I think I often like stories where it's not entirely clear who the "main character" is. I think I also like stories that acknowledge their own imperfections, and keep going anyways. I really enjoyed this book, even if it made me feel pretty sad.
This book makes me want to stop separating work and life so much. It makes me want to read Shakespeare, and read Douglas Hofstadter, and play video games, and maybe try making a tiny simple video game. And mostly it makes me want to actually go out and do this stuff, and work with other people on the things they want to make, instead of making notes about it.