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Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future by Peter Thiel
BATB score: 0/10 Zero to None* itβs so bad it hurts. Unfinished random thoughts of uncle Thiel that failed to convey any meaning. Fragmented paragraphs and loosely described concepts, itβs like heβs sleep-talking π€ social distancing with every sentence β Best for: Uncle Peter Thiel and Uncle Peter Thiel alone #tablefor1 Best to: live like this book never exists #unforgivable #bookstagram Best as: proof that not all successful business founders are great writers (Thiel co-fou


Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
BATB Score: 1/10 The book cover is misleading #fakenews You kind of expect Malcolm's behavioral economics and techniques to talk to strangers when it's more of documentary anecdotes on how we don't know the people around us. #strangersassemble Best for: those who spark joy from the CIA fooled, the pedophile getting lucky, the innocent arrested, and just on and on case studies. Best as: a Netflix 45 minutes documentary #TBC #bookstagram Best to: watch the Netflix documentary i


Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfill Your Potential by Dr Carol S. Dweck
BATB score: 3.33 / 10 The book's first 3 chapters were GOLD π and it all just went downhill from there βοΈ . The key is "fixed vs growth mindset" yet redundantly explained with this-and-that anecdotes. Best to: Yes, I get it: pick growth > fixed mindset. I got it since your first chapter. Aha. Aha. Best for: Asians, who were spanked by their Asian parents to be perfect: A+, King Classroom, 4.00GPA, Ivy League, scholarship, lawyers/doctors/pilot - everything else is a disgrace


Principles by Ray Dalio
BATB score: 3.14/10 yes, Ray Dalio, 18 billion USD net worth, richest hedge fund firm wrote, wrote this #Principles #RayDalio #bookstagram yes, Bill Gates recommends this #BillGates #GateNotes BUT NO, don't bother. It's like reading a bullet point with sub-bullet points with sub-sub-bullet points on and on. The bullet points are redundant and repetitive. A very torturing (book?) NASA manual to read. #DontLetAnyOneTellYouOtherwise Best for: the some good parts to be re-written


Ocean Anatomy by Julia Rothman
BATB score: 9/10 ππ¦π’ The most subtle and adorable way to alarm you about the effects of climate change to the polar bears, the orcas, and the narwhals. Best for: any kid who dreamt to be a marine biologist but had to succumb to his/her asian parents and became a doctor, a finance audit, and/or any typical all-star office employee instead π§βπ»π¨βπ» Best as: okay, mid-adult-children-book. it's illustration -> definitely too cute but its description -> hey-yo scientific big


Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood and the Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi
BATB score: 6/10 π§ recommended by Emma Watson aka Hermione Granger - an illustrated comic on an upbringing of Iranian women being 'worth half of men'. Best as: leisure yet knowledgeable read on Iran 1970s through war, martyrs, and head scarves via an autobiography of a curious and rebellious girl πββοΈ Best to: know that there's no climax nor key plot twist in this comic - just a series of chronological events Best for: admiration of the comic illustrations that told a story


How I Learned to Understand the World by Hans Rosling
BATB score: 7/10 π I would love to hear Hans Rosling's opinion on our current covid19 pandemic - especially how he noticed that Ebola spread via moving Ebola-dead-loved-ones around communities as a cultural ritual of respect. Best for: it's a memoir; true fanclubs of Hans Rosling #RIPHansRosling Fanclub criteria: (1) have read and loved "Factfulness" by Hans, Ola, and Anna Rosling (2) have watched and adored Hans' 2006 TED Talk Best to: complete the fanclub criteria both #1


The Prince by NiccolΓ² Machiavelli
BATB score: 8/10 π Back in 1532, Machiavelli wrote a 'How to be a Powerful Prince for Dummy Princes 101'. Best for: a very delicate playbook on how to manage/lobby your power game for existing and newly conquered colonies, loyal servants, and abolished toxic minds; topics are extremely relevant to today's office politics (except the 'killing those who hate you' part) Best as: a how-to political manual; from corrupting with soldiers, keeping noblemen in line, soliciting an ad


The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell
BATB score: 8.5/10 ππ« Legit rationale analysis on why things become a fad, a trend, or a flop. #surfskate #IGReels #bananabread The success of a social epidemic is dependent on three types of people: the connectors (people who know a lot of other people), the mavens (people who can't shut up and wants to share all new known facts), and the salesmen (charismatic KOLs) Best to: know that the above is basically the summary of the book; yet, π― legit Best for: Malcolm Gladwell'


Finding Chika: a Little Girl, an Earthquake, and the Making of a Family by Mitch Albom
BATB score: 10/10 π―π₯Ίπ my heart hurts. a sad, emotional, and heartfelt memoir for Chika - a bubbly 7-year-old battling brain tumour DIPG, the hopeful journeys of legal guardians, and the feelings left behind. Best to: Mitch Albom is an amazing author in conveying emotions and affections in very simple writing; easily digestible by readers and, for sure, strike a chord in readers' hearts π―π Best for: if you are going to read only one book this year, read this book. If you


