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This is a thorough analysis of North Korea‘s history, focused on the time prior to Kim Jong-Un takes power. This was published in 2009, so there have been changes but still a great starting point. Excellent research and reporting using details from defectors. Unbelievable and horrific, the way these people have lived through famine, torture, and repression from their government. Everyone should read this. From my #AuldLangSpine list from @Singout

Refreshed my #Roll100 list for 2025. These are the first three books from the list. Each from @Singout ‘s #auldlangspine list…so essentially, I cheated and made my list after I knew the numbers. Forgive me! I‘ll be better in February. 😉

This was excellent on audio. What the author does so well is shine the humanity on North Koreans, specifically its defectors. I want to say it‘s hard to imagine such poverty, propaganda and such lack of freedom happening today, but sadly it‘s not. Five stars from me. #nonfiction2024 (1984)

Fascinating insights into the lives of six defector North Koreans (100 were interviewed) with context re the politics, structures, and culture since WW2, with absolute government dominance as the constant theme. A dedicated Communist, street kids, a South Korean POW, a doctor with no resources, and many more watching their loved ones starve and die. Also good insights into the Koreas/Russia/China/US tensions.
#Nonfiction2024 #HandmaidsTale

April ##Booksping
1. Doppelgänger
2. A Woman Is no Man
3. Run Towards the Danger
4. Thank You Mr Nixon
5. When We Were Sisters
6. An Immense World
7. Ghosts of the Tsunami
8. Hunger
9. Fresh Water for Flowers
10. Saving Time
11. Citizen
12. H is for Hawk
13. The Covenant of Water
14. Fruit of the Drunken Tree
15. We Should Not Be Afraid of the Sky
16. The Bandit Queens
17. Big Men Fear Me
18. Don‘t Bite the Hook
19. Some People Need
20. Greenwood

A peak into the lives of North Korean defectors. 🥺 It‘s hard to believe a dystopia like NK is so long lived. Really interesting and engaging listen!

In particular the 90‘s famine was/is incredibly shameful. Repugnant.

📕 Nothing to Envy by Barbara Demick
🖊 Naylor, Gloria
🎬 The NeverEnding Story
🎙 Nina Simone
🎶 National Anthem - Lana Del Rey

#ManicMonday #LetterN
@CBee

I am so happy I picked this for #northkorea for #readingasia2021 . I was hooked from the beginning as Demick manages to make this a moving narration of the North Koreans. It is amazing how a few people can have such a hold on a country.
Highly recommended.
@Librarybelle @BarbaraBB

#NonFicton2021 challenge is ✅ My favourite book from this list is Nothing to Envy, and the biggest disappointment was The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas.

Not quite done yet but this is a page-turner! Well written and eye-opening. Definitely recommend!

Barbara Demick is journalist and this book is based on her interviews with the defectors from #NorthKorea She also includes some historical background information, but the main focus is on individuals who manage to escape. Stories are more than sad ... and it‘s hard to imagine how many horror events (like it was famine) are hidden. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ #ReadingAsia2021 #Nonfiction2021

Nothing to Envy delves into the lived experiences of North Koreans under Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, with a specific focus on the stories of six North Korean defectors. Their stories are difficult to read at times, but I was captivated by their resilience and strength. It is an eye-opening book and I found myself reading it at a much slower pace than normal, in order to fully immerse myself in the story and learn as much as possible. ⬇️

One nonfiction, two fiction books I‘ve read that take place in/are about North Korea. They remind me of the #fortitude required to survive under such a regime and remain sane.

#FallFinds

I still remember this book pretty well. Loved it and glad I could work it into my latest Book Riot post 💃🏽💃🏽💃🏽 https://bookriot.com/2020/03/24/north-korea-books/

I‘m rounding this one up to 5/5 stars. Part history of Korea, psychology, and story telling of 6 families of North Koreans, this book is really interesting. Explaining how Korea was split, what life is like for different classes of Koreans, the famine, humanitarian aid, propaganda, defection, romance, medicine, and spies, this book has something for everyone. Well written and engaging!

I can‘t remember the last time I felt myself sucked into a read the way I did with this book. The author‘s retelling of the lives of North Korean defectors feels more like a novel than a nonfiction. You hear so often about the Kim family; it‘s eye opening to hear so vividly and honestly the effects of their policies on the everyday citizens of North Korea. Highly highly HIGHLY recommend 📚

It‘s #AMatterofHonor to be respectful of the Kim dynasty in North Korea. This book May be 11 years old, but it has stood the test of time well. I highly recommend it to anyone that is interested in #nonfiction about defectors.

Can I say how awesome it was to find Star Trek:TNG view-master slides?! Plus I love all the crazy Klingon cuisine in this episode. Gagh anyone?? I‘ve heard the Tibius claw is nice!

