Home Feed
Home
Search
Search
Add Review, Blurb, Quote
Add
Activity
Activity
Profile
Profile
My Friends
My Friends: From the Pulitzer-prize winning author of THE RETURN | Hisham Matar
26 posts | 14 read | 25 to read
An intensely moving novel about three friends living in political exile and the emotional homeland that deep friendships can provide - from the Booker-shortlisted, Pulitzer prize-winning author of THE RETURN Khaled and Mustafa meet at university in Edinburgh: two Libyan eighteen-year-olds expecting to return home after their studies. In a moment of recklessness and courage, they travel to London to join a demonstration in front of the Libyan embassy. When government officials open fire on protestors in broad daylight, both friends are wounded, and their lives forever changed. Over the years that follow, Khaled, Mustafa and their friend Hosam, a writer, are bound together by their shared history. If friendship is a space to inhabit, theirs becomes small and inhospitable when a revolution in Libya forces them to choose between the lives they have created in London and the lives they left behind. 'MY FRIENDS is a brilliant novel about innocence and experience, about friendship, family and exile. It makes clear, once more, that Hisham Matar is a supremely talented novelist.' COLM TOIBIN 'I have always admired Matar's tender and compassionate but equally strong and compelling voice' ELIF SHAFAK 'It is impossible to describe the profound depth and beauty of this book. MY FRIENDS is a breathtaking novel, every page a miracle and an affirmation. Hisham is one of our greatest writers, how lucky we are to be in his midst.' MAAZA MENGISTE, author of THE SHADOW KING
Amazon Indiebound Barnes and Noble WorldCat Goodreads LibraryThing
Pick icon
100%
quote
Leniverse

'At first I thought, to be a parent you have to be an idealist. Then I learnt that to be a parent is to be continually coming up against everything that is not ideal about you.'

Suet624 So true. 4w
23 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Jas16
post image
Pickpick

I see now why so many people thought this was a sure bet for the Booker shortlist. This is the story of a man exiled from his homeland of Libya and living in London and his two closest friends who both share his experience but also show how uniquely alone they are all too. It was a slower, more meandering tale and let me so gently immerse myself in Khalid‘s story that I was surprised to look up and realize how deeply entrenched I was. So good.

44 likes2 stack adds
review
NovelNancyM
post image
Pickpick

This is a beautifully written book about Khaled and his two Libyan friends Hosam and Mustafa. Khaled is exiled in London from Libya due to political unrest. The story spans around 40 years and goes all the way to the Arab Spring. Writing, reading and language are a significant part of this story too. Long listed for the 2024 Booker Prize. Highly recommend!

review
Suet624
post image
Pickpick

I enjoyed this so much. I actually went back to the beginning to read how Matar introduced us to the story. I haven‘t read a book in a while that covers the experience of being exiled from your homeland with such melancholy and confusion. I definitely haven‘t read a book about Libya and the Arab Spring. I miss Khalid, the main character, already. #bookerlonglist

JamieArc I really enjoyed this one too. There was just something lovely and pure about the male relationships that we don‘t always get to read about. 2mo
BarbaraBB Wonderful review. I had such a good time with it too. He‘s such a kind character 2mo
Suet624 @JamieArc you‘re right! I kept trying to put my finger on what was different about it and I think you‘ve explained it. 2mo
Suet624 @BarbaraBB 💕💕 2mo
50 likes3 stack adds4 comments
blurb
Leniverse
post image

My hold for My Friends finally came in. I've waited months! But I can't read it yet because the other two are due back. 😣

Actually, I'm sure both of them are great too, so what am I complaining about? 😂

#BookwormProblems

quote
Suet624
post image

In the library…”I would close my eyes and walk along one aisle with the tips of my fingers tracing the spines. Wherever I stopped, that book was my fate…”

Hold the phone!! I‘ve been doing this for years. I started when I was really sick with Lyme 10 years ago and could not make decisions so this was the way I decided what book to read at the library.

BarbaraBB I envy that. I am such a control freak I shouldn‘t be able to read a book I know nothing about and/or wasn‘t recommended to me 🤦🏻‍♀️😂 2mo
Suet624 @BarbaraBB well that was before Litsy. Now I‘m consumed and driven by Litsy suggestions. Plus I‘m not deathly ill with very little mental capacity. 😳 2mo
BarbaraBB Fortunately not 😇❤️❤️ 2mo
41 likes3 comments
review
ClairesReads
post image
Pickpick

Ah yes, finally a Booker Banger. Initially I thought My Friends might just be a story about friendship set against a political backdrop, but quickly it proved to be much more. Its consideration of the relationship between people and place, and the concept of home is really thoughtfully executed. this novel really excels in its unpacking of how we seek to mediate a world that can be cruel or inhospitable, and leave us feeling isolated or at sea.

