Welcome to Litsy!

Nazneen is married off to a man much older than herself at 18 and moved from Bangladesh to London. We see her isolation and culture shock as her life moves forward over about 15 years. This is definitely a slow burn, but ultimately I found it to be a compelling portrait.

I enjoyed this book about Bangladeshi immigrants in London. It had some rough spots to be sure, but overall a good internal novel if you like that sort of thing (and I do.)

I alternated between print and audio and thought this worked well in both formats.

#ReadingAsia #WinterCosy #LittenListen #AVeryMerryReadathon #WrapItUpReadathon #WinterGames #MistletoeManiacs

Well I meant to take a pic of my November #BookSpin and #doublespin but Callie had other ideas

#catsoflitsy #photobomb

@TheAromaofBooks

Read this as part of my 2020 reading challenge, a local author, probably wouldn‘t have picked it up otherwise so I‘m happy to have spread my reading wings. I enjoy the read but found myself reading other books at the same time (unusual for me) and not reading so much before bed. Interesting to read about a different culture within my own, loved the ending, was rooting for that kind of outcome the whole way through 😊

I loved this book and I‘m surprised it has such a low Litsy score. Perhaps it‘s because this is a very internal novel with a lot of character exploration rather than plot. Ali takes us through Nazneen‘s life from her birth in Bangladesh, her arranged marriage and immigration to England and her life there as a wife, mother and eventually active member of her community. It‘s a book about an immigrant experience but also about relationships ⬇️

"Brick Lane" has been on my shelf for years and now I've finished it, I'm underwhelmed and a little disappointed. Despite some good chapters exploring what it's like to move to the UK as an immigrant, it's long and a little tedious at times - 2 stars.

My full review is up on my blog now ?

Just discovered the wonderful, tiny but perfectly formed Brick Lane Books. Managed to stop myself buying Nawal Al Sadaawi‘s autobiography but am kind of already regretting it...

I‘m never as happy as when I find a wonderful, thriving, beautiful independent bookshop. The section nearest the door was called ‘feminism and essays‘.

#kindledeal #kindledeals #ebooksale

Enough is enough: I'm bailing at the halfway mark because I am bored. (When was I last bored by a book? Provoked/confused/annoyed/disappointed, yes, but never bored!) And I wouldn't have got half this far with a print version. I cooked to it, cleaned to it, did some mending to it... all of which is highly appropriate as Nasneen has barely left her flat in all this time. Nor does she have a rich inner life, just sporadic letters from her sister. 😟

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last post about this book and helped me to go on even though I was struggling. This book nearly had me bail on it, it was hard for over half the book and I was frustrated BUT I can't give this anything other than a pick because it is so well done! This is the slowest of slow burns and half the time your not fully aware of exactly how much your being told. It's confined and half know but it's our narrators

Has anyone else read this? I'm getting towards a bailing kind of feeling. This just feels like a slog and I can't really feel anything towards the characters except frustration right now. I'm 100 pages in and I'm asking does it get better when she finally meets the younger man? Does she show some proper personality?

One of my current reads that happens to be a immigrant story for #readingwomenmonth. About a Bangladeshi girl who is married to a much older man and then has to move to England.
@ephemeralwaltz @Andrew65

This book is difficult to pin down. It takes place In London, and the Bangladesh family is Muslim. It tells of the difficulty being different from the white English. They find it‘s hard to not lose their culture. I feel for immigrants. Their lives are not easy ones.

Slogging through this as part of my #PassportReading2018 - I shortened my challenge to 12 books. It‘s good, but and I‘m taking my time. #Bangladesh

Here are five of my #PassportReading challenge for next year.
1. Bangladesh- Brick Lane
2. Vanuatu- Hungry Devils
3. Mexico-Like Water for Chocolate
4. Ecuador- Labyrinth Lost
5. Transnistria- My Siberian Education: Growing up in a Criminal Underworld.

I'm still waiting on 3 books to come in and still looking on a few countries. I might drop my travel from 15 to 12. Seems a little more doable for me.
@steverogers

A total solar eclipse is rare and remarkable to all. But to me, sitting in the shade with a book, watching the man I love skip rocks like a child and being totally overwhelmed with bliss is the most rare and remarkable thing of all. This is a beautiful moment. The sun is disappearing, but I feel full of light.

From what I've seen so far, this quote pretty much shapes the main character's personality. Everything in her life, even her birth, is a passive experience. It's frustrating to read.

It's #TearinUpMyHeart that I walked around Shoreditch and Spitalfields today but only visited one book shop; the one in Brick Lane. And I didn't buy a single book. 🙈🙈🙈🙈

What's wrong with me???

#90sInJuly @Robothugs @Cinfhen

2000 years of London history and a more intimate look at a family adding to the newer history of London. #londoncalling #rockinMay

@Cinfhen

Some sympathetic characters but not much happened and the ending was trite. Some funny writing at the start which sadly fizzled out. Can't see why it got the accolades it received.

Sad story. This character ('cause she's a women) gets raw deal. TBH I'm fed-up with reading about hard-done by female characters. I like books with strong women. I also like books where bad things happen to the men as well as the women. This is another Bookclub book highlighting the poor plight:

Never knew this about harvesting jute.

Such a sad paragraph, esp re: hungry mothers and swell belly children.

So are the machines they use manual? (I e not electric?)