12. Hustle Harder Hustle Smarter by Curtis ’50 Cent’ Jackson
“While I’ll always draw from the lessons I learned on the streets, I’ve never been limited to them. Instead, I’m always looking to absorb new information from as many sources as possible. I don’t care where you come from or what you look like — if you’ve created success, I want to learn from you.”
Summary: In this book 50 Cent walks the readers through 9 principles that helped him succeed in his career, in music, creating Power and other ventures. The book itself is very easy to read and filled with so many interesting anecdotes from his personal life and experiences in the entertainment industries. Anyone that has followed hip-hop or 50 Cent’s career will definitely enjoy reading this. It comes across as preachy sometimes and some of the principles come across as manipulative but that’s a personal thing. I do not believe in nonstop grinding and not generally a big fan of self-help books but I still enjoyed this book. While the book doesn’t explicitly focus on pursuing material wealth, and in fact has a tiny bit about philantrophy, that’s ultimately what it’s mostly about so if that’s not your cup of tea then this might not be the book for you. However, it still has many valuable lessons.
Fun Fact: Saw an excerpt of this on Twitter and bought it based on that.
11. True or Poo by Dani Rabaiotti and Nick Caruso
“Myths about animals are as old as time… These myths, however, can’t compete with some of the weird and wild things that animals actually do everyday. Animals and their evolutionary adaptations are amazing, we don’t need made up facts about them”
Summary: This is a super-easy and fun read about myths and fun facts- about animals. It mostly looks at 6 areas in particular: Courtship, Mating and Parenting; Eating Habits; Digestion and Excretion; Defence; Species Misnomers; and Weird Habitats. Given a short statement at the top and declaring it True or Poo (or sometimes it’s a bit of both) then explaining the statement if it’s true and if it false it tries to explain how the misconceptions arose and explains the “corrected” statement. It’s a great one and I found myself googling some of these animals on YouTube to check out some of these animal feats with my own eyes. And now I have a bunch of fun facts I can use at dinner parties or to one-up people haha
Fun Fact: Actually meant to buy the first version of this book: “Does It Fart” haha great names
10. Movies And Other Things by Shea Serrano
“When you see great theatre, you feel like you had that experience. You feel like it happened to you, in a weird way. You take it in physically, emotionally, intellectually When you see a film, it blends your dreams and your reality together. It seeps through your subconscious. It takes the part of you that daydreams — no matter how old you are, it takes the part of you that daydreams and it empowers it A good movie makes anything feel possible. Even your dreams”
Summary: If you’ve read any of his other books then you know the formula and you know it works and makes for very entertaining reading. In this, he poses a different question related to movies and movie-adjacent things then answers them, spins off to answer other related questions and decorates his answers with quirky observations, funny anecdotes and insightful fun facts. The art by the illustrator is great as usual and the questions are as random as usual. He does a good job of summarising the plots when it is essential to the chapter though. Movie-lovers would definitely enjoy reading this. I’m only above average with my movies so missed a fair bit of the references, which probably meant I didn’t enjoy it as much as I could have which is probably the same reason I enjoyed his other books more: Rap and basketball are subjects I’m more well-versed in. All in all, it’s a great read and I’ve got new movie recommendations out of it.
Fun Fact: He has 2 other books, which I’ve written about as well: Basketball And Other Things and The Rap Yearbook, which I also highly recommend. Pick your poison depending on which interests you the most: Basketball, Movies or Rap
9. Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez
“It’s the irony of being a woman: at once hyper-visible when it comes to being treated as the subservient sex class, and invisible when it counts — when it comes to being counted”
Summary: This is a great book for learning about the number of ways that women get the shorter end of the stick in life. As a guy, I learnt so much from reading this. There were so many things that never crossed my mind. It describes the consequences of seeing men as the default with women being a deviation or extension. The three main themes were forgetting to accommodate the female body in design, how we fail to measure and design our world to account for mail sexual violence against women and the extent of unpaid work women do. At the cores these, the author highlights a failure to collect data, which means we continue to normalise discrimination. My main criticism of the book is that some pages read like a grocery list of statistics, and there some jumps in explanations when data was missing. Otherwise it is a very insightful book, for men in particular.
Fun Fact: I know 4 of my friends that have read this book, the were all women until I found out about the 4th hah
8. Am I Overthinking This? by Michelle Rial
7. This Is Going To Hurt by Adam Kay
“Me: ‘I’m on my break.’ (Untrue.)
Midwife: ‘You don’t get breaks.’ (Depressing but true.)
Me: (pleading, in a tone of voice I’ve never managed before, like I’ve unlocked a secret level of my vocal cords) ‘But it’s my birthday.’ (Depressing but true.)
Midwife: ‘It’s labour ward — it’s always someone’s birthday.”
Summary: This absolutely hilarious book is essentially a collection of entries from the diaries of an ex-NHS doctor. It follows as he progress through the ranks of a doctor in the NHS. It is full of wonderful anecdotes from himself, his colleagues and patients. I cannot count the number of times that I burst out laughing while reading this, that’s how funny it is with the humour ranging from dry wit to dark humour. Sprinkled between all the funny bits is some educational bits on medicine and the NHS as well as sad stories bound to happen in hospitals. But it is a real eye opener into the unreal stress doctors in NHS feel and the strain it has on the physical being, mental health and social life. I’ve come away having read that with a newfound appreciation of the NHS and all the personnel working there. I would thoroughly recommend this!
