Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search this Site

One of the books from the “nope, not going to read, well maybe I will…” list

Ride / Đạp Xe by Bao Phi and Thi Bui

by Leave a Comment

Most of the time if I decide to read a book after thinking I won’t read it, I end up liking it. Usually a lot, too. And that is the case with Ride / Đạp Xe by Bao Phi and illustrator Thi Bui. It turned out to be more fun, interesting and more enjoyably clever than I had imagined.  The overall theme is learning to ride a bike. Of course, that means falls and frustration, but the father and mother of the story keep patient […]

There’s a lot to unpack and my suitcase isn’t big enough

My Father, the Panda Killer by Jamie Jo Hoang

by Leave a Comment

After finishing My Father, the Panda Killer by Jamie Jo Hoang, I texted a friend to tell her I had finally finished the difficult book I was reading. It was difficult as the pacing felt slow to me and the subject is far from easy. The main character is the first generation to be born in the states after her parents fled war-torn Vietnam during/after the war. We, like the narrator Jane, learn about things in snippets with her having to fill in the blanks. […]

“For even to listen to the story of the Trưng Sisters is, in these troubled times, a dangerous act.”

Bronze Drum by Phong Nguyen

by Leave a Comment

The Trưng sisters, Trắc and Nhi, are as different than each other than sisters can be, but they are united in one thing – their outrage at the treatment of the Viet by the colonizing Han Chinese. When their outrages grow too heavy to bear, they raise an army of women to fight back. It occurred to me while I was reading this book that not only do I know very little about Vietnam past the eponymous war (and even that mostly through the eyes […]

“They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.”

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

by Leave a Comment

Somehow, despite being an English major in college and a big reader my whole life, this is a classic I had never heard of or come across. I discovered it in a very weird way, which I’ll detail after my brief review. (Isn’t reviewing classics weird? What else can you add to the narrative?) This finalist for the Pulitzer is a vibrant, gripping meditation on war, specifically, the Vietnam War, and I’m glad it’s been a focus in the American education system over the years, […]

Fighting the War of Words

Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson

by Leave a Comment

There’s always a risk in going back to a longer book after failing with it the first time. You may invest too much of your time without the payoff you were hoping for. American Psycho is a rare exception that worked for me. Most of them didn’t. Tree of Smoke didn’t work either. This was my third attempt with it and I powered through it because there was enough interest in the characters to see where it was going but no. I don’t want to say it was […]

A word by any other name would still be reindeer

Ánh's New Word: A Story about Learning a New Language by Hanh Bui

by Leave a Comment

I thought at first  that  Ánh’s New Word: A Story about Learning a New Language would be more about the learning of English as a second language than what it was. Now, yes, it is about learning English, but it is also about learning how to be brave, how to have the courage to try and the idea of family being there for you. Anh is a young child who moved to the US from Vietnam and is living in a relocation camp with her […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo