This is the EXACTLY the book I needed.

I don't think I have ever written a book, but reading this one makes me think I have. I too am a 30 something, shy, introverted, small town Texas girl who has no idea how to have a conversation (that doesn't involve ghosts or dogs) or make friends. I'm not Chinese, Aries or named Jessica (Pan) but I would have been if my cousin hadn't been born first, forcing my Mom to "get creative" and name me Jennifer (Ann) instead. The title of this book caught my attention, because SAME, but I had no idea just how relatable it was going to be! There were SO many times I caught myself nodding along enthusiastically or cringing at how awful some of these experiences she was forcing herself to have were, and just laughing out loud. Literally. I have finished this book inspired to go on an extrovert journey of my own - not today - but maybe someday soon I will be as brave as Jessica is.

I love immersion journalism, and Pan's yearlong experiment to push herself outside of her comfort zone was an enjoyable and inspiring read. She was not claiming anything is wrong with introversion, but she personally wanted to feel less shy. I admired her bravery in trying to (and scary!) things, and I enjoyed her humorous writing.

I haven't finished a book this quickly for a while. I started and finished it within a day. The writing is conversational and reading it feels like you're hearing a friend talk. The book is grounded by cultural references that made me relate to the author a lot. I could feel the anxiety and the fears of doing all those extroverted things as an introvert, but the accounts also are very inspiring. Jessica doesn't sugarcoat the bad stuff, you get to see the embarrassing moments just as truthfully as the exciting ones.

There's just one thing that kept me from giving it five stars. On her extroversion journey, she meets a lot of people, but I found it hard to keep track of them. Unless her connection to them is described again, I found myself mixing them up even though it wasn't so long ago that I had read about their first meeting. But that's just a minor nitpick I have with the book and even when I'm not sure who Jessica is interacting with, it's an interaction that is delightful to read about nevertheless.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

As an introvert who has to step outside of my comfort zone for various job duties, I was interested in the premise of this book and another person’s take on these challenges.

I was amused with some of the stories and it had a solid start. However, it seemed to get repetitive and lost my interest mid way through.

Interesting experiment!

A funny and charming account of how shy introvert Jessica Pan spent one year living as an extrovert. This is an easy read as Jessica has the ability to carry you along in her story. You feel as if you are there with her when she climbs on stage and attends networking events to get over her fears. As a fellow introvert (although maybe not to the same extent as Jessica), I really enjoyed learning the mechanics behind how she overcame her anxiety and worries.

I would love to read this book. Unfortunately, I cannot download the file. NetGalley has tried to assist but to no avail. Please have this book removed from my shelf. Thanks so much for your assistance.

The beginning of the book really annoyed me. Introversion =/= social anxiety and I think it’s really important not to mix the two do these things together. Many of her social experiments seemed more to do with her shyness and social anxiety than her introversion. Now that being said. I love that the bulk of her social experiments are all things i've seriously considered doing from Bumble BFF to public speaking. I enjoyed the evidence and research she put behind what she did and how she reached out to different experts to help her out. There were many factoids that I am able to bring into my own person life (did you know it takes 5-8 encounters/hours for someone feel like they are a “friend”?). I enjoyed this a lot and would recommend this to fellow introverts.

I think this book will be relatable to people beyond whether they consider themselves to be introverts. The author does a great job of conveying her struggles with being both shy and introverted (a "shintrovert," she calls it), while at the same time framing it as a personal journey and not a reflection on the many introverted people who are living happy and well-balanced lives. So this book is about getting out of our comfort zones, and growing, and being flexible rather than letting a label predetermine us. It was insightful and courageous, with funny and witty writing. I enjoyed it, and think I would love it as an audiobook!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I tried on different devices to access the book but am unable to. I also tried to follow the directions on how to do so as well. Other reviews seemed to really enjoy this book, so I am disappointed that I wasn't able to read it. The description sounded hysterical and something I could relate too!

See previous notes. I was unable to access the download of this book, and thus cannot give it a review.

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come
One Introvert's Year of Saying Yes
by Jessica Pan
This is a book I requested from NetGalley and the review is voluntary.
This is a witty and clever book that I enjoyed reading. I can say relate to some of it. It has humor and is a good feeling book. I did find she repeated herself a lot. Worth the read.

A self-proclaimed "shintrovert" (shy introvert), Jessica is living in London with her husband and feeling lonely now that all of her good friends moved away. She decides to try to live more like an extrovert for a year to see if she can find new good friends. She tries things like talking to strangers, public speaking, an improv class, and hosting a dinner party.

