Immigrants

Life is a Mystery

Dragonfish by Vu Tran

October 31, 2018 by Jake Leave a Comment

This is the second book I’ve read in the last three years on Vietnamese immigrants to the US and both have been good in different ways. Dragonfish isn’t in the same league as The Sympathizer, the latter being the best thing I’ve read this decade. But it’s still a good book and if these two books provide a baseline quality for Vietnamese-American writers, I need to be checking out more of their work. I almost returned Dragonfish to the library before even reading it because the GoodReads reviews were…well they were not good. And GoodReads is usually a decent barometer for me to decide what […]

10/31/2018 Jake's CBR10 Review No:40 |

“The Departed” set in Giuliani’s New York

Dead I Well May Be by Adrian McKinty

October 26, 2018 by Jake Leave a Comment

This is what may be termed as a “bad sandwich” book: nothing wrong with the bread but what’s in the sandwich is awful. In other words: the first and third act are a lot of fun, the second act soured me to the point where it’s tough to appreciate the book in its totality. I’ll start with the positives. I liked the Michael Forsythe character. Immigrating from Ireland to get work, Michael is stuck with a violent gang tied to the Irish mob in early-90s New York City. Michael has a wry sense of humor and a such-is-life view of […]

10/26/2018 Jake's CBR10 Review No:38 |

Great Expectations

Free Food for Millionaires by Min Jin Lee

April 19, 2017 by Gracey the Giant Leave a Comment

In Free Food for Millionaires, by Min Jin Lee, Casey Han, a Korean American immigrant in New York City, struggles with being an Americanized daughter in a traditional Korean household. Unlike her younger sister, Tina, Casey fights against her parents’ expectations of her. For example, her parents, especially her mother, are devout Christians, but Casey enjoys casual sex and has even had an abortion. And although Casey graduated from Princeton because it was what her parents wanted/expected, she still hasn’t decided what she wants to do when she grows up. This causes turmoil between Casey and her father that culminates […]

4/19/2017 Gracey the Giant's CBR9 Review No:15 |

“We are all migrants through time”

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

March 26, 2017 by yesknopemaybe 1 Comment

I’ve been meaning to read Mohsin Hamid for years now so when I found it right after it was added to my library’s collection, I took it as a sign. Sidenote: Can we talk about how beautiful this cover is? I can’t stop staring at it. The cover designer for the US version should be given a raise. I knew Exit West had something to do with immigrants, but that was the extent of my knowledge going in. Turns out I was in for much, much more and to be honest, no plot summary is going to prepare you for […]

3/26/2017 yesknopemaybe's CBR9 Review No:20 |

And you’re stuck to this corner like a streetlight…

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

March 20, 2017 by tillie Leave a Comment

Esperanza Cordero lives on Mango street in a house that is not her house. The real house is out there waiting for her and it has beautiful windows and white polished bannisters. But for now Esperanza lives in this house, on Mango Street. I’m not sure what to say about this book. It does not lend itself to direct proclamations. Oh this is a tale of coming of age! Oh this is how [insert riveting plotpoint where the main character battles dragons]! Rather the main character is translucent, presented only in her own narration of her neighborhood. “I make a […]

3/20/2017 tillie's CBR9 Review No:8 |

I’m a fountain of blood in the shape of a girl…

The Veins of the Ocean by Patricia Engel

February 11, 2017 by pluiedenovembre 1 Comment

Patricia Engel has published two other books, the short story collection Vida and the novel It’s Not Love, It’s Just Paris. Even though I haven’t read either of those books, I felt that I needed to read her new novel, The Veins of the Ocean. Not only because the reviews were intriguing (and very positive) but also because I don’t remember ever reading anything by a Colombian American novelist. The Veins of the Ocean is the story of Reina Castillo. When we first meet Reina she seems to be living in a sort of limbo. Her whole life revolves around […]

2/11/2017 pluiedenovembre's CBR9 Review No:7 |

Premise of US orphan history: awesome. Book: less awesome.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline

January 30, 2016 by ardaigle 1 Comment

This was the first selection of the new year for my book club, chosen somewhat for length, something short to start off the year, and because there were book club questions in the back of the book. I have picked books to read for worse reasons, so away we went. Though fiction, this book is the fictionally telling of what to me was an unknown part of American history From 1854 to 1929, orphan children in New York were placed on trains by a group called the “Children’s Aid Society” and sent to various parts of the Midwest to find […]

1/30/2016 ardaigle's CBR8 Review No:2 |

Read it because it will make you sad and angry

The Book of Unknown Americans: A Novel by Cristina Henriquez

January 31, 2015 by ElCicco 2 Comments

This is a short novel that reads very quickly, but at a certain point, when you realize a tragedy is in the offing, it might slow you down. I dreaded finding out what was going to happen to characters whom I liked so much. The Book of Unknown Americans focuses on immigrant families living in the same apartment complex in Wilmington, Delaware. Henriquez allows each family or individual to speak for themselves in each chapter, and so the reader learns about the diversity within. They come from places like Panama, Mexico, Paraguay, Puerto Rico; they are former builders, dancers, boxers; […]

1/31/2015 ElCicco's CBR7 Review No:7 |

emmalita on Why Change is HardThis sounds really interesting. Is it more geared towards organizations, or would an individual working outside of an organized structure benefit?
Jen K on Dating and Food in LAThat is kind of a perfect description. There really isn’t much conflict; they slip into a relationship, Nik gets cold feet, and then she gets...
Jen K on The ReverendVery cool! Congratulations to your friend! A friend recently asked me to read a novel she is working on for feedback, and I can’t wait...
emmalita on Dating and Food in LAI really liked the way this one started, but it ended on a whimper for me.
emmalita on Choose Your Own Austin AdventureI liked this one a lot too.

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