Suki Kim Book order

Humming is a ubiquitous and mundane act many of us perform. The fact that we often hum to ourselves, to family members, or to close friends suggests that humming is a personal, intimate act. It can also be a powerful way in which people open up to others and share collective memories. In religious settings such as Tibetan chanting, humming offers a mesmerising sonic experience. Then there are hums that resound regardless of human activity, such as the hums of impersonal objects and man-made or natural phenomena. The first sound studies book to explores the topic of humming, Humming offers a unique examination of the polarising categories of hums, from hums that are performed only to oneself, that are exercised in religious practice, that claim healing, and that resonate with our bodies, to hums that can drive people to madness, that emanate from cities and towns, and that resound in the universe. By acknowledging the quirkiness of hums within the established discourse in sound studies, Humming takes a truly interdisciplinary view on this familiar yet less-trodden sonic concept in sound studies.

A haunting account of teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class during the last months of Kim Jong-il's reign. Every day, students march in lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il, a chilling scene that gradually influences Suki Kim, who finds herself humming along. In 2011, while universities in North Korea are closed, 270 students at the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) remain, where Suki works undercover as a missionary and teacher. Over six months, she shares meals with her students and struggles to teach them English under the regime's watchful eye. Life at PUST is lonely for Suki, whose letters are censored, and she must hide her notes from both her minders and her fellow evangelical Christian missionaries, who are unaware of her differing beliefs. As time passes, she is disturbed by her students' ease with lying and their obedience to the regime, yet they reveal glimpses of their true selves—enthusiasm, curiosity, and a desire to please. Suki hints at a world beyond their own, discussing forbidden topics like the Internet and democracy. When Kim Jong-il dies, she sees the devastation in her students and questions if the divide between their worlds can ever be bridged. This account offers a rare glimpse into life in one of the world's most secretive countries and the privileged young men she describes as "soldiers and slaves."

Suzy Park is a twenty-nine-year-old Korean American interpreter for the New York City court system who makes a startling and ominous discovery about her family history that will send her on a chilling quest. Five years prior, her parents--hardworking greengrocers who forfeited personal happiness for their children's gain--were brutally murdered in an apparent robbery of their store. But the glint of a new lead entices Suzy into the dangerous Korean underworld, and ultimately reveals the mystery of her parents' homicide.