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Jasmin’s Year In Books

Jasmin’s 2025 Year in Books

Take a look at Jasmin’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.

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Jasmin Darznik’s Followers (523)

Jasmin’s Bookshelves

to-read (11)
currently-reading (1)
read (93)
biographies (3)
fiction (5)
influences (3)
memoir (3)
nonfiction (4)
writing (1)

Jasmin’s Friends (52)

Peggy Geiger

20,766 books | 1,068 friends

Carl

39,781 books | 4,533 friends

Josh Roberts

470 books | 6,500 friends

James

6,156 books | 2,428 friends

Mira

206 books | 156 friends

Monika Schrock

3,378 books | 296 friends

Denton

790 books | 406 friends

Michael McGuire

328 books | 8 friends

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Jasmin Darznik

Goodreads Author

Website

http://www.jasmindarznik.com

Twitter

jasmindarznik

Genre

Fiction, Memoir, Historical Fiction

Member Since

January 2011

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/jasmindarznik

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There comes a point when the secrets you've kept most hidden become the stories you must tell. I was born in Iran and moved with my family to the U.S. when I was five. Even after earning a PhD in English from Princeton, I never considered becoming an author. But accidentally finding out about my mother's secret life changed that. In 2011, I published my first book, The Good Daughter, which tells the story of how my mother was married at thirteen and forced to give up a child, a half-sister I never knew. That book changed my life. Since then I have been in pursuit of lost or forgotten stories--and the pleasure of disappearing into other worlds through writing.

HOW I STARTED WRITING
I wasn’t supposed to be a writer. Nothing in my first-generati There comes a point when the secrets you've kept most hidden become the stories you must tell. I was born in Iran and moved with my family to the U.S. when I was five. Even after earning a PhD in English from Princeton, I never considered becoming an author. But accidentally finding out about my mother's secret life changed that. In 2011, I published my first book, The Good Daughter, which tells the story of how my mother was married at thirteen and forced to give up a child, a half-sister I never knew. That book changed my life. Since then I have been in pursuit of lost or forgotten stories--and the pleasure of disappearing into other worlds through writing.

HOW I STARTED WRITING
I wasn’t supposed to be a writer. Nothing in my first-generation immigrant background supported it, and so much impeded it. Still, I was a reader. As a child I left my small town library with novels stacked up to my chest and under my chin. I’d go home and luxuriate in the possibility of disappearing into different worlds. Beyond that was the twenty-room motel my parents bought when we came to America, a place of struggle and uncertainty. Books were my way out.

But writing? Even as I hacked away at the prohibitions and doubts set down by my family, it still seemed impossible. I was expected to do something practical. When I decided to get a PhD in American literature, as far as my family was concerned it was as if I’d run away with the Grateful Dead. As detours go, it was a useful one. As I read Maxine Hong Kingston’s The Woman Warrior and Zora Neale Hurston’s Dust Tracks on the Road, I found myself profoundly moved by the feeling these writers weren’t just telling me a story—they were telling me who they were.

Having grown up in a family where telling people who you were could be, and often was, regarded as a betrayal, these works were both a revelation and a provocation. That was a beginning, a very important one: to discover voices that spoke to me with an intimacy I rarely experienced in real life.

Still, I might never have crossed over from reading to writing if I hadn’t bumped into my parents’ next-door neighbor one afternoon when I was back home from graduate school. This was about fifteen years ago. We got to chatting and she told me she’d just published a book.

Hold up! I thought. Writing seemed like such an exalted profession. I’d never known a writer in real life. And now, suddenly, I did: the woman next door. Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to ask my neighbor how she’d done it. She told me she’d enrolled in a creative writing workshop through our local independent bookstore, Book Passage, and that’s where she got her start.

That same day I walked over to Book Passage and I signed up for a spot in the writer’s workshop my neighbor recommended. My classmates, mostly women, were strangers to me, people I’d likely never have met in any other context, even though ours was a small community. But once a week, Fridays, 6 to 9 pm, we were kin, bound together by our common love of stories and an urgent, if muted, desire to speak and to be seen.

For two years, I showed up at that workshop every Friday night, pages in hand, heart kicking against my chest as I read for my allotted ten minutes. It was a time of discovery, in some ways the sweetest time of my writing life so far. I wasn’t writing to publish anything, though that might have shimmered as a distant dream; I was wholly taken up by the urge to make something beautiful and to connect with other people.

