lachateau's reviews
129 reviews

Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman

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hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

5.0

"The threat of violence is still very much present, and it's pervasive. It's the reason why immigrants can't simply stroll across the border in the fiction. Money may be a fiction, but it's enforced by the threat of very real violence."

The remedy for hate, injustice, and prejudice: “Every one of them is a human being of flesh and blood. Someone who in a different life might have been our friend, our family, our beloved. They have people they love at home.” 

When history + philosophy becomes one!! Got this recommendation from my therapist in hospital and Dr. Julie Clinical Psychologist (watch her Youtube pls she is an angel). Already dig myself into this book since the early of December  and finally I can finish reading it at the end of January! This book taught me many things; it can come from the shortage of huge tragedy that happened in the past, how people change because of it, and how it might be knowledge for all of us to learn. For example,  in our multifold years of life, we have learned that most people get along as best they can. They don’t intend to hurt anyone. It is merely a terrible by-product of surviving. Quite similar with what I found in Hobbes’ theory— we as human beings always have choice, like John Kramer said: “free will.” we can choose to be good or bad, in everything we do, over anything, over anytime. And it all were driven by fear; a perpetual of restless desire of power. I also learned about John Locke, his theory isn’t as extreme and more tangible than Hobbes’ because we are motivated to pursue things if they promise pleasure and to avoid things if they promise pain. 

I also found Paul Bloom as he wrote the sweet spot! It's part of his research on the pleasure of suffering and searchlight of how empathy blinds. The numerous times this book has associations with my other favorite authors (Mississippi for Hobbes theory and Auschwitz camp 1944). He is a writer that purposes a pleasure in the middle of suffering.  One thing is certain: if empathy makes us less forgiving, the more we identify with victims, the more we generalize about our enemies. the bright spotlight we shine on Our chosen few makes us blind to the perspective of our adversaries, since everybody else falls outside our view. It’s like the mechanism that puppy expert Brian Hare talked about—both those (and xenophobia) go hand in hand like two sides of the same coin.

Humankind, like its title, is a book about a kindness in human. How we can find it in every little thing happens in our lives. And the author package it on many theories that ever happened in the past, and how the scientists made the proof into it. Not just blunt research, they also related it into many things that we have on our world today. I believe every one need to have this copy in their shelves!! Those we are seeking for justice in people's kindness, the impact of tragedy that we usually found on out history books, this book definitely made for you. 



Gallant by V.E. Schwab

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dark mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

"The kind of dark that tricks the eye; makes you see things where there are none, or miss things when they are there. The dark that lives in the spaces you know you should not look, lest you catch sight of other eyes, staring back."

Got this book from one of my friends' bookhaul and received it with lower price! I have read another V. E. Schwab book the other time, it's called The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue and I fall in love with it instantly. But it was quite different with this one... All I found were just vibes and no plot. The story lingers in between the haunting past of their houses and the family who lived in it. It sorta remind me of The Haunting of Hill House. 

Mad Honey by Jennifer Finney Boylan, Jodi Picoult

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emotional hopeful lighthearted sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

"We don’t say anything as we ascend the path back to temple street... A few pedestrians pass us by. How similar does someone have to be to you before you remember to see them, first, as human?" 

"The secret weapon of mad honey, of course, is that you expect it to be sweet, not deadly. You’re deliberately attracted to it. By the time it messes with your head, with your heart, it’s too late."

Got this book on my line to read right on the Christmas day.. and it became my new year reading to end the year! Gosh, I have many things to say for this book throughout the rollercoaster emotion that I have been through. I didn't expect it will be this good.. Like, THIS GOOD. I ever read Jodi Picoult's book before, it was Wish You Were Here if I am not mistaken? And I had a so-so experience to get through that so this one is out of my league. 

Okay, so this book was all about the murder cases; how it happened, the people who are involved, and the reasons or motive behind it. But it wrapped in tragic love story behind it. I listened to I Hear A Symphony by Cody Fry each time I dig to the story.. Please consider it one since the melancholy drama suits the tone very well. I learned more about the difference of sex and gender, also sort kind of disease from the causes and mechanism how it works in our body. I never cried this hard on the love sex scene but I DID IT IN HERE T__T 

The language usage! I believe it will be so easy and page turner for everyone.. You will find some poetic phrases but it's so enjoyable. Just personal cases since one of the character remind me of someone I really knew in the past, I need to take a break few times since it is quite triggering for me, but it's still okay! This book taught me to see thing from the crystal clear glass, of how we didn't see people as an object, and treat them as equally and nicely as it could be. Also being a woman has meant being someone who gets talked over in conversations or ignored; who gets judged as a body instead of as a sentient soul; no matter who you are or what you are doing, always has to be on guard, lest someone else decide that you’re going to be his victim. 

