Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction

How To Improve Your Finances: In Under 1 Hour by Jarvis Brown | Book review

Do you want to thrive financially and not only survive week to week? This short and easy to digest book will cover the most important financial lessons you can implement today!. Reading ‘How To Improve Your Finances In Under 1 Hour’ will give you the knowledge and actionable behaviors to:

★Get rich and more importantly, wealthy

★Save what’s needed and choose the right investments

★Choose assets and minimize liabilities

★Produce positive cash flow to have unlimited wealth

★Start and own businesses

★Build and lead a financial team

★Build a financial empire

★Desire continued learning

★Give back, and so much more!

For those of you who are already doing well with your finances, this book is also for you. Read Chapters 1-8 to check your financial savviness. Then dive into the meat of the book, Chapters 9-15, for a mind-blowing journey to improving your finances. Also, included is a link that you can email to receive free financial tools! Explore the benefits of spending 1 hour today to change the rest of your financial future.

Title: How To Improve Your Finances: In Under 1 Hour

Author: Jarvis Brown

Pages: 46

My review

Perfect guide for financial management!

Financial freedom is one of the most sought-after dreams for many. Yet many of them couldn’t reach their targets ever in life. You may have a good income, but you may fail to build wealth. Getting rich is easy but building wealth is hard. Because rich can be poor in a day, but wealth is longlasting. What is the key to creating wealth? It is the right financial education.

Everyone should learn about their financial condition and its management regardless of your age. The early you learn this, the better your finances are. This is a systematic structured guide for this. The first half of the book is dedicated to analyze and manage our current financial situation. Creating a good financial plan is the first step towards the right management. This establishes our goal. Then the author explains how you can create a financial report card. Analyzing our income and expenditure every month is vital to reach a better understanding of our current situation.

The second half of this book talks about building your wealth by managing credits, dealing with paper assets, creating a positive cashflow and investment options. One of the best features of this book, it has an elaborate manual on building various investments. The author dedicated four chapters to explain them with accuracy. This is my best takeaway.

This is not a simple financial guide. This is a practical guide. I liked the way the author has explained all the difficult concepts using simple language which made them easy to comprehend. Overall, this was a good learning experience.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

Embrace The Void Bravely: & Other Secular Sermons by Race Hochdorf | Book review

“While covering many of the age old existential problems faced by the non-religious, Hochdorf avoids retreading the steps of the New Atheists and presents us with a fresh, thoughtful, charming little book.” —Helen Pluckrose, editor-in-chief of Areo Magazine

“This book is teeming with beauty and hope. An inspirational message for those of us who prefer to be amazed by the limitless awe-inspiring reality around us, as opposed to the limited imaginations of ancient men.” —Yasmine Mohammed, Unveiled: How Western Liberals Empower Radical Islam

“Race’s provocative, open-hearted essays tackle the central, existential angst of our modern era: how can godless secularism give humans the meaning and morality that religion falsely provides? His answers are astonishing, challenging, revolutionary.” —Hank Pellissier, founder of Humanist Global Charity

Title: Embrace The Void Bravely: & Other Secular Sermons

Author: Race Hochdorf

Pages: 108

My review

“Embrace The Void Bravely” is a fire in the darkness. The darkness which limits our thoughts by forcing down rules and regulations. This is a tool to question religious superiority which has been the root of existential problems over the centuries. The conflicting nature of human beings is forcefully tamed by the religion. The author addresses how this system has been made us mere slaves without raising any questions.

I was so curious about the meaning of the title. The author explains this in the first chapter itself. “What is the meaning of life?” This is a popular question that often shuts our thoughts down. Over time this question become the root of spirituality and religion. There is a void which exists in our mind. The void cannot be filled or erased. Knowing that you will cease one day and everything about you will be erased over time. We are living for accomplishments, personal and professional. But nothing is everlasting, not even wealth. We are building a sandcastle on the shore side for the praise of a few passersby. It will be erased when a tide which is strong enough comes. But we do it nevertheless. We embrace this void bravely, rather than filling it. We can be infinite the moment we embrace this truth.

