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 […]

I really wish I could read Vietnamese because it’s really a neat looking language!

Mindful Tots: Loving Kindness (Bilingual Vietnamese & English) (Barefoot Bilinguals) by Whitney Stewart

by Leave a Comment

My book dealer from Barefoot Books is at it again. Several months ago I received a package of goodness (or books) and accidentally put it with my Christmas goodies, so I didn’t find it until recently. Then just the other day, I had a new package with more amazing titles. Between the two I found a few that I have read (but physical copies now) and many new ones. One of the new ones was  Mindful Tots: Loving Kindness (Bilingual Vietnamese & English) (Barefoot Bilinguals) […]

“The space between two shores is the ocean and being caught in between feels like drowning.”

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen

by Leave a Comment

A new forever favorite! If you like your fairy tales dark, and reading other cultural versions of them, read this book! If you like your graphic novels lush, detailed, and darling, read this book! If you like compelling family stories, immigrant stories, and queer characters, read this book! In the forefront of Trung Le Nguyen’s graphic novel is the story of a middle schooler named Tiên who is quietly dealing with coming out and his crush on a friend.  Alongside that is his mother’s story, […]

Life is a Mystery

by 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 […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo