Rated of 5
by Lisa A. (Knoxville, TN) Started out strong
I really enjoyed this book for a look into the daily life of a country I didn’t know much about (snacking on dried squid and seaweed?). I was really enjoying the book until about the half-way point, when I felt things started to get strange. A lot of the book was devoted to the in-depth activities of the daughter, which didn’t seem to have much to do with the story. The wife was obviously having some sort of crisis, but even so her behavior was not quite believable. The unfamiliar style of the Korean names also made it difficult to keep the characters strait. I’m glad I read the book, but I was somewhat disappointed after finishing it. It started off strong, but the ending was something of a letdown.
Rated of 5
by Sandi S. (Kula, HI) Your Republic is Calling You
What a great read! A tightly written psychological thriller. The novel takes place in the day after Ki-yong, an embedded North Korean spy, receives an email telling him to report into home base after twenty years in South Korea. Although it is only a twenty-four time span it is filled with experiences and reflections of Ki-yong, his wife, daughter, and their associates covering relationships, alienation, choice, murder, suicide, sex, and Korean culture. Kim does not waste a word in this well written page turner.
I highly recommend it.
Rated of 5
by Katherine Y. (Albuquerque, NM) Get ready to stay up late!
Once you start reading this fun, informative, compelling story you won’t want to stop. The protagonist is a North Korean spy who has been living quietly with his wife and daughter in South Korea for many years when he receives a message ordering him to return to North Korea in 24 hours. The rest of the book chronicles the next 24 hours in the life of the spy, his wife and his daughter. The excellent characterization takes this book beyond being just a spy thriller and gives the reader insight into life in modern South Korea.
Fearless, gripping, at once darkly funny and tender, spanning three continents and numerous lives, Americanah is a richly told story set in today's globalized world.
The story of an American family, middle class in middle America, ordinary in every way but one. But that exception is the beating heart of this extraordinary novel.
First time novelist Vaddey Ratner captured my heart and senses in this novel based on her childhood in Cambodia. Her story transcends any news story...
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From the first page, I was drawn in by the lyrical writing of the author and mesmerized as the narrator, eight year old Raami, remembered the years...
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Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part...
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Kenn Nesbitt is new Children's Poet Laureate(Jun 12 2013) Kenn Nesbitt has been named the new Children's Poet Laureate: Consultant in Children's Poetry to the Poetry Foundation, which noted that the two-year position...
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of 5
by Lisa A. (Knoxville, TN) 
of 5
by Sandi S. (Kula, HI) 
