Welcome to Litsy!

Added to the TBR pile. 📚🧡

I haven't heard much about this book, but the cover and the title were intriguing enough. (Not too fond of the stickers on the cover though 😬)

I‘m loving this book. Three different POVs is very impressive.

#12booksof2022- April @Andrew65

A better week with 4 books finished. Sharks is a good look at what can happen to a family when one child is considered “special” 4.5🌟 #TBRTarot. Both Gutsy Women and Braiding Sweetgrass were better read a bit at a time. BS is more enjoyable as storytelling and I learned about some amazing women from GW. I was all in on The Memory Police until it took a turn that went way off the rails for me. #AAM.

#TBRTarot

This is on my kindle with no blurbs but this blurb was on its Amazon page. I‘m guessing it might be on the physical book and acceptable choice for this card? Okay with you @CBee ?

Enjoyed this audiobook!

New books, courtesy of a Mother's Day gift certificate. And new mugs that just HAD to come home with me.

Listened via my library‘s app - audiobook.

3.5/5

Read for prompts for:

#TheStorygraphGenreChallenge2022
#PopSugarReadingChallenge2022

Not a typical book for me, but very much enjoyed it.

I came to this book for the main hook: a young boy falls into the sea which is currently full of sharks, but instead of being harmed, he is gently delivered back to his family on a boat. After that initial encounter he is seen as housing old Gods within him, he‘s some sort of deity now. This story is more about what that treatment of him by his parents does to his siblings. What do you do when there is a clear favorite child your family?

I am posting one book per day from my to-be-read collection. No description and providing no reason for wanting to read it, I just do. Some will be old, some will be new - don‘t judge me I have a lot of books.
Join the fun if you want. This is day 253.
#bookstoread
#tbrpile
#bookstagram

I see this book has mixed reviews, but I loved it.

It‘s a strange family drama with a spiritual/ magical/ supernatural twist? These characters came to life for me. I felt the tension of Noa‘s gift and his fear of disappointing his family. I related to the feelings his siblings had of not being the Golden child, but trying to do their best to be supportive in the ways they could. It‘s easy to see how a strain like this could pull a family apart.

A totally normal and reasonable amount of books to pack to go to my parents house for a staycation, right? 😂

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
It took me a very long time to read this book but I think it was exactly how I was supposed to read it. There was such mythic mundaneness and I love the way the story braided and almost melted together.

Quite a sad, slow burn of a book. It took me some time to get into it, but I really enjoyed it and it‘ll probably stay with me for a couple of days.

#SceptreSummer

After spending some hours in the climbing gym, this will be the rest of my afternoon.

♥️

This was promising in the beginning, but the middle is so slow for me. Gave it 145 pages, and now I'm done.

This is a sad, heartbreaking story with mostly unlikable characters who were all so flawed. Beating in background, the land of Hawaii plays a supporting role, it's been slayed by white colonialism, stripped of its culture, and economic flourish, causing intergenerational trauma, poverty and hardship. Washburn's writing is enticingly beautiful. Seek out own voices reviews of this book but If you enjoy family sagas I reccomend this one for sure!

This was almost a so-so for me, but in the end, I'm giving it a pick because I can honestly say I've never read anything like this before.

Fair warning though, this is definitely not for everyone, and be prepared for depressing sadness because this family just can't seem to catch a break. The story unfolding from the different perspectives of the family worked well and the bits of magical realism made an interesting addition.

This book has some seriously hard moments and while I liked it, okay, it wasn't one of my favorites. I thought the ending was hard to follow.

Tomorrow is opening day!!! For #LitsyLoveSpringSwap are y'all excited??

According to Goodreads I'm in the minority but I just wasn't enjoying this. And maybe that's unfair because I don't think this book is meant to be "enjoyed" but this family were all miserable and there came a point when I couldn't stand it.

Just turned the last page of this incredible book. I started with the audiobook, which featured amazing narrators, but ultimately I needed to physically read this to appreciate the bits of magical realism against the reality of this family‘s experiences. Three siblings, a mother and father — live in orbit of a singular event which happened to the youngest son. Is this a singular event or connected to something much bigger? 🦈 ⛰ cont⬇️

https://bookriot.com/2021-pen-america-literary-awards-finalists/

This is one of those books, that is enjoyable while it lasts, but it won‘t stick with me for long. I love a good family centered book, but I kinda wanted more of the #magicalrealism aspects of the book, I wanted to know more about the old gods and the legends of Hawaii, but I get that it wasn‘t that story Washburn wanted to tell.

#Pop21 - Magical Realism
#ToB21

This was outstanding. The multiple narrators (both those telling the story and the performances in the audiobook version) worked SO well. I went into it thinking the magical realism would be the main focus, but I loved how it was more of a powerful, deep examination of identity and the weight of expectations and family roles. And gorgeous writing. Best novel I've read in a while!