Mad Honey is a book about the shades of gray of love life, like its title, you will find this world is not black and white as it seems? As it goes back, coming all around, sometimes it works just like a funnel; not every bad thing that happens is a crime, not every crime can be prosecuted. Not every prosecution results in a conviction. Not every conviction results in jail time or whatever the victim’s family may want. For the thriller cases, this book wouldn't offer you like a detective-solver type, but it's so deep and meaningful for people who need it. This book is so dear to me. 
The Woman in Me by Britney Spears

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dark emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

3.75

"I was already designed to care what others thought about me; the national spotlight turned my natural tendency to worry into something unbearable."

At first, I don't want to give a rating to someone's life story since, well, that's what they have been through... Who the hell am I to judge or even rate it, right? But I will give some numbers as for language usage and the story went in. I got this book from my library after being on the line for almost 10 weeks, if I am not mistaken? That was such a long line since yeah, we know how powerful Britney and all of her fans saw this raw from her. 

It was my second time reading autobiography that has been written by the person themselves, except memoir or who have been writing by someone else (like for example, American Prometheus: A Tragedy and Triumph of J. Robert Oppenheimer) after Spare by Prince Harry and I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jeanette McCurdy. So I gotta say, this kind of biography really speaks volume for how the person was doing. This book walked like a mini diary, a little punching bag, and sweet vent out. Britney told us about her short story of her love life, the discrimination and dark part of entertainment industry in general. I found a shady part that hit too close to home for me every time she dealt with people's judgement and validation. That was so awful and relatable in sort kind of ways... Even though maybe my experience hasn't that huge impact like hers, but I just hope she was being with people who loved her dearly that time. 

The Woman In Me, like her title, is a book about a showcase of Herself and The Woman inside her. How that title can create prejudice... "we as woman should this and shouldn't be that" to fill people's standard in subjective human brain. It doesn't move me personally, but it's still worth to read if you are curious about a book that is coming from a global super star. She didn't bluntly write all dark parts of the industry so it's still safe somehow. 
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"Patriotism is just an idea, so is capitalism or communism. But ideas can make men forget their own interests. And the guys in charge will exploit men who believe in ideas too much." 

Historical-fiction can easily convince me just like that! I found this book available on my libby and it was my first time reading about Korea and Japan's history... found this so endearing <3 Oh, I also figured out that they already adapted this book to a drama and casted Lee Minho as a cast??? What a loss for me since I just knew it when I had this book last week. 

So the story revolves around Sunja, a Korean daughter of a crippled fisherman on early of 1900, falls for a wealthy stranger at the seashore near her home. Instead, she chose her way to go to Japan and the story begun there. From bustling street markets to the halls of Japan's finest universities to the pachinko parlors of the criminal underworld, Lee's complex and passionate characters—strong, stubborn women, devoted sisters and sons, fathers shaken by moral crisis—survive and thrive against the indifferent arc of history. I also learned about how Japanese military treated people underground recklessly... The sexual harassment, patriarchy, and so on. That was so awful to see. 

A little minus for this book that unfortunately I found, with the story like this, the author could write many poetic phrases or different diction to show the grudges or tragic distance in every event. Maybe they can make it more melancholic? As a literary historical fiction... Maybe it will make readers dig deeper to the story and characters, and make it remarkable for some people too. I probably will give solid 5 if that was so, but overall, it's worthy to read if you are looking for a beginner page to get to know about Korea-Japan history that makes their people are against each other even until this very day. 


The Help by Kathryn Stockett

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dark emotional informative mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

We Have Always Been Here by Samra Habib

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emotional hopeful informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

"Not everyone is equipped for activism in the traditional sense—marching, writing letters to officials—but dedicating your life to understanding yourself can be its own form of protest, especially when the world tells you that you don’t exist." 


Got this copy after standing on the line for quite some time.. and I never regret to have this book on my arms. Oh, I wish I could say something more literary to define how do I feel for what I just read. It's short, yet memorable. It's so freaking meaningful. It's a whole compact learner that people should earn at least once in a life time. This book told you about the identity, the story of someone who is looking for their own ground to stand; even sometimes the world never see them as they are. 

