Book Review by Samia Mehbub

Angela Duckworth, an astounding psychologist, professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and a daughter of a scientist, proves that success is more than just “genius.” Talent gains more value when there is skill and effort. Through many interviews with great people that aim for the stars and beyond, Angela’s thoughtful and innovative research into how success results from hard work, consistency, and motivation only leaves readers on the edges of their seat. Everyone that reads this book comes to know how practice, purpose, interest, and hope are one of the main keys to having grit, and it can often lead to greater outcomes.

Through her insightful language, Angela helps readers by promoting a growth mindset and gritty attitude to move forward. She influences others to be optimistic, encouraging them to think positively to achieve excellent results. She shares her own personal experiences of her setbacks that pushed her to try harder, which has inspired many lives. She unlocks everyone’s abilities to achieve their best potential when they have many long-term goals that they feel are out of reach. She includes surveys and graphs of the results of the population’s growth of being gritty and producing positive outcomes.

With certain self-assessments on how to find out how gritty her readers are, she only leaves them motivated to improve their score. Through self-reflection, she actively propels readers to be diligent, set goals, and complete a task that they started. Additionally, this book includes parenting children to help them be more disciplined and grow up to be someone that can do anything they set their mind to.

With her proven studies, she indicates how children that are involved in extracurricular activities at a young age are more likely to be successful when they’re adults. Angela also reveals the qualities of determined individuals that make them the role models they are. Readers can’t pull themselves away from this book, especially because they come into self-exploration and understand how important character and integrity is to be an achiever.

Angela manifests how grit is not just being at the top. It’s those that fail and get back up as many times as they need that are truly lionhearted individuals. The most fascinating part about this book is that it is possible to grow grit anytime in our lives. As someone who has over 16 million views on her Ted talk, she reviews these core beliefs from her book to her audience. She used to be an award-winning math and science teacher, so she really has knowledge of what every person needs to thrive. Besides, hard work is what makes this world a better place.

One constructive piece of feedback that could be addressed more in this book is whether Angela could include a deeper dive into how hard-working as a student she was, but not as passionate until later. It would be important to know what she did to be successful in education, and to find that love for learning, without just “doing it” every day with no interest.

Science fiction is a very popular genre and there have been many great books written in this genre over the years. However, there are 10 books that stand out as the best in the genre’s history. Without further ado, here are the 10 best sci-fi books ever.

10. The Three-Body Problem

Author Liu Cixin wrote the Three-Body problem and it was published in 2008. An English translation of the book was released in 2014. This science fiction novel takes place in an alternate universe where an alien civilization makes contact with Earth. These aliens are from a star system that includes three stars similar to our Sun orbiting each other.

The Three-Body Problem includes realistic science, making it a ‘hard science’ book. Additionally, it handles topics such as first contact, political repression, and joining together to defend Earth. The Three-Body Problem is an excellent science fiction book, as shown by its many accolades. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015 and the Kurd Labwitz Award for Best Foreign Work in 2017.

It was the first novel written by an Asian author to win the Hugo Award. It is a great book to begin our list.

9. Snow Crash

This 1992 science fiction novel by Neal Stephenson comes next on our list. The main focus of Snow Crash is a dystopian world where corporations reign supreme and the United States no longer really exists. Snow Crash also handles themes of religion, politics, philosophy, computer science, and more.

Snow Crash delivers thoughtful satire and fast-paced storytelling. The novel provides interesting commentary on all its themes and stands out as a phenomenal work. It was nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award in 1994 and the British Science Fiction Award in 1993.

8. Neuromancer

Neuromancer is an iconic and influential science fiction book written by William Gibson that was published in 1984. The plot centers around a computer hacker named Case who lives in a dystopian world. Case and a former soldier seek to complete a high-stakes heist.

Neuromancer helped start the cyberpunk genre and masterfully explores themes such as the placement of technological advancement against societal decay and criminality. This theme has become a cornerstone of the cyberpunk genre. The novel initially didn’t receive much recognition from readers, but received critical acclaim. It is the only novel to win the Hugo Award, Phillip K. Dick Award, and the Nebula Award for Best Novel.