Joining in on the new #20in4 readathon. Thanks, @Andrew65 ! Possibly I can finish all four books already in progress (she said, hopefully 😁). I also have the tagged book on audio. It‘s very well done, with authentic voices for the four main characters.

Holy shit what a powerful story. Really a stunning debut novel. Can‘t wait to read more from him.

This is at once a story of family, but of all family. It is the soul of Hawaii, the soul sacrificed, the soul stretched, resurrected, gone, but always there. The character of this book reminded me so much of The House of Broken Angels, another saga with a splintered family, but who are still fiercely loyal in their own unique way. Sharks in the Time of Saviors will grab you and change you. It is such a powerful, epic novel. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

There were things I really liked about this book: what I learned about the exploitation of native Hawaiian land and people, poignant passages about the relationships between grown children and parents. But overall the story felt a bit disjointed and I reached the end left a little wanting.

Book mail 😍

My sister and I have been celebrating our own version of #jolabokaflod for three years now. We joke about who will "win" book flood by giving the most amount of books, and my sister clearly won. ? She got me way too much and I have no idea where they're all going! So instead of cleaning and organizing maybe I should just pick one and read. ? Which book should I read first???
#bookhaul #christmasbookhaul

Sunday morning view

Weekend read. The way he writes about Hawaii is breathtaking. The hint of magic and sibling drama pushes it into early lead for favorite book of the month. (I know we're only a week inside January but it feels like longer... 😅)

This book was a gut punch. As Nainoa‘s family is alternately blessed and cursed, I felt as wrung out as I would have standing in heavy surf. This Hawaiian family saga was too emotionally exhausting to be one I‘d read again, but it was too good not to be a pick. Damn. #tob I read the #audiobook. (Not my pic.)

This book is so fascinating to me. The relationships between the family members as they try to deal with the potential of one child being marked for some kind of greatness and how that shifts the relationships for the other children, and the parents trying to keep things going when their kids needs vary.
Content note: Some demonstrations if toxic masculinity, references to sexual assault.

I‘m trying to find a new book to get into. This is good so far. For some reason the cover doesn‘t come up on full screen on the audible app, but it on on the front page (inset). Weird..

I‘m going to try to read the whole #tob shortlist this year since I‘m so far in already. We‘ll see...I‘m not good at focusing like that.

Trying to help out my local Indie bookshops. 😀 The top five are on the #TournamentofBooks longlist (shortlist coming Friday!) #ToB #EarlyChristmas #shoplocal

This novel about a poverty-stricken Hawaiian and Filipino family looks at interpersonal dynamics & responses to tragedy, via the rotating distinctive voices of all five members. It is grounded in an understanding of the colonial economic forces underlying poverty. There‘s also a fantastical element connected to traditional Hawaiian spiritual beliefs; it gives this novel a feeling of expansion & triumph over hardship.

I‘ve learned that laughter is the first wall he puts up against the hurt of the world. The walking he‘s doing now is what comes after that wall is smashed apart.

“So life‘s still good at home?” I said. “You & Mom still doing your thing?”
“What, you mean like sex?” he asked. “Yeah, we still oofing. In fact, just last night we was —“
“Dad—“
“No, serious, just last night we went for happy hour at Osmani Bar & I was like, ‘Babe, no one gonna see nothing in the parking lot &—‘“
“Dad! I‘ll hang up the phone. I swear to God.”
He laughed & laughed. “Only joke! Sheesh, everyone‘s all uptight over there.”

If someone were to ask me what money means this would be what I would say: The world feels like it will stay under you no matter what you do.

The thought comes to me all of a sudden: God, these men. Why is it they always pull their hurt up inside themselves, gulp it down into the quiet corners of their soul, clench it like a muscle?

Book 126
Excellently-written, this novel set in Hawaii, about Hawaiian culture, is unique and well-done. The chapters jump between the perspectives of four family members, at least one of whom is a healer. Unfortunately, it wasn't a page-turner and took more effort to finish than I would have liked.

This book was a slow-burn, but oh so good.

My full review is on my blog: http://sprainedbrain.blog/2020/08/23/review-sharks-in-the-time-of-saviors-by-kaw...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I‘m using this as my #ArmChairTravel book for #Booked2020 because it took me lots of places.😃

Also my 12th (I think?) book finished for #NetGalleyReviewathon... I‘m getting closer to caught up to publishing dates. 😳

I have been searching for a book like this, this beautiful book about Aloha, a culture, and a people not smothered by colonialism.
A real Hawai'i.
#Alltimefave

"Whenever I've made a choice in my life, a real choice . . . I can always feel the change, after I choose. The better versions of myself, moving just out of reach. . . . I'm always losing better versions of myself. . . . I don't know. You just have to keep trying" (348).

Ugh! This book just didn‘t work for me...it was SUPER DEPRESSING ☹️I had such high hopes for Sharks but there was no bite 😉 when Noa falls into the ocean and is saved by a school of sharks, he becomes a local legend but the sudden fame is more of a curse than a blessing. #MoreMehThanYeah #PopSummer20 #VacationDestination