Hey y’all! In contrast to Throwback Thursday, I like to use Fridays to look forward to an upcoming release that I’m excited about! Today’s is She’s Nice Though by Mia Mercado!
Expected Release: August 30, 2022
Why wait on this one?
- This is a collection of essays and musings on societal expectations and stereotypes, which is always something that fascinates me. The social science behind decisions is often such a web to untangle, and I love going on that journey with someone. The blurb highlights a focus on Asians, Midwesterners, and women and some common ones that come to them: being “nice” in particular.
- And you know what? I bet it’ll be funny. I bet I will half the time be cackling and the other half be thoughtfully tilting my head. If I’m really lucky, there’s be a bit of both at once.
- The author’s other work, Weird but Normal, also sounds like something I’d like. That gives me a lot of hope that if I like one, I’ll like the other, and then potentially have two great books to add to my list! Humorous and personally introspective nonfiction is some of my favorite. Also as a side thing, to be 100% honest, the bright yellow cover absolutely makes me like it more, PLUS the cover format of title-on-cake looks like Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come by Jessica Pan which I LOVED.
Summary
And, at the center of it all, am I actually nice or am I just performing a role I think I’m expected to play?”
Mia Mercado is a razor-sharp cultural critic and essayist known for her witty and hilarious dissections of the uncomfortable truths that rule our lives. In this thought-provoking collection of new essays, Mercado examines what it means to be “polite,” “agreeable,” and “nice.” She covers topics from the subtleties of the “Bad Bitch” and why women dominate the ASMR market, to what makes her dog an adorable little freak and how you know if you’re shy. This is a book about the unspoken trick mirror of our “good” intentions: the inherent performance of the social media apology, celebrating men when they do the bare minimum, and why we trust a Midwesterner to watch our stuff when we go pee.
Throughout, she ponders her identity as an Asian woman and asks what “nice” even means–and why anyone would want to be it. With writing that is as precise as it is profound, and cultural references that range from trash reality television to the New York Times Sunday-morning crossword puzzle, Mercado uncovers weird, long-overdue truths about our frailties and failings. In the end, she sees them not as a source of shame but as a cause for celebration. Filled with revelations that range from the silly to the serious,
She’s Nice Though offers a mind-bending glimpse into the illusions and delusions of contemporary life–and reveals who we *really* are when no one is watching.
My Book Joy 
Oh man, this sounds good. I want to eat the cake on the cover, though. (I just want cake.)
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