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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


The Woman in Me by Britney Spears
BATB score: 9/10 🥹 Britney Spears is such a sensation and a legend 🙇🏻♀️ Best to: if we talk about world peace, literally one thing that binds the world is our shared love for Britney Spears songs and lyrics [I Just Can't Sleep / I'm So Excited, I'm In Too Deep] Best for: your family can become toxic when money is involved Best as: wow 13-years in a conservatorship is insane; only in USA; 1.3M active cases right now BATB linger thought: dear Britney Spears, I am so happy t


Be Useful: Seven Tools for Life by Arnold Schwarzenegger
BATB score: 1/10 🤬 omg shut up Best to: mister invincible, mister go fight win, just go away Best for: this work hard play harder mentality is so yesterday BATB linger thought: this book would be exponentially better if Arnold Schwarzenegger talk truthfully about his affair, his failures as Governor of California, his whatever! just with more sincerity and humility; Arnold and David Goggins can be friends Best as: the book’s narration sounds like that annoying uncle at famil


Wildflower by Drew Barrymore
BATB score: 4/10 🌸 Best for: wah Drew Barrymore really wrote this memoir for herself and nobody else as the stories only matters to her and nobody else Best to: what it means to be famous for being famous is you can write up a book; promote it with your name and disregard the content Best as: Drew Barrymore’s milking that passive income Best quote: “I wanted to be a good girl, and I wanted goodness to be the theme of my life and my work.”


A CEO For All Seasons: Mastering the Cycles of Leadership by Carolyn Dewar, Scott Keller, Vikram Malhotra, and Kurt Strovink
BATB score: 8/10 👏 Best as: you don’t just get an offer to be CEO, you set “CEO” as your life’s goal and work backwards 24 years of career planning and progression to get there Best for: CEO career climbers only - “Many CEOs secretly agree that the best job in the world is actually the one right below the CEO.” Best to: a true playbook on how to get to be CEO, how to be CEO, and how to leave as CEO - lead with the question of “why?” to drive focus, and “why not?” to encourag


Drunk(ish) A Memoir of Loving and Leaving Alcohol by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor
BATB score: 4/10 🥂 Best to: whenever you are in doubt on whether you are an alcoholic Best for: ahh, I am an alcoholic Best as: or am I just an alcohol enthusiast? Best quotes: “to be a better version of myself and at worst to get some quiet in my brain” “I need friends who understand my limitations and have lowered their expectations.”


Generations: The Real Differences Between Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Bommers, and Silents - and What They Mean for America's Future by Jean M Twenge, PhD
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


How to Enjoy Your Life and Job by Dale Carnegie
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


Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things by Adam Grant
BATB score: 6.5/10 🙄 *reader discretion advised* BATB is starting to get really bored, annoyed, and tired with productivity books. In the spirit of mental health, can you please shut up? BATB lingering thought: well, if you read all of Adam Grant’s books then you got to read his new book right? ahe. Best to: this book has forty key takeaways; FORTY! I know he knows that FORTY is a little bit too much Best as: reference book for a lot of instagram-mable graphs and smarty Adam


How to Give Zero Fucks by Stephen Wildish
BATB score: 4/10 🤬 content wise the author gave zero f*cks Best for: the book aesthetics - the title, the cover design, the hardcover feels, the illustrations, the color print, the page texture, the publishing house smell; basically everything except the content itself Best as: not a bad gift for someone who obviously will not read the book beyond it’s title and maybe pretend to flip through the pages twice BATB lingering thought: this book is borderline annoying; the jokes


Same as Ever: Timeless Lessons on Risk, Opportunity, and Living a Good Life by Morgan Housel
BATB score: 8/10 🖤 Best to: it was very close to being very good book yet the 23 concepts were just all over the place; unlike Morgan Housel’s previous BATB 10/10 “Psychology of Money” book that was just about money #duh Best as: back in 1950s, we all were poorer but happier than today and that’s because there was no wealth gap, no one is better off, nothing to envy Best for: I believe many other book review pages would give this book a 10/10 so to avoid FOMO, read it BATB l