Fun Fact: Read his second book, Twas the Nighshift Before Christmas before this one
6. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
“… and I know better than to take life directions from someone without a moral compass”
Summary: It’s a novel set in Lagos about the bond between two sisters, one who happens to be “serial killer”. It shows the relationship between the sisters and their parents growing up by using flashbacks. The writing style is pretty nice, I liked the short chapters. However the story itself was largely forgettable to me, I didn’t find myself moved by any emotions while reading, nor did I identify with any characters in the book. I guess it makes you question how far you’d go for those you love but I feel even that wasn’t explore enough in the bok.
Fun Fact: Really like the name and book cover, think they go together nicely
5. An American Marriage By Tayari Jones
“Up until now, I thought I knew what was and wasn’t possible. Maybe that’s what innocence is, having no way to predict the pain of the future. When something happens that eclipses the imaginable, it changes a person. It’s like the difference between a raw egg and a scrambled egg. It’s the same thing, but it’s not the same at all. ”
Summary: This is a story about a young black couple’s marriage is rocked by the wrongful imprisonment of the husband. Race and family are central themes, both playing roles in the main character’s upbringing, relationships with each other and the law. Its shines a light on the disenfranchisement black people face at the hands of the legal system in America. The families, both immediate and in-laws, have interesting and not always rosy relationships with the main characters during courtship, marriage, incarceration and after. I think the main point of the book is the toll unexpected circumstances can put on a marriages, it does makes you wonder how differently you would handle it should you be put in their shoes. It is a simple read but it felt like a lot was left out between the end and the epilogue. Also towards the start of the book, there were so many African-American pop culture references that left me lost.
Fun Fact: Saw this book everywhere on the tube and bus last year, good to finally read it
4. The Kite Runner By Khaled Hosseini
“And that, I believe, is what true redemption is, Amir jan, when guilt leads to good.”
Summary: This is a very sad heart-wrenching story about friendship between two boys, Amir and Hassan set in Afghanistan. They both grew up without their mother so it has very strong themes on family. Their relationships with their fathers are as different as their societal statuses. Set in Afghanistan, it shows the transition from everyday life of a life of constant fear and when the war breaks out and the author paints the picture of living in a war torn country and even living as a refugee in a different country. It shows how history and religion lead to conflicts that permeate through every aspect of society from kids to full blown ethnic cleansing. However I think the main crux of the story is standing up for what is right, the guilt of betrayal can strain a friendship and redemption/forgiveness. It’s a great story only thing is that, for me, it was very slightly predictable at parts.
Fun Fact: Like 5 people told me it was such a sad book or even that they cried while reading it. I can confirm it is a sad book, and some parts are indeed very dark but think maybe they oversold the sadness or I just have a heart of steel
3. The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty By Clayton Christensen, Efosa Ojomo, and Karen Dillon
“…innovation isn’t simply something that happens on the fringes of society after society goes through the process of fixing itself. Instead, innovation is actually the process by which society fixes itself”
Summary: The basic premise is that rather than looking to eradicate poverty we should look to create prosperity by fostering market-creating innovations. These are innovations that cater to non consumers, people that would normally not be able to afford such a service. Such innovations are usually hard to deliver because they involve picturing a completely new world. However these innovations unlock a lot of value in local economies and the markets created pull in the infrastructure needed to sustain the market. It goes on to say these sort of innovations can help foster good institutions, which is perhaps the only part of the book I have not been completely sold on. He gives multiple examples like Ford, from the past in prosperous countries in America and also examples in developing countries, like Tolaram (makers of Indomie) in Nigeria. Anyone interested in economic development should read this book as it offers a new way of looking at the problem of global poverty.
Fun Fact: Well it is not a fun fact but one of the authors, Professor Clayton Christensen passed away the day after I started reading the book RIP. Apparently was a pretty big deal, particularly in Silicon Valley.
2. Surely You’re Joking Mr. Feynman! By Richard Feynman
“It was a brilliant idea: You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It’s their mistake, not my failing.”
Summary: If you did Physics for A-Levels, you probably heard about Feynman diagrams or if you’re into popular science. He also gave loads of amazing lectures. If you’ve ever watched any of them you would see how great he was at explaining scientific concepts. This book barely covers the science, but instead is a collection of short story told by Feynman about difference points in his life. From growing up as a kid, to studying in schools to working on the atomic bomb and becoming lecturer. But it also shows the other side of him and makes you see why he was so popular, it talks about his interest in practical jokes, experiments, fights, talking to girls, music, playing in the Carnaval in Brazil and many more crazy stories. However, he also had some important ones like how to teach science, science vs art and the duty of scientists. Overall very easy to read and recommend for anyone who’s familair with his style
Fun Fact: Shout out to my lectyrer at university fro showing one of Feynmans lectures to us in class
1. The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma
“Mother was a falconer: The one who stood on the hills and watched, trying to stave off whatever ill she perceived was coming to her children. She owned copies of our minds in the pockets of her own mind and so could easily sniff troubles early in their forming,…”
Summary: It’s a story about how a prophecy by a dangerous mad man sets off a series of unfortunate events that affect a family. It is set in Osun state in the 90s. I actually thought this book was just okay, they was too much foreshadowing of the prophecy and in my opinion the build up wasn’t even worth it in the end. It was an easy read otherwise. I didn’t quite understand the ending though and the transformation of one of the major characters didn’t really seem that well developed to me. I don’t know maybe I was expecting more after reading Orchestra of Minorities
Fun Fact: Got this from a mini-swap with a friend