It is a groundbreaking novel in the genre of science fiction.

7. The Left Hand of Darkness

Ursula K. Le Guin created this novel and it was published in 1969. The novel explores many challenging themes, such as the effect of sex and gender on culture and society, androgyny, and feminism. It was one of the first novels that is part of the feminist science fiction genre. The Left Hand of Darkness won the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award in 1970, showcasing its recognition by both fans and literary critics.

6. Dune

Dune, written by Frank Herbert and published in 1965, is another landmark science fiction novel. This novel takes place in a feudal interstellar society in the far future and its main character, Paul Atreides, are stewards of the planet Arrakis. Dune explores how human emotion, politics, technology, ecology, and religion interact with one another.

Frank Herbert’s masterpiece offers outstanding world-building, complex characters, and deep analysis of fascinating themes. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel and tied with This Immortal by Roger Zelazny for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1966. The novel has spawned movie adaptations, TV adaptations, video games, and more. The 2021 movie adaptation and the 2024 sequel to that adaptation have earned more than $1 billion worldwide and enjoyed critical acclaim. This demonstrates the lasting impact of Dune.

5. Fahrenheit 451

Ray Bradbury wrote Fahrenheit 451 and it was published in 1953. It tackles difficult themes such as censorship and anti-intellectualism. Fahrenheit 451 is set in a dystopian version of the United States where books are illegal and ‘firemen’ burn any books that are found. Immediately, the novel enjoyed critical success and won the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award and the Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal in 1954.

Later on, Fahrenheit 451 won the Prometheus ‘Hall of Fame’ Award in 1984 and a ‘Retro’ Hugo Award in 2004. However, its release was not without controversy. Apartheid South Africa and some schools in the United States censored it. Fahrenheit 451 remains a masterful but divisive work of science fiction.

4. 1984

George Orwell is the creator of 1984 and the novel was released in 1949. 1984 is set in a version of Great Britain controlled by an authoritarian state that conducts surveillance on everyone. The leader of this state is known as ‘Big Brother’. This term would become relevant for any critics of oppressive governments.

Winston Smith is the main character and he works at the Ministry of Truth. The themes of mass surveillance, totalitarianism, censorship, and repression are wonderfully explored. 1984 has received critical acclaim, with its inclusion at #13 on the editors’ list of the Modern Library’s 100 Best Novels list and at #6 on the readers’ version of the same list.

3. Brave New World

Aldous Huxley crafted a Brave New World and it was released in 1932. Its setting is a dystopian future where citizens live in a world controlled by a single government and are environmentally engineered into a social hierarchy based on intelligence. The themes of a single-government world, social hierarchy, and psychological manipulation make this a phenomenally complex and fascinating science fiction novel.

Naturally, the novel’s protagonist challenges the oppressive system in which he lives. The Modern Library ranked Brave New World fifth on its list of the 100 Best Novels in English of the 20th Century in 1998 and 1999. Many have challenged this novel since its publication and it has been banned quite a few times. Despite this, it is an exceptional science fiction work.

2. The War of the Worlds

H.G. Wells wrote The War of the Worlds and it was published in 1898. It introduced the theme of ‘first contact’ between humans and aliens. Additionally, it also began the alien invasion archetype that is part of so many science fiction works that followed it. The novel tells the tale of Martians invading Earth.

Human weapons cannot stop the aliens but the aliens fall victim to human diseases. The radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles 1938 caused panic because some listeners missed the introduction and thought the alien invasion was actually happening. The War of the Worlds is an incredibly significant work in the history of science fiction.

1. Frankenstein

Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein and it was published in 1818. The novel focuses on Dr. Frankenstein and later, the monster that he creates with various human body parts. Frankenstein explores fascinating themes such as technology, humanity, and ethics. Additionally, it examines themes such as discrimination as the humans reject the monster. Frankenstein started the science fiction genre and deserves its spot at the top of this list.