Readings & Reflections

Books and papers that have shaped my thinking.

Tuesdays With Morrie
★★★★★ | The most uplifting book ever written about the importance of human connection
So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the…
Mitch Albom
rating 5

The God of Small Things
★★★★★ | A Novel
I think one thing that Roy did well was the foreshadowing where at the very start of the book you are “thrown in the deep end”, pun intended again, and you as the reader are…
Arundhati Roy
rating 5

1984
★★★★★
Classic dystopian novel, I remember reading it and i rmb quite enjoying it but i rmb it could be quite hard to follow at times and at some points idk what the author…
George Orwell
rating 5

Crying in H Mart
★★★★★ | A Memoir
Nice book, maybe it was because it was an iffy time in my life in exchange where i was kind of changing and doing things. I really do believe people change during exchange…
Michelle Zauner
rating 5

East of Eden
★★★★★
Yeah book was really good and sometimes its was a hard read because as a third party you know what is going to happen and its like watching a train wreck but overall the…
John Steinbeck
rating 5

I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki
★★★★★ | The International bestseller
Loved it - So sad that the author died… I think at some point things are just too much, and if they were so much that you had to write a book on it just to deal with it then…
Baek Sehee
rating 5

Ministry of Moral Panic
★★★★★ | Stories
Amazing book - need to sit down and write a review on this fr
Amanda Lee Koe
rating 5

Norwegian Wood
★★★★★
Great book. I think Murakami is able to capture the human condition in a very convincing manner that just draws the reader in. I think there are catcher in the rye vibes…
Haruki Murakami
rating 5

Pachinko
★★★★★ | The New York Times Bestseller
Pachinko - Min Jin Lee (Duration: 9h17m51s over 51 Sessions) Started: 2025-07-09 23:39:39 Finished: 2025-07-21 08:52:58
Min Jin Lee
rating 5

The Alchemist - 10th Anniversary Edition
★★★★★
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Paulo Coelho
rating 5

The Anthropocene Reviewed
★★★★★ | Essays on a Human-Centered Planet
Lovely book that is made up of short stories not too bad quite lovely
John Green
rating 5

The Divided Self
★★★★★ | An Existential Study in Sanity and Madness
Summary: Individuals who lack a secure sense of self (ontological insecurity) experience profound anxieties, including the fear of engulfment (being consumed by others’…
R. D. Laing
rating 5

The Vegetarian
★★★★★ | A Novel
Analysis of the title ‘vegetarian’ 1. Represents unorthodox views within society where meat eating is represented as the norm 2. Illustrates ‘meat eating’ as the…
Han Kang
rating 5

This is What Inequality Looks Like
★★★★★
Really insightful read into the face of inequality in singapore and the systemic factors that have lead to this and what we can do about it //Maybe sweden is different. Of…
Teo You Yenn
rating 5

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
★★★★
Nice read into the life of asian families in america and i think it is quite relatable, although it mainly pertains to music and the pursuit of it. I thought it would…
Amy Chua
rating 4

Everything I Know About Love
★★★★ | The bestselling love letter to female friendship and major BBC One series
Very nice book that writes about life and how growing up is like in UK. This book has showed that there are some things in life that turn out to be shared experiences with…
Dolly Alderton
rating 4

Grit
★★★★ | (Vermilion Life Essentials)
-“Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.”
Angela Duckworth
rating 4

Man’s Search For Meaning
★★★★ | The classic tribute to hope from the Holocaust
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Viktor E Frankl
rating 4

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
★★★★ | A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
Took quite long to finish the book but really liked it, enjoy reading about human relationships and how a therapist would view these relationships
Lori Gottlieb
rating 4

The Body Keeps the Score
★★★★ | Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma
Key points: - The mere opportunity to escape does not necessarily make traumatised animals or people take the road to freedom - Traumatised people keep secreting large…
Bessel van der Kolk
rating 4

The Metamorphosis
★★★★ | A New Translation
I liked it, it was easy to follow and somewhat easy to relate and understand, which is something that i think isnt very common with all these “classics” and an…
Franz Kafka
rating 4

