"What [Nylon Road] really reveals is how little the two cultures really know about each other, let alone being able to understand and sympathize with each other.  It’s an eye-opening book, particularly in the treatment of women in Iran . . . But while portraying these events from her past, Bashi also speaks up about ways in which Europeans or Americans are insensitive or unfair . . . The book is worth reading, if for no other reason than that there’s very little like this, and it takes guts to describe a difficult life with such honesty and candor. If everyone had access to more books like Nylon Road, then perhaps we would have an easier time taking somebody else’s perspective into account."—Jonathan Liu, Wired

"Honolulu is meticulously researched . . . [Brennert] intersperses cultural details—song lyrics, movies, popular books from the era—that add textured authenticity, and he incorporates major historic events . . . Brennert portrays the Aloha State's history as complicated and dynamic—not simply a melting pot, but a Hawaiian-style 'mixed plate' in which, as [protagonist] Jin sagely notes, 'many different tastes share the plate, but none of them loses its individual flavor, and together they make up a uniquely "local" cuisine.'"—Krista Walton, The Washington Post