Thoughts on Recent Reads

Our Lady of the Nile by Scholastique Mukasonga

Rating 4 out of 5

This book was surprisingly entertaining, but the actual storyline is quite sad. You could say it’s a walking contradiction of a book. The main point is racial strife and genocide against the Tutsi minority in Rwanda. The story takes place at a strict Catholic girls’ school right before the genocide. The writer has a way of portraying characters’ deep and complex motives with a quick brush of wit. I gained a deeper understanding of how racial strife begins. How prejudice created its own genocide through misconceptions of social and racial hierarchies.

101 Essays That Will Change The Way You Think

1 out of 5

I found this book disquieting. You might think this is another ‘help-yourself-out-of-the-hole’ kind of book. But I actually felt more in the hole after reading it. I am an overthinker and a metathinker; it comes with being an introverted, sensitive, and introspective person. However, reading this book, I found myself getting tied in knots, and not in a good way. I was like, wait, let me rethink this again. Maybe my reality is not reality, and if reality is not now, what is this state of being? However, I disliked the notion that your reality is always your reality and that you can’t metacognize your thoughts or aspirations because they are all a product of a false reality. The book’s advice on not trusting your instincts, questioning the validity of your thoughts, and the concept of a ‘false reality’ are all examples of the inferior advice it provides. I do not recommend this book to anyone, especially if you are at a stage of life where you need help or support with your decisions. This book gives inferior advice, indeed.