5 Books Everybody Loved, But I Hated
Unconventional Book Reviews
BookTok and BooksTagram have never been bigger than today. Thanks to them you get bombarded with book suggestions and your “to-read” list just gets bigger and bigger.
I’m not an avid reader, as I explained in “How I got myself into reading more”. So these accounts give me inspiration (and a little bit of motivation) to fulfill my “read more” goal.
However, just like with any other thing you do/buy solely based on someone's recommendation, there is a big possibility you might not like the thing as much as the BookToker/Bookstagramer did. (I will not include the influencers who review stuff for money, I’m writing about genuine reviews).
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
I read this book because it was recommended by so many people and BookTokers/Bookstagramers and was expecting to be amazed. However, that anticipated amazement faded quickly.
The author does offer some good advice, but overall I was not impressed.
The Home Edit Life: The No-Guilt Guide to Owning What You Want and Organizing Everything by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin
I regret not doing enough research and reading reviews before throwing out my money to buy this book. I was so blindly mesmerized by the Netflix show that I added the book to my cart before the first season ended. It simply wasn’t worth the time and money.
However, I did enjoy looking and the nice pictures, and that’s as far as it goes.
Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
This is another big recommendation by BookTokers/Bookstagramers that I regret following without doing the research first. After I was done reading it, I couldn’t understand why it was recommended everywhere.
The idea for the book is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but that’s as far as it gets. It could be executed so much better. I didn’t read the rest of the series.
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan Peterson
I was so happy to get my hands on this book, and how wrong I was. It’s too long, and the content simply doesn’t justify the length. There is some good advice, but not worth the time and money.
This one has a big “DON’T WASTE YOUR MONEY” on it. If you expect to read some good psychology advice, you’ll be disappointed to read lots of Bible stuff.
Crushing It!: How Great Entrepreneurs Build Their Business and Influence — and How You Can, Too by Gary Vaynerchuk
If you use social media and have no idea who Gary Vee is, you’ve been following the wrong content. I started reading this book right after the book #AskGaryVee, it was excellent if you are starting the entrepreneurial journey, and to be honest I expected a lot from “Crushing It!”. Maybe that’s why I was so disappointed.
This entire book is the praise of his previous one (#AskGaryVee), and according to it, all of the interviewed entrepreneurs succeeded only because they read #AskGaryVee. Not worth the time and money.
The lesson I learned from this is to always, I mean ALWAYS, do the proper research on the book before buying it. Reviews can be deceiving, but if the short snippet or about the book doesn’t spark interest, it’s a no-buy from me.