The Midnight Library
★★★★ | A Novel
I liked the concept; being able to expereince every life that there is to experience and still going back to the original life of the author, but it comes off as a little…
Matt Haig
rating 4

The Velveteen Rabbit, Or, How Toys Became Real
★★★★
Very nice and wholesome
Margery Williams Bianco
rating 4

To Kill a Mockingbird
★★★★
Forgot when i finished, i think i listened to the audiobook, i liked it but it was quite weird, focused on the lives of the children at the start then turned heavy and…
Harper Lee
rating 4

Nausea
★★★
Remember to read the intro again because it speaks of the story. Geez such a bad book? I couldnt even finish it? I think the idea of the nausea is okay but the writing is so…
Jean-Paul Sartre
rating 3

Never Let Me Go
★★★ | 20th anniversary edition
This is the heart of the novel. By shortening the characters’ lifespans to ~30 years, Ishiguro magnifies the human condition.
Kazuo Ishiguro
rating 3

Civilization and Its Discontents
★★★
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Sigmund Freud
rating 3

Breakfast at Tiffany’s
★★★
Somehow liked it, expected it to be a super classic, talking about like an issue or alluding to something or just being a very memorable story but it kind of just is. I feel…
Truman Capote
rating 3

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
★★★ | The inspiration behind Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049
Interesting idea but i think the writing wasn’t great
Philip K Dick
rating 3

Fahrenheit 451
★★★ | A Novel
Story about “Firemen” that set books on fire instead of putting fires out. Is set in a apocolyptic war torn world where people are no longer intellectually stimulated and…
Ray Bradbury
rating 3

Frankenstein
★★★
1 hour 7 mins - Quite an interesting read? Given that it was different from what I expected from the movies where the monster just goes to terrorize the town but he is…
Mary Shelley
rating 3

Normal People
★★★ | One million copies sold
Really nice ending, mid part was very draggy but perhaps intentional, fact that it is a bestseller shows that perhaps there is more to people than I would like to think. At…
Sally Rooney
rating 3

The Humans
★★★ | A Novel
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Matt Haig
rating 3

The Myth of Sisyphus, and Other Essays
★★★
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Albert Camus
rating 3

The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
★★★ | A Story
Interesting concept but really short book
Ursula K. Le Guin
rating 3

The Stranger
★★★
This is a review after about 2 months from reading, not sure why i didnt put a review at the time. This story was quite short and succinct and i think it zooms in more on…
Albert Camus
rating 3

Think Again
★★★ | The Power of Knowing what You Don’t Know
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Adam Grant
rating 3

Training for Climbing
★★★ | The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Performance
Some good info, more about scheduling and the 3-2-1 training plan and how rest is impt
Eric J. Hörst
rating 3

Heart Lamp: Selected Stories
★★
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Banu Mushtaq
rating 2

The Four Workarounds
★★ | How the World’s Scrappiest Organizations Tackle Complex Problems
For example, an intense workout regimen could lead to an exercise addiction or a knee injury. If you go on a long-haul protein-heavy diet, you could develop a liver problem…
Paulo Savaget
rating 2

Animals, Robots, Gods
★★ | Adventures in the Moral Imagination
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Webb Keane
rating 2

Small Boat
★★
Yeah i thought the concept was good and there are interesting points in the book, but the structure is so bad and so repetitive, the entirety of the story is from a really…
Vincent Delecroix
rating 2

The Happiness Fantasy
★★
Again, this is a post review so i dont remember exactly the contents of the book, but imo, i feel that the book is very descriptive, the insights it provides are…
Carl Cederström
rating 2

The Fountainhead
★
Didnt even finish the book, got to where I left it off last time and gave up yet again.
Ayn Rand
rating 1

Yellow Dog
★
Trash book, couldnt even finish… Fountainhead vibes
Martin Amis
rating 1

The Grapes of Wrath
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John Steinbeck
rating  

Modern Classics Civilization and Its Discontent
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Sigmund Freud
rating  
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