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I think this should have been longer? It's quite introspective and I would have liked more interaction between Joan & her colleagues, family & neighbours. But it was very insightful, exploring a lot of issues for a relatively short book.

1/1 (and 1/6 overall) MMD or Stacks book club book for #JoyousJanuary

Really enjoyed this and wished it was longer! I loved Joan‘s stubborness - her unwllingness to bend in order to fit in - despite pressures from family & societal expectations. I laughed a few times at the deadpan juxtaposition of Joan with her colleagues and building tenants. Joan provides a foil against which other peoples ridiculousness is more apparent. Wang treats Joan with respect and its everyone else that looks askew from this perspective.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 Enjoyed this novel describing a Chinese American woman‘s experience navigating social and family dynamics and her own grief after her father‘s death.

Joan is a quirky Asian doctor who is SO concrete. She has a hard time understanding other humans, so experiencing grief over the loss of her father is very confusing. While this novel told the story of one person, it also incorporated racism in the US against Asians and immigrants in general.

Starting this one today. I have too many books going at the same time 🤣

Joan Is Okay and I mostly am, too, after a refreshing springtime weekend on the farm. I was a little reluctant to read this (pandemic lit) but I loved it. Lots of dry wit.

I read this about a week ago and I remember enjoying it and really liking the main character, but oddly enough I don‘t remember much about the book. So I give it a thumbs up for being an enjoyable read but it obviously didn‘t leave much of an impression on me. 🤷‍♀️

The wonderful review @batsy posted reminded me to get to this book.Joan is a doctor, she loves her work , but as a single woman, most who know her have better ideas. Her brother thinks she should abandon NYC & have a quiet private practice in the suburbs. Even her neighbor takes it upon himself to upgrade her apartment. Joan can only be Joan a character I found delightful.If Joan were a man , everyone would give him kudos for dedication to career!

If you like more plot based books then this one is not for you. But if you enjoy reading about the thoughts of quirky characters with an insane perception of the world around them, Joan is definitely for you.

I truly enjoyed living inside her mind and seeing the world through her eyes. Her dry wit and commentary was refreshing and enlightening.

Joan, the Chinese-American ICU doctor in her thirties, wonders if the quest for wellness is something like Loch Ness, "a seemingly placid lake with an unknowable monster hiding inside". That astute psychological insight also sums up this novel: an even-tempered narration by its introverted, thoughtful protagonist—probably seen as eccentric by others—that has so much more brewing underneath: identity, gender norms, race relations, work & leisure,

"What was wellness anyway? Was it anything like Loch Ness, like a seemingly placid lake with an unknowable monster hiding inside?"

I love how Wang weaves in the most unexpected images into her seemingly placid prose with an unknowable narrator hiding inside.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ A very similar vein as Wang‘s PEN/Hemingway winning novel Chemistry. Joan‘s dry wit and straight forward demeanor drew me in. Loved “Tickle Me ECMO.” In this short novel, Wang takes on quite a lot: parental loss, family dynamics, cultural and societal demands. Joan is quirky, smart, and relatable. I read this as part of a #bookclub organized by my local indie.

Joan has such a unique voice and experience. I loved her. She and her brother are children of Chinese immigrants, having opportunities never possible for their parents in America. Once the kids reached adulthood, Joan‘s parents returned to China. Now in her mid 30s, Joan is struggling to understand her relationship with her family, her place in society as a single, childless-by-choice doctor, and what it means to be Chinese in America. Very good.

I've begun my #BookerPrize22 reading with Booth and picked up the tagged book during a library browse over the weekend. It's the dark horse of my recent reading. The understated writing, the bitingly dry humor, Joan herself. I'm surprised I haven't seen more talk about it on here.

#dogsoflitsy

Joanna is a workaholic ICU doctor, the daughter of Chinese immigrants who returned to China when she started college. Her life is work, mainly because it's the only place she feels entirely at home. It's hard to explain why I loved this book, but Joanna's unique perspective and distinctive personality made her someone I wanted to spend time with. The book draws to a surprisingly poignant close as the pandemic is just beginning. I already miss it.

Much of any culture can be linked back to eating and food, food and care, eating and language. To eat one's feelings, to eat dust, words... to eat someone else alive.... Chinese isn't any different from English in this way... To eat punishment or get the worst of it, chi kui. And, most important, to eat hardship, suffering, and pain, chi ki, a defining Chinese quality, to be able to bear a great deal without showing a crack.

JANUARY WAS WELLNESS MONTH at the hospital, and HR sent us daily reminders to take time for lunch. ... On a scale of one to ten, what is your level of well? I found the last question confusing. Was ten the well of one? Because for patients there was a similar scale: in every exam room a series of cartoon faces morphed from happy to sad, from one to ten for pain and well on that scale was a one, while ten was exceedingly not.

I told them that the last time I saw my father was in spring. He had been in New York for business.... He bought me a cup of coffee and I was almost done with it when he had to leave and catch his flight. But to China, I rarely went, nor did I consider myself too Chinese.

