Title: Modern Romance

Author Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg

Published: 2015

Read in :February 2016

What better book to read during the Valentine’s Day deluge than a book about what it’s like being single in today’s iPhone/online world? Aziz Ansari, with the help a lot of help of data scientists a book right up my alley … funny Aziz quips and anecdotes mixed with a lot of data, like legit studies and focus groups and stuff.

If you don’t know much about Aziz defiitely check out his Netflix series “Master of None” where you’ll even see some of the trials and tribulations he writes about in the book come to life. I enjoyed reading through this, the pain and suffering of finding a suitable partner in this day and age, mainly because it is sort of like an archaeological study to me. I somehow managed to bypass all of the match.com/online dating stuff that happened in the late 90s/early 2000s because I met the husband probably right on the cusp of that. Lucky me, eh. Because I’m pretty sure I would have been terrible at it.

I also like that the duo interviewed grandmas and grandpas and they talked about how they met, and then when abroad to different countries. The Tokyo singles scene was most fascinating to me (the government actually subsidizes some singles events in an effort to increase the marriage rate in japan), and makes me wonder if some of the attitudes of young (or even not so young) people there are similar Taiwan, where my relatives live.

So, quick review. Good book if you like data and numbers. Don’t expect a funny book about love and sex by a comedian because this isn’t really it. It’s more textbooky with the added benefit of Aziz’s comedic tendencies within the writing. And food. Not gonna lie, made ramen noodles twice this month, after not having that stuff more than once in the last year. Mmmmm ramen.

Recommended for:  data nerds and non-romantics. Or singles who want to read something and be like “Yes! That’s so true! That totally happened to me!”