#StarTrekSummerMay

😱 This book is amazing and horrifying. Many of the famine scenes reminded me of the famine stories from WW2. EXCEPT, these were unnecessary, due to neglect. And instead of imposed on one part of the population, to everyone. #mustread

I know this book is 10 years old, but it was an awesome look into life in North Korea. Really sad, but shows the amazing strength people have to survive. #nonfiction #audiobook

Unbelievably fascinating. North Korea seems like such a mysterious, yet obviously oppressive, country. But learning about what life is truly like there was shocking.

I listened to this on Audible. The narrator‘s voice and tone was a tough to get used to, but the stories of survival are fantastic. I dove into researching other books like this about those who‘ve escaped NK once I realized this book was 8 years old.

Quite the eye-opening book. It ends in 2008, i would like to find a book that covers the years since. Any suggestions?

I saw this a couple of weeks ago on Litsy and was instantly drawn to it.

Kim Jong-un and fam come to mind for #rocketbrothers 🚀 This book follows the lives of 6 North Koreans over a span of 15 years and shows shocking insight into the life of a repressive regime and a bleak life that is hard to fathom. This book will stay with me for a long time 🖤
#septemberdanes

Super interesting nonfiction about life in North Korea. It follows a few people and their lives giving a broad picture of life for different sorts of people.

This book is amazing. If you haven‘t read it, it is worth $3

Kindle deal 🎉 2.99 USD. Heart-breaking and fascinating. #NorthKorea

Super excited this was on sale today! I am hopeful this will be very eye opening and interesting.

A book recommendation #frommetoyou . This morning I was horrified to read that Trump complimented Kim Jong-un, calling him ‘a tough guy‘ ‘a smart guy‘ and ‘a great negotiator‘. After being pressed about Jong-un‘s human rights violations Trump said: “Yeah, but so have a lot of other people done some really bad things. I could go through a lot of nations where a lot of bad things were done.” Bad things: Torture, starvation, repression. #heyjune

“North Korea invites parody. We laugh at the excesses of the propaganda and the gullibility of the people. But consider that their indoctrination began in infancy during 14 hour days spent in factory day-care centers, that for the subsequent 50 years, every song, film, newspaper article, and billboard was designed to deify Kim il-sung....”

This has been on my shelf for yrs. and now seemed to be the appropriate time to read it. Through the lives of 6 North Korean defectors, the book details everyday life there, including horrific descriptions of the effects of the famine (Up to 20% of the population died of starvation or resultant illness, and babies and children‘s physical and cognitive developments were forever stunted.). Con‘t below:

This was a very interesting and sometimes hard to read look in to the lives of six average (former) North Korean citizens. While the world sees only selected polished images of Pyongyang this book takes you off the beaten path to smaller towns and industrial Chongjin where life is hard and poverty and hunger pervade. All while the elite get fat siphoning the humanitarian aid and the government spends millions and millions on weapons.

And yet these horrors continue year after year. Nothing changes.

For this: three days of incarceration and interrogation. Ugh.

Starting my next paper book tonight. I‘ve been fascinated with North Korea since I read The Orphan Master‘s Son. This sounds good. Plus, the Olympics are next door to this odd nation. 🇰🇵

Getting in some reading before work. This book has all the feels.

I promised a couple of friends that I‘d drive to see them today, so I took my #LitsyPartyofOne on the road with this book about North Korea. I just don‘t even know what to say; so much information I never knew before. 😔

So I just bought my first kindle book and downloaded my first FREE kindle book! Yay😋🙌

I enjoyed this book. I liked how it showed you different lives from different people. Now onto Stars Between The Sun And Moon (book behind).
I'm surprised it took me less than a month to finish.

I surprised myself yesterday by picking up a genre that I don't usually reach out for. I'm halfway through Nothing to Envy and I gained some much insights and for the first time, I wished that it's all fiction😕

Decisions decisions.
Which one to read?
Nothing To Envy is different north korean stories.
The Invitation Only Zone is north Korea kidnapping Japanese and passing them off as Korean.

Terrifying but interesting. An interesting insight into life in North Korea. I really enjoyed this. 4 stars.

#March2017 #MarchReads

From now on, whenever I am feeling hopeless about the state of things here in the US, I will refer back to this book for perspective. The hell that North Koreans have endured and continue to endure is heartbreaking. Demick follows six people over decades, chronicling their lives (and defections) against the backdrop of a communist country. In spite of the subject matter, her style is engaging. A relevant and necessary read. #nonfiction

“This is not the sort of thing that shows up in satellite photographs. Whether in CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, or in the East Asian studies department of a university, people usually analyze North Korea from afar. They don‘t stop to think that in the middle of this black hole, in this bleak, dark country where millions have died of starvation, there is also love.”