Obviously, this is a YA blog and as a YA myself, that is the majority of books I read. I recently realized that I had been kind of craving more...varied books (because of reading some amazing books that are out of my usual genres). So voilà! Enjoy!
Solve it Like Sherlock: Test Your Powers of Reasoning Against Those of the World's Most Famous Detective
Author: Stewart Ross
Genre: Mystery, British Literature, 21st century
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If you've always fancied yourself a bit of a Sherlock Holmes, there's no better way to test yourself than against these ingenious puzzles.
In this intriguing book, Stewart Ross presents 25 new Sherlock Holmes cases and challenges you to pit your powers of deduction against those of the Great Detective. Full of the atmosphere and ambience of 221b Baker Street, you'll feel like you've stepped back into the pages of Arthur Conan Doyle . except, this time, with the chance to prove you're a match for the super sleuth.
Each case provides all the evidence you'll need to crack it, provided you're sharp enough to pick up on all the clues, with challenges from codebreaking to lateral thinking, memory to logic . and of course, how Sherlock came up with the solutions can be found at the back of the book in case you're feeling more like Watson than Holmes. The detective managed to solve 24 out of the 25 cases in this book - perhaps you can go one better.
As a Sherlock Holmes fan, I felt like I just struck gold with this book.
I think all murder mystery readers to some degree can relate to this, and that is at one point, you want to participate. You want to put all those "deductive skills" you've collected reading these works to use, and if you ever get it right you get SUCH an amazing sense of achievement.
I cannot more STRONGLY recommend this book to all Sherlock Holme fans out there. This book contains short stories/scenarios that you see in the Holme stories and is specifically designed to test your knowledge and deduction skills. Not only does this feel like Holme extras but it's also a phenomenal opportunity for practice (by the way it has answer sheets/explanations in the back as well so don't worry).
Rating: 5/5
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia
Author: Mohsin Hamid
Genre: Fiction, Asia, Contemporary, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Riverhead Books
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How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia meets that reputation and exceeds it. The astonishing and riveting tale of a man’s journey from impoverished rural boy to corporate tycoon, it steals its shape from the business self-help books devoured by ambitious youths all over “rising Asia.” It follows its nameless hero to the sprawling metropolis where he begins to amass an empire built on that most fluid, and increasingly scarce, of goods: water. Yet his heart remains set on something else: on the pretty girl whose star rises along with his, their paths crossing and recrossing, a lifelong affair sparked and snuffed and sparked again by the forces that careen their fates along. How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia is a striking slice of contemporary life at a time of crushing upheaval. Romantic without being sentimental, political without being didactic, and spiritual without being religious, it brings an unflinching gaze to the violence and hope it depicts. And it creates two unforgettable characters who find moments of transcendent intimacy in the midst of shattering change
This was such a creative way to demonstrate the truth behind society social status and wealth through the inspiring life journey of one boy. Even though we have one clear character the story centers around (the boy), we still see so much about the world and the contrast between different lives on different levels through his encounters.
This book not only can be an inspiration for others to become better, but it can also be a reminder for people at the end of the day what is truly important, as well as a warning of how much people can suffer because of the lives they are born in.
I also personally love how throughout the entire story, we don't know any of the names of any characters because it doesn't matter: it's the life story and the truth of society the book is trying to convey.
This is just a really inspiring and meaningful quick read that I greatly recommend to...everyone, to be honest. Because this book would be able to reach your soul no matter where you re, who you are, and how far you are from the lifestyle in this book.
Rating: 5/5
Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World – and Why Things Are Better Than You Think
Author: Hans Rosling, Ola Rosling, Anna Rosling Rönnlund
Genre: Nonfiction, Science, Psychology, History, Politics
Publisher: Sceptre
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Factfulness: The stress-reducing habit of only carrying opinions for which you have strong supporting facts. When asked simple questions about global trends—what percentage of the world’s population live in poverty; why the world’s population is increasing; how many girls finish school—we systematically get the answers wrong. In Factfulness, Professor of International Health and global TED phenomenon Hans Rosling, together with his two long-time collaborators, Anna and Ola, offers a radical new explanation of why this happens. They reveal the ten instincts that distort our perspective—from our tendency to divide the world into two camps (usually some version of us and them) to the way we consume media (where fear rules) to how we perceive progress (believing that most things are getting worse). Our problem is that we don’t know what we don’t know, and even our guesses are informed by unconscious and predictable biases. It turns out that the world, for all its imperfections, is in a much better state than we might think. That doesn’t mean there aren’t real concerns. But when we worry about everything all the time instead of embracing a worldview based on facts, we can lose our ability to focus on the things that threaten us most.
This was very eye-opening. The ironic part? Technically speaking, no FACTS in these books are anything outside of common knowledge.
That's what made this book so great.
Factfulness is a book that debunks the most dangerous kind of misconception: widely agreed-up correct knowledge that is misinterpreted, causing the misconception. In other words, the reason why it's the most dangerous is that since it's based on (mostly) real facts, it's harder to realize and less-widely known.