The moment those words left my mouth, I wondered why I had said them. What was wrong with being too Chinese? Yet it'd always seemed that something was.

I am so overwhelmed. Too many books off hold at the same time and I can‘t seem to focus on any of my current reads. 😩😫

Recommend. I really appreciated Joan‘s inner monologue, even though her perspective is different from mine (and she often feels different from those around her). She is a doctor who is well respected at work for her complete dedication and single mindedness, but outside the hospital those sentiments are not taken well by family and acquaintances. With musings about family, career, loss, and what it means to be Chinese, this short book delivered.

Getting ready to curl up on this rainy Saturday and hopefully do some reading. It‘s been a rough week so I‘m hoping to lose myself in some books. 💗 I made my May #bookspinbingo board which I will post separately. I‘ve got a stack of books because I still don‘t know what I feel like reading, plus a cozy blanket and 2 furry creatures. Wishing all my Litsy friends a restful and replenishing reading session.

4⭐/5⭐

As a divorced empty nester attempting to shed family pressure who used to over-appreciate my job, Joan felt compatible. Especially as she mostly stays in her apartment & I mostly never leave my house.
~
I did leave my house to watch my daughter in an Ultimate tournament this weekend. She wore jersey #14--the same number I mostly wore as a strong-side winger in my rugby days.

This book is an inner dialogue of a socially awkward woman. The writing is sparse and lovely. Wang gets to the point, there is no flourishes in her storytelling but it really works for the characters she dreams up. This is a short read that should not be missed.

Joan is Chinese-American, loves her job, is unmarried and has no children. She‘s quite happy this way, which is hard for many around her to understand. I really loved this. I related to Joan in so many ways.

Joan is a Chinese-American ER doctor who loves her job, maybe too much. But then the death of her father back in China stirs up old memories and complicated feelings about family, success, being an immigrant, and what it means to belong. I loved this book. I loved Joan and her quirky, deadpan observations. She made me laugh out loud and she made me cry. Highly recommend! (Unless you're avoiding pandemic novels.)

Cackled to myself while audiobaking some cookies. This book about a workaholic Chinese American doctor isn't a comedy but her deadpan observations and wry tone are pretty hilarious.

#thisweekinnewbooks and last week, too. Believe it or not I‘ve read more books than I‘ve purchased this month (so far!) This bunch includes my subscription from The Bookshelf Thomasville (tagged book) and The Violin Conspiracy, my pick from the Currently Reading podcast indie press list. Yay Indie Bookstores. (The other two are from Amazon🤪) #MountTBR

I've had Weike Wang on my radar but never read Chemistry. This is her second novel, about Joan, a successful ICU doctor in New York, child of Chinese immigrants who actually moved back to China once Joan and her brother no longer needed them. The story introduces Joan in normal times as a slightly isolated person, but this seems to bother her family and neighbors more than it bothers her. Then covid hits and it changes some of these dynamics.↘️

Joan is a thirtysomething ICU doctor at a busy NYC hospital. The daughter of Chinese parents who came to the United States to secure the American dream for their children, Joan is intensely devoted to her work, happily solitary, successful. She does look up sometimes and wonder where her true roots lie: at the hospital, where her white coat makes her feel needed, or with her family, who try to shape her life by their own cultural expectations.

Starting this one today! It looks interesting! 💕📚💕 #catsoflitsy #littenkitten #rumpel

Joan Is Okay is okay, and that‘s fine. Not a “best book of the year,” but quietly relatable to me.

Joan is a doctor, almost a stereotypical Asian immigrant robot achiever. Her father dies unexpectedly, and she continues to plow ahead working as many shifts as possible in the ICU. When HR makes her take a break, she discovers TV and an adult relationship with her brother, HOWEVER I appreciated that it was a rocky road without a storybook ending.

#NetGalley #DoubleSpin Available JANUARY 11
Joan lives a life of self imposed loneliness. Her workplace,as an ICU doctor is her safe place. When a new neighbor moves in & her mother comes for a visit her life is thrown off kilter.
This book was light but insightful. Unfortunately, it left me underwhelmed but I did appreciate the inclusion of the early days of Covid, not as a gimmick but as a source of authenticity.
#BorrowNotBuy

Throughout the book I had the urge to hug Joan even though I'm sure she would have hated it. Loved the novel.

Joan is a mid-30s Chinese-American ICU doctor. Joan is hyper-focused on her career & doesn't know about things like Seinfeld or interior design. Joan is quite literal & assesses people by how much space they take up. Joan has social anxiety. Joan's older brother is deeply invested in her life choices. Joan's parents returned to Shanghai to live, but her father recently died. Joan has some issues. But you know what? Joan really is Okay. 5 ⭐ 👍

Similar vibes to the author‘s earlier novel, Chemistry. This author is now officially an auto buy for me. #ARC #Netgalley