound them, often from one huge book into about ten sensibly sized books.

我也曾撕书。我承认在读医学院时我曾撕开过我的教科书。虽然我很喜爱书籍，但是我讨厌大部头的教科书。潜意识中我是喜欢做一个学究的，手中随时拿着一本甚至几本书，然而我拿不动那些沉重的大部头！所以我会把它们按章节撕开并重新合订，经常是一本大部头变为十本正常厚度的书籍。

My idea of good books definitely included the warm comfortable feel of being able to wrap my fingers around them! And when I began publishing my own medical books, I insisted they be a sensible size, at least most of the time.

我对好书的定义一定是在手翻阅书籍时可以产生温暖的触感！所以当我开始出版我个人的医学书时，在绝大多数时候，我都坚持要保持书普通的大小与厚度。

Plane-ride size. Later on, for my non-medical books I made them even smaller. Since they were bilingual, which doubled the book size, I decided on a maximum size of 200 pages in total. I figured readers could nearly finish one of my books on a medium plane ride or even a one- to two-hour train commute.

合适坐飞机时阅读的尺寸。我会把我写的非医学的书打造得更为轻薄。由于文字是双语的，书就得双倍体积，我决定我的每本书不能超过200页。我发现读者们一般可以在普通航程中或一至两小时车程的火车通勤中读完我的书。

Ornamental sizes.  Actually, in today’s world, massive books now seem mostly impressively ornamental on a reference bookshelf, mostly to signal that the owner is well read. They’re also great as background scenery for modern -day internet meetings! These kinds of books now seem rarely consulted even for reference, since there’s easy access to reference information on the internet. Indeed, I confess that I never read these kinds of books anymore, though they are still impressive on my bookshelves.

装饰性读物尺寸。事实上，在当今社会大量的书籍看起来更像是工具书书架的装饰品，以彰显主人博览群书。当然，把这些书当作现代网络会议背景装饰也不错！由于网络检索的便利性，这类书籍甚至鲜少被用于参考用途。尽管这类书籍给人留下了深刻的印象，我却不得不承认现在我不读此类书籍了。

Are you homeless, sir? I read everywhere I go, which I’ve done since childhood! When my family goes grocery shopping in Seattle, I often stand in a corner and read, leaning against some wall. One day it was great sunny weather outdoors, a rarity in my city culture’s elites try to normalize the grotesque, so I was leaning on the wall outside the grocery store. Essentially loitering there in the comforting sunshine, waiting for my family. A young kid came by and watched me. Because Seattle has a lot of homeless people, I imagine he thought I was homeless and just reading out of sheer boredom.He came by and graciously handed me a nutrient bar, which was really very kind of him. I declined, smiled and thanked him for it. His good parents must have been proud of his instincts to help people leaning on walls.

先生，你是否无家可归？从童年起，我无论走到哪里都会带着一本书读！当我们家去西雅图的杂货铺采购时，我经常靠着墙角阅读。在一个我们城市难得数月不见的晴朗好天，我一度靠在室外的墙上读书。在舒适的阳光下闲逛等待我的家人。一个小孩子跑过来看着我。由于西雅图有很多无家可归的人，我想他以为我也是其中之一，其实我只是出于无聊在看书而已。他走过来优雅地递给我一根能量棒，他真的很善良。我微笑着拒绝了他，他的父母一定会为他的助人为乐而感到自豪。

I can’t shop, but… I practically do no general shopping at all. Not even really for Christmas or birthdays. For this, I blame my super-efficient wife of 56 years who does everything. And since I’m a total nerd, it fits my personality perfectly. But I do love to give away books as gifts. It’s about the only physical gift I know how to give away.

我无法购物，但是… 我几乎从不购物，即使是生日或圣诞节也是如此。这要归功于我那行动效率超高的已结婚56年的妻子，她包揽了一切事务。这非常适合我这个十足的书呆子的。但我确实喜欢把书籍作为礼物赠与他人，这也是我送出的唯一一种实物礼物。

When our kids were young, it was predictable what I might give family and friends for Christmas or birthdays: books. Later on, I gave away lots of different books to young people I met for my usual “Uncle Reggie” coffees or lunches. In fact, a young lady missionary now in Indonesia “blamed me” for giving her too many touching missionary story books, which she felt inspired her, for life.

