How to B - by Virginia Loo (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When an uber-competent Hawaiʻi-based globe-trotting epidemiologist decides that she wants a child and no partner is on the horizon, she embarks on a long, strange trip through the byzantine maze of finding a donor, resorting to IVF and trying not to be the "weird kid" in her birthing class. Mistaking childbirth for the hard part, she finds herself in the exhausting, anxious world of the single mother, living at home for the first year and quasi co-parenting with her Chinese mom. Witty, honest, and laugh-out-loud hilarious, this memoir is for everyone who ever had a baby - or thought about it.

From the book: "Someone with no tact might point out what is already obvious to you, that you're not in a relationship, that your clock is ticking, and it looks like it's not going to happen. Someone judge-y might say, 'well you're not really serious because you're not putting all your effort into making it happen.' Another person might tell you not to worry about things you don't have control over, just accept your fate, but secretly tell others that the situation is really very sad. All of these people could be your mother."

Review Quotes

"How to B is a buoyant, unflinching memoir about the journey to becoming a single mother and all the impossible math and gymnastics - physical, mental, and social - it entails. Rich in humor and humanity, Loo's voice is indelible."

-Becky Cooper, best-selling author of We Keep the Dead Close

"Virginia Loo's wonderful tale of how she became a mother is an addictive read. Original, honest, unexpected, and funny, she draws the reader into her baby obsession from the very first paragraph. A charming and unforgettable story."

-Esther Cohen, author of All of Us