From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

Pachinko

Min Jin Lee

Start date: August 1, 2020

Finish date: August 31, 2020

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Books of the Month

* The Names by Florence Knapp - Sep 25 Adult / Non-Fiction BOM (starts 16 Sep)
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last updated Sep 24, 2025 01:40AM

* The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese - Sep 25 Theme BOM - South and South East Asia (Starts 5 September)
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What Members Thought

Jun 02, 2019 Keyona rated it really liked it

I love a good family saga and this didn't disappoint. This book spans 3 generations of a Korean family. It goes into how Koreans were oppressed in Japan and the resilience of the women in this family to survive. This book is quite long but it moved very quickly. We were mostly following Sunja who gets pregnant by a married man pretty early on in the book. Another man agrees to marry her help her raise her son and the story continues from there. The list of characters in this book are pretty fles ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Aug 26, 2019 Tien rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, japan, korea

This book has been on my radar since its publication but I've never added it to my tbr because I know it'll make me sad... Not even after all the rave reviews and friends' high rec. However, it was available in audio so I thought I'd give it a go.

It did make me sad. Not in a heartbreaking sob-my-heart-out way but more in a life-is-hard way. As it's repeated in the novel, you'll just have to bear up and persevere. This just depresses me and of course, it affected my mood terribly so I'm very very ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

May 24, 2022 Andreea rated it liked it

I will say the thing I hate the most to see in reviews, but this book was just not for me.

The historical parts were great and it's overall a pretty good book, but we just didn't vibe. It did not offer me anything (apart from a minor reading slump).🙈 ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

May 07, 2019 Jenn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2019-finished, historical-fiction, favorites, kindle

This was a book that I didn't want to end but I did want to end only to find out what would happen. When it did end I wanted more. Coming to the end of the book made me want to start back at the beginning so that I could re-live it all again.

Story started in Korea with a family who had hardships and while poor were able to get by. The story is set around Sunja and her family. The time period was a hard one for Korea and Japan. With reading this story I have to come to learn some of the history This was a book that I didn't want to end but I did want to end only to find out what would happen. When it did end I wanted more. Coming to the end of the book made me want to start back at the beginning so that I could re-live it all again.

Story started in Korea with a family who had hardships and while poor were able to get by. The story is set around Sunja and her family. The time period was a hard one for Korea and Japan. With reading this story I have to come to learn some of the history between Korea and Japan. It has made me want to read more and to learn more exactly what happened during this time.

There were times when I just threw my hands up in frustration with Sunja because she tended to always refuse help. I understood her pride and how times were back then, but her life may have been so much easier. I admire Sunja for all she went through and how she was able to survive. She was a survivor that always kept her mind working to provide for herself and her family. She was a strong woman but also a meek woman at times. (I attribute a lot of this due to the asian culture). Sunja was my favorite character in the book.

Hansu was also another character I enjoyed. He met Sunja back when he was younger in Korea. He fathered Noa. Back in those times it was shamed should a woman become pregnant without being married. Hansu may not have stayed in Sunja's life but he was always like a ghost. There was one quote he said that that stood out for me:

" Learn everything. Fill your mind with knowledge-it's the only kind of power no one can take away from you"

This is so true in life which is why it popped out for me.

Overall this book was a wonderful read for me. Probably one of my favorites for this year so far. When I came upon the end of the book I felt sad because this wonderful story had come to end and I still wanted to keep living with the family . There were quite a few moments within the story where I had to just take a small break to process some of the sad things which happened.

Definitely recommend this book.

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