我的孩子还小的时候就可以预测出我大概会送什么礼物给家人和朋友：书。那之后我会把不同的书籍送给与我共进午餐或一起喝咖啡的年轻人。一位年轻的女孩甚至“责怪”我给了她太多感人的传道士故事书，这些书激励了她，她目前正在印度尼西亚传道。

What’s in your CRV trunk? In our many years in Cincinnati, I always used my car trunk as a library. When I opened it up, there was a stack of books ready to give away. It was a great way to encourage young people, to take a book home after a good chat. An extension of real coffee with Uncle Reggie! Before my “Coffee with Uncle Reggie” books were published, there might also have been handout sheets of stories that I wrote.

你的本田车后备箱里都有些什么？在辛辛那提的那些年里，我经常把我的汽车后备箱用作图书馆。后备箱常常有一摞要被作为礼物送出去的书。在愉快的聊天结束后送给年轻人一本书，是对他们很好的激励。在“与曾叔叔闲聊”系列书出版之前，我的后备箱里会放着一些我写的故事的分发稿。

What are you carrying around in your tote bag? In the last few years I even carried around a tote bag of my trilogy of “Coffee Books”. I easily continued my lifelong book gifting habit, now with my own writings, which seems like a great personalized way to communicate, and even to make friends. With people I meet in our huge church lobby, condominium neighbors, restaurant workers and even my personal doctors and health care staff.

你的大手提袋里都装着些什么呢？在过去的几年中，我会随身带着我的“闲聊”系列三部曲手提袋。我很轻松地坚持着送人书籍的习惯，包括我自己的作品，而这可以算做一个非常有个性的与人交流的方式，也可以由此交到朋友，包括在我们那巨大的教堂大厅里遇到的人，公寓邻居，餐厅员工，我的私人医生和卫生保健工作人员。

One of the best reactions to this book-giving was a former elementary school principal who read Book One, and began to attach many tabs on its pages. When we went out for lunch, she quizzed me on specific details that she had tagged! She had definitely read the book thoroughly. Books are just amazing in their potential impact. Much better than a calling card.

赠书行为收获的最好的反应之一就是一位小学校长，她在读了第一卷之后便开始做笔记。当我们一起出去用餐时，她会问我一些她标记过的具体细节！她确实认真读完了这本书，相比于名片而言书籍的潜在影响是惊人的。

Who doesn’t like a free book? In my academic life, many of my books about nutrition in infancy and childhood were acquired by industry to give away to physicians in the USA, and then around the world. A really great way to basically give away books on my behalf!

谁会不喜欢一本免费的书籍呢？在我的学术生涯中，我写的很多关于婴幼儿时期营养学的书籍就被买下来赠予过全美国的医生，甚至全世界的医生。这是个好办法，能真正代表我把书送出去。

It was fun to work with industry on these efforts, but I soon discovered there were peculiar hazards. At times there might be tantalizing invitations to also lecture at much too beautiful vacation spots, say in Tahiti, which should be officially suspect or taboo. For the record, I never took these offers, and never got to Tahiti! And I don’t know of my books going there either.

和这个行业的人一起努力很有趣，但是很快我就发现了一些特殊的风险。有时会收到一些邀请，去大溪地这样奢华的度假胜地作演讲，所以需要注意和警惕这样的事。在此声明我从未接受过那些邀请，也从未去过大溪地，我也不知道我的书有没有在那里出现。

Even in China. Our medical books, translated into Chinese, were even purchased by industry to give out in large numbers to physicians in major hospitals in China! This occurred at a perfect time, just as China was entering the modern era of Neonatology, the care of sick newborn infants. So the books were enthusiastically received, and became immediately useful in the urgent care of babies.

即使是在中国。我们的医学书籍，被翻译成中文，由相关产业购入，大量地分发给中国医生！这太合时宜了，恰好那时中国正开始引进现代新生儿学，即对病患新生儿的护理治疗的学科。因此这些书受到了热烈欢迎，并对婴儿的紧急照顾提供了专业指导。

What about royalties? Some people might be surprised, but I never wrote books to earn royalties. Without focusing on royalties, I could more effectively focus on disseminating my books to those who truly could use them.

关于版税呢？一些人也许会惊讶于我未曾通过版税获利。如果不关注版税，我可以把精力更多地放在将我的书籍传播给那些真正需要它们的人。

Plus it also solved any tax problem! Next to nothing in royalties, but lots of untaxable “royal” pleasure. By estimate, we disseminated about 25,000 medical books altogether (five main books), so it was quite a good result for such a specialized field! My Coffee with Uncle Reggie books are catching up in numbers!

