[oats]

1. On Writing by Stephen King (4/5)
2. Your Republic is Calling You by Young Ha Kim (4/5)
3. Kafka On the Shore by Haruki Murakami (5/5)
4. The Guest by Hwang Sok Yong (4/5)
5. After Dark by Haruki Murakami (4/5)
6. The Vegetarian by Han Kang (4/5)
7. American Nations by Collin Woodard (5/5)
8. The Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut (4/5)
9. I'll Be Right There by Kyung Sook Shin (4/5)
10. Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami (5/5)
11. Without You There Is No Us by Suki Kim (4/5)
12. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (5/5)
13. I Have the Right to Destroy Myself by Young Ha Kim (3/5)
14. Sightseeing by Rattawut Lapcharoensap (4/5)
15. Atlas of Cursed Places by Olivier Le Carrer (3/5)
16. My Financial Career and Other Follies by Stephen Leacock (3/5)
17. Joseph Anton by Salman Rushdie (4/5)
18. Lua: Art of the Hawaiian Warrior by Richard Paglinawan (4/5)
19. Me by Tomoyuki Hoshino (3/5)
20. The Red Shark by Ruth Tabrah (4/5)
21. The Domino Diaries by Brin-Jonathan Butler (4/5)
22. The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings (4/5)
23. Black Flower by Young Ha Kim (4/5)
24. Unfamiliar Fishes by Sarah Vowell (4/5)

"Fishes" is a historical account (nonfiction) of Hawaii. It incorporated a lot of different primary texts and interviews from legit experts, and put together a smart narrative about how Hawaii came to become an American territory. Vowell is known for her humor and insight, and there were definitely funny moments here, especially how she portrayed the missionaries. It's a short book, and I actually didn't like it for the first 30-40% of it. Partially because I was really familiar with the information, and also because she bounced between (what I think) was snark as a substitute for substance, and cringeworthy sentimentalism - lines like "I wish I could marry Hawaii" coming from someone not from Hawaii is face palm shit to the third power. But once she started getting into the political and economic forces that led to the overthrow of the monarchy, Vowell felt much more authoritative and in her element. Her humor was pointed and purposeful, and she incorporated a lot of perspectives that I wasn't aware of previously. She was exceedingly fair. It wasn't another "white man=evil, poor native victims" account. Instead she put the foreigner/American actions into context, as well as showed how well-intentioned political reforms ultimately led to the undoing of Hawaii's independence. Def a good pickup for anyone curious about the macro history of Hawaii, especially if you don't know much of it.