BarbaraBB So well said! Wonderful review 2mo
Deblovestoread Fantastic review! 2mo
squirrelbrain Great review! ❤️ 2mo
See All 6 Comments
Cathythoughts Great review! I have this one waiting. 👍🏻❤️ 2mo
Suet624 Great review!! 2mo
ClairesReads @Suet624 @Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain @Deblovestoread @BarbaraBB thank you! Can‘t believe this didn‘t get shortlisted! 2mo
38 likes2 stack adds6 comments
review
JenP
post image
Pickpick

Our panel had mixed reviews for this one but I quite liked it. An interesting exploration of friendship, belonging and identify in exile. It was well-written and finally a book with a. plot #booker2024

Our panel reviewed it here: https://thereadersroom.org/2024/08/31/2024-booker-longlist-my-friends-by-hisham-...

BarbaraBB I enjoyed it a lot. Definitely shortlist worthy! 2mo
squirrelbrain Yes, on my shortlist too! 2mo
33 likes2 comments
blurb
Graywacke
post image

My August, according to Bookly. I‘m pretty sure that 74 hours is the most I‘ve ever read in a single month. I could blame the Booker longlist, or credit Rilke, who seemed to encourage me to read more. Good books, but oddly no great ones for me.

TheSpineView Wow! Great job! 2mo
34 likes1 comment
blurb
BarbaraBB
post image

#WeeklyFavorites

My favorite book this week is the tagged one, a very good read about living in exile and the Arab Spring in Libya.

However when I look back at these four I think my favorite of the month is The Safekeep (De bewaring in Dutch) or Cherry Blossoms, which takes me back to Japan immediately.

sarahbarnes I‘m excited to read The Safekeep! 2mo
BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes I keep repeating myself but again I think you‘ll love it 2mo
Read4life Excellent. I added The Safekeep to my TBR. 2mo
BarbaraBB @Read4life Please do! 2mo
50 likes4 comments
review
BarbaraBB
post image
Pickpick

#Booker 8/13

Like @Graywacke described it: this book is gentle. And so moving. It‘s the story of Khaled, a Libyan boy who went to the UK to study and then can‘t return to his motherland. He has his friends, sure, but he keeps feeling displaced. It‘s fragile, a life in exile.

sarahbarnes Beautiful review. This one is on my list. 2mo
JamieArc I finished this one this morning and really loved it. Thinking about my review before I post it… 2mo
squirrelbrain Lovely review! ❤️ 2mo
See All 8 Comments
AnneCecilie I loved this and love your review 2mo
Deblovestoread Wonderful review! 💜 2mo
Graywacke I‘m so glad you enjoyed it 2mo
rmaclean4 I am so looking forward to this one! 2mo
BarbaraBB @rmaclean4 I hope and I think you‘ll enjoy it too. 2mo
79 likes2 stack adds8 comments
quote
charl08
post image

'Stopping every twenty feet or so, to contemplate going back. To do what, I didn't know,' he said. 'But it was so mad to keep on going as if nothing had happened. And everything around me insisted that nothing had happened. The shops were open, people utterly oblivious, as though what I just witnessed was an event that occurred only in my mind. Yes,' he said, 'that's why I wanted to return. It was the opposite of madness.

#Booker24 Image via BBC

37 likes1 stack add
quote
charl08
post image

'....Like Montaigne, you believe that the very presence of books in your room cultivates you, that books are not only to be read but to be lived with.'

blurb
BarbaraBB
post image

#WhereAreYouMonday

Today I am moving between London and Libya, just like the narrators of this very promising book (I just started).

Please share your #armchairtraveling 🤍

JamieArc You get to go to some interesting places in this book 😊 2mo
BarbaraBB @JamieArc Can‘t wait! 2mo
Suet624 Was just trying to find Scott on Litsy. @vivastory. Have you heard whether he left Litsy? 2mo
See All 13 Comments
BarbaraBB @Suet624 No? What‘s happened ? I can‘t find him either. He can‘t just have left, can he?? 2mo
Suet624 He doesn‘t have any posts on IG now either. 😳 I‘m concerned. 2mo
BarbaraBB @Suet624 Me too. He was here posting just yesterday? 2mo
Suet624 Didn‘t know if you had his email. So weird. 2mo
BarbaraBB @Suet624 I do have his email and I just sent him a DM on Instagram (I notice he‘s been active there today). I can‘t imagine he‘d leave Litsy just like that 2mo
BarbaraBB @Suet624 If he doesn‘t reply to that DM I‘ll email him tomorrow. I am almost sure I have his email and I really can‘t believe he would leave Litsy just like that. 2mo
Suet624 I agree. It‘s so unexpected. 2mo
BarbaraBB @Suet624 I can email you his email address if you want? 2mo
Suet624 @BarbaraBB sure. You didn‘t hear back? 2mo
BarbaraBB @Suet624 I emailed you 😘 2mo
48 likes13 comments
review
Graywacke
post image
Pickpick

Only my 3rd from the #booker #booker2024 #longlist I just finished. It‘s gentle gentle gentle. The theme of staying safe to a fault echoes through our characters, the prose, the title even. Sometimes you just really don‘t want to stumble into history. I enjoyed this, even if the end dragged a bit. I liked the characters and their flaws, and mysteries. I liked the odes to London and Libya. Not a wow for me, but an enjoyable thoughtful book.

