2024

1. The Woman In Me by Britney Spears (4/5)

This book was incredibly hard to read, just so sad :(

Fame is the worst double-edged sword ever

2. Living with a SEAL by Jesse Itzler (4.25/5)

I will never not love a David Goggins story

“don’t stop when you’re tired, stop when you’re done”

3. The Art Thief by Michael Finkel (2.75/5)

All the hype for Breitweiser completely loses substance after he starts stealing just because he can’t control himself. Really throws out the entire “aesthetics are more important than ethics” theme that the author tries to sell.

What I liked about the book was the description of the artworks, and there is further reading material at the end of the book for people that are interested in literature about art.

4. The Virgin Way by Richard Branson (3/5)

Read this once, and write down the important stuff. Not too bad imo considering how much I loathe this genre.

5. Greenlights by Matthew McConaughey (4/5)

Alright, alright, alright

It was super fun listening to this book. The writing is fantastic, I thought McConaughey used a ghostwriter. Superb stories, great lessons, and I learnt a lot. Greenlight.

6. Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing by Matthew Perry (4.25/5)

How are you supposed to rate/review a man’s life?

This was ridiculously difficult to read, I can’t fathom how difficult it must have been to live. That is all I’m capable of saying about it.

The One Where Matthew Perry Writes an Addiction Memoir

7. Never Finished by David Goggins (3.75/5)

Look, when I first heard Goggins came out with an other book, I was convinced it was a publicity stunt, because how can you replicate Can’t Hurt Me? That book was iconic because it was authentic, will this be authentic? Or will it be another sub-par sophomore book by a famous personality that hit it big with their first book? With these doubts, I just wasn’t willing to read this one, but after completing Living with a SEAL, I wanted more Goggins’ stories.

This book is just as good as Can’t Hurt Me in all the places where Goggins is narrating episodes from his life. It falls flat in places where he’s not narrating and it’s just some advice that feels placed there to complete some word count. I can never get enough of his stories, never, and for this I rate the book very well. One-time read for sure.

8. The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan (3/5)

Super low effort writing, this. Could’ve been so much more. You do expect Percy to mature but not into a middle-aged man, which is what he sounds like in many places. The beloved Percy Jackson sarcasm has mellowed out, and only shows up a handful of times through the book. The ending is some of the weakest writing I’ve read in a long while, the chapter breaks are forced and pointless, just bad overall. Pains me to rate a Percy Jackson book anything but five stars.

Was this book just promo for the new series? Seems very much like that. The saving grace is that this is not another Cursed Child.

9. Impossible First by Colin O’Brady (3/5)

Should’ve been a blog post, or a series of blog posts at the most. Some parts of the book were very engaging, the rest were a slog. The writing lets the book down, did no editor read it before it was published?

10. Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (4.75/5)

This book will forever be special to me, it opened my mind to the kind of stories I never thought were possible to write. Interpreter of Maladies was my first Jhumpa Lahiri book ever, it was assigned reading to me as part of an advanced english course in my first undergraduate semester and I couldn’t get enough of it, I think I read the book over and over again until I couldn’t savour the deliciousness of the writing anymore. Oh! How I wish I could read it again for the first time. It is also the book I gift the most, because everyone needs to read it :)

My favourite stories are Mrs. Sen’s (which was my assigned story!) and A Temporary Matter which is Lahiri at her best.

11. Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney (5/5)

five stars, no notes.

12. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (2.5/5)

Sure, I can see how this book is critically acclaimed in literature circles but Murakami has never appealed to me, and I don’t know why. The story never flows easily, and it feels very forced. Very confused.

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