One of the best ideas I gained from this book is about inequality. We often discuss economic and gender inequality. But what we don’t know is, inequality exists in every social order. It exists in our house, friend circle, office, and in our society. Oppression and supremacy are the fundamental character of the human race. No matter how much we protest, this disparity will exist.

In other chapters, the author addresses issues related to romantic and other relationships. No religion addresses romantic love in their holy books. Rather they all promote celibacy. Why they all deny this fundamental human emotion? The same goes for friendships. The social and religious order has created barriers for every human emotion over time.

A very insightful read. Highly recommended.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

Meditation for Beginners: A, B, C’s to Mindfulness by Demetrius Irick | Book review

This book was created with one goal in mind and that’s to change your life using the art of meditation. Meditation has been around for thousands of years and the benefits are documented in countless scientific sources. The health benefits include lowering blood pressure, better concentration, slowing down dementia, reduced stress & anxiety, depression and the list go on & on. Although, meditation does have some religious affiliation it’s not solely a religious thing. Meditation will not conflict with your religious belief but it will enhance anyone’s spiritual practice

Title: Meditation for Beginners: A, B, C’s to Mindfulness 

Author: Demetrius Irick

Pages: 154

My review

A perfect guide for beginners!

Meditation for Beginners is an 8-week course for anyone interested to start and build a habit of it. Meditation is the only activity in our life that can give back the time we dedicate to practice it. If properly done, meditation can even multiply the time we spent doing tasks daily. The benefits of practicing meditation is scientifically proven and it is one of the easiest habit one can develop. Yet we lack the discipline for it.

This is one of the easiest meditation guides, I have ever come across. Because it acknowledges the problems of a beginner and addresses numerous questions that may arise in our mind during the course. The author also provides solutions to tackle the problems that we may have during the initial phase of practice. It also busts many myths around meditation. The author even narrates his own experience when he first started practicing.

This is a week by week schedule. In each week we can learn one new technique of meditation. This technique has to be practiced throughout the week to gain benefit from it. The author also explains every technique in detail and the benefits of it, at the beginning of each chapter. Through meditation, we can finally tackle our fears and transform our reactions to responses.

What makes this book exceptional is its completeness in this topic. This book covers every meditation practice and everything we need to know about it, which eliminates the need for other books.

Rating:5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

The YOU beyond you by Ramzi Najjar | Book review

What if the core of our belief system was nothing but a collection of misleading notions?

For everyone willing to explore the real dimension of existence, this book is a must-read. Examining life’s underlying mechanisms, “The YOU Beyond you” gives full insight into how you can gain full knowledge of your reality and how it operates within us and in the Universe itself. No matter who we are or what our life goal is, negative habits and an unhealthy life culture perturb the delicate balance that allows us to move forward.

You will embark on the path to understanding how bad habits become embedded in our system and thus mold a negative framework within our lives. How to break free from these bad habits and experience the true secret of life through which everything prospers.

Title: : The YOU beyond you

Author: Ramzi Najjar  

Pages: 98

My review

There are not many books out there which truly have the power to change your mind completely. The YOU beyond you possess this power. This book has the ability to influence your thoughts and change them for good. This was really a mind-blowing reading experience.

The 50% of the book is dedicated to declutter and detox our mind and body from al the pre-conditioning which defines our current existence. After a proper detox, the author introduces us to the real magic. The rest of the book is dedicated to creating a memory that will redefine our existence. According to the author, the memory is everything. I agree with this fact. Without the years of memory, we don’t have any existence. So the true transformations start from there. The rewiring and rewriting neurological connections to achieve our maximum potential is not an extraordinary feat. But we should have the courage and will to take action. That decision lies in ourselves.

The style of writing is captivating and engaging. Because the author justifies every bit of his thoughts with scientific information. This made me re-think and question everything. We are living in a world which pre-condition our mind and body to run according to the rules set by others. We are really trapped inside this matrix. The true salvation begins by understanding our desire and breaking this pattern.

