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This category contains 25 posts

Book Review: Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow

I wrote this review back before the Ghost in the Shell movie released. I am not sure why I did not publish this review back then because I was very involved in the conversations about whitewashing in Hollywood as it pertains to APIDA people in the industry. I want to be clear that this is … Continue reading

Book Review: Saijōki: The Mogami Chronicles

I was really excited when I picked up this translation because it was a look into some of the historical accounts of my ethnic ancestry. To be honest, this is a very interesting position I find myself in because I am an United States citizen and have zero ties to the country of Japan. However, … Continue reading

Polarization

With every issue big and small, there tends to be an extreme polarization within a community. Especially in the United States, where we seem to thrive on polarization! Just take a look at our political system with its ‘Us vs. Them’ and ‘You’re with Us or Against Us’ mentality. There is no room for anything … Continue reading

Book Review: American Street by Ibi Zoboi

What would you do for fam? American Street is the #OwnVoices debut novel by Ibi Zaboi and it packs a punch. This is not a happy story; however, it was very powerful and before I get to my thoughts, I want to recommend this as a solid read with the following warnings. TW: drugs, domestic … Continue reading

Representation and Appropriation | Board Games

For the past week, I have been thinking about a tough question about representation in all forms of media – TV, movies, books, and in particular board games. This mainly stems from the idea of the #ownvoices movement in literature. This means that an author is writing characters from their own experience. So for example, … Continue reading

Book Review: Deceit and Other Possibilities by Vanessa Hua

I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. This short story collection is like no other I have read in the past year. Vanessa Hua presents ten stories all involving the theme of deceit, lies, or hiding the truth. All ten stories center around immigrant families in … Continue reading

Board Games and Hawaii

My event for Hawaiian #OwnVoices finished up at the end of November, but I still have some posts I wanted to share about Hawaii. This time it’s about board games! Thank you for reading along!! It may be odd to think about board games and its relationship to Hawaii and Native Hawaiian peoples. You may … Continue reading

Guest Post ~ Book Review: Between the Deep Blue Sea and Me by Lurline McGregor

I want to thank Wendy from What the Log Had to Say for participating in my event and writing a fantastic review. Please take the time to check out Wendy’s other reviews and posts! I was so very excited when I saw that Brendon was doing a month-long focus on native Hawaiians to celebrate Indigenous … Continue reading

Book Review: This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila

This is Paradise is a short story collection written by Kristiana Kahakauwila, a hapa author of kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian), German and Norwegian extract. In efforts to set up this blogging event, a person contacted me through my blog with the recommendation I reach out to and possibly feature Kristiana during this month. I immediately went to Goodreads to … Continue reading

Guest Post: Why Indigenous Authors of Hawai’i Matter

I want to thank Jackie from Death by Tsundoku blog for researching and writing such a wonderful post for the Native Hawaiian #OwnVoices blog event. Check out her blog at the link above! When Brendon announced he was going to feature the Indigenous Peoples of Hawai’i for his November posts, I will admit I SQUEE’d … Continue reading

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