How to write a book review?
Welcome to my Masterclass on how (not) to write a book review! (drum rolls)
I do not consider myself to be an expert in book reviews, there are professionals around the world who do an excellent job in this field. But a person becomes a professional through years of practice and feedback, and here begins my initiation (unlike the death eater initiation ceremony in Harry potter universe, no blood was spilled). Unlike my exhausting graduate years, I have plentiful time in hand to allocate for reading. I am not going to enlist the research papers I had read in the past few months keeping a general audience in mind, but trickle out various books I had read and been reading.
Admitted : A guide to study abroad by Soundarya Balasubramani et al.
How to win friends and influence people by Dale Carnegie
Sita : Warrior of Mithila by Amish Tripathi
Python for dummies by Stef Maruch
A Passion for Mathematics: Numbers, Puzzles, Madness, Religion, and the Quest for Reality by Clifford A. Pickover
Word power made easy by Norman Lewis
I have not reached the ultimatum of a voracious reader who can intertwine between her/his reading adventures. But reading has helped me to widen my horizons and keep myself restrained from current affairs happening around our world. I am thankful to my family to cater to my sustenance and giving me the capability to explore different domains. Let me start with the review of "Admitted", since it has a starkly contrasting theme to my 21 years of reading (reaffirmation from my family that I "read" my first book at the age of three, read being a slight exaggeration).
Synopsis of the book indicted by the author :
"The entire process of getting an admit to graduate school is so highly fragmented that someone who isn't well prepared can easily feel overwhelmed. Even those who are prepared will realize the value of Admitted after getting admitted. This book doesn't spoon-feed you the step-by-step process. It blends personal life experiences with actionable frameworks, enormous amount of research, and visuals, to give you the mental model you need to go through a well-defined journey."
- Soundarya Balasubramani, Author of Admitted
I read "Admitted" in a much slower pace than I normally do for the same number of pages. No, it was not a tedious read, every section was written diligently with the right mix of words and phrases. After every chapter, I took sufficient time to reflect about what I just read. I switched on my recollection switch (top right corner of the brain) to hark back to my master application phase. Back when I was in my seventh semester in bachelor's, my only primary reason to head for master's is to receive veracious answers to some of the question I had in mind in the field of my interest. The faculties in my university gave me half-baked answers and provided poor references/direction to obtain the required knowledge. I partake a similar experience when it comes to applying for master admissions. It was an unsurprisingly dim tunnel wherein I applied to my favourite universities and kept my fingers crossed (how naïve of me!). I am glad that I received an admit to one of the eight universities I had applied to, since I did not have a plan B. Enough about myself, let me get back to the review. An excerpt from my initial opinions in Quora when I was reading this book.
"My words would not provide enough justice onto how lucrative, and resourceful this guide is to prospective graduate students. Unlike the tedious and lack lustre guides that you find written on this topic, you will have a bundle of joy waiting at every page of this book. To provide you a sneak peak of the book, I have attached the following pictures."
Post completion of my reading, I wrote the following review on Amazon (A to Z, you can get everything if you have the money) and Goodreads (let me review a book which was a result of months/years of hard work of an author in a few minutes) to give my opinion on why would one want to purchase this book.
"To all the fellow aspirants out there, who would like to triumph and translate their dreams into reality, this would be your secret ingredient. Some might wonder, why do I need to invest in a book while everything is available on the internet? I can give you some reason after carefully reading this book :
1) With the growing number of active netizens, misinformation is propagating in a much faster pace than genuine and well-researched/cited information. A simple search for a keyword in a search engine regarding graduate admissions will leave your mind more confused than the time before you performed this action. I do not see any need for you to blemish your dreams.
2) As human beings, we seek personal anecdotes blend with facts rather than just facts thrown at us. Like a well balanced chemical reaction, the two ingredients are added at the right amount to not leave the reader overwhelmed and baffled.
3) During every step in our journey of life, we tend to stop and ask ourselves "why" far more than "how?" This book will help you answer this "why" backed by psychological evidence and give you a guiding hand towards the "how" in a laconic and pragmatic way.
4) As someone who has throttled a similar path as the authors of this book in a different country, I could vicariously relate and reflect with major portions of the book. Even if you aren't considering graduate admissions, this book is a resourceful read. Perhaps it will answer "why you wouldn't want to pursue higher education?" for you.
5) The primary author is a gregarious and altruistic person (eminent through her online presence and writing) and this purchase will be pipelined to a philanthropic cause which could reinforce the purpose of education and restoring its intend.
To summarize in the words of the author, this book in essence is a "bridge" to those who seek quality education and those who can offer it.
TL;DR: Buy the book, you will never regret it. In a few years, when you reflect about your actions, this would be the most gratifying one. "
I have personally thanked Ms.Balasubramani and some members of her team for their meticulous efforts. To give a final justification onto why one would like to read this book, look at the smile on my face every time I lifted it to read :D
References :
All the pictures (apart from my photo and the meme :p) are property of “Admitted” team and are subjected to copyrights. If this is the ideal book for you, you can buy it here.
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