I finally finished reading the Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. It took me months because I only read it while I’m traveling or waiting. However, whenever I can’t fall asleep and feel the need to distress, I will light up a scented candle, prepare a mug of tea and read it before sleep. Oh, I can’t wait for Joanne Wong’s candle to be launched, so I can get myself a new scented candle!

Counting down to their launch

If you are a book lover or you love to read, I’m sure you have heard of this book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari. It has been recommended by so many people, even by famous people.

I never thought I would read something like this. Based on the title and the cover of the book (yes, I judge a book from its cover), I don’t think I would read it. But after having heard of it from so many people, I picked it up and the first few pages had me hooked.

What Is It About?

Sapiens tells the history of humankind from the evolution of archaic human species in the Stone Age up to the twenty-first century, focusing on Homo sapiens. Now if you put it this way, it does sound like a boring textbook. But Yuval Noah Harari managed to tell the story in an interesting way and give us, the readers, many different perspectives on the subjects or topics. While reading it, my mind was blown and I kept thinking “Wow, I never thought of it that way!”

What Do I Feel About It?

I am surprised that I actually love the book. I always look forward to having free time to actually sit and read it. However, it is a heavy book with difficult terms that I need to reread the sentences a few times before I get the meaning. Maybe that’s what slowed me down too.

Although many had recommended this book and liked the book, there are some readers that think that Yuval Noah Harari’s opinions and thoughts in this book could be racist and biased. For me, I can’t really see if it is racist, but I really enjoyed the different take on the topics. I guess you just have to stay open-minded while reading it because it challenged everything that we think we know about mankind.

Do I Recommend It?

Seeing how much I love the book, of course, I will recommend it. However, I don’t think it is suitable for light reading. I also can’t wait to continue with Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari.