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The Earned Life: Lose Regret, Choose Fulfillment by Marshall Goldsmith
BATB score: 3/10 🙄 Marshall Goldsmith latest 2022 book is a literary disaster. Best to: Marshall Goldsmith’s 2007 “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There” was a hand down 10/10 life-changing perfectly-written masterpiece; 15 years later he disappoints perfectly with “The Earned Life” Best as: Marshall Goldsmith was trying to share his wisdom as a life coach but it was all over the place Best for: this book is as so bad that it was torturous to complete BATB lingering thought:


Visual Intelligence: Sharpen Your Perception, Change Your Life by Amy E. Herman
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


The Lost Whale by Hannah Gold
BATB score: 3/10 🐋 Best to: a PG13 introduction to the impact of global warming on nature’s marine life ; a reminder on how nature heals souls BATB lingering thought: I love the book’s cover, it’s sho prettay; and whales are sho elegantly beautiful 🐋 Best as: a children’s book but the child/parent must have the patience to read 300 pages est. 2 hours to complete the narrative Best for: if Mother Nature could talk, this book is her cry for help 🥹💔 Best quote: “Dear ocean f


Risking It All: Elon Musk by Michael Vlismas
BATB score: 3/10 🚀🧨 Best for: in one’s lifetime one should definitely read at least one Elon Musk book, this is not that one Elon Musk book that one should read; better to check out Elon Musk by Ashlee Vance [7.6/10 BATB] Best as: so interesting how writers capitalize on other people’s stories; I am sure Michael Vlismas is not giving any of this book’s proceeds to Elon Musk BATB linger thought: I hope this world have more Elon Musk, the crazy ones, who is insane enough to d


Lighter: Let Go of the Past Connect with the Present Expand the Future by Yúng Pueblo
BATB score: 3/10 🫥 *reader discretion advised* Yung Pueblo’s way of writing is like a bunch of standalone bullet points formatted in paragraphs - statements after statements thrown at you - urgh Best to: it’s like you wrote this book for yourself Best as: the premise of the whole book could have been an e-mail Best for: this book titled “lighter” actually made me feel “heavier” BATB trying to be nice: okay, I do like the short poems (but those could have been an e-card) Best


Lessons for Living: What Only Adversity Can Teach You by Phil Stutz
BATB score: 3/10 🏞️ Best as: 30 individual chapters making 30 unique lessons on life, betting on a 50-50 coin toss chance on whether it would make sense (be a hit) for you Best for: BATB only likes 3 chapters > Loving the One You’re With, A Model Relationship, and How to Love Yourself; the rest meh; 3/30 = 10% hit rate for BATB Best to: okie here’s the plan, go to the bookstore, find the book, shuffle to the good chapters above, read it then and there, takes less than 10 min


I Know Where You Live by Gregg Olsen
BATB score: 3/10 😒 meh. Best as: a string of women across generations within the same family line who have all been a victim or a witness of sexual harassment from other men family members BATB lingering thought: difficult to love the characters and thus difficult to be moved by or feel for the book Best as: doubles as memory + attention-to-detail test as there are ~10 character stories that intertwine ♾️ Best to: if you have not read any of Gregg Olsen book, read “If You Te


The Humans by Matt Haig
BATB score: 3/10 🫥 Best as: okay. I am done with Matt Haig fiction. Best to: good storyline about a alien on a mission on earth; earth’s stranger’s point of view of humans; yet, very wordy and slow narration Best for: the chapter “Advice for a Human” concluding 97 advices for humans was sweet Best quotes: “Make sure, as often as possible, you are doing something you’d be happy to die doing.” “Dark matter is needed to hold galaxies together. Your mind is a galaxy. More dark t


A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
BATB Score: 3/10 🥀 *reader discretion advised* BATB truly dislike fantasy (romantic?) fiction - ugh cringe; will not be continuing on the route to complete all 5 series - byeeee Best as: Amazon Q3’24 top 10 most read fiction books; so might as well give it a try as a true book enthusiast Best to: the first 300 pages was so slow and boring BATB score 0/10; the last 100 pages, wasn’t too bad but wasn’t that great either Best for: damsel in distress meets beauty and the beast m


Letters From The Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop by Kenji Ueda
BATB score: 3/10 📝 *reader discretion advised* BATB doesn’t think BATB has enough patience for Japanese authors - may we never meet again Best to: seriously 20+ pages just for the stationary shop owner to greet the first arriving customer hello 🫠 Best as: introduction to a stationary store: the pen, the different pens, the paper, the different paper, the ink, the seal 🖋️🔖💌 Best for: heartfelt short stories they say, heart burn slowest burn short but long stories I say


The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins
BATB score: 3/10 😡 oh my god shut up please Best as: a white entitled american auntie repeating “Let Them” 850 times and “Let Me” 575 times BATB lingering thought: I am going to Let Her write and love this book; and I am going to Let Me complaining about it on BATB. The chapters on finding love were exponentially cringey. Best to: search Mel Robbins on Instagram and watch maximum 3 reels [one for the core Let Them theory, one for the Friendship theory (proximity, timing, ene


Time Anxiety: The Illusion of Urgency and a Better Way to Live by Chris Guillebeau
BATB score: 3/10 ⌛️ Best to: this book on “time” is a waste of time Best as: Chris Guillebeau is a weakling Best for: too basic for valedictorians, IVY league graduates, wartime leaders, all-star employees, and asians BATB lingering thought: your best excuse to say no to anything is “No, thank you. I’m going to die one day.” Best quotes: “You feel regretful about the past, uncertain or hesitant about the present, and apprehensive of the future.” “If everything’s important, no


Open When by Dr Julie Smith
BATB score: 3/10 😪 Best as: a DIY manual on how to navigate oneself through life’s challenging moments ie. when feeling left out, when feeling like an imposter, with grieve, with negative self-criticism, friendships, regrets, etc Best for: aliens 👽 trying to impersonate humans 🧍🧍♀️🧍♂️ Best to: like a supportive mentor giving you unsubstantiated advice through life BATB lingering thought: Dr. Julie Smith, were you in a rush to publish a second book to leverage the good


Lights Out by Navessa Allen
BATB score: 3/10 ☠️ reader discretion advised sexually explicit content; every detail, kinks, and all 🫠 Best as: Kindle #1 best seller and #1 most read under Erotica category - got me curious, never read never know Best to: holy moly 💀 erotica indeed, porno in book form; interesting, are all our erotica fantasy similar and so predictable? BATB confession: couldn’t finish the book, didn’t feel invested in the characters nor the storyline; too girly berry, chick-flick but


Hello, Higher Self: An Outsider's Guide to Loving Yourself in a Tough World by Bunny Michael
BATB score: 3/10 🙄 Best to: please say hello to your higher self on my behalf; made it to chapter 7 and I can’t go any further Best as: the problem is, it’s a lot of personal anecdotes - unsubstantiated with any material; love the exercise guide but pretty basic, been there, done that Best for: I believe I have exercised by Higher Self by deciding to put this book down 😇 BATB lingering thought: this trend for self-help / self-love.. bring about a lot of fake gurus and wanna


Hunger by Choi Jin-Young
BATB score: 3/10 🤷♀️ Best to: either you love it or you hate it; wasn’t able to feel the characters and thus wasn’t able to be invested nor admire the story Best as: longing of two souls to the point of cannabalism Best for: maybe this book is better in original Korean language? Best quotes: “Faith is the key to grasping absurdity.” “Are those who fire the guns and take the bullets ever those who start the war?” “To be freed from this suffering - and if that’s not doable, t
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