Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Literary fiction that I actually liked

Flashlight by Susan Choi

June 22, 2025 by Ellesfena Leave a Comment

The Book: It’s kind of hard to say what Flashlight is about. The summary makes it sound almost like a mystery: Louisa and her father take a walk on the beach, and hours later, she is found soaking wet and half-drowned, and he is nowhere to be found and presumed drowned. But most of the book is less concerned with this mystery than with the complicated family dynamics at play between the four main characters. Louisa’s father, Serk, is Korean, although he was born in […]

Filed Under: Featured, Fiction, History Tagged With: family saga, Japan, North Korea, susan choi

Ellesfena's CBR17 Review No:4 · Genres: Featured, Fiction, History · Tags: family saga, Japan, North Korea, susan choi ·
· 0 Comments

Inside The Hermit Kingdom

The Great Successor: The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un by Anna Fifield

October 1, 2020 by Jake Leave a Comment

I’d been meaning to read some non-fiction about North Korea. I have one book on Kindle and there are others but this one struck my fancy through recommendations. And it was the right call. This one rocks. As much as I enjoy a Battle Cry of Freedom-esque long history tome, I prefer something slimmer to give me an entry level view on a subject. That’s Anna Fifield’s work right here. She does a great job of pulling back the curtain to the Hermit Kingdom and its […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: Anna Fifield, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, The Great Successor

Jake's CBR12 Review No:153 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: Anna Fifield, Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Il, Kim Jong Un, North Korea, The Great Successor ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“It amazed me how quickly a lie loses its power in the face of truth.”

In Order to Live: a North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom by Yeonmi Park, Maryanne Vollers

April 1, 2020 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

First, I feel a little bad rating In Order to Live: a North Korean Girl’s Journey to Freedom three stars. Park’s life story to the point of her writing this book, just 21 years, is full of the sort of deprivations, suffering, drive to survive, and eventually hope that make you want to love the work. Yeonmi Park’s life deserves notice and her book deserves to be read. Unfortunately for me, it felt more like homework than a captivating read. Second, there are some books […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction Tagged With: China, faintingviolet, human rights violations, In Order to Live, North Korea, read harder challenge, read women, refugee, Yeonmi Park, Maryanne Vollers

faintingviolet's CBR12 Review No:23 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction · Tags: China, faintingviolet, human rights violations, In Order to Live, North Korea, read harder challenge, read women, refugee, Yeonmi Park, Maryanne Vollers ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans

September 17, 2018 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Based on a true story, Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans gives a softer view of a very true hardship the people of North Korea face. When a village in South Korea decides to secretly send balloons filled with rice to feed the hungry people of North Korea, they are faced with many obstacles: the other villagers do not want to give aide to the enemy. The North Korean soldiers could see the balloons and shoot them down. They do not […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Fiction, History Tagged With: Asia, Keum Jin Song, Korean, North Korea, People & Places, poverty, Social Themes, South Korea, Tina M. Cho

BlackRaven's CBR10 Review No:359 · Genres: Children's Books, Fiction, History · Tags: Asia, Keum Jin Song, Korean, North Korea, People & Places, poverty, Social Themes, South Korea, Tina M. Cho ·
Rating:
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Repeating history?

February 16, 2018 by thewheelbarrow Leave a Comment

I have many thoughts about this book but as always, here’s the situation that led to me reading it.  This Kind of War is another book from the Army Chief of Staff’s reading list.  It has also been recommended by Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis as a must-read. Secretary Mattis is known, colloquially, as the Warrior Monk due to his dedication to his craft and his knowledge and understanding of making war.  He is known to be a voracious reader and believes that all leaders […]

Filed Under: History, Non-Fiction Tagged With: 1950s, Fehrenbach, Forgotten War, Korean War, military, North Korea, South Korea

thewheelbarrow's CBR10 Review No:9 · Genres: History, Non-Fiction · Tags: 1950s, Fehrenbach, Forgotten War, Korean War, military, North Korea, South Korea ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A buzzing sound began in my brain

December 7, 2017 by borisanne Leave a Comment

This book came to me by way of Amazon Prime’s First Reads program, so it was free, which was the correct price for it. I did keep wanting to love it, but fundamentally I hated it. Here is what it had going for it: it was a very fast read. A Small Revolution is the story of a young Korean-American woman – our narrator, Yoona – who does a program in the summer between high school and college that brings Korean-Americans to South Korea for […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: american, cbr9, college, coming-of-age, control, han, hostage negotiation, hostage taking, jimin han, korea, Korean American, mental illness, North Korea, paranoia, South Korea, stalking

borisanne's CBR9 Review No:43 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: american, cbr9, college, coming-of-age, control, han, hostage negotiation, hostage taking, jimin han, korea, Korean American, mental illness, North Korea, paranoia, South Korea, stalking ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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