Book 1 Post 2

For our first book assignment, I chose to read American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures by actress America Ferrera. Reading is extremely difficult for me due to my poor attention span and busy schedule, but American Like Me drew me in with its unique structure and overall theme of balancing family values and traditions with American culture. The book is a vibrant collection of first-person stories from some of the most popular public figures in the world, including Lin-Manuel Miranda and Liza Koshy. Knowing that this book was a collection of stories, rather than one long, drawn-out narrative that would’ve taken too many chapters to become “interesting enough,” was honestly what compelled me to read it. If a short story wasn’t well-written or just didn’t capture my interest, I could skip over it entirely without missing anything from an overarching storyline—since there wasn’t one. It’s like watching an anthology series similar to American Horror Story or The Twilight Zone; you don’t have to watch the seasons or episodes in order to enjoy the storytelling. If you struggle with committing to books, you should definitely add American Like Me to your To Be Read list.

I found myself reading this book in chunks of about four or five stories at a time, with some being shorter than others. The reading level of these stories wasn’t difficult at all, especially since many of the celebrities and public figures wrote in a casual, conversational tone. American Like Me focuses on first-hand experiences with American culture, growing up between cultures, and exploring individuality. Stories like those by Reshma Saujani and Jenny Zhang particularly resonated with me as they reflected my own first-generation experience. From not being able to find your name on a keychain to feeling embarrassed about visiting our community temple, there were countless stories and anecdotes that mirrored my personal life experiences in a humorous yet sincere way. One of my favorite stories to read was one by Al Madrigal because of his hilarious storytelling and writing style. I loved how he structured his storytelling with subtitles, almost like a roadmap or checklist, when discussing his father’s key tips for bargaining. When reading this portion of the text, I immediately thought back to our lecture on writing techniques and how to format our ideas, and I was pleasantly surprised. 

There weren’t many cons or unpleasant aspects of this book. As I previously mentioned, if a story sucks, you could just skip it–no worries at all. I didn’t skip many, but I did notice that I tended to skim past the shorter ones, like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s, which was only about two pages long. These brief stories felt lacking in substance, more like short conversations that didn’t explore the bigger picture. I also found myself pausing in some stories due to their writing style, particularly their vocabulary and sentence structure. Since many contributors wrote as they spoke, there were a lot of run-on sentences and niche slang that lacked proper context or definition. It often took me longer to Google certain slang terms than to read the paragraphs they were in, so I’d rather spend that time reading something more engaging and easier to understand. Overall, I’d rate American Like Me a solid 8.75/10. The great stories outweighed the less engaging ones, each story was quick to read, and I appreciated how each chapter brought a fresh, unique narrative. At only $11.39 on Amazon, this book offers a lot of value for its price. Whether you’re looking for a good laugh or something more emotional—yes, I did cry while reading some stories—American Like Me is a terrific read.