Indira
This book was recommended to me by a Dutchie — apparently it's commonly assigned as reading material for children in the Dutch education system.
I really enjoyed this book, it's short, captivating, and gives you a glimpse of what life was like in the Dutch East Indies. It may not be an easy read though, as it explores some difficult topics: racism, and colonialism. As an Indonesian, I thought it was interesting how the book was written from the perspective of a Dutch person (and also written by a Dutch author, albeit one who grew up in Batavia during the colonial times). The main protagonist (the unnamed Dutch boy) seemed to be unaware of all the things happening around him with regards to the revolution and fight for independence, and I think it would have been interesting to read about the story from the perspective of Oeroeg, the native boy whom he befriends.
Not sure if this book is for everyone; it might be confusing to readers who don't know much about the colonial history of Indonesia and The Netherlands, but overall, I liked it.
Slow build up in the begining but in the end it was so worth it! This book is told from multiple perspectives at different points in time and it was really interesting to see how they all were connected to each other in the end.
If you enjoy reading historical fiction, I'd highly recommend this book!
Honestly... this book felt like a bit of a joke to me? Roughly the contents of the book are as follows:
* The first third of the book talks about how you can be a jerk to your colleagues
* Ferriss very enthusiastically recommends everyone to get a virtual assistant (VA) in India who you can pay dirt cheap to do your actual job for you (and also send your spouse gifts if/when they get mad you)
* In the last third of the book, it shifts gears and starts becoming more of a travel book. Ferriss recommends everyone to move to Southeast Asia or Central or South America where the cost of living is much cheaper than in North America or Western Europe. This assumes that everyone can do that easily, but people like me and so many other who have weak passports can't just pick up their bags and move to a different country. I don't think everyone would want to just pack up and move around the world either.
Overall this book feels like it was written from a privileged viewpoint without regard to the fact that the world is so diverse and people come from all sorts of backgrounds. I'm really surprised that this ended up becoming such a big hit and was even on multiple best sellers list. There are actual small bits of useful productivity tips sprinkled throughout the book but overall... not worth the read.
Not as exciting as the previous book in the series, but I still enjoyed reading it and discovering the events that unfolded through history. Having a different narrator in the book was also a bit different, and personally I didn't like it that much, but it did make for a different outlook on history. Pangemanann is definitely an interesting character.
I decided to pick this up after I started reading the Buru Quartet by Pramoedya Ananta Toer. Minke (the main protagonist in the Buru Quartet) frequently mentions Max Havelaar and Multatuli, so I tried to read Max Havelaar to have a better understanding of the concepts discussed.
Unfortunately... the language felt so old and the storytelling was so strange, I really didn't understand why there had to be multiple layers of stores and found half of it uninteresting (and hard to read in general). I really wanted to read it all, but I just couldn't, and decided to stop half way. Reading the Wikipedia page is enough for me
I loved reading this; it definitely made me feel closer to my roots. Child of All Nations has more serious undertones that This Earth of Mankind; it has a lot less romance and a lot more discussions on colonialism, the struggle for independence, and humanity. This is the kind of book that really immerses you in a completely different time and place. In a way, I'm not sure how much me enjoying this book is because I feel that I can relate to it, vs it actually being a great book. Regardless, I really enjoyed it. It's such a thought-provoking books and there were so many moments I felt that I had to stop to really think.
The ending was a big letdown for me, I feel like the build up was huge and it ended so quickly. There were also a few things that I felt weren't completely tied up at the end. However, it was still a great book to me, so I'm giving this a 4.5/5.
This book is so unique; I almost struggle to find the words to describe it because it's so different from any other book I've ever read. It's a great book, but definitely somewhat haunting, and I'm not sure I would recommend this book to everyone.
Some other thoughts about this book:
* The main storyline was hands down “unputdownable” to me but I didn't enjoy Lude's story nearly as much
* The typography and page layout in general is so peculiar... there were parts that I blazed through and some other parts I didn't even know how to read. But I guess that's the point of the book?
* Big book fear prevented me from picking this up sooner but I'm glad I finally did because it's definitely one of those books you don't really stop thinking about
Not quite what I expected; but then again, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I associate the word “anthropocene” with climate change because that's the context which I've most often heard it in... but I know that John Green isn't a climate scientist so wasn't exactly expecting this to be a book about climate change either. Turns out, it's about a lot of things! I suppose it's somewhat of a memoir, but written through reviews on various things in life. For example, there's a chapter on Diet Dr Pepper, another one on the song You'll Never Walk Alone, and a chapter on Indianapolis.
Overall I thought it was an enjoyable and light read, and I got to learn a few things about John Green as well.
3.75/5
This is an Indonesian classic, and it's about time I read this!
Having already already watched the 2019 film adaptation featuring Iqbaal Ramadhan an Mawar Eva De Jongh, I'm already familiar with the storyline. However, reading the book was an even better experience because I got to really immerse myself in the story, including all the details that were left out in the film.
I thought the book was great. At its core, it's a political novel, and it serves as a great insight into what life might have been like as a Native in the Dutch East Indies back in the late 1800s. It's quite interesting because as I'm reading this in the 21st century, I realize that my life is vastly different from life back then (e.g. the Dutch no longer rule in the East Indies and Indonesia has become an independent country), and yet, in many ways life is still the same (e.g. the Western world still “rules” Asia and the repercussions of colonialism are still felt).