此外，这也解决了一切税收问题！虽然没有版税(英语称为 royalties)，但是有税收无法给予的“皇家 royal”乐趣。据估计，我们总共约传播了25000本医学书籍（五本主要书籍），对这个专业领域提供了帮助！我的“和曾叔叔闲聊”系列丛书的发行量也快追上来了。

Charming signatures! When I started teaching in China, I realized the charming fascination with signatures of teachers and authors. Much more than in the West, I think. It became quite a habit, to sign off on anything that students of all ages, and even doctors and scholars, gave me to sign. There often was a line of people coming up to get my signature. I usually “increased its value” by writing “God bless you” or any general blessing.

迷人的签字！当我在中国教学时，我发现大家特别喜欢教师和作者的签名，比西方有过之而无不及。这成为了我的一种习惯，所有年龄段的学生，医生，学者都会找我签字。经常有人排队来取我的签字。我通常会写“上帝保佑你”或其他祝福，来锦上添花。

Mont Blanc signatures. When I began to give away my Coffee with Uncle Reggie books, especially in Asian settings, I was indeed often asked to sign the books, anticipating the market or emotional value in 100 years! I’m joking!

勃朗峰笔签名。当我开始分发《与曾叔叔闲聊》这本书时，尤其是在亚洲，大家都要求我签名，以期待一百年后丰厚的市场价值和情绪价值！开个玩笑！

I recently realized that I had a very impressive Mont Blanc pen, given to me during my China travels, which I had just left lying around for years. I began to use this very pricey pen just for signatures! Giving further “added value” to the book signing! Thank you, whoever gave me that pen, since I’m sorry I forgot who did. (Please let me know.)

我最近意识到我有一支令人印象深刻的勃朗峰笔，那是我在中国旅行时收到的，已经被搁置好多年了。我开始用这支昂贵的笔来签名了！给签售书提供进一步的“附加价值”！谢谢你，给予我这支笔的人，非常抱歉我记不起来是谁了。（请告诉我）

Join my free internet book club. I like to keep in touch with my “fans”. Sorry, can I call you that? I religiously collect email and WeChat addresses to enroll “new members”. That way I can have internet coffee with you all. “Just join my book club, and you will get a free monthly coffee story.” Or “like” my Facebook, We-chat, or Meipian. Or download my books and stories from reggietales.org! Or even buy the books on the internet, on Walmart and the usual places.

加入我的线上读书俱乐部吧。我喜欢和我的“粉丝”保持联系。抱歉，可以这样称呼你们吗？我认真地收集电子邮箱和微信号来注册“新会员”。这样我就可以一起和你们网络喝咖啡闲聊了。“只要加入我的俱乐部，你就可以每月获得免费的咖啡故事。”或者点赞我的脸书，微信和美篇。或者从出版社下载我的书和故事。甚至可以从网上，沃尔玛和普通的地方买书。

10,000 book bonus. I truly had a pandemic bonus because in 2020 we were stuck so much at home that I could spend “quality time” finishing off Book 3, to complete my target trilogy of “Coffee Books”, a year ahead of schedule (1). And I could spend time working on the distribution system, which remarkably generated 10,000 book orders in 2020, vastly exceeding my normal expectations.

10,000本书的奖金。疫情期间，我真的得到了一些额外的收获，由于2020我们被困家中，我拥有了“高质量时间”来写第三册，以完成我计划的“闲聊”三部曲，提前一年完成了！我还可以花时间完善我的分发系统，到2020年累计分发了超过10000本书，这大大超出了我的预期。

A third bonus was that my Hong Kong publisher agreed to directly send bulk orders to 15 countries, saving us the wear and tear of our doing it ourselves.

第三个收获是，我的香港出版商同意直接向15个国家批量发送书籍，这无疑帮我们省下了很大的精力和成本。

All of this was altogether shocking for a no-name amateur like me. A funny “bonus” is also a surge of semi-scams to advertise and sell my books (sometimes for “only a $10,000 investment”) or to even make movies out of them.

以上的一切令我这样的无名业余爱好者非常震惊。有趣的是，随之而来吸引了大量的半骗局要为我做广告和销售我的书（有时号称只需我投资10000美元）甚至有人声称要把我的书拍成电影。

Real book clubs. You never know what happens to books eventually. In three instances I heard of their use for actual book club reading! I never imagined that myself.

真正的图书俱乐部。你永远无法预料你的书被用来做什么。我有三次听说我的书们被用于真正的图书俱乐部！这是我未曾想到过的。

Coffee with Uncle Reggie Book 3 is a practical book of stories on preparing a new generation to serve the Lord, which one pastor felt was perfect for his relatively new church. So he organized his core team to read it in book club fashion, and I was even invited at the end to appear in “meet the author” fashion. In pandemic internet-zoom-conference style, to answer questions and make further suggestions. It was quite exciting for me to do that, something quite unexpected, and my first time!

