Hello to the start of something new! :) Starting a series of book related posts on this blog has been a long time coming and something I wanted to do for a very long time. In the early days of this blog, I shared this book post, but never continued because I wasn’t reading enough and also because at the time, I felt like it did not match the content I wanted to share here. What I did instead was create a bookstagram with my sister and shared snippets of bookish updates separately!

Last year, I made significant progress on my reading, which I’m very happy about and this year, have continued to make it a priority. :) In this digital age, I do find it harder to carve out the time to read but appreciate the benefits and enjoyment of reading more than ever.

With that, I’m excited to start “City Girl Reads” – a series of book posts sharing my personal favourite book recommendations! I read a lot of fiction, mystery and classics when I was growing up and in recent years, transitioned to a lot more non-fiction. I particularly enjoy topics on different cities, people and cultures, travel, history and memoirs. The title “City Girl Reads”, other than being a link to my blog’s name, is also referring to books that I think (hope!) may be enjoyed by other city girls. So here we go with #1 and if you have a good book recommendation, please leave a comment and share it with me too! :)

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City Girl Reads #1 – Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come
by Jessica Pan

Genres: Memoir, Society & Culture
Year: 2019

Let me start by saying that I am a fan of Jessica Pan’s writing. If you clicked my old book post from 2015 above, you might have noticed that I included Jessica Pan’s first book (co-authored with Rachel Kapelke-Dale) Graduates in Wonderland, which I read when I graduated from university!

Her second book is a funny and thoughtful memoir that documents a year of her life trying to live as an extrovert. I find discussion on personality types very interesting and I really enjoyed this relatable and fun take on the topic!

The book is about Jess, who is a “shy introvert” trying various activities and challenging herself to extrovert for a year, then documents her entire experience. I loved reading about her year, the people she meets and the mentors she talks to! The book is hilarious, the writing feels like listening to a relatable friend and honestly, I found the taking on of these adventures incredibly brave. I mean, it really does take something to get out of our comfort zones!

Introvert, extrovert, ambivert – whichever you are, I recommend this book for you. :)

Every place I’ve ever loved, like Beijing or Melbourne, I’ve known intimately. I’ve seen travel and adventure through the eyes of my most extroverted friends for so many years that I’ve stopped thinking about what really matters to me, what I actually enjoyed about visiting new places. I like slow travel. I like exploring an entire city or village for a week and then picking my favourite spots and walks to do again so that they feel like mine. I like recognizing local characters, like the old man in Beijing who took his birds to the park or the guy in Sydney who walked his goats.

Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come by Jessica Pan

Bookish Links
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– Add this book to Goodreads
– Author’s website

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