I loved this book. Not only did it keep me in stitches, it also brought back so many memories of the 80s pop culture. You certainly do not have to be Asian to connect to the characters. We all have had crushes, feeling not belonging in school, ashamed or embarrassed live the 80s a little!

Having enjoyed Ms. Lockwood's other novels, I was eagerly awaiting this one but sadly it was not as good as I'd hoped. The plot is cute enough - half Asian/half white girl returns to the South for the wedding of her cousin to her former schoolgirl crush and ends up falling in love with her "date" on the way down and finally coming to terms with her heritage and family's quirky ways.

The writing flows well, as it does in her other books, but for some reason this book didn't resonate well with me. It wasn't super funny, nor was it super serious, nor super-deep but did touch lightly upon a number of issues. At times, it felt like the love story was just thrown in because a love story seemed necessary - I think it could have worked just as well, if not better, without it.

So I'd recommend this book if you're looking for some light one-time reading or if you really loved the eighties (every other chapter is an 80's flashback), but if this is your first experience with a Cara Lockwood book, I'd recommend "Pink Slip Party," the cutest and funniest one yet.

I'm now looking forward to her next book, which hopefully I'll enjoy as much as her first two.

While "Dixieland Sushi" is not deep or serious, I really enjoyed it and thought it explored some issues that are not typically touched upon in chick lit.

The story follows 28-year-old Jen, the child of a Japanese woman and an blond Arkansan nicknamed Bubba who has a "room of death" filled with fish that he caught, etc. One of the fish is called "Bud" because he caught it with a can of beer.

Jen's beauty-queen cousin, Lucy (on the Caucasian side of the family) is marrying Jen's childhood crush. The story is told through a series of flashbacks that bring the reader back to the roller-skating birthday parties and Valentine's Day in the classroom of Jen's childhood, when she carefully selected a Garfield valentine for her crush, only to watch him throw it away.

Back in the present, Jen has a demanding job as a TV producer with an irascible boss and crazy news anchors whom she has to keep in line. The irrepressible Riley, a British co-worker whom she thinks of as "Colins" (because of his resemblance to both Colin Farrell and Colin Firth), is a great love interest. But when Jen sees her crush again, what will happen?

I thought this story was great because it was laugh-out-loud funny and also delved into growing up in the '80s in Arkansas as a biracial teenager. Identity issues continue to rear their head even when Jen is an adult. For example, one guy with whom she had no sparks is suddenly interested in another date when he finds out she's half-Japanese. She concludes he has the AO blood type (Asian Obsessed).

Definitely worth reading.