alisarae's Reviews (1.65k)

Qazwini provides a respectful account of his adjustment into American culture, giving helpful insights to Shia/Sunni/Wahabbi relations, the disconnect between American culture and religion, and Middle Eastern context to American foreign policies.

I think I would have liked it more if I had listend to the audio version with Mindy reading it to me. She frequently references people, shows, and films that I know nothing about (I have an immunity to pop culture), and it may have been more enjoyable if I knew about those things.

Affirming! I liked that this book included lots of scenarios and role-playing examples for making compromises in an extroverted society. I also liked the chapter about nuturing an introverted child.

I'm nervous about offending a lot of people, but I didn't really enjoy this. I kept pushing on to see how it got better, but it never really did. Perhaps I just had set my expectations too high. I am more interested in dystopian stories that focus on characters feeling the effects of governmental oppression, or that are prophecies of the smaller details of the government. But this is neither.