Reading Room - Book Reviews by Students

March 12, 2021

There is nothing as satisfying as reigniting an old flame like reading. This Winter, 6 Tembusu students, dubbing ourselves the Unsure Motivations, decided to pick out a bunch of books from the Reading Room, and write about them. As the Reading Room closed last semester due to the restrictions on the COVID-19 pandemic amongst other things, this collection of essays is an attempt by Min Si, Melvin, Hong Kai, Jean, Minh and Zhi Feng to show people what the room had to offer once again. 

A long over-looked room, this place has much more to offer than we normally assume. As the College’s own private collection of books, curated by our Rector and Fellows, the reading room contains a wealth of knowledge just waiting to be read and appreciated. Essentially, what we hope you will find in these book reviews is motivation to come explore the Reading Room, and hopefully find something that gets your gears turning, just like we have.

The Tembusu (Fagraea fragrans) is a large evergreen tree in the family Gentianaceae. It is native to Southeast Asia. Its trunk is dark brown, with deeply fissured bark, looking somewhat like a bittergourd. It grows in an irregular shape from 10 to 25m high. Its leaves are light green and oval in shape. Its yellowish flowers have a distinct fragrance and the fruits of the tree are bitter tasting red berries, which are eaten by birds and fruit bats.