Happy for You by Claire Stanford

HAPPY FOR YOU by Claire Stanford is a novel that made me smile (I loved the repeated references to the third-most-popular-internet company), but also this debut text made me sigh as the pace was rather slow. True to form, the main character, a young woman named Evelyn Kominsky Kumamoto, is very introspective; even noting at one point: “How was it possible that I knew so much about how to think, but so little about what to do?” She struggles to understand and cope with Silicon Valley norms while working with colleagues on a research project to define and promote happiness. Also, Stanford deftly captures Evelyn’s inability to commit when grappling with unclear feelings in her personal life with boyfriend Jamie and with her widowed father who has found a new companion after almost twenty years. The many incidents where Evelyn reflects on what it means to be bi-racial were often more perceptive than her comments on happiness. HAPPY FOR YOU may be worth a look, particularly if you enjoyed recommended titles like Joan is Okay by Weike Wang, Sourdough by Robin Sloan, or Goodbye Vitamin by Rachel Khong.