The Silver Boat

The Silver Boat by Luanne Rice is set in Martha's Vinyard and traces the lives of three sisters looking for their father who sailed away to Ireland 28 years earlier and was never heard from again.

I loved Dar, the main character, who is a graphic novelist and uses her art as a means of understanding herself. I didn't always understand the motivations of the other two sisters, their characters weren't as well developed.

I think Rice is a wonderful writer, especially when writing about family dynamics, and the novel kept me engaged and interested throughout, but it wasn't my favorite novel of hers.

Tea Shop Mysteries

Chamomile Mourning, Dragonwell Dead, and Silver Needle Murder, are the latest Tea Shop Mysteries by Laura Childs that I have read. It is fun to revisit friends Theodosia Browning, proprietor of the Indigo Tea Shop, her dog Earl Grey, master tea blender Drayton, and their chef and baker Haley.

There is always a mystery brewing in historic Charleston, and Theodosia and crew help solve it over many, many good cups of tea. These books are good fun for tea drinkers and mystery lovers alike.

Eddie Would Go

Eddie Would Go-The Story of Eddie Aikau, Hawaiian Hero, by Stuart H. Coleman, is the true story of Hawaii's favorite Big Wave Surfer and all around Waterman, Eddie Aikau.

It is a tragedy, as Eddie was lost at sea at only 32 years old trying to save his fellow crewmen onboard the Hawaiian Canoe Hokule'a. If you've never heard of the Hokule'a, it's worth reading just for that.

It is also a story of inspiration and hope. Eddie was part of a larger revival of Hawaiian culture, and his memory and bravery have inspired so many people over the years, including myself.

Coleman does a wonderful job telling the story of his life and his family, his humble beginnings and his rise to one of the best surfers in the world. There are hundreds of people in these pages whose lives were saved or inspired by Eddie.

There was never a wave too big for Eddie to surf, or conditions too dangerous that he wouldn't risk his own life to swim out and save someone else-hence the phrase-'Eddie Would Go,' that one can see plastered on bumper stickers all over Hawaii. He was a true Hawaiian hero.

The Sacred Power of Huna

The Sacred Power of Huna, Spirituality and Shamanism in Hawai'i by Dr. Rima Morrell, is a book that takes a deep look at the ancient teachings of Hawaiian Kahunas (spiritual masters.)

At first, I questioned reading a book like this written by a westerner, but Rima spent many years living in Hawaii and studying with Kahunas, and seems to be Hawaiian at heart.

We learn of the sacred power of the Hawaiian chant and the hula, among other things. It is a beautiful introduction to spiritual teachings that we can all learn from.

Waking Up in Eden

Waking Up in Eden, by journalist Lucinda Fleeson is partly a memoir, partly a botany lesson, and fully a wonderful story of what it means to live in Hawaii.

Flesson left her job with the Philadelphia Inquirer to come to Kauai and work at the National Tropical Botanical Garden. This book tells the story of her journey, and along the way we learn of the imperilled state of Hawaii's native plants.

At it's heart, it is a very personal story of one woman's quest to simplify her life and find what truly matters. There were some parts of the book that felt out of place when Fleeson veered too far away from the subject at hand, but overall it was a wonderful and educational read. Highly recommended.

The Red Garden

The Red Garden is the latest novel from Alice Hoffman. I think Hoffman is a wonderful writer. She imbues everything she writes with a bit of magic realism. However, I was less taken in by this book than I have been by her others.

We follow the settlers of Blackwell, a small town in the Berkshires from it's founding in the late 18th century, to present day. The novel is written in vignettes, each leading into the next. The problem with this, is that there are so many characters to remember and trying to keep their connections in mind becomes tiresome. Also, once I would get really interested in a character, it was time to move on to the next story.

The Red Garden of the title didn't seem as central to the story as I thought it would be. I would have like to have seen this aspect of the novel much more developed. It seemed to me that the bears were actually central to the story.

As always, Hoffman's writing is wonderful, and as a concept, this was a very interesting way to present a novel. For me though, it just didn't really work.

Miss New India

Miss New India by Bharati Mukherjee is a novel about the changing face of India, especially Bangalore, the call center of the world. This is the first of Mukherjee's novels that I have read, but it won't be the last.

We follow Anjali/Angie Bose from her small town of Gauripur to the big city of Bangalore, and a world she has no idea how to navigate. Mukerjee is brilliant at depicting a changing India, where young people-girls especially- are desperately trying to break out of the traditional roles expected of them (ie arranged marriages) and find a life of freedom and happiness and financial independence on their own.

Sometimes the plot wore thin, and not all of the characters were developed as much as I would have liked, but it is still a fascinating and timely novel that I enjoyed reading.