How-To Read Books
“Am I really mentally ill? Disordered? Defective? Or am I just weak of character and just not trying hard enough?” ― Sarah Wilson, First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety (2017) is a memoir/self-help book by Sarah Wilson. She's author... Continue Reading →
"Pac said Thug Life stood for The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody." I raise my eyebrows. "What?" "Listen! The Hate U ― the letter U ― Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody. T-H-U-G L-I-F-E. Meaning what society give us as youth, it bites them in the ass when we wild out. Get it?" ― Angie Thomas, The Hate U... Continue Reading →
“We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in.” ― Arianna Huffington, Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder Thrive by Arianna Huffington is author's personal wake-up call came in the... Continue Reading →
Leadership in Dangerous Situations: A Handbook for the Armed Forces, Emergency Services, and First Responders is a handbook by several contributors that has been edited by Patrick J. Sweeney, Michael D. Matthews and Paul B. Lester. This work was first published in 2011. You might be wondering why am I reviewing something that clearly has not... Continue Reading →
No Longer Human is a Japanese novel by Osamu Dazai, first published in 1948. It's a very curious read. When I first picked up the book, I half expected a nonfiction piece on how we are turning into robots. Well, this is fiction and no one is turning into robots and in some way it's... Continue Reading →
“In the future, there will be no female leaders. There will just be leaders.” ― Sheryl Sandberg, Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg is one of the most inspiring books I have ever read. Every chapter title already gives a huge portion of wisdom. We begin with: What Would... Continue Reading →
“In a world where you can’t open your eyes, isn’t a blindfold all you could ever hope for?” ― Josh Malerman, Bird Box Bird Box is a debut novel of Josh Malerman, first published back in 2014. My colleague mentioned this and of course I am reading whatever accidentally or non-accidentally gets mentioned. Bird Box is a... Continue Reading →
“This was not an easy book to write. For many of you, it won’t be an easy book to read. I know. I was a vegan for almost twenty years. I know the reasons that compelled me to embrace an extreme diet and they are honorable, ennobling even.” ― Lierre Keith, The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and... Continue Reading →
This much we do know: Sophie Toscan du Plantier was murdered two before Christmas in 1996, her broken body discovered at the edge of her property near the town of Schull in West Cork, Ireland. The rest remains a mystery. West Cork is an Audible Original, ,13-part podcast narrated by Sam Bungey and Jennifer Forde.... Continue Reading →
"Many nights, I longed for home. But it occurred to me as I struggled for a feeling of comfort and safety: I have no idea where home is." — Liz Murray, Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard Breaking Night is a memoir of Liz Murray that describes... Continue Reading →
"Humans think in stories rather than in facts, numbers, or equations, and the simpler the story, the better." — Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21 Century 21 Lessons for the 21 Century is the newest work of best-selling author Yuval Noah Harari, first published just few weeks ago. We learned about the past... Continue Reading →
Better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some. / Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale The Handmaid's Tale is a dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. It was first published in 1985. It's a terrifying, truly dystopian book. The United States of America no longer exists. It has been replaced by... Continue Reading →
"Was Hitler mad?" "Corollary questions are: Were Nazi leaders mentally ill? Was the German nation, as a whole, deranged?" ― S. Nassir Ghaemi, A First-Rate Madness: Uncovering the Links Between Leadership and Mental Illness At First- Rate Madness is a book by Dr. Nassir Ghaemi. It was first published in 2011 and as the title suggests, the book... Continue Reading →
“Do not fight them. Instead think of them the way you think of children, or pets, not important enough to affect your mental balance” ― Robert Greene, The 33 Strategies of War The 33 Strategies of War is a 2006 book written by American author Robert Greene It is a book that describes war tactics... in... Continue Reading →
You mewling pox-marked pumpion! You beslubbered hell-hated measle! Graph via: ebookfriendly.com & originally released by Invaluable, the world’s leading online marketplace for fine art and antique books. Fun, isn't it?