The main character, Mike, is a Native. Yet unlike most Natives, he lives a very privileged life and attends HBS (Hogere Burgerschool), an elite school even for Europeans and Indos. In a way, he's straddled between two worlds: Natives and Europeans, and doesn't quite fit in either. As someone who is Indonesian but has lived in “Western world” for the past 10 years now, I could really relate to this aspect of the story.
One of my favorite characters in the story is Nyai Ontosoroh, the concubine of a wealthy Dutch man. The fact that most Native women at that time did not receive an education, combined with the fact that as a concubine she constantly faced shame and ridicule makes it even more incredible that throughout the book she continuously shows how smart, wise and strong she is. This makes it even more annoying how Nyai Ontosoroh's own daughter, Annelies Mellema is depicted as such a weak woman. In fact, she's described as a “doll” multiple times throughout the book. I just don't get it.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to pick up the next one!
My first thought after finishing this book: “Did anything actually happen?”
The prose was beautiful and it wasn't necessarily boring, but it honestly felt like nothing of importance happened. I can't figure out what exactly I'm supposed to take away from this book and I just have mixed emotions having finished reading it.
Such a well-written book on race, religion, and identity in America that's extremely relevant in the current climate. I loved hearing bits and pieces of Lalami's background too as there were quite a few things that I was able to relate to from my personal experience of living here in the US.
Perhaps not as relevant unless you live in the US since most of the examples are US-specific, but I do think that a lot of the themes discussed in this book apply outside of the US as well.
I have such respect for the work Jane Goodall has done as a naturalist/primatologist, so really wanted to like this book but it was just so meh.
I didn't quite realize this book is presented as a conversation between Jane Goodall and Doug Abrams, so I got the audiobook cause I thought it would be good to hear Goodall narrate her own story, but the whole conversation dynamic was just weird as an audiobook. You'd hear Doug narrate “And then Jane said” followed by Goodall narrating what she actually said... which was just odd.
I also completely agree that we need hope in order to tackle the current climate crisis, but I felt that what was discussed in this book was too handwavy. Yes, there were some nice tidbits here and there, but overall, I'd love to hear more concrete evidence.
I did finish the audiobook, but honestly I spaced out after 70% of the way.
Olga Dies Dreaming had all the necessary ingredients for a great book in my eyes: a unique backdrop, complex characters and strong political/cultural themes. It's generally an entertaining read, although some of the things that took place in the book did feel a little forced and far-fetched.
I was going to give this a 4/5 but dropped it down to a 3/5 because the ending for me was just disappointing. There was a lot of build up that wasn't fully resolved.
Wow, what an incredible book. Incredibly informative and thought-provoking yet easy to read. I love how Kolbert starts each chapter off with an animal and uses the history of that animal to ease the reader into the greater arc of the story. I like how Kolbert makes her point in a matter-of-fact and non-judgemental way whereas I feel that some other climate-change-oriented literature tend to be rather sassy in a “we're screwed, this is XYZ's fault” kind of way.
Overall, such a great book and an essential read for everyone.
I was reading this book on the T when a girl came up to me and said that The Song of Achilles was one of her favourite books; she liked it so much that she even got a tattoo of it!
I was hesitant to read it at first because I read Madeline Miller's Circe and thought it was kinda meh, but I'm glad I finally read this because this turned out to be such a wonderfully written re-telling of the Iliad. 10/10 would recommend!
Touching and honest memoir on Ashley C. Ford's childhood, growing up with an incarcerated father and an emotionally absent (and often physically abusive) mother. I consumed this as an audiobook, and Ford as a narrator did not disappoint.
I was originally going to give this a 4/5 but it's been a week since I finished reading it and I already started to forget some of the things I read in this book... which probably means it wasn't as memorable for me? 3/5 it is!
TL;DR
In order to stand a chance against catastrophic impacts of climate change, we need to fundamentally change the global economy. Seriously, this book is a great read.
I do think the book was unnecessarily long; she could've gotten the point across in fewer words (and I would've been able to finish the book sooner lol). I lost motivation to read a couple of times due to this, but hey! I made it in the end. This is ultimately what made me go from a true 5/5 rating to a 4.5/5 rating.
I also lowkey loved the sass
the Geoclique is crammed with overconfident men prone to complimenting each other on their fearsome brainpower. At one end you have Bill Gates, the movement's sugar daddy, who once remarked that it was difficult for him to decide which was more important, his work on computer software or inoculations, because they both rank “right up there with the printing press and fire.” At the other end is Russ George, the U.S. entrepreneus who has been labeled a “rogue geoengineer” for dumping some one hundred tons of iron sulphate off the coast of British Columbia in 2012.
This was surprisingly good. I honestly don't know much about Will Smith and wasn't planning to pick up an audiobook copy, but I recently got recommended Will's “Best Shape of My Life” series on YouTube in which he includes excerpts of his new book... and I was hooked.
From his audiobook, you can really tell how good of a storyteller he is. I loved all the different voices he did in it and all the music he included. Prior to listening to this audiobook, I only knew of Will Smith as a famous actor (heck, I had no idea he was a rapper, let alone the first person to ever win a Grammy for Rap), but I now have a newfound appreciation for how hard working and talented he is. It's inspiring to see a black man accomplish so many groundbreaking accolades!
The only thing I wanted to call out was the ending — I thought it was a little cheesy. I think I would have preferred it with less of the “life lessons” so that the audience can interpret his story however they want.