A Blog on Books

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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Review

It’s been a long time since I’ve picked up a self-help book. To be honest, I’ve usually found them either too specific and narrow to be widely useful, or the complete opposite—so vague they feel like filler stretched across hundreds of pages. Most of the time, I finish those kinds of books thinking the same message could’ve been delivered in a 10-minute YouTube video. So when I started reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , I didn’t have the highest expectations. But I’m happy to say that this book proved me wrong. I probably wouldn’t have read it on my own. My mom saw a TikTok recommending it, and since I was off for the summer before starting school again in August, I figured I had the time. Not working over the break was starting to make me feel unproductive and restless, so I thought, 'Why not give it a try?' Even though I expected the usual repetition and fluff that tends to come with books in this genre, I went into it with an open mind. And I was genuinely sur...

The Handmaid's Tale — Book Review

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood ended up being one of the most surprising and engaging reading experiences I’ve had in a while—and it’s a reminder of why going into a book with an open mind is so important. When this book was assigned for an English class I took last semester, I wasn’t particularly enthusiastic. By the time we got to The Handmaid’s Tale , I was still wrapping up the previous reading and hadn’t yet started it. The class discussions had already begun, and hearing everyone talk about the book without having read it made it hard to connect. The conversations themselves didn’t help much either—they felt predictable and surface-level, mostly revolving around modern politics and women's rights. These are obviously important topics, but the way they were being discussed felt like something I’d already heard many times before in previous English classes. At that point, I hadn’t cracked open the book, so I wasn’t giving it a fair chance. Eventually, I caught up and...

Book Review: The Canceling of the American Mind by Greg Lukianoff and Rikki Schlott

Reading The Cancelling of the American Mind was an experience that genuinely challenged me and deepened my understanding of today’s cultural climate. The book explores cancel culture and how it’s transformed public discourse, especially in education, science, and media. What makes it powerful is that it’s co-written by two authors from different sides of the political spectrum. That balance is crucial—it’s not a one-sided political rant but a thoughtful, well-researched look at how ideological conformity harms our ability to talk, learn, and even disagree. One section that stood out the most for me was the chapter on science and medicine. These fields should be grounded in objectivity, data, and care, but the book shows how they’ve been increasingly shaped by fear and ideological pressure. The JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) incident was shocking: the editor-in-chief resigned not for something he said, but because of a podcast someone else hosted, where the mere su...

The Spy, the Writer, and the Chameleon: Dan Simmons' The Crook Factory

Book Thoughts: The Crook Factory by Dan Simmons What could have been a typical thriller about espionage in WWII turns into something far more literary, and surprisingly intimate. Introduction: Who is Dan Simmons? Dan Simmons is one of those rare authors who defies categorization—A literary chameleon. He’s written everything from genre-defining science fiction in the Hyperion Cantos , to classical reimagining in Ilium , to gothic horror in Drood , and nostalgic coming-of-age chills in Summer of Night . Each book feels like it was written by a completely different person—but in the best possible way. The Crook Factory , a work of historical fiction centered around Ernest Hemingway’s real-life counterespionage activities in WWII Cuba, only reinforces Simmons’ status as one of the most versatile authors I’ve ever read. Espionage, Literature, and a Strange Partnership The Crook Factory documents the short-lived but real intelligence network created by Hemingway in 1942–1943, where the f...

Child of God Lights a Candle in the Darkness No One Wants to Face

Child of God is horrific. It’s fantastic. And it’s one of the most disturbing books I’ve ever read. People love to talk about Blood Meridian as Cormac McCarthy ’s darkest and most disturbing work, and while it certainly is, Child of God affected me far more. I think part of that is because Blood Meridian is an epic—its violence feels distant, almost mythological. As readers, we’re pulled back, observing Glanton’s gang from afar. Even the protagonist, "the kid," remains nameless; his identity doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. This narrative distance makes the horror feel abstract, part of something larger. But Child of God is different. It’s intensely personal. We are trapped with Lester Ballard, forced to witness his descent in an uncomfortably intimate way. This difference isn’t a flaw in Blood Meridian —it’s by design. But for me, it made Child of God feel so much more brutal, for lack of a better word. As much as this book disturbed me, I also loved it. N...

This Sci-Fi Epic Promised Wonder — But Delivered Exhaustion

I’ve got to be honest — Pandora’s Star was a slog. This book was far too long, with way too many subplots that felt unnecessary and half-baked. It honestly felt like Peter F. Hamilton had one big idea for a first contact story, but wanted to write a sprawling space opera, so he padded it with filler just to make it feel “epic,” rather than actually delivering something focused or compelling. I picked this book up on a whim. I saw it at the bookstore, recognized the title, and thought, why not? I was in the mood for a fun sci-fi read. Unfortunately, this didn’t deliver. Yes, some moments were genuinely well done — but they were few and far between. In some ways, I almost wish there hadn’t been any good parts, because then I could’ve put it down guilt-free. Instead, I kept convincing myself it might get better... and kept pushing on, long after I should’ve stopped. By the time I realized it wasn’t going to get better, I was too far in to quit. But I’ve learned my lesson — I need to ge...