BATB score: 10/10 heart 🤍 #BATBREREAD Best to: Matt Haig wrote about his depression back when he had depression from 24-32 y/o (1999-2007); unfortunately, today (2022), at 47 y/o his depression is back. Matt Haig shared on his instagram “earlier this year I nearly died by suicide because I knew I would never be happy again” September 2022 Best as: the first time I read this book I was trying to understand my friends who have depression about how depression really feels like;

BATB score: 8/10 💙 #BATBREREAD Best as: oddly this book is less interesting and less relevant to me now that I am back to being an individual contributor; plus working remotely (work from home alone forever) removes all of the office politics and office foul plays to zero BATB lingering thought: you literally don’t have to be that bubbly charismatic character any more now that everything is through zoom; that ‘join meeting’’ and that leave meeting’ button is your way in and

BATB score: 10/10 💙 #BATBREREAD Best as: what a one-of-a-kind story indeed; giving it your all for neurosurgeon residency just a few months away to graduation (delayed gratification) diagnosed with terminal cancer (life has other plans) - life took a big detour to chemo and therapy - and yet life was cut short to only 22 months more; total lifetime 37 y/o Best to: death is inevitable, it’s just a matter of how soon Best for: just a reminder that this book made Bill Gates cry

BATB score: 7/10 💊 Best to: know that Matthew Perry is no Chandler Bing; what we saw was perfect acting that everything is alright and that’s how addiction is epic scary because you never truly know what any of us is really going through BATB lingering thought: I really hope that Matthew Perry finds a glimpse of joy of being enough and gets to experience simple happiness in his retired years; you know how you are known for that one thing? even though you have done many thing

BATB score: 9/10 ⭐️ Reader disclaimer: BATB loves Dan Ariely #fangirl love his writing style, his quirky experiments, and his natural curiosity to the oddest things; so would a picture of flowers 🌸 or of eyeballs 👀 make you more honest? Like what? Best to: so how do we cheat without feeling too bad about cheating when not cheating at all is just stupid Best as: so the extent of cheating increases when you believe you are Robin Hood “we cheat because we are good people who c

BATB score: 9/10 🙏 Best as: it’s a holocaust survivor’s memoir plus a self-help guide to happiness - a 2-in-1 combo! so this book does not end once he has escaped Auschwitz but continues on with how he doesn’t hate Hitler and how his biggest revenge is “to be the happiest man on earth” Best to: check out Eddie Jaku’s 11-minutes TedX Talk “A Holocaust survivor’s blueprint for happiness” it is pretty much what the whole book is about BATB lingering thought: so Eddie Jaku wrote

BATB score: 7/10 🤣 Likeas any stand-up comedy shows, really just for laughs. Best to: ah, so this is what Australian jokes are about - Apple Cider Vinegar Best for: knowing who Wil Anderson is helps make this book a little bit more humorous Best as: check out the audiobook read by Wil Anderson - it’s like watching his stand-up performance with your eyes closed; not bad I would have to say BATB lingering thought: this book cover though, so epic!

BATB score: 5/10 🫠 Best as: a birthday gift for your bff coworker who you like to gossip with, a farewell gift for a colleague joining a consulting firm, a coffee shop decoration, a poop book (a book you take to the toilet with you to complete number two’s 💩) Best to: a silly fun read, no brains needed, just for laughs, don’t expect anything, definitely not a self-improvement book Best for: the book title 💯, the paper quality, the colorful cartoons and high quality prints

BATB score: 9/10 💉💊❤️‍🩹 Best to: wow wow wow what a story! I have never heard anything like this before and never would have been able to predict what would happen next; definitely a page turner! Best as: boy, I think about it every night and day. I’m addicted wanna drown inside your love. I wouldn’t wanna have it any other way, I’m addicted and I just can’t get enough Best for: you know how you still have a moral compass but yet things just spiraled for the worst? BATB li

BATB score: 2/10 💔 please allow me to kill you with kindness Best to: the thing is, you had every right and all the merits to write your previous book “In Order to Live” [BATB score: 8/10] in sharing your personal account of life of and escape from North Korea; but then, you have low to zero merits to write this book “While Time Remains” in analyzing American culture and events from a point of view of an immigrant / new joiner Best as: or is this your academic thesis? Best f

