To continue our monthly series of book lists, the Washington Talking Book & Braille Library would like to recommend the following titles.
Language of the Geckos and Other Stories by Gary Pak. Nine short stories set in Hawaii featuring the nuanced voices and interior lives of housewives, mechanics, cabdrivers, aging hippies, and bargirls. Braille book BRW 1134.
Song of the Exile by Kiana Davenport. Novel of two Hawaiian families from World War II to the islands' statehood. Sunny joins her lover, jazz musician Keo, in Paris. Separated from each other by war, Sunny endures forced prostitution while Keo searches for her in Shanghai. Cassette book RC 58711.
Talking to the Dead and Other Stories by Sylvia Watanabe. Ten related short stories set in a Hawaiian village. In the O. Henry Award-winning title story, a tall young woman with dim marriage prospects apprentices herself to the local Kahuna to learn ancient burial rites. Cassette book RC 36964.
Comfort Woman by Nora Okja Keller. A Korean-American girl grows up in Hawaii loving and protecting her mother, who has embarrassing bouts with the spirit world. The daughter learns the secrets of her mother's past traumas only after her mother's death. Cassette book RC 44684.
From the Lanai and Other Hawaii Stories by Jessica Kawasuna Saiki. Seventeen short stories provide a glimpse of life in the Japanese community in prewar and wartime Hawaii. Saiki portrays the immigrant family's struggle to retain its cultural and ethnic identity while adapting to a new environment. Cassette book RC 34072.
Middle Son by Deborah Iida. The youngest son on a Hawaiian sugar plantation is given to childless relatives and the eldest boy drowns, leaving their mother distraught. As his mother lies dying, the middle son reveals the truth of his brother's death and the tragic consequences of custom and tradition. Cassette book RC 44379.
Fire by Armine Von Tempski. Written in 1929, Fire tells the story of a woman who visits her uncle in Hawaii and becomes involved with a dashing Hawaiian cowboy even though she is engaged to a proper young man in Washington D.C. Cassette book RC 43579.
Link to previous Recommended Reads.