BATB score: 7/10 💙 Alice Oseman is a hands-down writer prodigy - signing her first publishing deal at 17 for Solitaire and signing with Netflix at 26 for HeartStopper which was written at 22! That’s a lot of accomplishment at such a young age my friend. #isaluteyou Best to: digital age / modern day “The Catcher in the Rye” - the struggles of a teen figuring out the world: gender identity, friendship, parental influences, oxbridge academic success, online trolls, YouTube fame

BATB score: 7/10 🫠 Greatest book title ever! Best to: from aimlessly wandering in search of those others who were similarly depressed, she decided to be the person other depressed people may be looking for - hoping that someone would see her waving, recognizing themselves in her and approach her, so we all can find comfort in each other’s existence Best for: those who aren’t deadly depressed but aren’t happy either Best as: if you have never been to a psychiatrist and wants

BATB score: 7/10 💵💰💸 Dear Bradley Birkenfeld, what the damn hell? All-star private wealth account manager with an 18% commission bonus, to convicted felon for fraud conspiracy sentenced to 40 months in jail, to the Guinness world record holder for the largest whistleblower payout of 104M USD, to an author of a best seller book “Lucifer’s Banker”, and a complete jerk. What the damn hell? Best to: know that this book is a lot about him Best for: account managers on a sales c

BATB score: 7/10 😨💙🌀 BATB reading level: advanced Suzanne O'Sullivan is an Irish neurologist - her book title, “It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness”, is basically the one-liner summary of this book Best for: you have to be into mystery illnesses, extraordinary people, ripley’s believe it or not, doctor’s tell-all documentary, TLC tabloid shows to read this book; because it’s sick and it’s about a super niche topic but it’s so damn interesting Best to:

BATB score: 7/10 🧧🥡🥢 Jenny Tinghui Zhang’s first debut novel 2022 - wow, not bad at all! Best as: a historical novel about a horrendous life of an immigrant in relation to Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 Best to: if you ever wondered where Asian hate all originated from; I loved the first 200 pages, I disliked pages 200-300, and I liked pages 300-400 - this book was so close to being a 9/10 Best for: novel enthusiast covering topics of illegal immigration, back alley brothel

BATB score: 7/10 🔥 Burnout is a company’s problem not an individual’s illness. Providing Headspace app membership and/or Modern Health zoom workshop does not constitute as “a company that has demonstrated care for employees well-being”. Best to: the causes of burnout, the measures against burnout, and the self-care needed for leadership with burnout fighting for other employees to not burnout Best for: HR and C-level leadership who wants their legacy to include “demonstrates

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: 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: 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: 7/10 🧐 hmm, interesting classic indeed 💯 Best to: written way back in 1926 (almost 100 years ago!) covering personal financial advices (disguised in easy-to-digest parables) that are still relevant and valid today Best for: the “thy, thee, speaketh, wisheth, hath, doth, herein, lieth” took a bit of time to adjust but is manageable; it’s about savings, passive income, repaying debts like any noble man should, retirement funds, hire a financial advisor, and when t

BATB score: 7/10 💚💙 BATB reading level: advanced - strong discipline and determination required to finish reading this book Best to: know that there are three types of people: takers, matchers, and givers; “being a giver is not good for a 100-yard dash, but it’s valuable in a marathon” yet, we are all three / tri-polar depending on the circumstances Best as: better to just take the quiz https://adamgrant.net/quizzes/give-and-take-quiz/ , acknowledge that you are a selfish p

BATB score: 7/10 👩‍👧💞 ahh it’s actually a memoir for her mom’s passing rather than a self-help book; yet, in the mom-memoir category “Crying in H Mart” wins by a mile 💗 Best for: daughters. even better if your are both a daughter-to-a-mother and a mother-to-a-daughter BATB lingering thought: two good tips, from things I wish I knew before my Mom died, is (A) to record your mom’s voice somewhere somehow and (B) in response to anyone’s statement of “my mom just passed” is “

BATB score: 7/10 🧙‍♂️ *reader discretion advised: must be a true Harry Potter the movie series fan* Best for: you would love love love this book only if you can answer this question, who did Alan Rickman play in Harry Potter? otherwise, you would have to be googling while reading this book to understand who Tom Felton is talking about (which is fine but not immersive) Best to: I believe Tom Felton still tried to be politically correct throughout the book until the very last

BATB score: 7/10 🍳 a therapist shares five heroic stories of emotional recovery; aka the art of paying to talk things through Best to: the five individual stories were very sickening and thus very interesting - super fun to read like Black Mirror Best for: only if you are someone who is exploring a career path as a psycho-therapist or is someone who wishes to be better and is considering therapy as a remedy, this book is for you; otherwise, it’s too niche BATB lingering thou

BATB score: 7/10 🤓 Best as: a full-blown white paper research on the differences of the different generations under the premise that “the era when you were born has a larger effect on your personality and attitudes than the family who raised you does” Best for: the nerdiest of nerd; beautiful line graphs on almost every other page; quantitative surveys and qualitative deep dives 📈 BATB lingering thought: the only down part is that it is US-based; I wonder whether the result

BATB score: 7/10 🩵 Best as: this book is borderline a scam as it is merely a collection of selected chapters from Dale Carnegie’s two other best sellers “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and “How to Stop Worrying and Start Living” Best to: however, it is a good refresher if you have read the other two best sellers a while back OR a good introduction to Dale Carnegie if you haven’t read anything Dale Carnegie Best for: an extremely instagramable and quotable book BATB

BATB score: 7/10 💛 Oprah's Book Club July 2023 pick - love the start, meh the middle, okay with the ending Best as: a sneak peak into the life of an author in the publishing industry battling conversations on truthful representation, cultural appropriation, plagiarism, fan clubs and hateful comments, sales/PR, and how far one will go for success (and then the next success) Best to: ethical dilemma lovers; how far is taking it too far? Best for: very relatable novel esp love

BATB score: 7/10 🫠 Best to: if you are going to read one book in this lifetime, this is the book for you; if you have read 100+ books in your lifetime, this book just summarizes all the good bits of every good book you’ve read - which you remember them all anyways, so more like re-worded reminder Best for: who the f is Steven Bartlett, even after googling him, I am still not sure who he is; but okay, he is skillful in summarizing other people’s books into his own book - I gu

BATB score: 7.5/10 💛 *reader discretion advised: nerd alert* Best as: the mathematics behind GenAI; “personalization” means “conditional probability” and how Netflix customization and ratings works and the equations behind them all Best for: Bayes’s Rule as an Equation: P (H | D) = [ P(H) + P(D|H) ] / P(D) ; where P is probability, H is Hypothesis, and D is Data BATB lingering thought: The prevalence of breast cancer among people like Alice is 1%. That is, for every 1,000 40

BATB score: 7/10 🥹 Best as: a forensic psychiatrist sharing her notes from speaking to 11 inmates: serial killers, pedophiles, murderer, stalker, abuser; pleading for a chance to hold our judgement and hear them out; this book could have been a 10/10 if it was written by a writer VS a doctor (select only 5/11 stories, thriller narration, highlight the who-what) Best for: for aspirational forensic psychiatrists > 11 case studies Best to: “society needs to condemn a little les