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Ru Book Review

Kim Thúy
Grounded in the smells, tastes, and sounds of Vietnam, this memoir bears witness to the upheaval experienced by generations of the author's family. Those who managed to find home in new nations find their experiences just as bewildering as those who stayed. The stories pass no judgment, infer no cosmic meaning. In the messiness and uncertainty of life, she captures these memories to have something to hold on to.

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How To Pronounce Knife Book Review

Souvankham Thammavongsa
In the tradition of Alice Munro and Jhumpa Lahiri, these short stories explore characters whose day-to-day worlds are compact and wound up tight, after vast geopolitical circumstances had forced them to a new home. Their decisions are less a question of "making the most" of one's lot in life, and more about navigating this new web of expectations. The stories don't dwell much on questioning one's purpose or asking the question *why*... luxuries that have no urgency in these peoples' lives. But they don't need luxury to experience depth, emotion, and drama.

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Ducks, Newburyport Book Review

Lucy Ellmann
Calling this book "difficult" or "dense" isn't quite the right descriptor. The narration feels like it slows down time enough to see each individual neuron firing as the main character worries incessantly about her world. Whether focusing on what's in front of her nose or despairing at the state of her nation, big and small concerns are folded in onto each other. Everything is connected with everything else. Despite it being such a long book — nearly a thousand pages — I still feel like I've witnessed it all through a pinhole, and I have so many unanswered questions.

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Markings Book Review

Dag Hammarskjöld
This collection of aphorisms, confessions, and poetry is very quotable. That said, it describes a captive kind of spirituality, one whose wings have been clipped. Dag Hammarskjöld wrestles with the sacrifice and dedication it takes to follow one's true calling, and in so doing sets up too many roadblocks for himself — it's like he wants to make joy harder than it needs to be.

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