BATB score: 10/10 🧘‍♀️ 🧘‍♂️ 🧘 Best to: a very approachable sharing of monk spirituality and life wisdom that will make you think Best as: an introduction to monkshood for the corporate rats written in a friendly mood and tone for the average joe Best for: you know how other spiritual book can be very wordy, redundant, and boring? This book is legit good not sleepy 💯 BATB lingering thought: what would have to be the key trigger for me to quit my corporate job, my high clim

BATB score: 9/10 💚 Best for: almost a 10/10! It’s just that he wrote this book truly for himself to remember the past and to grateful for the future. “Can we live in a way where we look forward to looking back?” Nothing wrong with that. It’s just like I am that sneaky nosey neighbor reading this personal book of his. Best to: a very fun and casual read about the life of Matthew McConaughey Best as: for sure, Matthew McConaughey is extremely talented in acting and writing 💯

BATB score: 4/10 🫤 Ellen DeGeneres’ jokes are so predictable (since this book published in 2011).� Best as: let me break down Ellen’s joke structure - superficial topic about day-to-day stuff, tangent talk to other random thoughts that comes to mind, and ending by making no sense at all and making a fool out of herself; e.g. I love the Spice Girls. I love spices too. But not all spices. Some spice makes me sick. What was I talking about? The end. Best to: unfortunately it’s

BATB score: 8/10 💛 Best as: the most adorable gift you can give to anyone in their 30s; it’s about a typical thirties-year-old version of a mid-life crisis Best to: key takeaways - give less furck about work or quits 9 to 5, loves drinking still and will diet tomorrow, bff is pet cat/dog, learns to live happily alone while being jealous of everybody else 💯 Best for: could 30s be the new midlife? BATB lingering thought: fried chicken with beer is a global meaning of life ❤️

BATB score: 10/10 ❤️‍🩹 wow just wow. 👏👏👏 Best to: a very important read for our generation about complex-PTSD from our upbringings, to adulthood dark clouds, to cutting ties (the frown upon / non-asian way) to heal, to finding numerous alternative help, and just surviving day by day 🥹 Best for: anyone who resonates with this statement “the stress of not meeting their elders’ expectations in a culture where they have to please their elders is real” Best as: “the three P’s

BATB score: 7/10 🥹 epic deep deep stuff about forgiving your mom and dad ❤️‍🩹 Best as: it’s a research textbook proposing, justifying, and dissecting the sole premise that “maybe the trauma we’re experiencing may not be ours but rather our parent’s, our grandparent’s, and/or our great-grandparent’s trauma (that is left unsolved)”. Best to: an extremely debatable premise that needs further research and exploration but definitely a great initial effort by Mark Wolynn 👏 [2016

BATB score: 2/10 🙏🏻 oiiii such a waste of brain cells Best to: you know that one uncle who went solo travelling around the world with his retirement money, then came back to every family gathering and could not shut up about it? yeah, Pico Iyer is that uncle. Best as: "The struggle of your life is your paradise." - my struggle right now is uncle's travel diary BATB lingering thought: better to watch travel vlogs on YouTube; okay, thank you uncle for reminding all of us to t

BATB score: 3/10 🙈 This book covers only one premise: pay attention to details / look objectively and carefully (that's about it) 👀 Best to: a thick-ass book with numerous examples repeating the same premise above; this whole book can be summarized into a one-pager or a 18-mins TedTalk BATB lingering thought: I hate the way this book is written. Reminds me of school where the teacher asks the class the extremely obvious annoying question "can anyone tell me what is in this

BATB score: 6.6/10 🌸 I truly admire the effort in writing this comprehensive, thoroughly researched book, must have taken ages! kudos kudos 👏 Best to: this book is a great opening, pinpointing all the gender gaps and its implications, data-driven, fully-backed, completely-supported; yet, my only problem is that there are no next steps; what can I do? what difference can I make (other than being super aware - 300-pages of awareness)? Best for: iPhones are too heavy for women

BATB score: 6.6/10 👰‍♀️ oh my god! sorry, can not use god’s name in vain, oh my goodness! what is this book!?! Book is saying: A. “[…] know […] of the Spirit in your life, [and] you will have enough love ‘in the bank’ to be generous to your spouse even when you are not getting much affection or kindness at the moment” B. “Your spouse and your marriage must be the number one priority in your life.” C. “Sex is god’s appointed way for two people to reciprocally say to one anoth