The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
BATB score: 4/10 π Best to: meh, not Mitch Albom's best piece; you get a sense that he is trying maybe a little too hard to top as a sequel to the hit "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" Best for: if you started to read Mitch Albom's books, you might as well read all of Mitch Albom's books to make it a complete collection Best as: Wouldn't you think my collection's complete? No big deal. There's still moreeee (a total of 12 titles from Mitch Albom) blah blah blah Best quote


The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
BATB score: 6/10 π an intensive spiritual book on the art of being in the now - preach Eckhart Tolle preach! amen good night π Best to: realize deeply that the present moment is all you have; but how? okay. close your eyes and say to yourself "I wonder what my next thought is going to be" .... and in that wait you are free of thought and in the now ta da! Best for: your ego is stuck in the past of who you were and in the future of you might be - key is, you will be happier


The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu
BATB score: 4/10 π¦ hardcore science fiction with over 300+ theoretical physics concepts, orbital mechanics explanations, and metaverse experiences π½ Best to: nanoscience, AR/VR, string theory, astrophysics, religion, and extraterrestrial invasion; incredibly in-depth science, Cixin Liu legit knows science stuff Best for: definitely not a casual read, heavyweight sci-fi not for the light-hearted novice; *advanced level*; you must have a strong passion for sci-fi or have read


For One More Day by Mitch Albom
BATB score: 8.8/10 π BATB Fact: Mitch Albom's non-fiction biographies π are way better than his overrated and redundant fictional tales Best to: Mitch Albom β Top 5 β definitely but do check out "Finding Chika" first and foremost Best for: all of us; who hates our mom at one point in our teenage and midlife years; okay 'hate' is a strong word, allow me to rephrase, annoyed of, dislike, conflicted with, offensive of, angered about mom, mommy, mother. Best as: a memoir to all


Into The Magic Shop: A Neurosurgeon's Quest to Discover the Mysteries of the Brain and the Secrets of the Heart by James R. Doty. MD
BATB score: 8.5/10 π a brilliant biography about the making of someone and the meaning of life Best to: the fact that James R. Doty, MD is a bad academic student with an unaccommodating family upbringing, an exceptionally neurosurgeon, a 75M USD business investor, a CCARE philanthropist, and an author of his own enlightenment makes him relatable 360 Best for: anyone who is asking 'what's the meaning of life'? πββοΈπ Best as: this book is "The Secret" Rhonda Byrne mixed with


Blitzscaling: The Lighting-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies by Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh
BATB score 6.6/10 π΄ Started out exceptionally strong on the basics to business and blitzscaling; unfortunately, things went downhill from Part III onwardsβ¦ Best to: Reid Hoffman is a legit business guru who writes well in conveying business concepts; from his latest 2021 work βMasters of Scaleβ, this oldie 2018 book proves that Hoffman does write better every year or so Best for: business students as university course required read - a perfect mixture of principles, business


All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
BATB score: 7.2/10 βοΈ a French blind girl trying to survive the Reich WWII and a German boy detecting her prohibited radio broadcast and (less important) a magical valuable blue gem π called the Sea of Flames Best to: 500+ pages extremely verbose, detailed, and descriptive about numerous events in non-chronological order; readers are dumped with 100+ pieces of the story puzzle, you have to figure which pieces were important and which were just extras (like made in china dupl


Normal People by Sally Rooney
BATB score: 5/10 πββοΈπ€· you either like it or you don't. written in 2018 and immediately made into a Hulu original series 8.5/10 iMDb in 2020 #movefast Best to: why highschool 'friends with benefits' can continue to be good friends yet complicated benefits would linger, why if you don't date your highschool 'friends with benefits' back then, then don't expect to be able to date them now Best for: 'friends with benefits'; "I love you. It's not like this with other people." un


Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
BATB score: 8/10 π©βπ¦° well-written π legit / strong analysis of sexism from child's play to C-level dynamics to everyday balancing career vs family; the numerous women-centric expectations, burden, and challenges just to be considered as equal to men Best to: women leadership, breaking the glass ceiling via leading by example; Sheryl Sandberg's legacy aka linkedin profile in a format of a book Best for: mothers juggling a successful career and quality time with family; I co


The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman
BATB score: 6.7/10 βοΈ a very niche book on design flaws, design frameworks, and practical designs catering to humans' common sense use Best to: blame the machine and the design! they are at fault when humans had to take some time to read the manuals to comprehend 'how to turn on/off device' when it should have been intuitive #duh Best for: product designers in the making of user-centric devices Best as: the examples about the 4 table stove knobs, the push/pull door, the QWERT
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