《闲聊书3》是一本关于预备事奉主的新一代实用故事书，一位牧师认为这非常适合他的初创不久的教会。所以他组织了自己的核心团队，以图书俱乐部的形式阅读此书，而我也被以“作者见面会”的形式被邀请到场，通过疫情期间互联网视频会议回答问题并提出建议。这对我来说是非常振奋人心并超出预期的，并且我是第一次出席类似场合。

Red packets for starving artists! Occasionally we meet musicians on the street, so-called “starving artists” kind of performers. We might encourage them for playing good music and livening up society by leaving a few dollars in their basket.

给街头艺人的打赏. 有时我们会在街上遇到音乐家献艺，我们可能会为美妙的音乐和活跃的气氛而在篮子里留下几美元来打赏。

In China, I learnt that if you like a particular article on the internet you might put in a few RMB to encourage the writer. I was surprised to find that my articles in Meipian, a China app, generated hundreds of RMB of encouragement! A totally new and great idea to me! It was good fun, and I felt like an appreciated street musician.

在中国，我了解到，如果你很喜欢一篇文章，那么一可以通过打赏几元人民币来支持作者。我惊讶地发现我发布在美篇上的文章，一个中国app，收获了几百人民币的打赏！这对我来说是个新点子！这很有趣，我觉得自己像一个受人欣赏的街头音乐家。

Students, calm down! At one very prestigious university I was giving lectures and leaving my Coffee Stories as handouts on the front tables. I announced their availability to the young audience of medical and doctoral students, and the chairperson professor also encouraged them to pick up the articles.

学生们，请冷静！在我在一所非常著名的大学里授课时，我把我的“闲聊故事”文章留在了讲桌上。我向在座的年轻医学生和博士生们宣布了这些文章供他们免费领取，主席教授也鼓励他们去取。

However, someone started to rush for the articles and precipitated a mad scramble. I guess the audience had spotted that there were not enough handouts for the large audience. Asians are probably good at “crowd math”, so they easily figured that out! Naively, I didn’t realize this would happen, and the chairperson nearly lost his temper shouting out to stop the chaos!

然而，人们一窝蜂地涌上来哄抢。我猜大家已经发现了讲义不够一人一份。亚洲人可能很善于对“人群数量的估算”，所以他们很快就发现了这一情况！我过于天真没有预测到哄抢的发生，这甚至导致了主席发脾气，并大喊着让学生们停止哄抢！

Don’t cause mini-riots. I was sorry I created a mini-riot. That nearly happened when I was walking on the streets of a small town in southern China, in the very beginning of our medical mission work there. I was giving out our specially designed calling cards with my friendly good news message on the back.

不要引起小骚乱。我很抱歉引起了这场小骚乱。同样的事情发生在中国南方一个小城市的街道上，那是我刚开始医疗事工。我正在街上分发我的设计精良的小卡片，反面印着好消息。

Sometimes if I was not careful, I could indeed generate a “mini-riot”, with people scrambling for the cards! You just never know about the enthusiasm of crowds, I guess. My very astute security guard escort commented that, “In our country, you are free to give out your cards, we have religious freedom, but you shouldn’t create a riot.” Well said.

有时候我稍不注意，就会引起一些“小骚乱”，人们会争抢我的名片！你永远无法预料人们的热情，我想。我那非常精明的随行保安评论对我说：“在我们的国家，你可以自由地发放名片，我们有信仰自由，但你不该引起骚乱。” 他说得很对！

Lifetime book habits. I certainly cherish books and writings, and I certainly love to freely give them away. As books, handouts, or even cards. They’re a fun part of my lifetime habit and tradition. “Freely received, freely given.” Come join me in both activities!

终生读书的习惯。我当然很珍惜我的书，并且很喜欢免费分发。比如书，讲义，甚至卡片。它们是我一生的习惯和传统。“白白得来，白白给予”，来参加我这两个活动吧！

Reference
1.As I was finishing this article I realized that the pandemic had now become over two years in duration and, surprise, surprise, because of that, I was able to finish another book, now Book 4. This pandemic is becoming a true story writing bonus!

参考：
1.当我完成这本书时我惊讶地意识到新冠大流行已经两年多了，正是由于新冠的大流行，我得以完成了我的另一本书，第四部。这疫情已经成为了一个写作者的绝好机会！