"We the Chinese nation have the spirit to fight the enemy to the last drop of our blood, the determination to recover our lost territory by our own efforts, and the ability to stand on our own feet in the family of nations." /Mao Zedong Mao: The Unknown Story is a 2005 biography of Chinese Communist... Continue Reading →
“They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it.” ― Dee Brown, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West... Continue Reading →
“Qui plussait, plus se tait. French, you know. The more a man knows, the less he talks.” ― Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time A Wrinkle in Time is a science fantasy novel written by American writer Madeleine L'Engle, first published in 1962. It is also a first book of a Time Quintet. Book follows... Continue Reading →
Movie review "El peor de los miedos, es el miedo a lo desconocido" - H.P. Lovecraft H.P. Lovecraft's extensive life work has inspired filmmakers for decades. New 2018 movie Necrónomicon dives deep into this world and delivers artistic and true Lovecraftian movie. Movie focuses on the most important book in Cthulhu Mythos. As you might... Continue Reading →
"This is Matti. If you didn't know him already. Matti is just a regular Finn. He does things the way a regular Finn would do: in silence and trying his best not to stand out or bother anyone." - Finnish Nightmares, Karoliina Korhonen. Finnish Nightmares 2 - An Even More Different Kind of Social Guide... Continue Reading →
“Be wary of friends—they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If... Continue Reading →
“What you don't want is always going to be with you What you want is never going to be with you Where you don't want to go, you have to go And the moment you think you're going to live more, you're going to die” ― Katherine Boo, Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and... Continue Reading →
“Why, is it such a bad thing to die?” ― Han Kang, The Vegetarian The Vegetarian is a South Korean novella written by Han Kang and first published in 2007. It's quite a fascinating book: Before the nightmare, Yeong-hye and her husband live an ordinary life. Then Yeong-hye becomes haunted by splintering, blood-soaked images and... Continue Reading →
“We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between we do what we can to forget.” ― Mary Roach, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach is non-fiction work first published in 2003. It details... Continue Reading →
I recently stumbled upon a great nonfiction blog called What's Nonfiction? In 'About' section, author of the blog writes: "Back then, I read almost exclusively fiction (an easier section to pinpoint). But in recent years, I found the opposite was becoming true, and I preferred nonfiction, in its many very different categories, to anything fictional. But when... Continue Reading →
“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.” ― Elie Wiesel Night, first published in 1960s is a work by Elie Wiesel about his experience with his father in... Continue Reading →
I did two things on my seventy-fifth birthday. I visited my wife's grave. Then I joined the army. Visiting Kathy's grave was the less dramatic of the two.” ― John Scalzi, Old Man's War Old Man's War is a military science fiction / space opera novel by American writer John Scalzi, published in 2005. His debut novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best... Continue Reading →
Why do we do things we do? Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst is a book by American author Robert Maurice Sapolsky. It was first published in May, 2017. This is one miracle of a book. I don't know where to start... “Someone does something lousy and selfish to you in a... Continue Reading →
If the shoe fits, wear it.If it doesn’t, make it. Happily is a fairy-tale retelling by author Chauncey Rogers. This fantasy retelling will be published April 3, 2018. I received advance reader copy of the book in exchange for honest review. This is not your typical happily ever after kind of story. It does not... Continue Reading →
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week's topic is: Books I Can't Believe I Read...This... Continue Reading →
“Essere la natura de' motti cotale, che essi come la pecora morde deono cosi mordere l'uditore, e non come 'l cane: percio che, se come cane mordesse il motto, non sarebbe motto, ma villania” - The Decameron, Boccaccio The nature of wit is such that its bite must be like that of a sheep rather than... Continue Reading →
Hi guys, how's your week been? I read a lot of nonfiction this week and surprisingly two ARC's. My reads this week were The Twelve Faces of the Goddess: Transform Your Life with Astrology, Magick, and the Sacred Feminine by Danielle Blackwood, Lady Death by Lyudmila Pavlichenko and The Quest for Mary Magdalene by Michael Haag. Lady... Continue Reading →
“Whether we accept it or not, this will likely be the century that determines what the optimal human population is for our planet. It will come about in one of two ways: Either we decide to manage our own numbers, to avoid a collision of every line on civilization's graph - or nature will do... Continue Reading →
As always, Top Ten Tuesday meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is:Top Ten Favorite Books of 2017. I'm twisting this topic a little bit to best nonfiction I read this year because I don't review enough of it...and these lists are only way to give out some recognition to these... Continue Reading →
