Welcome to Litsy!

(Catching up on my #50in50 reviews!) Gritty, occasionally bleak, well-told story of a man‘s rise from rural poverty to becoming financially successful in “rising Asia.” Hamid uses the conceit of a self-help book to weave his tale.
I like how Hamid tries different styles & techniques in his books. So far, they‘ve all worked for me. 😁

Continuing to use CoVID to finish books! (This is book number 10 since I've been off work ?) Hamid's books are always weird, and this is no exception. Told mostly in 2nd person, this book is "supposed" to be self-help according to the narrator, but it's really just his life story, growing up poor in an Asian country that isn't named, but seems like Pakistan, where Hamid is from. He builds (and loses) a company, and finds, loses, and finds love.?

This has been on my tbr way too long and I absolutely loved it! It‘s rare to read a book in the second person, rarer still to read one that opens every chapter with a musing on the nature of self help books, but this absolutely worked. None of the characters having names gave it a dreamy fairy tale quality even though it was discussing difficult real world stuff - a bit like Milkman. A quick read but very meaningful I absolutely recommend

“Writers and readers seek a solution to the problem that time passes, that those who have gone are gone and those who will go, which is to say every one of us, will go. For there was a moment anything was possible. And there will be a moment when nothing is possible. But in between we can create.

”We are all refugees from our childhoods. And so we turn, among other things, to stories. To write a story, to read a story, is to be a refugee from the state of refugees.”

“We‘re all information, all of us, whether readers or writers, you or I. The DNA 🧬 in our cells, the bio-electric currents in our nerves, the chemical emotions in our brains 🧠, the configurations of atoms within us and of subatomic particles within them, the galaxies and whirling constellations we perceive not only when looking outward, but also when looking in, it‘s all, every last night and byte of it, information. “

”But When you read a book, what you see are black squiggles on pulped wood or, increasingly, dark pixels on a pale screen. To transform these icons into characters and events, you must imagine. And when you imagine, you create. It‘s in being read that a book becomes a book, and in each of a million different readings a book becomes one of a million different books...”

I have a feeling I‘m going to love it 💙

1 | #agameoffavorites

I always enjoy YA author, John Green, and just loved The Fault In Our Stars. Apparently Mr Green loved the tagged book, How to Get Filthy Rich In Rising Asia.

I‘m stacking! I think this may be dangerous for my TBR 💥📚

I snagged a few copies of this book over the weekend! It has come across my radar like 10 times in the past month and then I heard about it again on @annebogel podcast what should I read next so, that was a confirmation it was a must read! 😂

How #WeRise from dirt poor to filthy rich we can learn in this self help parody. Hamid exposes a kind of idealistic cynicism about financial success in 'rising Asia'. He draws a kind of inverse relationship between financial success and the moral depths to which you, the protagonist, must sink in order to gain this success. Not his best book but certainly enjoyable. #Aprella

Picked this up because it came highly highly recommended from a friend! I dont think I would have picked it up just by its title.

Ok fellow Littens, I want to hear your input on this one!!!!!! Ready, Set, Go.....

Newest book mail and dinner!

Kindle deal 🌟 I loved this novel.

Another good read from this author. I read Exit West first and was blown away. This one written before. He just gets better and better. @MrsMalaprop

I can't think of a writer quite like Mohsin Hamid. I've devoured three of his books in the last six months and they're all so different but each one brilliant in its own way. This novel is told in second person and as a self-help book, and the latter is at times a little clunky. But Hamid writes such sharp prose. I laughed at some lines, other times I nearly got chills from the writing. Overall I admired it more than I enjoyed it.

I'm behind on my reading goals for the year and I need to pick up the pace. What better than to pick the shortest books from my TBR shelf? And I really want to read Hamid's Exit West so I had to read this first. This is a good, quick read. Initially, it was a little hard to connect with the unnamed characters, but I ended up caring about how their lives evolved and occasionally intertwined.
Louie AKA the cushion smusher😽 #catsoflitsy

Another great book by Mohdin Hamid. I love how he writes, his subjects (this one is about a poor Pakistani boy's way to the top) and mostly his characters. I'll have to read Exit West soon. Picture: Curacao

Mohsin Hamid is quickly becoming a favorite author. Loved this story of the life of a young man in Pakistan told in the second person in a self-help format. Sounds crazy, I know, but it completely works!!

#sizzlinsummerbooks #TBR

July TBR. Last of the Mount TBR books!!

Book haul from dollar tree yesterday."

I won a Goodreads giveaway! I can't wait to read and review these.

Love it.

Beautiful, heartrending book. Hamid's lyrical prose tells the story of a poor boy in Pakistan who quests for money & love, working for a man selling black market dvds & lusting after a girl he sees on his walks to work. We watch him go through various stages of his life, his business enterprises, relationships, & love interests. We watch him grieve & celebrate. But the whole story is filled with longing & deep love for all its characters. 💧

It's been a week and I'm still stitching bees. 😭😭😭 Settling in with a new audiobook and a giant coffee. Who needs sleep. 🐝🐝

Loving this audiobook so far. Hamid's writing is lyrical and powerful. Also, he narrates it and he has a sexy voice. 👀

#audiobook #booksnbucks #audiostitching

"We are all refugees from our childhoods. And so we turn, among other things, to stories."

Mohsin Hamid again plays with points of view in this book, as it is written, in some places, like a self help book. I believed in the characters and cared for them but at some points the story seemed to get a bit bogged down. There were frequent glimpses of beautiful writing, like the quote above.
3.5/5 ⭐️

#readdiversebooks

#photoadaynov16
#readingcompanion

Strangely, my most trusty reading companion is this dark green velvet pillow. At the moment it's cradling How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia. It's usually somewhat covered in cat hair or food spills but it's always there!

Great book so far, by the way.

@RealLifeReading

Just picked these up at my library book sale. Got in the car to take a pic and while I was doing that, the book I was listening to ended. Now which one?!

Such a unique and innovative book...and I sobbed the last 10 pages. Beautiful.