hawaii – Cannonball Read 17

“In these islands there is no certainty. Bring your own food, your own gods, your own flowers and fruits and concepts. “

Hawaii by James A. Michener

October 28, 2024 by Pooja Leave a Comment

CBR16 Bingo: Détente – This book is all about all the different peoples and cultures that came to settle the Hawaiian Islands, and ends at the point that they really begin to comfortably and fairly coexist. Hawaii is a beautiful place with a complicated history, having over the course of more than one thousand years been settled by many peoples from many places, all of which have wrestled over its lands and wealth and made their indelible mark. This book is over a thousand pages long […]

“Just the same, Caroline, I think you should accept the fact you don’t really know the truth. I wonder if anyone does, or ever will.”

Silversword by Phyllis A. Whitney

July 31, 2022 by Pooja Leave a Comment

CBR 14 Bingo: Shadow In this book, the past casts long shadows, entangling the main character even in the present. Caroline Kirby, fresh off a divorce, returns to her childhood home in Hawaii, to the mother she had thought long dead and the mystery of her father’s death in a sacred volcano crater. I do like a certain flavor of vintage suspense books, with their gentle pace and their deep dark secrets. Here, the author set us up with a long ago mystery to solve, […]

Don’t Go West

The Imperial Cruise: A Secret History of Empire and War by James D. Bradley

July 17, 2022 by Jake Leave a Comment

Like a lot of Americans, I learned the broad strokes about the Pacific theater in World War II. The Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor. Attacked us! Obviously, we couldn’t just stand pat. So we warred with them from island-to-island until we had no choice but to drop the atomic bomb and end the war. They were the aggressor and it was all their fault. I’m reluctant to call this narrative propaganda. Japan did attack us. But the history of the war in the Pacific […]

No, really I liked this book

Hawai’i Sea Turtle Rescue by Fabien Cousteau

July 12, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

If Mark Trail met Jeff Corwin met Steve Irwin met Fabien Cousteau, you would have Hawai’i Sea Turtle Rescue. Fabien Cousteau is the grandson to the famous Jacques Cousteau, and he seems to have an equal passion for wildlife and the ocean. He also seems to have a high opinion of himself, and the first few pages of this fiction formatted non-fiction graphic novel talks about the wonderful things he has accomplished (working with sharks, finding new species of piranha). With that humble bragging aside, […]

She wanted to be a Doctor but became a Lawyer and changed a few things along the way.

Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight: Patsy Takemoto Mink and the Fight for Title IX by Jen Bryant

January 19, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Did you know that Title IX was not just for athletes? It started out as not forty words that said that women had to be treated equally in all matters: education, and sports alike. Of course, that was only one thing Patsy Takemoto (later Patsy Mink) would do in her life. A young Patsy lived in Maui. She knew her family had come to this country for a better life and that meant (though she was not sure at the time) an education. At four-years-old […]

Island Time

The Color of Air by Gail Tsukiyama

January 13, 2022 by elderberrywine Leave a Comment

I’ve been to Hawaii twice in my life: once in my early 20s, and the other time a family vacation about 5 years ago. And both times I was fortunately to be able to spend some time in Hilo, on the big island. It is absolutely my favorite place on the islands – old school, totally laid back, and very few tourists. I don’t think it changed a whit during the forty-odd years in between my two trips. And that is probably why I enjoyed […]

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Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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