An incredibly heartwarming story of a precocious 8 year old and the neighbors she brings together in the wake of her grandmother‘s death. I preferred #amancalledove also by #frederikbackman, but they‘re both warm, wonderful reads.

“He holds the receiver in one hand. Is this not what he wanted? His mother has relinquished him, given him to the world of which he‘s longed to be a part. And yet he feels a spike of fear: the filter has been taken off the lens, the safety net ripped from beneath his feet, and he is dizzy with dreadful independence.”

This was one of my favorite books I read in 2017. It uses the fun fact technique of Dept. of Speculation, but it‘s FUNNY, and the topic resonated much more strongly with where I am in life. The story is of a Chinese American PhD candidate who decides to give up her PhD but not her love of chemistry.