Barking Up The Wrong Tree: The Surprising Science Behind Why Everything You Know About Success is (Mostly) Wrong by Eric Barker
BATB score: 9/10 👌🏻 10/10 book but it’s like 6 books in 1 book (1 chapter = 1 book in itself), intense shit - a typical Joe can not digest this Best to: kudos to Eric Barker for concluding shitloads of research paper synopsis, numerous behavioral experiments and results, and quotes from so many influential authors, while adding one’s valuable deciphers; literally knitting it all-in into one book 💯 Best for: there so much material in this book for you to chew, digest, and p


Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and The Fall of General Electric by Thomas Gryta and Ted Mann
BATB score: 5/10 💡 *reader discretion advised* not a book for the average joe; requires IVY league educational background a complete post-mortem extremely detailed report of what happened at General Electric from Jack Welch’s most successful company stardom to Jeff Immelt’s company downfall bye bye die Best as: no one really needs to know that much detailed post-mortem unless you are doing a General Electric business case review Best to: unpopular opinion, I do feel sorry fo


The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté
BATB score: 6/10 🧡 *reader discretion advised* max advanced level reading skill required; this book about trauma can actual cause trauma in readers Best to: an in-depth analysis on how our toxic society makes us claim “this feels good. I want more” instead of the more valuable meaning of life “this feels good. I am contented. I am complete.” Best as: “The perceived need to be what the world demands becomes entangled with our sense of who we are and how we seek love.” - 500 p


No Time to Panic: How I Curbed My Anxiety and Conquered a Lifetime of Panic Attacks by Matt Gutman
BATB score: 8.5/10 💙 *reader discretion advised* this book on anxiety and panic attacks can trigger anxiety and panic attacks 🫨 Best to: as a national correspondent queued to be on LIVE television in five, four, [mouth reads] three, two, one; are your hands sweaty? is your heart rate rising? is your mouth quivering? why is the perfection stigma so psychologically decapitating? Best for: anyone who can relate to this quote > “Why was it that I seemed to be more afraid of the


All Marketers Are Liars / Tell Stories by Seth Godin
BATB score: 6/10 🫠 *reader discretion advised* clickbait book title 💯 Seth Godin has ADHD, this book is an ADHD book - three paragraphs, tip of the iceberg touch of a story, and then off to the next story, repeat that roughly 150 times Best as: just because you wrote a book telling numerous stories does not make you yourself a good storyteller Best to: allow me to summary the whole book, “Marketing is storytelling, make the story remarkable, consistent, and authentic. Tell


Confessions of a Forty-Something F##k Up by Alexandra Potter
BATB score: 6/10 🌸 Best as: romantic comedy pastime read; everything that is of some meaningful essence, BATB has typed them out under ‘Best Quotes’ below 🫠 Best to: could it be that we are making ‘life’ overly complicated than what ‘life’ intends to be? BATB lingering thought: not a forty-something f##k up but a thirty-something f##k up; it just gets younger and younger Best for: anyone who needs to write daily ‘three things you are grateful for’ just to keep them content


What to Say When You Talk to Yourself by Shad Helmstetter
BATB score: 5/10 ❤️🩹 this book on self-talk can be summarized in a 5-minutes elevator pitch Best to: your number one cheerleader is yourself #selftalk BATB lingering thought: a very similar concept to “The Secret” Rhonda Byrne about manifestation and self-hypnosis Best for: say this every morning “I really am very special. I like who I am and I feel good about myself. I smile a lot. I am happy on the inside and I’m happy on the outside. I am positive. I am confident. I radi


The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life by Steven Bartlett
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


Build the Life You Want: The Art and Science of Getting Happier by Arthur C. Brooks and Oprah Winfrey
BATB score: 9/10 🙏 *reader discretion advised* advanced reading skills required; quite scientific and nerdy Best to: macronutrients of happiness > enjoyment, satisfaction, and purpose; optimize what is important > family, friendship, work, and faith; when in doubt, you are just one of 8 billion human beings so be grateful, be in the present, and know that you will die soon Best for: whenever you’re unhappy, go walk bare foot in nature and find the experience of ‘awe’ - “the
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