I love a book when I can imagine someone telling me the story, and I could hear Tan in my head reading this to me as if we were having a conversation - inflection and all. Sure, it may be a little disjointed as other readers have said, but it didn‘t take away from learning more about Tan, for me, and that‘s really why I picked up the book. Overall, nice easy read, two laugh out loud moments, and learned some QE behind the scenes tidbits.

Dodie was only a passerby in the background of vloggers I used to watch. Last year I started listening to her music, so when I saw the book at the library I picked it up. It was an enjoyable read. I‘d say more for an older teen/early 20 audience, but it brought me back to that time when I was growing up watching other YouTubers. Her struggles were different, but relatable to mine at that age, and it‘s alway nice to read you‘re not alone.

Interesting story. Not sure I would have picked it up if not for book club. Really enjoyed the writing. I thought we got a pretty good picture of the two main characters. Though Ingrid wasn‘t my favorite, her letters were probably the best parts of the book.

This was a book club read. Not my favorite. The first two chapters were ok, but that was about it. Halfway through the book the Christian vibe got stronger. It read like a very long blog post, which made sense after learning that‘s the author‘s job. Most of the chapters were like reading the blog before the recipe - get to the punchline. I wanted to give it a so-so because it definitely could have been worse, but it just wasn‘t applicable to me.

If you enjoyed the twitter feed, you‘ll probably enjoy this book. Each chapter has anecdotes surrounding some of the quips from dad. Light reading, heavy profanity, loving father/son relationship.

I loved this book!! I thought it was so fun. The writing style is pretty conversational, but pretty much like reading a very long psych article. It‘s reading about everyone‘s expert topic: yourself. It gives you a few new lens to look through. And if nothing else from this book, I took away a huge interest in the comedy show Mortified and can‘t wait to attend a show! I‘m already halfway through the show‘s podcast!

Not sure I would have picked this up if it wasn‘t a book club read. I ended up enjoying it more than I though I would. It took a couple days for me to like the ending, but I feel like it‘s actually one of the more hopeful apocalyptic books I‘ve read in a while. Not an all time favorite, but recommendable.

I enjoyed this book. I left it feeling like I had a better idea of how school systems and individual schools work and where and why they have their weaknesses, which fits for the title. I‘ve felt the need for systemic changes in schools and I feel like this book helped bring a few more specifics into my conversation.

Got a little over excited at the library! Probably most looking forward to The Uninhabitable Earth from today‘s #libraryhaul

Right from the start I was put off by the somewhat simplistic writing style for one of the main characters. I didn‘t find any of the characters that likable - Hassan, the guard, probably more than anyone. I mostly enjoyed the smaller details that were included that rang extremely true from having had similar travel or military spouse related experiences. On a tangible note, I loved the size of the hardcover edition I checked out from the library!

I liked his writing style. Overall enjoyable and easy read since it‘s broken up into short point of view chapters. Didn‘t realize it was first of a series. It helped having read another American Chinese novel, and even one with American Korean characters, prior to this one to better pick up on some more subtle culture differences not explicitly explained.