JamieArc Yes, so very gentle. It‘s taking me a long time to read it, but every time I pick it up I sink I to its loveliness (which is a weird word to use for its content…) 2mo
Graywacke @JamieArc that sounds terrific. I agree, it has a loveliness. It was always pleasing to pick up. 2mo
See All 6 Comments
squirrelbrain Great word to use - gentle. It really was - I think that‘s why I didn‘t like the ending so much as it grew a bit harsher. 2mo
Graywacke @squirrelbrain those emails - i wanted to know Hosam, but the one in London. Those emails were a total different Hosam. I found eventually i had to push through them a bit. (Although his sister-in-law was pretty funny) 2mo
BarbaraBB I love gentle books. Great review. I‘ll start this one today too! 2mo
55 likes1 stack add6 comments
review
TheKidUpstairs
post image
Pickpick

“Friend. What a word. Most use it about those they hardly know. When it is a wondrous thing.“

A beautiful, slow moving, thoughtful selection from the #BookerLonglist. As Khaled walks through the streets of London, he reflects on three pivotal friendships and the moments big and small that shaped his adulthood. The result is a reflective meditation on home, exile, family, friendship, love, and literature.

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 2mo
TheKidUpstairs One to savour, this is probably my second favourite of the Booker List so far (take that with a grain of salt, I've only read 4 at this point!) 2mo
squirrelbrain Great review - it ended up being one of my faves so I bet it will stay up there near the top of your list. 2mo
BarbaraBB Excited to start it. It will be my next Booker read. 2mo
60 likes4 comments
blurb
Deblovestoread
post image

#BookerLonglist 4/13

A story of friendship set against Gaffafi‘s rule and the Libyan Revolution. Beautiful writing but a bit too long for my taste. 4 🌟

@JenP @AnneCecilie @TheKidUpstairs @BarbaraBB @Leniverse @charl08 @rmaclean4 @squirrelbrain @Graywacke @jlhammar

Graywacke I‘m worried about the length. I‘m reading it now. So far ok, fast paced. I‘m 40% in. 3mo
BarbaraBB I‘ve been worried about the length too but I‘m glad you think it‘s worth it! 3mo
squirrelbrain I really enjoyed it but felt it became slightly less interesting / engrossing towards the end. @Graywacke @BarbaraBB 3mo
AnneCecilie I loved this one, and didn‘t feel its length at all. I think I was too engrossed in the story 3mo
Graywacke @squirrelbrain hmm. Yesterday i read about a road trip through France and then later about various works of literature he was studying. These were fantastic chapters. 🙂 But the end is a ways off yet. 2mo
58 likes1 stack add5 comments
blurb
Deblovestoread
post image

#WhereAreYouMonday

In Pillars of the Earth I currently in a cave between Southampton and Winchester in the year 1123.

In MyFriends we are walking Euston Road, London while Khaled reflects on his younger years in Benghazi.

@Cupcake12

Where are you? Join the fun and share where your book has taken you.

blurb
Graywacke
post image

My model is resting now. 🐾 I‘ve started my next on the #booker #longlist #booker2024 Unfortunately I‘m progressing slowly. (Need to embrace my totem 🦥)

dabbe #marvelousmodel 🖤🐾🖤 3mo
BarbaraBB This one gets very good reviews. Looking forward to yours! 3mo
49 likes2 comments
blurb
Cathythoughts
post image

Just picked up this one in town. 👍🏻♥️

AnneCecilie I loved this one. Hope you do too 3mo
squirrelbrain I loved it too! ❤️ 3mo
youneverarrived Look forward to your review 🤍 3mo
See All 6 Comments
Cathythoughts @AnneCecilie Thankyou ❤️ 3mo
Cathythoughts @squirrelbrain Great ! I saw your review , Helen, and decided to try this one next. ❤️ 3mo
Cathythoughts @youneverarrived Thanks Katie, I hope I get through it 🤞🏻❤️ 3mo
59 likes6 comments
review
squirrelbrain
post image
Pickpick

#bookerlonglist 5/13

I borrowed this from the digital library prior to the #bookerlonglist being announced, as it was strongly rumoured, but I found myself not wanting to start it.

Once it made the list and I *had* to read it 😜, well, I just couldn‘t put it down.

