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October stats. 19 books read.

October book bingo.

Books 216-221 of the year.

Hella nostalgic for college. Funny he spent a brief stint in childhood in Richardson or wherever. Really cool lil snapshot of his life and one of the events that shapes it.

I seem to be in a Pulitzer rut. I enjoyed the excerpt from this in the New Yorker, and had hoped for more of a father-son story. It was still enjoyable, and made me nostalgic for college and my twenties.

I seem to be in a Pulitzer rut. I enjoyed the excerpt from this in the New Yorker, and had hoped for more of a father-son story. It was still enjoyable, and made me nostalgic for college and my twenties.

I‘m late to the party on this one. Found it in a LFL & discovered after reading it that it had won a Pulitzer. The memoir of an Asian American speaking of his sense of alienation as a teen, his time in college as he dives into friendships, activism, music, & community. And, in particular, he brings us into his friendship with Ken. Hsu brings us up short when he ultimately reveals what happened to Ken. The book feels both aloof & very personal.

This quote took me back in time - to sitting in a farm pickup truck between two people, sitting so close to someone I really cared about but had no way of telling him. Each bump on the road giving me the opportunity to touch him. It took me back to my teen years, joyriding in the overcrowded backseat of an old car on the backroads. Enjoying the freedom, the wind through the windows, and the contact, skin to skin, of those next to me.

This was beautiful and sad. And also, very nostalgic since most if it takes place in the same years I went to college, so all the cultural and music references were very familiar.

I didn't love it, but still a pick and glad I read it! @fredthemoose #auldlangspine @monalyisha

My picks for the month! @TheAromaofBooks very convenient as tagged is one from my #auldlangspine list as well!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Coming of age memoir of an Asian American man and of his relationship with his college best friend, that friend‘s murder, and his experience of putting himself together after. I loved the topic of love for a friend from a young man‘s point of view.

Pulitzer Prize winning Memoir my weekend reading emotionally moving thought provoking

A beautifully written memoir about college and music and friendship.

It‘s tough to look internally when things are raw & then faithfully relate what you discover. I read a ton of memoir & this will be among the ones I remember & recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Drastically different teens bond over their Asian American heritage. One conforms to mainstream American culture; one marches to his own (awesome) drummer. One is brutally killed for no discernible reason. This is a memoir about grief foremost, yet also about being oneself. New Yorker staff writer Hsu tells this brutal story as beautifully as he can. It‘s a lovely tribute.

Thin stuff, but this Pulitzer Prize winner comes around and ended up a nice audiobook. Hua Hsu is the son of Taiwanese immigrants who came to the US to study. He was born in Illinois. The book is mostly about his days at UC Berkley in the late 1990's, and the lessons he learned there about life. Of course, he has to make it do a bit more than that for the book be any good. He does.

Hua Hsu writes about growing into autonomy in the late 1990s, about college, art, identity, his parents immigration to the US and the intimacy of friendship. When his friend Ken is murdered, Hsu writes about his grief. And he does it so beautifully. I loved this book so much and it deserves all the praise it received and more.

Poignant story of friendship and individual growth.

I‘m Stay True, Hsu looks back at his friendship with his good friend Ken in college, someone he at first felt he had nothing in common with. Ken died violently and Hsu looks at his reaction at the time and ongoing reverberations. Good memoir, but for a NYT top 5 NF of the year, I was expecting to be more blown away than I was.

A short memoir and ode to a friend lost to violence- so well written.

Really nicely done memoir that touches on so many themes - identity, college life, activism, friendship, and loss among them. Highlights for me were the writing, the immersion in 90s pop culture, and the multiple and distinct California settings. (Weird aside: I sometimes was getting details about Hsu's life mixed up in my head with details of Steven Spielberg's life, because I was mid-this on the day I watched ⬇️

Beautiful memoir on friendship and loss. As well as violence and the meaning of life generally. Enjoyed and would recommend

Hua is in college, busy forming the idea of himself, often in contrast to his best friend, Ken. Though they share similarities, one being that they‘re both Asian American, Hua is “alternative”; Ken is ready to make his millions. These plans are tragically cut short and Hua grapples with this loss.
A memoir of grief, finding your place in the world, learning who you are, and friendship.
I listened to the audio, read by the author and well done.

Beautifully written memoir reflecting on finding one's place in the world, friendship, and loss.

Ostensibly a memoir of a friendship tragically cut short; Stay True is also a snapshot of being young and not mainstream in the 90s, and a coming of age story of a first generation immigrant. It‘s told with a young person‘s self-centredness, but is no less poignant for that.

#UnpopularOpinion
After reading & seeing so many glowing reviews for this book, I had high expectations but unfortunately this book mostly fell flat for me. I think this quote from Hsu sums up my feelings… “I was a storyteller with a plot twist.” I just felt a detachment where I should have been pulled in.

A specific place & era—California in the 1990s—comes through tenderly in Hua Hsu‘s quiet memoir about being Taiwanese American & sorting out how to fit in among other Asian Americans at college, as well as looking for his place in larger American society. He “had a fraught relationship with fun,” wore uncool thrift store clothing, was serious about creating zines, & then the violent death of a close friend left him unmoored for a long time.

We would make Berry Gordy‘s Imbroglio and find an empty lecture hall on campus to screen it for our friends. We didn‘t want to be filmmakers. We just wanted to make something. To discover such a thing was possible. We just needed to find someone with a camcorder.

Hsu beautifully captures his college friendship with Ken, who was murdered their junior year, and the way it shaped his life. 5⭐️

When they meet as freshman, Hsu, a self-proclaimed cool kid who writes zines and hangs in music stores, feels he has nothing in common with Abercrombie-wearing, frat boy Ken. But through late night conversations and smoke breaks, Hsu warms to Ken. Hsu and Ken‘s late night talks & mixtapes gave me all the 90s nostalgia.

Travel day(s) completed. Back from the US into a very foggy and atmospheric Leeds. Not as much reading as I would have liked because baby likes to grab wires and kindles. Oh well, one day…

Next (most likely, it‘s a fluid situation) in the to read pile. 🖤

A coming of age memoir by New Yorker writer Hsu Hsu. Hsu reflects on his friendship with fellow Asian American Ken, their journey through life, college, and Ken's tragic senseless death and the impact their bond created. 90's pop culture references, trends, and the human experience are explored.