--- title: How to Pronounce Knife: 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 description: Find out why How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa is on TIME's list of the must-read books from this year. canonical: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904378/how-to-pronounce-knife/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-11-09T21:10:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-02T23:45:02.495Z og:title: 'How to Pronounce Knife' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 og:description: Here's why it made the list og:url: https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904378/how-to-pronounce-knife/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd06e2980691b1e42/698a1402e76ad22128638494/best-books-2020-How-to-Pronounce-Knife.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 'How to Pronounce Knife' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'How to Pronounce Knife' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020 twitter:description: Here's why it made the list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd06e2980691b1e42/698a1402e76ad22128638494/best-books-2020-How-to-Pronounce-Knife.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 09, 2020 # How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff  The author and poet Souvankham Thammavongsa was born in a refugee camp in Thailand to Laotian parents**,** and the family soon moved to Toronto to start life afresh. These experiences inform her debut story collection, which traces the complicated struggles of 14 Laotian immigrants and those around them. One person picks worms at a hog farm; another learns English from daytime soap operas. The stories are often bleak and filled with exploitation and crushed dreams**—**but they also sparkle with illicit romances and quick surges of joy. **Buy Now:** _How to Pronounce Knife_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780316422130) | [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0316422134/ref=as%5Fli%5Fqf%5Fasin%5Fil%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=time-books-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0316422134&linkId=dc5fdaaf11837162b54b7c1e170441e6) These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904378/how-to-pronounce-knife/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904378/how-to-pronounce-knife/"},"headline":"'How to Pronounce Knife' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020","datePublished":"2020-11-09T21:10:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:45:02.495Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904378/how-to-pronounce-knife/","keywords":["E-Commerce","Books","list"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd06e2980691b1e42/698a1402e76ad22128638494/best-books-2020-How-to-Pronounce-Knife.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd06e2980691b1e42/698a1402e76ad22128638494/best-books-2020-How-to-Pronounce-Knife.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2020/5904378/how-to-pronounce-knife/","name":"'How to Pronounce Knife' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2020"}}]}] ```