It will be an injustice if I categorize this as a self-help book. This is truly an insightful read.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Sports fiction

Football’s Fearless Activists: How Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, and Fellow Athletes Stood Up to the NFL and President Trump by Mike Freeman | Book review

For the first time, here is the full story of the NFL player protests that rocked a nation and turned our country upside down. This is the players’ side, one that has largely been ignored by the media.

On September 1, 2016, Colin Kaepernick took a knee before a preseason game. Little did he, nor anyone else, know the ramifications from that decision. Since being exiled from the National Football League, Kaepernick has stood strong against all those who have attacked him. He and others who took a knee against racial inequality and police brutality have been ridiculed, mocked, threatened, and some have even lost their jobs. They have feared for their safety and that of their loved ones.

But what made Kaepernick kneel, and the entire country turn a silent protest into a national pandemic? One person: President Donald Trump.

For the first time, veteran journalist Mike Freeman sits down with those directly involved in the protests—the players—to find out how things really went down. Readers will learn why they decided to protest, how racism and the murdering of innocent men of color directly affected them, how the politics of protest affected their professional and personal lives, and if anything has even changed for the better.

Including interviews with Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman, and numerous others, see first-hand how the media, President Trump, and the National Football League took a peaceful message for change and turned it on its head. They changed the narrative, accusing these men of being “anti-America,” “anti-military,” and “disrespecting the flag.”

In Football’s Fearless Activists, Freeman offers an opportunity to understand what these protests meant to the players, and how the hatred from the media, President, NFL owners, and some Americans was not only unwarranted, but anti-American. 

Title: Football’s Fearless Activists: How Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, and Fellow Athletes Stood Up to the NFL and President Trump

Author: Mike Freeman

Pages: 240

My review

“No one is free until we all are free” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Civil rights movements have a long history of struggle and oppression. People who dared to speak up will eventually targeted. The leaders were either gunned down or killed to shut their voices. Because they are perceived as a threat to white supremacy. But the fire inside millions of people of color cannot be extinguished as easily. The more they tried to oppress them, the more they rose against their oppressors. The modern-day history of America is filled with police brutality and racial injustice. Although the status has been changed a bit in recent times but not in the case of unjust murders of people of color by police officers. Amidst the height of protests, the killing continues. A government that is led by a white supremacist who takes pride in bashing protestors is not giving a little bit of hope. But the true change lies in the mindset of people. As much as they take pride in the tradition of their nation, they must take pride in the inclusiveness of the nation too.

The author, Mike Freeman, a veteran journalist take us through the vast history of civil rights movements in this book. The focus in this book is the life and activism of Colin Kaepernick. But he also includes the voices of other less-known NFL protesters such as Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, Michael Bennett, Richard Sherman, and numerous others. The interesting things that we can learn from this book how a peaceful protest which is backed by solid reason is changed into “anti-national”, “anti-cop”, “anti-military” protest. This is a true narrative of how the politicians and media turned this into a game and tackled the players through nailing down white supremacist ideologies.

Every protest came with a price. Here also many players, especially the face of NFL protests, Colin Kaepernick sacrificed his career to sustain the protests. Still, the situations are not even changed a bit. But just like Colin, many others are determined to end this racial injustice one day.

A great book that gives an unadulterated version of NFL protests with insiders view. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5/5

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

Riddle, Riddle by Eastwood Bempoh

*Impartation of Understanding*

In this compendium of riddles originated by the author, the main purpose is to grow the understanding of those who read the words written in this book, and to exercise the wisdom of those who care to participate in the exercise

*A tool of education*
*A practice for the development of the mind*
*Insightful knowledge to the impartation of understanding by the medium of riddles for an increased capacity of wisdom*
*The Riddles of Eastwood Bempoh (101 riddles included)*

Title: Riddle, Riddle 

Author: Eastwood Bempoh

Pages: 195 pages

My Review

This is a cleverly written collection of 101 riddles, meant to create an understanding rather than to impart knowledge. These 101 riddles are crafted in such a way that they challenge the readers. These are not meant to be read but to be solved. By solving them we will be able to build a greater understanding of them. The author also explains the difference between knowledge and understanding in the introduction. Most of us are hungry for knowledge because we know that it is the key to progress. But what we don’t know is, this key will not work if we don’t know how to use that knowledge. Here comes the role of understanding. To transform knowledge into wisdom, we must walk through the bridge of understanding. Riddles are meant to test our knowledge to develop an understanding of things.

