Sunday Salon: How I Became a North Korean by Krys Lee

How I Became a North Korean by Krys Lee was a lucky find at the library, informative, revealing, and easy to read. The story involves a Korean-American student Danny who returns to his parents' former hometown in China, partly to run away from his separated parents and partly to escape the bullying in his California high school.

Danny meets runaways from North Korea who have crossed the river separating their country from China, and he tries to become one of them, befriending them while living as one of them, refugees in fear of discovery by the authorities. When Christian Koreans offer them shelter and food, Danny continues his subterfuge, unwilling to tell the pastors he is not a North Korean orphan, as his father is in America and his mother in China.

The novel reveals the plight of many North Korean refugees who make it across the river to China, but are there illegally, in fear of being returned to their oppressive home country. They often live in pitiful conditions in their newfound "freedom" and are taken advantage of by unscrupulous people while they wait and hope to be repatriated to either South Korea or another welcoming country.

The novel is written by South Korean writer, Krys Lee. I gave her intriguing and eye-opening novel five stars.

Other new books: a few cozy mysteries are also on my reading list.

Once Upon a Spine by Kate Carlisle, June 6, 2017, Berkley Books

San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright stumbles through the looking glass in a tale of murder, rare books, and a quest for the perfect pie 

Only Skein Deep by Maggie Sefton, June , 2017, Berkley

Kelly Flynn and her boyfriend and The Lambspun Knitters are eagerly awaiting the birth of Kelly's bouncing baby boy but find themselves having to solve a crime instead. 

A Just Clause by Lorna Barrett, June 13, 2017, Berkley

Tricia Miles, mystery bookstore owner and amateur sleuth, is in for a surprise when her ne er-do-well father, John, comes to town and becomes a prime suspect in the murder of a woman with a scandalous past. 

I got a galley of an historical mystery for a TLC book tour coming up.

Betrayal at Iga by Susan Spann, July 11, 2017 by Seventh Street Books.

Book description: Autumn, 1565: After fleeing Kyoto, master ninja Hiro Hattori and Portuguese Jesuit Father Mateo take refuge with Hiro's ninja clan in the mountains of Iga province. But when an ambassador from the rival Koga clan is murdered during peace negotiations, Hiro and Father Mateo must find the killer in time to prevent a war between the ninja clans.

What books are you reading? 
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