Based on a real-life incident at the Libyan Embassy in London in 1984 it follows the lives of 3 friends who are exiled in the UK as a result.

It tailed off ever so slightly ⬇️

squirrelbrain ….towards the end for me, but it‘s definitely on my shortlist (at the moment!). Currently reading another 4 from the longlist so we shall see…! 😄 3mo
JamieArc My current read, and first of the Longlist I haven‘t read. Enjoying it quite a bit! 3mo
Leniverse This is the one I'm looking forward to the most. Glad it looks like it might live up to expectations! 3mo
See All 16 Comments
BarbaraBB It sounds good! I read another book by him and hadn‘t heard of this one until the longlist 3mo
JenP Im looking forward to this the most. Saving it for my plan trip next week 3mo
jlhammar Oh good, so glad to hear you enjoyed it! Really looking forward to it. 3mo
Cathythoughts Stacking 👍🏻 3mo
sarahbarnes This one sounds good and glad to see it on your shortlist for the moment! 3mo
Graywacke I‘m happy you‘re reading the longlist again. I‘ll get here soonish. 3mo
squirrelbrain @Graywacke- I knew there was someone I missed on the tagging. 😳😄 3mo
Graywacke @squirrelbrain everyone tagged is reading the longlist? ! 3mo
squirrelbrain Some may read the whole longlist @Graywacke - I just tagged everyone that had posted about the list being announced. 3mo
Graywacke @squirrelbrain 👍 I‘ll tag you and Barbarabb with my slow progress (and, of course, anyone else that wants to be tagged) 3mo
squirrelbrain Looking forward to seeing how you get on! @Graywacke @BarbaraBB 3mo
Hooked_on_books I thought this one was terrific. Really absorbing and well paced. It actually made me think a bit of Brotherless Night, which I loved. (edited) 3mo
squirrelbrain Yes, I can see where you‘re coming from with that comparison Holly. @Hooked_on_books 3mo
68 likes3 stack adds16 comments
blurb
JamieArc
post image

When the #Booker 2024 Longlist was announced, I showed *great* restraint by not ordering most of them (just one - Held - because the cover is pretty lol), and instead placed 4 on hold. I‘m not sure what I‘m thinking, trying to read most of them, since I‘m reading at a snail‘s pace lately, but I‘m going to try. I‘m encouraged that several are quite short. When I read the first paragraph of each, I ended up reading several chapters of My Friends.

Ruthiella Nice! 👍 3mo
Deblovestoread I put 5 on hold with two ready to pick up and picked up The Safekeep at B&N tonight. I was going to read the 2 I already have and wait for the shortlist. 🤷🏻‍♀️ 3mo
squirrelbrain I started reading My Friends last night and read nearly half of it in one sitting! 🤷‍♀️ 3mo
See All 6 Comments
BarbaraBB I love this post! So hard to resist the longlist! 3mo
Graywacke Oh, enjoy them. No pressure. I‘ll be working through the list…once my books arrive 3mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB i did not resist it 🙂 3mo
53 likes6 comments
review
AnneCecilie
post image
Pickpick

London. A man walks home after meeting an old friend. This has him thinking about the past. How he left Libya on a scholarship to study English at the University of Edinburgh, attended a demonstration outside the Libyan embassy in London 1984 which would change his life and how he would meet this friend in 1995

I learned about Libyan history, the Qaddafi dictatorship and the Arab Spring

I loved this book about 3 friends

62 likes4 stack adds
quote
AnneCecilie
post image

It is, of course, impossible to be certain of what is contained in anyone‘s chest, least of all one‘s own or those we know well, perhaps especially those we know best, but, as I stand here on the upper level of King‘s Cross Station, from where I can monitor my old friend Hosam Zowa walking across the concourse, I feel I am seeing right into him, perceiving him more accurately than ever before, as though all along, during the two decades that we

AnneCecilie have known one another, our friendship has been a study and now, ironically, just after we bid one another farewell, his portrait is finally coming into view. #FirstLineFridays (edited) 3mo
Sace Wow. That‘s a heck of a long sentence. 3mo
36 likes2 comments
review
Hooked_on_books
post image
Pickpick

After growing up in Libya, Khaled goes to the UK for university. But shortly thereafter, an event occurs exiling him from home and family. What follows is his life in exile and the deep friendships he develops. This is a really beautiful look at the love men can have in friendship to one another. It‘s terrific. #ReadYourEbooks

41 likes3 stack adds
blurb
shawnmooney
post image

https://youtu.be/ofv3V1xBVx4?feature=shared

#IllHaveWhatYoureReading

Introduction

Mystery guest

Week in Review

Wild Houses by Colin Barrett

The Family Way by Christopher DiRaddo

My Friends by Hisham Matar

Music & Silence by Rose Tremain

Season of Fury and Wonder by Sharon Butala

Anyone's Ghost by August Thompson