I didn't like this book very much. It became difficult to read because, once I got through the depressed self-depreciation at the beginning, the rest of the book made me feel very uneasy. Normally, I'm a fan of immersion journalism, but I felt like this one was too long and nothing really happened.

This is my daughter's motto, so I had to read the book. It is a self-deprecating look at a person's attempts to break out of her shell. Reminded me of A.J. Jacobs.

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.

This book details the authors attempts to expand her horizons by spending a year doing extroverted activities such as networking, public speaking, hosting a dinner party. really enjoyed this book from the start as I warmed to the author immediately.

I liked that it focused mainly on personal connections rather than professional ones. The author mentions Quiet by Susan Cain which is a book I read the second time this year. The second time reading, I felt that Quiet talked a lot about work relationships that I just couldn't apply to my own life. In Sorry I'm Late, there is one chapter about networking which was interesting but I wouldn't be interested in any more than this as I have no need for networking in my line of work.

One criticism I have is that she refers to everyone by their first name and I often got confused about who she was talking about. Especially when people have non-distinctive names (Nick, Chris, Mark). This was especially confusing when she had spoken to experts - I think a clearer distinction is needed so the reader knows whether we are hearing a layperson’s opinion or that of an expert who has done research into the field.

It has inspired me to try some new things myself over the next year. Although I wouldn't try all the things she did (such as public speaking), I still found the lessons learned useful for any times I might need some of these skills. For example, I rarely have a need to speak in public in my life but I did have a job interview recently where I had to do a presentation so it's always useful to develop these skills.

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.

From the moment that I started reading the introduction to this book, I was HOOKED. Pan has a uniquely readable voice that is calming, understanding and enjoyably funny. The stories she tells are funny, yet poignant – without feeling even a little bit preachy.

The book tells the story of Jess, the author. She's a shy introvert (also known as a shintrovert). This is the story of how she hit rock bottom, had depression, and how, because she was absolutely terrified of talking to new people, had almost no one in her life that she could hang out with – as friends. Jess had lost her connections to society. So, she decided to do something about it, and what she decided was that she needed to be a little more extroverted in her life. You know, as a science experiment. (PS: I love Jess.)

To be honest, I was crying by page 22 (look, it was an emotional week, I'd just seen Avengers Endgame – I still can't talk about that). I guess I didn't expect to connect with this book so much, but I did. I saw a lot of me in Jess' story.

This book has helped me to verbalise something that I have been realising about myself recently. I am a very good listener. If you talk, I will listen. I will learn your children's (or pet's) names, I will discover where you went for holiday last, and I know either the last movie you watched at the cinema or the book you read. And if you ask me small talk questions, I will answer. But what I am bad at, is that two way exchange. If you come to me for small talk, you need to be prepared to keep the conversation going, because I have forgotten how to ask questions in response.

You see, I've noticed that when my colleagues come up to me on a Monday and ask "How was your weekend?" I'll tell them it was fine. I might have been to the cinema, or finished a book. Maybe I didn't do much at all "A nice, quiet weekend at home." But then it's like my brain goes blank and I forget to ask how their weekend was. I just jump straight into work topics. "How are you going with that report / spreadsheet / presentation? Don't forget it's due on Wednesday. Do you want me to look over an early version?" It's not that I don't care about their weekend – I'm just distracted because I'm in a work setting and I can have work conversations. Personal conversations and small talk elude me more often than not.

Perhaps it's because I've gotten used to speaking into the void, as one does when they spend a lot of time blogging. I've lost that ability to ask questions that I expect to get a response from. Asking questions at the end of my blog posts has always felt a bit weird to me. What if no one reads them? Well, no one will respond. So, instead of putting myself out there, I end my blog posts with a generic "Until next time, happy reading!" where it doesn't matter if people don't write comments. I've stopped putting myself out there in the social media void, and now I can't remember how to do it in real life either.

Despite all this recently discovered self-awareness, this book has some amazing stories in it. I was scared for Jess more often than not (although I was cheering her on as well). I wish I had read this book 5 years ago when we moved 800km away from friends and family. But I'm going to try and apply my newfound knowledge when we move back home in a couple of months. Because maybe I won't click with my old friends any more. Or maybe I'm just ready to try some new experiences – put myself out there, so to speak.

If you're an introvert, or even an extrovert wondering what it's like on the other side, I highly recommend this book. It's funny, well written, considered, and most importantly, brave.

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.