As always, Top Ten Tuesday meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is: Ten Bookish Settings I'd Love to Visit 1.Scottish Highlands ( Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon) in the year of Our Lord...1743. After Outlander, who doesn't want to go to Scotland? And just throwing in 1743 to make things... Continue Reading →
As always, Top Ten Tuesday meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is: Top Ten Books On My Winter TBR and as we are still in SciFi month so I made this post a part it. Check it out. 1.The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff ... Continue Reading →
“Maybe there was once a human who looked like you, and somewhere along the line you killed him and took his place. And your superiors don’t know.” ― Philip K. Dick, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is a science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick, first published in 1968. The novel takes... Continue Reading →
“Looking at these stars suddenly dwarfed my own troubles and all the gravities of terrestrial life.” ― H.G. Wells, The Time Machine The Time Machine is a science fiction novel (or a long short-story?) by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 and it has become a classic. In the book, the narrator introduces us to inventor and scientist whom the reader... Continue Reading →
“Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be.” ― Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game Ender's Game is a 1985 military science fiction novel by American author Orson Scott Card. Set in Earth's future, the novel presents an imperilled mankind after two conflicts with the alien species called "buggers". In preparation for an anticipated third... Continue Reading →
As always, Top Ten Tuesday meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is: Top Ten Unique Book Titles 1. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick Why I like it: It's creative. Androids look like human but what kind of dreams do they have? Do they dream of sheep? This is... Continue Reading →
“Death is the fairest thing in the world. No one's ever gotten out of it. The earth takes everyone - the kind, the cruel, the sinners. Aside from that, there's no fairness on earth.” ― Svetlana Alexievich, Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster On April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear reactor accident in... Continue Reading →
Greetings from Dublin & Library of Trinity College Dublin. I visited Dublin during the weekend... visit to Trinity College is a dream come true for every bookworm :) How are you doing?
As always, Top Ten Tuesday meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is: Pick a genre and share with us some books that have gone under the radar in that genre! And I'll go with fantasy as it is my favorite genre.I do not own the pictures in this post, please see... Continue Reading →
...Or not Happy TTT! As always, Top Ten Tuesday meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week's topic is: Back To School Freebie: anything "back to school" related like 10 favorite books I read in school, books I think should be required reading, Required Reading For All Fantasy Fans, required reading for every college freshman, Books to... Continue Reading →
I'm so happy TTT is back! As always, Top Ten Tuesday meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. This week’s topic is: Ten book recommendations for ______________: (Skies the limit here...examples: for Hufflepuffs, for fans of Game of Thrones, for people who don't normally read YA, for animal lovers, for video game lovers, etc. I decided... Continue Reading →
So now we're properly in August. How's your week been? I fell in love with this song and have been listening to it non-stop. I read two books this week. Empire of Cotton: A New History of Global Capitalism by Sven Beckert. I liked the book, it had many strong points on how at the same time... Continue Reading →
She does have a point?
“First, let no one rule your mind or body. Take special care that your thoughts remain unfettered... . Give men your ear, but not your heart. Show respect for those in power, but don't follow them blindly. Judge with logic and reason, but comment not. Consider none your superior whatever their rank or station in... Continue Reading →
July is almost over soon? This turned into 1000 word post (sorry)...Mostly because I did not read anything last week and it bothered me a lot so I managed to finish 7 books this week. I read: #1 Kind, versprich mir, das du dich erschiesst freely translated as Child, promise me that you will kill yourself... Continue Reading →
This challenge is hosted by Hot Listens and Caffeinated Reviewer for the 7th year of audiobook fun. Rules Audiobook Reading Challenge: Runs January 1, 2019 – December 31, 2019. You can join at any time.The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2019 than you did in... Continue Reading →
So. This year I decided to read more audiobooks and more classics. Here we are for the classics challenge. Back to the Classics is hosted at Books and Chocolate. Rules of which are: All books must have been written at least 50 years ago to qualify; therefore, books must have been published no later than 1969 for this... Continue Reading →
Many books have made an impression on society. However, only a select few of them have become international staples. These 25 books have changed the way we think, feel and perceive the world, and because of that, they will remain unforgettable. Do you agree? What were the most influential reads for you? Graph via largest.org
