Cannonball Read 11

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Publisher review says: “Perfect for fans of American Born Chinese and Hey, Kiddo” and I agree.

Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha

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Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha is a lovely memoir of becoming not just Korean or not just becoming American but becoming both at the same time and through that, finding yourself. This graphic novel reads as a fiction story, though based on Ha’s life. What was supposed to be a vacation to Alabama to visit a friend of her mothers, turns into a permanent situation. Ha’s mother has decided that marriage to this friend is the right choice for them. Even though Ha’s mother made a successful hairdressing business for herself in Korea and Robin has […]

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10/7/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:412 |

Arguably, America’s Greatest General

George Marshall: Defender of the Republic by David L. Roll

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I remember learning about the Marshall Plan in AP US History class and how critical it was to repairing the world after WWII. I did not realize until years later that General George C. Marshall was individual who lent his name to the plan. I’ve been in the Army for thirteen years, as of yesterday, and I’ve developed opinions on many famous generals from our history. Most of those opinions are demonstrably leery of anyone who receives unadulterated hero worship. I am not a fan of Patton, or Chesty Puller (I’m sorry to my USMC brethren). I think MacArthur explains […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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9/27/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:26 |

A Beautiful and Difficult Novel: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

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Pachinko – Min Jin Lee Finished on April 23, took 17 days to read 5 stars on Goodreads Genre: Historical Fiction Rating 2/3 Historical Fiction Pachinko is a beautiful and heart-breaking book. The plot extends over multiple decades of one woman’s life: Sunja. Sunja was born in Japanese-occupied Korea, but eventually marries and moves to Japan prior to the outbreak of World War Two. We follow Sunja and her family (four generations) all the way through the 1980s and their lives in Japan. I was completely ignorant of how Koreans were treated in Japan, even after independence. This book was […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

Share the post "A Beautiful and Difficult Novel: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee"

6/29/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:17 |

I don’t want to review this book

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

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Pachinko, Min Jin Lee’s novel following multiple generations of a Korean family through most of the 20th Century, has received a lot of positive attention: finalist for the National Book Award, 10 best books of 2017 for the New York Times Book Review, Roxane Gay’s favorite book of the year (according to the Washington Post). And from what I’ve seen, the reviews here at CBR have been universally positive. So I’m at a bit of a loss, because I really didn’t enjoy it. At all. I was bored, and it took me forever to slog through it. Yet I also […]

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6/29/2018 's CBR10 Review No:34 |

A Non-Western Immigration Story

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

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 Buzzfeed actually had a semi useful quiz a few weeks ago along the lines of, “answer these questions, and we’ll recommend a book.” My result was Pachinko so when I saw it prominently displayed at Barnes and Noble, I figured it meant I should go ahead and get it. Pachinko is one of those books that is always harder to review because while very well done, as a multi-generational family drama, there is a certain amount of familiarity to the general strokes of the story.  “Poor family, faces hardship and war, changing family fortunes, works hard, maybe eventually creates a better […]

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1/2/2018 's CBR10 Review No:1 |

A buzzing sound began in my brain

A Small Revolution by Jimin Han

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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 tour and immersion in the culture (it sounded to me like an equivalent program to […]

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12/7/2017 's CBR9 Review No:43 |


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