That’s what got me started, and what keeps me going to this day. ...more

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Jasmin Darznik’s books

Average rating: 4.09 · 14,523 ratings · 2,277 reviews · 12 distinct works • Similar authors

	Song of a Captive Bird 4.21 avg rating — 6,220 ratings — published 2018 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Bohemians 4.04 avg rating — 4,430 ratings — published 2021 — 10 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Good Daughter: A Memoir of My Mother's Hidden Life 3.95 avg rating — 3,830 ratings — published 2011 — 33 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	American Goddess it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Une fille comme il faut by Jasmin Darznik (Goodreads Author), Florence Moreau it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	(The Good Daughter: My Mother's Hidden Life) [By: Darznik, Jasmin] [Mar, 2012] by Jasmin Darznik (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author liked it 3.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Les Bohémiennes, Volume 1 it was ok 2.00 avg rating — 1 rating	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Les Bohémiennes, Volume 2 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dreaming in Persian: an interview with novelist Gina Barkhordar Nahai.(Interview): An article from: MELUS 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	[Good Daughter: My Mother's Hidden Life] [By: Darznik, Jasmin] [March, 2012] by Jasmin Darznik (Goodreads Author), Unknown Author 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Jasmin Darznik's Blog

A Salve Against Artifice: Reading and Writing in the Age of AI

What Are We Doing Here?

With AI closing in from every direction, threatening to colonize all human interaction, I’ve been thinking about what I do as a writer and trying to work out why it (still) matters—and why you’re here, reading this.

The truth is, writing’s always been under threat, not only from technology, but from the easier paths through life: the surface, the obvious, the already-said

Jasmin is Currently Reading

Jasmin Darznik is currently reading

Model Citizen: A Memoir

by Joshua Mohr (Goodreads Author)

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Mar 15, 2021 09:47AM

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Jasmin Darznik wrote a new blog post A Salve Against Artifice: Reading and Writing in the Age of AI What Are We Doing Here? With AI closing in from every direction, threatening to colonize all human interaction, I’ve been thinking about what I do as Read more of this blog post »
Jan 23, 2026 10:20AM · like
Jasmin Darznik rated a book it was amazing Winter Living Style: Bring Hygge into Your Home With This Inspirational Guide to Decorating for Winter by Selina Lake	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Nov 29, 2025 03:49PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Winter Living Style by Selina Lake. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Winter Living Style by Selina Lake <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jasmin Darznik rated a book it was amazing Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar by Jessamyn Violet (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 16, 2025 10:09PM · 1 like · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar by Jessamyn Violet. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Secret Rules to Being a Rockstar by Jessamyn Violet <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jasmin Darznik rated a book it was amazing New Coastal: Inspiration for a Life by the Sea by Ingrid Weir (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 23, 2024 10:23AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of New Coastal by Ingrid Weir. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — New Coastal by Ingrid Weir <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Jasmin Darznik rated a book it was amazing Nathan Turner's I Love California: Design and Entertaining the West Coast Way by Nathan Turner (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
May 03, 2024 09:48PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Nathan Turner's I Love California by Nathan Turner. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Nathan Turner's I Love California by Nathan Turner <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Jasmin Darznik (?)

“I was a woman and I couldn't speak with the voice of a man, because it was not my voice - not true and not my own. But there was more to it than that. By writing in a woman's voice I wanted to say that a woman, too, is a human being. To say that we, too, have the right to breathe, to cry out, and to sing.”
― Jasmin Darznik, Song of a Captive Bird

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“We only lose ourselves by looking back.”
― Jasmin Darznik, Song of a Captive Bird

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“Art could survive; even when suppressed, even when outlawed, it could survive far worse fates than fire.”
― Jasmin Darznik, Song of a Captive Bird

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Polls

In Sept-Oct 2025 we read The Bohemians by Jasmin Darznik. Was this book a 5 star read for you?

Read rated 5 stars

3 votes 42.9%

I am undecided whether I will ever read this book.

2 votes 28.6%

I am going to read it but haven't yet.

1 vote 14.3%

I pass, it was not my cup of tea.

1 vote 14.3%

Read rated 4 stars

0 votes 0.0%

Read rated 3 stars

0 votes 0.0%

Read rated 2 stars

0 votes 0.0%

Read rated 1 star

0 votes 0.0%

I am currently reading.

0 votes 0.0%

7 total votes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Cover to Cover Ch...: Aths' 100 books in 2011	4	36	Apr 03, 2011 11:12AM
The Seasonal Read...: * Spring Challenge 2013: Tasks	9	716	Apr 19, 2013 07:31PM
The Seasonal Read...: 20.6- Seasoned Reader- Alexandra's task: Messing Around	67	117	May 20, 2013 02:48AM
The Next Best Boo...: The Title Game	20218	14603	May 30, 2013 12:53PM
500 Great Books B...: Brina's 2018 Reading Women Challenge	5	24	Jan 18, 2018 05:40AM
Historical Fictio...: Publisher Giveaway	19	57	Jan 30, 2018 09:56AM

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Jasmin’s Quotes

“The historian will tell you what happened. The novelist will tell you what it felt like.”
― E.L. Doctorow

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Jasmin’s Friend Comments

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message 1: by Donna

Dec 27, 2017 07:15PM

Jasmin, thank you for accepting my friend request on Goodreads. I hope I can win your book, SONG OF A CAPTIVE BIRD. Looks to be a very good read.
Happy New Year.
Donna

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A Salve Against Artifice: Reading and Writing in the Age of AI

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