A guest post from Bookaholic Belle
Here at Bookship, we love book bloggers. They spend so much time and energy writing about their book discoveries, helping all of us find better books to read...
Books
My book projects
No secret to anyone that knows me, that I love books.
Book Roulette: A little bit of fun
I decided to take a day off “work” and have some fun. My kind of fun is probably not the same as most people….
Our reading in 2019
2019 was a good year for reading. If you’ve been reading the blog, you know I went to Iceland this year (trip report). I read a lot of Icelandic stuff in pre...
My 10 books
Had a fun conversation with friend about how in the old days you’d invite your friends over and impress them with your book collection. And how, in today’s d...
A little North Atlantic book excursion
I’ve always had a bit of what W.H. Auden called “The Northern Thing”. So imagine my delight when I discovered a book featuring a Boston detective (I live par...
My year in reading, 2017
Each year I try to summarize what I read, in hopes of improving and enjoying my reading more. Last year, I lamented reading too much fluff, and promised to r...
Some Rise by Sin, by Philip Caputo
Philip Caputo has written some masterpieces of people and cultures in conflict. Best known perhaps for A Rumor of War, his Vietnam novel, I was first exposed...
The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius
I have taken to reading a few pages of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations every morning as an antidote for all the everything going on (not just, or even foremost,...
Bright Air Black, by David Vann
Myth is bloody business.
Some interesting new books set in Hawaii
Here at The Hawaii Project, we have an unsurprising interest in books set in Hawaii, or by authors with a connection to Hawaii.
Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie
Ancillary Justice was the “it” book of science fiction in 2013. It won the 2014 Hugo, the Nebula, the Arthur C. Clarke, the Locus, and other awards. The list...
Burning the Days, by James Salter
I recently reviewed the books I read last year. Some great stuff, but also too much “bookish junk food”. I’m committed to reading better this year.
My year in reading, 2016
The irony of building a book discovery web site is that my TBR pile gets increasingly huge (~300 books and counting), while I have increasingly less time to ...
Song of the Exile, by Kiana Davenport
Song of the Exile is an extraordinary, powerful, heartbreaking novel. It follows the lives of Keo, a native Hawaiian who burns to play jazz, and Sunny, a Kor...
The Knowledge, by Steven Pressfield
You probably know Pressfield as the author of Gates of Fire. Or maybe The Legend of Bagger Vance. Or maybe The War of Art. All amazing works.
The Pigeon Tunnel, by John Le Carré
I recently finished The Pigeon Tunnel, the ‘autobiography’ of David Cornwell, aka John Le Carré, the well known writer of espionage novels.
Black Sails, Disco Inferno
(I am not making this up) A book premised on a 1970s, disco-laden Noir retelling of the medieval Tristan and Isolde legend. Sign me up.
A Conversation with Jim Fusilli, author of CRIME + MUSIC: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir
As I’ve previously written, Books & Music go together so naturally it’s hard to imagine them separately. But that pairing is usually implicit. So it’s a ...
A Conversation with Alexia Chamberlynn
As part of our author profile series, we had a chance to catch up with Alexia Chamberlynn, author of Martinis with the Devil, Whiskey with Angelfire and Blac...
The Last Supper, by Charles McCarry
Charles McCarry might be the true heir to John Le Carré. His spy novels have plenty of thrills, but focus on the human aspects of espionage, the betrayals, t...
The Girl from Venice, by Martin Cruz Smith
From it’s evocative cover to its low key, upbeat ending, The Girl From Venice is an enjoyable, surprisingly romantic outing from Martin Cruz Smith.
How to find Free Books
Everyone loves to read. But books can be expensive! Here are some great ways to read books for free.
A conversation with Martin Cate, co-author of Smuggler’s Cove: Exotic Cocktails, Rum, and the Cult…
Here at The Hawaii Project, you know we love great books. And you know we love great cocktails. And you can guess we’re into the Hawaii thing. So when Smuggl...
A conversation with Stuart Holmes Coleman, part II
(this is a continuation of our conversation with Stuart Holmes Coleman, author of Eddie Aikau: Hawaiian Hero, Fierce Heart, and Eddie Would Go. You can find ...
Smuggler’s Cove, Cocktails and Tiki
You know we love a good book here at The Hawaii Project.
Kika the Book Cat
We’re considering a new mascot here at The Hawaii Project.
Oh good lord.
Oh good lord.
So you want to learn about Jazz…
The best way to learn about jazz is to listen to jazz. That said, put some jazz on your playlist WHILE you read some books about jazz.
Hemingway in Cuba
So, I’m planning on going to see Papa Hemingway in Cuba this weekend. I was introduced to the topic of Hemingway in Cuba through the wonderful novel The Croo...
Books about female spies
Inspired by my reading The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, the first espionage book I’ve read with a female protagonist, I did some research on books with female...
The Travelers, by Chris Pavone
For a long time, I’ve wondered about how to characterize the difference between a spy novel and and a spy thriller. After reading a review copy of Chris Pavo...
Our Man in Havana
After finishing Adam Sisman’s gripping biography of John Le Carre, as a seasoned reader of espionage fiction I realized I had a big gap — I’d not read Graham...
March Madness Books
Are you watching March Madness?
Election Year Books
I was in a Barnes & Noble the other day, and noticed something interesting.
Snow Angels, by James Thompson
On the plane down to my parents house for a visit, on the way out of the house I grab a random book for the plane out of my gargantuan TBR pile. It’s Snow An...
The Never Open Desert Diner
Ben Jones drives a truck in southern Utah. He’s damn near broke, about to lose his truck, and his best friend is Walt, an old guy who owns a diner that’s nev...
Scoundrel, by Bernard Cornwell
As part of my continuing experiment with Scribd’s ebook subscription service, I stumbled upon Scoundrel, by one of my favorite authors, Bernard Cornwell. I k...
Spies of the Balkans, by Alan Furst
Alan Furst is the master of the historical spy novel, particularly the era just before World War II erupts. In Spies of the Balkans, he takes on, well, the B...
Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
Tl/DR: If you liked Gorky Park or anything by Martin Cruz Smith, read Child 44.
Death in Veracruz, by Héctor Aguilar Camín
As part of my continuing test of Scribd’s subscription ebooks service, I stumbled on Héctor Aguilar Camín’s Death in Veracruz. Set in the ‘60s and ‘70s durin...
SPECTRE, Bond and SOLO
So, I recently finished Any Human Heart by William Boyd, and really loved it. With SPECTRE coming up (haven’t been yet but can’t wait!), I wanted to get in t...
The Ten Best Spy Novels you never heard of
You know the classics. A Perfect Spy, Tinker Tailor or The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre. Alan Furst’s Eastern Europe. Graham Greene’s jaun...
William Gibson, Startups and Verbs
So, I’m reading Distrust That Particular Flavor by William Gibson. In case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the last 20 years, Gibson is novelist who famo...