What makes this book unique is its variations on riddles. All riddles are classified based on difficulty such as easy, intermediate, and difficult. Then in the contextual sense, they are classified into three, literal, metaphorical, and unirical. Also, a single riddle may have more than one section. First 51 riddles are classic ones with some changes to create understanding. The author encourages us to write our riddle too in this section. The second section consists of 50 riddles which are a step forward. Here we have to write the contextual meaning, difficulty level, and type of riddle. This test on riddles enables us to create them as our own.

Highly recommend this book if you are someone who likes to build an understanding from your acquired knowledge.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

The Simple Guide to Postnatal Care for First Time Moms by Jasmine Allen|Book review

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Discover This Shockingly Honest Guide to Postnatal Care for First Time Mommies, and Get Through Those First Postpartum Weeks with Ease!

You’ve just given birth, and despite all the pain and discomfort, you are the happiest person in the world. You can’t wait to get home with your baby and start enjoying your time together. 

But those first few weeks can be tricky. Your body will be going through some weird phases, your baby might not sleep so you’ll be constantly exhausted, and you might start to feel the first signs of postpartum depression. 

That’s why this guide is so precious, especially for first-time mothers. Written by someone who has gone through all those issues herself, this book is full of helpful tips and advice on how to power through this tough period. 

Title: The Simple Guide to Postnatal Care for First Time Moms 

 

Author: Jasmine Allen

Pages: 26

My review

Postnatal care is an extremely difficult and emotionally draining phase for every mom. Proper education and knowledge of healthcare can save new moms from complications and pain. This is an A-Z guide on this subject. The author himself gone through this phase and lack of proper care caused many difficulties in her pregnancy and afterward. From that experience, she has gained practical knowledge to manage various health conditions during postnatal care. This book summarizes everything you have to know about this matter.

The book is divided into 3 sections. The first section is on essential topics such as sleep and breastfeeding. The second section is about mental health. I personally felt that this is one of the critical aspects that every new mom should know of. The bonus is, this chapter includes the author’s personal input and experiences too. The last section deals with the physical therapy for recovery. This chapter includes various exercises with illustrations for a better understanding of this topic.

This short book is an essential read for every new mom to handle this critical phase in their life.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

How To Get A Technical Writing Job: With Little Or No Experience by Loren Robinson|Book review

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Have you ever felt like earning 70k or more was just completely out of reach?
This slim book is not a reference manual. However, it illustrates the skills and education you need to land a job in this well-paying field. According to U.S. News and World Report Annual Rankings. Technical Writing is one of the 50 best jobs in America.

Title: How To Get A Technical Writing Job: With Little Or No Experience

Author: Loren Robinson

Pages: 34

My review

Technical writing is one of the fastest-growing and in-demand jobs. It is less competitive than creative writing jobs. If you are someone who is looking for a career change or starting afresh and considering a technical writing career, then this is the perfect guide, to begin with. Technical writing is not a complex career. But it requires patience and relentless learning to meet its demands.

Over the seven chapters included in this book, the author explains all the details about this job. The book starts with an introduction to technical writing and its cons and pros. We will get a fair idea about this field after this. Then he explains the necessary skills and education for this job. In the last part, he explains how we can find the opportunities and excel in interviews. The book also has details about the online courses and materials we can use for this purpose.

The book is written with a do it yourself attitude. It addresses all the beginners who are interested in this field. Because of that, the book lacks depth in information. Other than that, this is a good information guide for everyone who is considering a career in technical writing.