The language usage! Please, please, please. It's like a structural diary since you will witness Samra ever since her younger age, discover the whole sky to see the world. The reality is that this identity has shaped the way we see the world, and the way others see ourselves, in a way that is beyond our control. being Muslim is one of the only absolutes as it serves as an anchor when we are lost at sea. As a Muslim myself, I keep finding many delicate diction about the purity that religion offered to us, and that feels... wholesome. You will also find a sexist or feminist dragged upon another in this book, as a woman, fertility, purity, and beauty were the only currencies we could exchange for a better life. We understood that any hindrance to my ability to find a suitable husband made us as undesirable and disposable as her stuttering mother... right? 

Like its title, We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir is a biography of someone who looks for coming back to themselves; a notice that we always have been here. No matter which countries we are from, no matter how people tried to make fail of us, no matter the doubtful yet skeptical things surrounding us. It's a way to come home, a holder of here, my body wasn’t a problem; it wasn’t a cause for alarm or a tool to excite men—here I could simply, be. By the end of the school year I no longer feared the deep end. It's a handbook to those who wonder for the worthy being, like, we thought about what we wanted love to look like for us. Was it possible to be loved without losing ourselves? Was the absence of a partner we were spiritually and intellectually in sync with the price I had to pay for being uncompromising about needing the space to grow? If you are looking for islamic stereotype environment, I swear to God this book definitely made for you.
The Courage To Be Disliked: How to free yourself, change your life and achieve real happiness by Fumitake Koga, Ichiro Kishimi

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hopeful inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

“To borrow the proverb, one would make the effort to lead someone to water, but whether he drinks or not is that person’s task. The courage to be happy also includes the courage to be disliked. Your interpersonal relationships will all at once change into things of lightness.” 

As the title itself, this book will encourage you to have your free will— as noticing that not everything is under your control, and it’s not your fault. I had many things to say on my early journey of this book, around 20 pages, since it makes me realize all my whole life was a JOKE. 😭🥹 Basically, this book shows you some theories from Alfred Adler, a psychology alongside Freud and Jung. It’s a whole conversation between curious-yet-tantrum youth and patient-yet-quite-manipulative philosopher. 

This book makes me thinking further way that not everything we know today is it is? That’s what I don’t like about social studies, not like science, it’s hard to swallow it fruitfully. Like any other philosophy books I read, like what my dad taught me about Dialectics from Hegel’s discovery, there always be thesis and anti-thesis. Life is a series of moments, which one lives as if one were dancing, right now, around and around each passing instant. A life without a destination, who would acknowledge such an unsteady life, that bends whichever way the wind blows? I learned about a termed “kinetic (dynamic) life.” but contrast could be called an “energeial (actual-active-state) life. Refer it to Aristotle’s explanation, ordinary motion—which is referred to as kinesis, has a starting point and an end point. The movement from the starting point to the end point is optimal if it is carried out as effienctly and as quickly as possible. 

Oh, I also learned about etiology (the study of causation) and teleology (the study of the purpose of a given phenomenon, rather than its cause). You will find so many gaslighting phrases that make you quite drained as you turning the page. However, the moral of this book is finding the courage to live your best life. Not to lean and do wrongdoings so you will be disliked. A short reality check from life-coach philosopher. Recommended! 
Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“In my multifold years of life, I have learned that most people get along as best they can. They don’t intend to hurt anyone. It is merely a terrible by-product of surviving.”

Decided to add this book as the availability into my bookshelf last week— as I also need another historical fiction to read later on. The story floats around two girls in the family on Mississippi 1939. I found many dictions that lead to evil and good definition in human, that I believe it’s too cracky to use. They also provided us a metaphor about triggers; as if the strike ignites gunpowder and sends a projectile spinning down a rifle barrel. That makes me thinking somehow not all the white is pure and black is dark? 

In the other hand, I also read another book as I inferred some phrases that I read. It’s similar with what i found in Hobbes’ theory— we as human beings always have choice, like John Kramer said: “free will.” Wecan choose to be good or bad, in everything we do, over anything, over anytime. And it all were driven by fear; a perpetual of restless desire of power. But it’s always entitled as product-surviving, it leans closely to a trauma projecting for me, not the utmost, just some of it. We aren’t a damage of our lives or people mistreating us, right? The ‘fear’ feeling and thought came from that experience. 

However, like the title of this book—it will guide you for the change, the melancholy revolution, of human might experience and how that proves their lives in the most unexpected ways. Not just by themselves, but everyone around them as well. Like family, friends, and their behaviours to treat others. 
The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

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inspiring reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75