Books & Boba discussion

Hey everyone! I hope you're all enjoying "Exit West" so far! I have actually yet to read it due to be waitlisted at the library, but fingers crossed that I'll get my hands on it soon.

So I want to do something similar to what I did with "The Whale Rider" by bringing a book that's already on our list to our attention, with the intent on reading it sooner than later. This time around, I'm wondering if we can, at some point before the end of the year, read Ryka Aoki's "He Mele A Hilo."

I've been wanting to recommend it for a while, but I just needed a good reason why. After what happened recently with Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park leaving "Hawaii 5-0" due to pay inequality, and thus making the cast appear a lot more white, this book makes for a good look at just what Hawaii is all about. Most of the characters are PoC, the writing is in Pidgin, and it gives a much more authentic look and feel at just what Hawaii is really like, as far as its culture goes, in contemporary times. It also helps that the author is originally from Hawaii, so there's no question that she knows where she's coming from on all this. Besides, the only book we've read so far in a Polynesian setting is "The Whale Rider."

I read this book last year for my first time, and it was one of those books where I did not want it to end, for it was so well written. In light of the "5-0" controversy (as well as the miscasting for the Ben Kanahele biopic from a few months ago), "He Mele a Hilo" is a book that gets Hawaii right. I would love to have Books and Boba as an excuse to both read it again and to discuss it with all of you.