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

Interview Strong: An Insider’s View and Player’s Guide by Courtney D. Temple|Book review

516vHa2GMZLDo you want to face your next interview knowing that you have what it takes to WIN the job? And yes, I mean “WIN”! Because interviewing is a competition and you need to prepare as you would for any competition. Interview Strong gives you the game plan and plays to execute so that you shine against other candidates. This book positions you with clear and straightforward steps to “win” your interview and begin a successful new professional journey. If you have ever participated in or watched any type of competition, you know that those in first place did not make it to the winner’s circle by accident. That’s good news for you! Get your copy of Interview Strong and and solidify a successful game day (Interview Day) plan in quick and easy steps to “win” your interview.

Title: Interview Strong: An Insider’s View and Player’s Guide – Easy Steps to Winning the Interview and Getting the Job

Author: Courtney D. Temple

Pages: 50

My review

Interview strong is an A-Z guide to excel every interview in our life. A job is an essential requirement to survive. In these difficult times, with the unemployment rate is growing faster than ever, we have to push our limits to prepare ourselves to acclimatize better with unpredictable circumstances. Usually, the interview is the last stage of hiring a candidate. It is also the most important and most competitive stage. Because you are competing with similar skilled and serious candidates. The only way out to crack this stage is to prepare ourselves to handle every adversity.

Through this book, the author has addressed all questions regarding preparation and cracking interviews. As said in the title of the book, it is an insider’s view and player’s guide. The author has 20+ years of experience as a hiring manager. She has interviewed countless candidates and has vast experience in this field. This wisdom is poured through the pages of this book. The author has a very unique approach to this topic. She compares everything in interview stage with an actual game and treating the candidates as athletes. It is because this book is written to “win” the game, not less. This perspective is so focused on the end goal. The whole book is structured to achieve this end goal. The process begins with tryouts, warm-up, stretching, announcing the player, game time, overtime, and post-game closures, completing the full circle. All the key concepts on preparation and delivering a successful interview are explained with high clarity.

I highly recommend this book for every job-seekers. This is the complete guide to bring your “A” game.

Rating:5/5

 

 

 

Amina Thajudeen Book Review, non-fiction, Self-Help

Kick Off Bad Habits: 2020 by D.K. Hunter|Book Review

ebook (2)Your habits define you as a person and they are responsible for all the things that you have and do not have in your life right now. It is not going to be an easy journey as breaking habits you have had for a long time is going to be tough. Getting rid of your bad habits will totally liberate you. It is a great feeling to change something that has been holding you back for a long time. Forming new empowering habits will also be a great experience for you and will make you feel confident about the future. With this book, you will learn how habits work and how they are formed. You will also learn:

1. The 3 R’s neurological loop and the time that it takes to make changes to habits
2. To break those bad habits which are not supporting the life that you want and form new habits that will empower you to make a positive change
3. How you can change your life for the better with the power of habits how you can reinforce new habits and much more!

Pages:40

Genre: Self-help

My review

Kick off bad habits is an A-Z guide for breaking bad habits and forming sustainable new habits. Habits define who we are. We all are the summation of tiny habits that we are performing every day, consciously or subconsciously. Either we are addicted or not willing to change these bad habits. We lack the will power to break these habits. But there is always a solution for everything. The best strategy to achieve this difficult task is to understand everything about habits. How they are formed, what are its root causes, how we are addicted to them, why we hesitate to let them go. Through this book, I got all the answers. The in-depth analysis of habits was a good learning experience.

The author moves on to break these bad habits only after he explains the cycle behind habit-forming. The techniques adopted in this book for breaking bad habits are scientifically proven 3R’s neurological loop method. The book also devises a plan to understand and control our habit transition phase. The book concludes with some best practices and new habits that we all should develop for optimizing our potential. This short book covers everything on this topic. This is a good guide for anyone who is planning to bring some changes to their everyday life.

Rating:5/5

Purchase here: Amazon.IN https://amzn.to/2G3aTzU