How to Make White People Laugh | 
so-soI wanted to like this book way more than I liked it. I felt the author was really trying to promote her movie way more than write a meaningful book. I did enjoy her Third Person chapter and that the end of the book talked about how readers could change the world and offered suggestions on how to do so. I would say 1.5/5 stars.
Look, I'm a sucker for footnote proofs. THIS white person is laughing.
(Also, in the first 30 pages: 90210 reference, Manning Marable namedrop, visual analysis of fruit in and out of bowls, and a sentence that makes 2016 feel like a million years ago: "The desire for nuclear weaponry is the only reason Iranians are in the news!")
so-soHad to start over again to get back to picture....some parts were hilarious while others drug. However, overall pretty good and some good points were made!
#ReadJanuary #ThisMonthsTBR I have some Read Harder ones on deck for this month to make sure I stay ahead!
A snapshot of my Goodreads stats for the year. I love data and love books, so this is the perfect combo. I'm surprised How To Make White People Laugh wasn't more popular. It's such a funny book! I recommend checking it out if you missed it this year.
This book makes me happy and makes me laugh even though its title makes feel like I need to be prepared to explain what it's about at a moment's notice when I read it in public lol
My December #monthlyTBR stack is here. (But first I need to finish the other couple of books I've already started... whoops.) 📚😜📚
#seasonsreadings2016 #toread #easilyexcited #booksbooksbooks #wanttoread
so-so#unpopularopinion time: I didn't love this book. I felt it very repetitive. I listened to the audio, so her narration was definitely funny. I just think I was expecting something different, that's all. Also, the first "sidebar" was totally jarring and almost made me fall while I was showering because I jumped out of my skin!
Anyone else feeling like they just can't at work today? I'm passing my time with audiobooks and internet browsing. #bademployee
pickOmg go get this book. Hilarious and insightful. You need Negin in your life. Then check out her TedTalk.
Saw Negin Farsad at #BRLive panel called If We Aren't Laughing, We're Crying. Also am familiar with her standup. Hilarious lady, hilarious book so far. #literaryloot
One of the things in the #BRLive swag bag was a card good for two free audiobooks from Audiobooks.com! I'm so excited to try it out, and this is the first one I downloaded. Negin Farsad was SO funny during her panel, and I'm a little bit in love with her now. I can't wait to start this!
pickSaw Negin at book riot live picked up this book and read in a night--I'm laughing through my tears and that's good right now.
I'm at the If We're Not Laughing, We're Crying Panel with Tara Clancy, @jadechang, and NEGIN FARSAD!! 🤗👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
I'M NOT FREAKING OUT YOU'RE FREAKING OUT. #BRLive
pickSo funny and so true! Negin does such a wonderful job of reminding us of the humanity (and humor) within everyone and how we need to consciously reach toward the unfamiliar.
Hot tea and a great book! A perfect way to nurse a cold.
pickFunny take on the serious issues of racism & other-ness in the US written and read by an Iranian-American Social Justice Comedian. A nice break from super serious reading, but also a funny & thoughtful look at the Muslim American experience in this country during a time when muslims are often discriminated against as being all radical, terrorists, etc.Now off to look up her TED talk. 😉 #WNDB #DiversityMonday #MulticulturalMonday #ManyStoryMonday
so-soThe first parts and the last chapter: pee-my-pants funny & brilliant: inviting, warm, and sneakily hilarious. Her tales of being an American Muslim and her bold activism keep you laughing so hard that you don't realize how deeply you're being educated: that's the sneaky part. The rest was unfunny, preachy, or cringemakingly whiney. She needs to marinate her material more, that's all. Despite my so-so review, I'm already a fan, rooting for her.
I had a lot of faves from my August reads... most of them library books so they aren't pictured here. 😆 It was a good month for me. #somethingforsept #septphotochallenge
This book starts off with a bang!
I remember making paper flags one 4th of July because my younger brother, friend and I wanted to ride our bikes around our neighborhood and we NEEDED American flags. We made flags out of notebook paper and they tore almost immediately but we didn't care. We were being patriotic. 😁🇺🇸
I beg to differ. #MakeDonaldDrumpfAgain
pickThis book is fantastic! Farsad entertains and educates effortlessly. Her humor is right up my alley and she presents some uncomfortable stuff in a palatable manner, inviting the reader to seek out more info on their own. This collection of essays deserves a large readership, for sure. Now, excuse me while I go watch her TEDTalk. Fourth for #bookisholympics
I'm loving this book!
I didn't know vaginas could be turned up or down. I've been vagina-ing wrong all these years. 😂😂😂
Hey @BookishFeminist look what your reviews make me do! Just picked this up from the library and I'm probably going to make this my third for #bookisholympics when I get home. (I'm so lucky - or doomed - that I work across the street from the library!) 😃
pickRead this! I loved it. It was insightful and funny. There were so many times I stopped to think about a chapter or paragraph. #diversity
pickThe FUNNIEST book I've ever read, incl. Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, & Mindy Kaling combined. Farsad is Iranian-American & a "social justice comedian." You will laugh your ass off while learning about Islamophobia, racism, Muslim iconography, culture, privilege, politics, being a "hyphenated-American," & her trove of life stories that deal w/corporate culture, college, etc. She reads the audio, which is A++. RUN, DO NOT WALK TO GO READ THIS BOOK! ??
On our road trip up to Tahoe tonight, we decided to listen to this one. So fun and hilarious while allowing the readers to have many "I didn't know that" moments thanks to her gentle education. Negin Farsad is a name to watch out for - I would happily go see her shows! She kept us engaged the entire way, and since we listened at 2x the speed, we finished it just in time for our arrival! Love when that happens!
HONORABLE MENTIONS | Loitering by Charles D'Ambrosio; Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman; The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi; & The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud. | I had a great reading month thanks to @24in48! Though these stats are no where *near* as impressive as they look bc over half of these books I was already over halfway through from earlier this year. I just finished them up & am too lazy to actually count bc math. 😂
July 2016 stats! The @24in48 readathon helped a lot. 👍🏻 I did it a little differently this month since I was lucky enough to read four 5🌟 books. I highly recommend all of these books!
pickChapter 11 on TED talks and how much white people love public assembly was probably my favorite section. There's a lot to choose from in the menu of intersectional politics here, and thus a lot to love/like/admire/be entertained by/be reminded you have some ally work to do around/bookmark to use in future internet discourse.
