Rating:  Backman does it again! He skillfully develops and divides his eccentric characters between two rival towns. Their shared similarity is their passion for hockey. As the story progresses you build sympathy for each misfit. The overall theme of the book is everything is not as simple as it seems while at the same time,…

Rating: 4.8/5 Evicted is a story about the dire state of the housing crisis in America. Through eight family narratives, Desmond retells the dignified stories of struggling tenants in Wisconsin. The ethnographic research uncovers deep topics like structural inequality, racial segregation, and the sexist nature of eviction – all topics that make you think deeper about…

Rating: 4.6/5 Graphical representation of data is the closes thing to art I have at my day job so this topic always interests me! In the age of information overload, we need to be meticulous in the data we present and understand what it means. Tufte’s book is a clean read about the organization and design…

Rating: 3.8/5 This book was more motivational than technical, more focused on mindset than practicality. As a financially Illiterate individual that relies on her 9-5 job for financial stability, this made me think about a different way of life and how important financial management and education is to your overall wellbeing. I wouldn’t recommend this book…

Rating: 3.7/5 Despite the sound advice for how to “jab” and “right hook” on different platforms, I still think Gary’s value comes from his presence on Youtube, Instagram, and his call-in podcasts. His interaction with fans, enthusiasm and no BS attitude are the reasons why I follow him. The ad critiques were excessive and could have…

Rating: 4.4/5 A delightful fictional story engrained with plenty of introspective questions about life. The protagonist, Nora, is an average woman who has lost her appetite for life. After attempting to overdose, she is unexpectedly sent to the purgatorial library, where she is faced to choose to live the books that represent the lives she could…

Rating: 4/5 Allowing this marinate allowed me to appreciate Yu’s satirical but respectful spin on serious topics like racial discrimination, class struggles, and Asian identity. The content is LOUD. It borders on discomfort and then pushes you a couple more inches over to make you think about how our concepts of culture, race, and people form…

Rating: 4.3/5 A timely book about why we need to work deeply in a world wired for distraction. Premise of the book: world-class performers work intensely and for longer periods of time than those engaged in shallow work.  In a word, our lifestyle can be summarized by what we decide to focus on. Newport offers some…

Rating: 4.5/5 This one hit close to home for two reasons 1) post-apocalyptic vibes are similar to COVID-19, except way 100x worse (no internet, electrical grid, religious cults threatening to make young underage girls their wives…eek) 2) one of the main locations is literally near my home, in the city of Toronto (Ayee). The book skillfully…

Rating: 4.1/5 The bad press around the portrayal of Mexican migrants lowered my score HOWEVER the storytelling is off the c(h)arts (referencing the drug cartels…ha ha…will stop joking about drugs now), especially the beginning of the book. I still remember the scene down to the blood on the bathroom wall tile. The book slowed in pace…