
Hillbilly Elegy book review - from the perspective of an expat in the US
Living in the US for over a year, I finally understood why half the country votes Republican—this raw memoir gave me the insight news never could.
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Living in the US for over a year, I finally understood why half the country votes Republican—this raw memoir gave me the insight news never could.

After paying 4X more for healthcare in the US than Singapore, I discovered why: markups of 20-50X, kickbacks, and middlemen gaming a broken system that consumes 18% of GDP.

This book exposed how middlemen, hospitals, and insurers profit billions from healthcare—and gave me practical tools to fight back by questioning every medical bill I receive.

Smil's deep dive into energy, food, and materials finally made me understand why we can't just flip a switch on climate change—every decision has complex consequences.
Klein traces how demographic shifts, geographic sorting, and media echo chambers created today's polarized America—a data-driven answer to why we can't talk politics anymore.
I've re-read Poor Charlie's Almanack countless times when stuck with investing decisions—it taught me to be a business analyst, avoid envy, and invert my thinking.
Kevin Rudd's hardened stance on Xi Jinping's China over five years reveals why U.S.-China conflict isn't inevitable—if we embrace "managed strategic competition."

Dalio maps the U.S. at 70% through its empire cycle—in decline—while China rises, backed by data-rich analysis that reveals far more nuance than headlines suggest.

I nearly dismissed Case and Deaton's "Deaths of Despair" research as incomplete—until I verified the data myself and discovered their alarming conclusions were actually understated.

I was skeptical until I read it—Melinda Gates blends heart-wrenching stories with data to reveal powerful levers that can truly lift humanity.

I've found two standout books this summer: one revealing how nations overcome crises, the other transforming how I think about writing itself.

I devoured these two books—one explaining why civilizations diverged over 13,000 years, the other a memoir so gripping I couldn't put it down.