I enjoyed hearing her research and experiences. Some of them made my heart rate increase as some of her activities are high in my avoidance radar. An encouraging, entertaining, and inspiring read for this introvert who has felt lonely at different times to be brave and put myself out there when needed.

This is a bit of a difficult one to rate as in some ways I very much enjoyed it but I do think it could be problematic for some readers. Pan has a wonderful writing style, it's very easy to relate to her and her experiences and there are a lot of funny anecdotes but I think this should definitely be read as a fun experiment with some useful tips.

I was tempted by this book as I very definitively fit into the introvert category and know how easy it is to fall into the trap of hiding away from the world, turning down invitations and missing out on opportunities. I also believe you shouldn't accept this and should try to put yourself out there a bit more. However, as someone who also suffers from anxiety and panic attacks I think you also need to know when to push yourself and when to practice a bit of self care and I'm not sure this book makes the distinction.

I think it's a fantastic idea, committing to spending a year trying to live more like an extrovert, and I have to say well done to the author for doing it. It seems like she got a lot out of it and really grew from the experience. I also loved the advice she gets from various experts on how to overcome certain challenges (talking to strangers, networking etc) and the way she works lots of facts and statistics into the narrative without bogging it down. I definitely think I'll be trying some of the tips and tricks.

I do however think it overlooks a lot of the mental health aspects or glosses over them. There are some references to anxiety and at one point she contemplates using beta blockers to overcome her fear but dismisses this as a cheat which I'm not sure is the right message to be giving. Being an introvert can sometimes go hand in hand with mental health issues and in my view this book should be making the distinction between the two and making it much clearer that it's ok to ask for help (and take the drugs if you need them).

Overall therefore I think this is a pretty great read as long as you recognise it as a series of fun anecdotes on the author's experiment and not any kind of serious advice.

This is a book that any introvert can relate to! I enjoyed the light hearted writing style. I'm not a big memoir or confessional reader but I picked this one up based on the premise. I'm an introvert and the idea of saying yes and faking extrovertism sounded so terrifying! I think this could have easily been a series of blog posts or a shorter book. But still a recommended read.

Easily one of my favorite books of 2019. Following along Jessica’s year of being an “extrovert,” I felt her pain, excitement, and accomplishments. As an introvert myself it was easy to understand her and feel triumph at all she accomplished in a year. A few great tips and practices I’ll integrate into my life. Thanks for a great read, Jessica!

I really liked the concept of this book (an introvert trying to be an extrovert for a year), but this one fell a little short for me. It was just too long and it wasn't as interesting as I thought it was going to be. I think that the audiobook version would be a lot better (provided the narrator is good). It just seems like a book that is better heard than read by yourself.

Being mainly a fiction reader, I branched out when choosing this book. I am so glad I did! Also being an introvert, it was nice to read this kind of material. I loved it.

As an introvert (who pretends to be an extrovert), I can relate to this book. Introverts RSVP yes to parties that they don't actually want to go to and bail at the last moment to watch Netflix. We can relate to Jessica. But then as you get older, how do you make new friends if you are staying home? You say "yes" and actually do them. This book shows all of us that we should also keep plans to make new friends, and become more confident in meeting new people like Jessica. This was a funny, super relatable story that every introvert needs to read to understand how to better them selves. And for every extrovert to read to better understand their "flaky" friends.

I wanted to immediately give this book to several people as I was reading this laugh out loud memoir by a 30ish “shintrovert” (shy introvert) who decides to undertake a year long experiment being more like an extrovert. It was such a refreshing lesson on connecting with other humans face to face, even when it means having to deal with intimidating strangers in unfamiliar surroundings. Jessica Pan is an American transplant in England. Feeling friendless (aside from her husband), she subjects herself to stomachache inducing ventures that start with talking to random people on the train and advance quickly to doing stand up comedy at The Fringe. Her goal with each experience is to make deep, meaningful connections - to get past small talk and surface friendships. It’s a nerve wracking but ultimately highly rewarding year. As a journalist who lived abroad, travelled and even did a (what she described as failed) stint on TV, I think her introverted nature certainly didn’t stop her from being pretty adventurous. Her willingness to put herself out there in various painful ways is really inspiring. And, she survived! Even had fun! Although I would draw the line at doing a joke monologue on stage, based on how funny she is on paper, I think she obviously had something in her that would make improv and stand up viable challenges. At a minimum, I found myself at a reception recently where I thought to myself, “what would Jessica do?” and made more of an effort to talk to new people. That’s a start!

As an introvert, I found this book to be so relatable. I loved that I could see myself in the scenarios as well as be inspired by the author and her stories. Too much fun! Anyone could benefit from reading it.