The Words Like Silver On-Island Library Inventory

When I first moved to O'ahu in fall of 2020, it was for the purpose of a "gap year" and was one of the most uncharacteristically bold things I've ever done. (Miracle moment, actually: the day I flew out, the roof caved in over my childhood bedroom. I wouldn't have died or anything, but it definitely wouldn't have felt good!)

I stayed on island in town for a year before departing again for elsewhere, but always knew I'd be back at some point to live on my preferred area of the island: the North Shore.

When I returned to Hawai'i in spring 2023, I wasn't sure how long I'd stay this time. Eventually, someday, I will be back on the mainland. Besides, I still have to do my European stint, see the world, etc,.

That being said, one year has turned into two, and I have zero desire to leave (permanently) anytime soon, although I do plan on traveling when I can. Long story long—I'm rebuilding my library.

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When I first moved, I packed a suitcase full of books. I boxed up some USPS packages (all hail media mail!) for the comforts of home. I tend to prefer print books over eBooks—although I devour digital library copies—and love being able to lend to friends and neighbors too. Now that I have likely months and months ahead of me in my current spot, I loaded up another few boxes (to my mother's chagrin.) Still, so worth it. This doesn't include eBooks, by the way; my family has a communal library for that, and I generally read 99.9% of my eBooks from my local library.

So I figured I should start a list and an inventory of what I have on-island, to keep me organized and for your reference. If you're local, feel free to reach out to me at any point; I'm generally very open to sharing the love with a lent copy!

If you're not, maybe you'll find some inspiration in books I plan to read, books I've bought and read on island, books I've read in 2024, or books I adore enough to keep nearby.

A

• The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
• Each Night Was Illuminated by Jodi Lynn Anderson
• Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson
• Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson
• Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert
• