Sekar Writes
A Collection of (Mostly Nonfiction) Books Review and Personal Notes
Welcome!
Take a look around my blog, where I bring you book reviews filled with knowledges and favorite quotes. Alongside my literary explorations, I share personal stories and some side projects.
Me, More or Less
These lists are pretty much describe me in a nutshell.
Latest Nonfiction Book Reviews
Check out my nonfiction book reviews, featuring thoughts, summaries, and favorite quotes.
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Review: The Education Wars
A book that discusses the complex relationship between education and politics, the important role of schools, and the challenges they face.
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Review and Summary: On the Origin of Being
A book on how ancestral wisdom enhances modern life through better sleep, nutrition, work-life balance, and living in harmony with nature.
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Review and Summary: The Tyranny of Merit
Explore the ideas behind merit in The Tyranny of Merit, revealing its darker side and impact on success, fairness, and societal values.
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Review and Summary: Just One Thing
Just One Thing is the simplest and most realistic productivity habit to improve health and wellbeing sustainably.
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Work-Life Balance Quotes from Nonfiction Books
Discover insightful quotes on work-life balance from non-fiction books, offering inspiration to help you manage time and find harmony in life.
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Review and Summary: The Good Enough Job
The Good Enough Job tells us that job doesn’t define our worth. Stolzoff identifies it as a systemic issue and offers suggestions for change.
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Review and Summary: Learning to Disagree
A book that teaches how to handle arguments with care and understanding. A must read for improving how to talk and think about disagreements.
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Review and Summary: Why We Remember?
Why We Remember reveals how our brain creates and stores memories, offering surprising facts and practical tips.
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Review and Summary: The Anxious Generation
A well-studied book that explores the effects of digital exposure on children’s development and mental health.
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Review: The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future
The Skeptics’ Guide to the Future changes doubts into understanding, connecting science fiction with real science.
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Review: Some of Us Just Fall
A book that helps you understand living with a rare chronic illness and finding hope through personal stories and insights.
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Review and Summary: Mind Shift
McManus argues that our thoughts determine our life and shares twelve transformative mind shifts for a better quality of life.
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Review and Summary: The First Rule of Mastery
Master personal growth by conquering FOPO (fear of other people’s opinions) with the support of well-researched psychological insights.
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Review and Summary: All in Her Head
Discover women’s mistreatment in societal norms that prioritize beauty over well-being has led to medical struggles.
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Review and Summary: Why We Die
Venki Ramakrishnan covers the science of aging and mortality, examining the genetic program of life and exploring efforts to extend lifespan.
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Review and Summary: Determined
Determined discusses the concept of why free will might not exist and how we can optimize our lives in light of this understanding.
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Review and Summary: Probably Overthinking It
Probably Overthinking It merges math, statistics, and real-life problems, proving the practicality of math in decision-making.
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Review: It’s Okay to Be Angry About Capitalism
Insights on US wealth disparity, activism, and political reform. Ideal for understanding Sanders’ approach to transforming America.
From Facts to Fiction
Nonfiction teaches me about the world, but fiction helps me feel it.
Every review comes with the quotes I saved.
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Review: The Bright Years
The Bright Years looks like a sweet love story at first, but it hides addiction, secrets, and a family falling apart underneath.
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Review: On Earth as it is Beneath
On Earth As It Is Beneath is set in a Brazilian prison built on hidden bones, where inmates are hunted each month in a brutal survival ritual.
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Review: Demon Copperhead
Demon Copperhead, forced to grow up too fast amid poverty, addiction, and a broken foster system. A rich retelling of a Dickens classic.
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Review: And Every Morning the way Home Gets Longer
A grandfather is forgetting his memory. His son and grandson are left holding onto what’s slipping away in this short, aching book by Backman.
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Review: The Answer Is No
Meet Lucas, a man happy in his own world, until a frying pan changes everything in The Answer is No, Fredrik Backman’s witty short book.
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Review: The Trouble with Happiness and Other Stories
Some people always want more from life than life will hand them. The Trouble with Happiness is about that ache, and the homes it wrecks.
Browse Nonfiction Books by Specific Genre
Have a specific book topic in mind?
You’ll likely find it in these categories!
- Biographies and Memoirs (33)
- Biology and Life Sciences (12)
- Child Development and Parenting (13)
- Climate Change (2)
- Cooking and Culinary (3)
- Critical Thinking and Research Skills (15)
- Data and Statistics (8)
- Economics (6)
- Education and Learning (10)
- Essays (27)
- Evolutionary Biology (6)
- Fitness and Human Performance (23)
- Health and Medicine (30)
- Leadership and Career (8)
- Life Transitions (11)
- Linguistics (4)
- Literature (2)
- Luck and Chance (3)
- Mathematics (2)
- Mindfulness (3)
- Nature (21)
- Neuroscience (13)
- Poetry (15)
- Politics and Society (41)
- Productivity (25)
- Psychology and Behavioral Science (49)
- Science (44)
- Self-Development (80)
- Technology and AI (10)
- UI/UX (2)
- Women's Studies (6)
- Writing (9)
Life in the Margins
Here’s what else you’ll find on this blog.
Reading Life
- Snapshots of my reading life: the habits, the tracking, and everything around books.
Journaling
- Writing is how I make sense of things. A look at my journaling practice: how I do it, why I do it, and what it’s given me.
Fresh Flower Care
- Looking after fresh flowers asks me to slow down and be present. Here are my personal notes on keeping them beautiful and alive for longer.
Home Gardening
- There’s something grounding about growing things at home. Follow along with my notes as I watch things grow, season by season.
Life in Helsinki, Finland
- Living in Helsinki has shaped how I read, think, and move through the world. A little window into my life in the north.
Hi, I am Sekar!
My passion for reading (at least) one book a week fuels my love for books and drives me to share the insights with others.
Medical science by training, curious about everything else. Here I share my hobbies and the things life teaches me.
Feel free to reach out and join me in celebrating books and all the small joys that make life fuller.
Books let us know we’re not the center of the universe; the universe has many centers.
Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie