xcinnamonsugar's reviews
199 reviews

What We Owe Each Other: A New Social Contract for a Better Society by Minouche Shafik

5.0

A brilliant and insightful read, I learnt so much from this one. Shafik examines how the social contract varies across countries and cultures, focusing on several key subjects like childcare, healthcare, and education. She also suggests how policies can be structured to create a more equitable society. I’d love to read more of her work to better understand some of the ideas mentioned.
 

Atonement by Ian McEwan

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book is excruciatingly slow-paced and I was completely uninvested in the plot. The only reason I didn’t DNF this is because the writing is absolutely beautiful.

River of My Blood by Selina Hossain

slow-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0

The second half of the book was better, and had a pretty solid conclusion that I did not see coming. I could have done without the first half, it was slow and forgettable. The narrative was abrupt in places.

Might have enjoyed it more if the English translation had been more thoughtfully done e.g.  have the song lyrics translated in-line, instead of chucking all the translations at the end. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, and War

Artemis by Andy Weir
Did not finish book. Stopped at 45%.

Ugh what a letdown. The characters were poorly written with unconvincing personalities. I cannot stop gushing about The Martian and Project Hail Mary, but this one was so far removed from those masterpieces. 

How to Calm Your Mind: Finding Presence and Productivity in Anxious Times by Chris Bailey

4.0

This book explores anxiety, burnout, calmness and meaningful productivity through the lens of managing our exposure to empty dopamine triggers and superstimuli. It's an excellent read, and validated several little life lessons that I've learnt (through trial by fire) over the years.

If you enjoyed this, I highly recommend you check out these two books that discuss similar issues from slightly different angles: Time Management for Mortals and The Happiness Hypothesis.

Reasons to Stay Alive by Matt Haig
Did not finish book. Stopped at 25%.

I appreciate the unflinching description of depression, but the writing style is meh and it delves into too much biographic detail. I’m not sufficiently invested in his life story to finish this.

With the End in Mind: Dying, Death and Wisdom in an Age of Denial by Kathryn Mannix

slow-paced

2.0

A smorgasbord of end-of-life stories. It got repetitive quickly and was less informative than I would have liked.

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

adventurous funny

• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

This is one of my favourite books EVER. The audiobook narrator did an amazing job with the alien voice and multiple accents, and it’s one of the rare books that is best experienced as an audiobook. 

Andy Weir has truly outdone himself with Project Hail Mary. 

Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond

informative

5.0

A well-researched take on how and why poverty is a feature, not a bug, of modern society. Freedom of choice is the antidote to exploitation. I’ll definitely need to reread this at some point. 

LET IT GO : The Entrepreneur Turned Ardent Philanthropist by Stephanie Shirley

inspiring medium-paced

Stephanie Shirley is an absolute legend. Her life story is criminally underrated. She gets stuff DONE. More inspiringly, she channeled her entrepreneurial prowess towards philanthropy, after decades of being a trailblazer in her career. If just a fraction of founder/CEOs adopted her ethos, the world would be a much better place.

My only gripe with this book is that the editors did her dirty. The writing was clunky at parts (excruciating detail on how much things cost) and I would have preferred a more personable tone. If I wanted technical facts I'd read Wikipedia.

TLDR; Absolutely worth a read for the life story despite sub-par writing.