Suremada: Another bewildering reading experience from the Solomon Islands

July 7, 2017July 29, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

Suremada: Faces from a Solomon Island Village, Rexford Orotaloa, 1989

Solomon Islands, #5
$20, alibris.com
Read August 2016
Rating: 1.5/5
Opening line: Anaibolafafawa was the village Big Man.
Recommended for: Rambling internet commenters

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The Alternative: Actually, let’s just stick with option A.

July 5, 2017July 10, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 1 Comment

The Alternative, John Selwyn Saunana

Solomon Islands, #4
Borrowed from San Francisco State University, via SF public library
Read September 2016
Rating: 1.5/5
Recommended for: petulant opportunists

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Les Contes de Poindi: Tool-making crows and living dead eels

May 31, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 5 Comments

Les Contes de Poindi, Jean Mariotti, 1941

New Caledonia, #1
Paperback, $4.67 from Amazon
Read July 2016
Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: wise children

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Meļaļ: American Shame

May 22, 2017May 23, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 3 Comments

Meļaļ: A Novel of the Pacific, Robert Barclay, 2002

Marshall Islands, #1
Borrowed from SF library
Read December 2016
Rating: 4.5/5
Recommended for: People who are fed up with working for The Man

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Moving Through the Streets (hopefully on the way to a creative writing class)

February 16, 2017July 29, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 2 Comments

Moving Through the Streets, Joseph Veramu, 1994

Fiji, #4
$9.49 from alibris.com
Read January 2016
Rating: 1.5/5
Opening Line: The burly man wearing an undersized yellow tee-shirt that accentuated his bulging biceps and chest cast a warning look at Sakaraia before he took hold of his hand and stamped it with the ‘pass in’ mark.
Recommended for: credulous delinquents

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The Wounded Sea: Trump will kill us all and no one will stop him (and also there’s a book review in there somewhere)

January 28, 2017January 28, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 3 Comments

The Wounded Sea, Satendra Nandan, 1991

Fiji, #2
Borrowed from SF library
Read January 2016
Rating: 2.5/5
Recommended for: exiles and patriots

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Where We Once Belonged: Rejecting the Polynesian Paradise

November 7, 2016January 4, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 6 Comments

Where We Once Belonged, Sia Figiel, 1997

Samoa, #3
Borrowed from SF library
Read December 2015
Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Women who have been groped by Donald Trump

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Leaves of the Banyan Tree

September 29, 2016January 4, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 2 Comments

Leaves of the Banyan Tree, Albert Wendt, 1979

Samoa, #1
£0.69 from alibris.co.uk
Read December 2015
Rating 3.5/5
Recommended for: 10th grade English classes

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Tales of the Tikongs: What’s the point of all this, anyway?

July 28, 2016December 31, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 3 Comments

Tales of the Tikongs, Epeli Hau’ofa, 1988

Tonga, #4
Borrowed from SF library
Read November 2015
Rating: 3/5
Recommended for: Mack and the boys

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The Frigate Bird: Fear and loathing on Penrhyn Island

May 27, 2016January 4, 2017 ~ Kelly Dunagan ~ 5 Comments

The Frigate Bird, Alistair Campbell, 1989

Cook Islands, #7
£0.01 from amazon.co.uk
Read: October 2015 (and again in May 2016)
Rating: 4/5
Recommended for: Ukulele players with dark pasts

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