Book-Reviews

Title: Man’s Search for Meaning Author: Frankl, Viktor E. Publisher: Beacon Press Pages: 165 Date Read: 26 July 2021 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Beautiful! Dispassionate! Beautiful!

Title: Fifty Words for Rain Author: Lemmie, Asha Publisher: Dutton Pages: 449 Date Read: 27 March 2021 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐ I particularly enjoyed that the author told the story through the characters’ own voices. I think this added colour to the book and made its plot more engaging than it would have otherwise been. You could almost feel the personality of these characters, and how their biases and experiences colour their perspective. My favourite character was Akiko and I wished more of the story was told in her voice. ...

Title: 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Author: Shafak, Elif Publisher: Viking Pages: 312 Date Read: 19 December 2020 Bookshelves: read, favorites My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ It’s ironic how a book that begins with death has so much to say about life. My favourite thing about this book is probably how it pays equal attention to the central themes all through the story. It explored life, death, loss, survival and friendship and so much more. Shafak almost leaves it to the reader to decide what exactly the book is about. ...

Title: Pachinko Author: Lee, Min Jin Publisher: Grand Central Publishing Pages: 496 Date Read: 19 December 2020 Bookshelves: read, may-return-to My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐ I expected more from this book. May return to it. But not soon

Title: Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China Author: Chang, Jung Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pages: 562 Date Read: 20 November 2020 Bookshelves: read, may-return-to My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐ Started quite nicely and certainly well written. However the author was trying to fit too much into the pages. As such, the story started featuring several transient characters who were of little consequence to the story. This made the book very difficult to follow. ...

Title: The Courage to Be Disliked: How to Free Yourself, Change Your Life and Achieve Real Happiness Author: Kishimi, Ichiro Publisher: Allen & Unwin Pages: 288 Date Read: 10 September 2020 Bookshelves: read, may-return-to My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐ I didn’t like the dialouge-ish structure of tbe book. And for some reason, the questions asked by the youth lacked nuance, the sort of questions i would not ask myself. Hence reading answers to these questions didn’t teach me as much as i would have liked them to. ...

Title: Ego Is the Enemy Author: Holiday, Ryan Publisher: Portfolio Pages: 226 Date Read: 06 September 2020 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐ This book wasn’t as good as reviews made it out to be. But hey, this could be my ego talking.

Title: Speak to Us of Love: Reflections on Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet Author: Osho, Osho Publisher: Osho Media International Pages: 173 Date Read: 06 September 2020 Bookshelves: read, abandoned My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐ Riddled with too many sweeping generalizations. A shame for a book that began with so much promise

Title: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones Author: Clear, James Publisher: Avery Pages: 319 Date Read: 11 August 2020 Bookshelves: read My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Atomic Habits does the job of helping you understand how habits work and then beautifully progresses to give you tested strategies on how to make or break them. This is a book everyone should read because the quality of our lives are a function of the quality of our habits. ...

Title: The Memory of Love Author: Forna, Aminatta Publisher: Bloomsbury Pages: 445 Date Read: 27 March 2020 Bookshelves: read, may-return-to My Rating (out of 5): ⭐⭐⭐ I stopped reading after completing 25% of the book. Hence this review only represents my thoughts up until where I stopped. I will start by saying Forna is an excellent writer. She does great things with words; which explains why I read (and smiled) through the opening pages with rare enthusiasm. She tells the story of people who do not know of a war about to come. She writes about how these people led their lives and their interconnectedness with each other, perhaps in too much detail. Forna attempted to write about the past and the present in alternate chapters, which is a great idea in theory. However, she lacked the clarity of execution and this was where my problems with the book began. ...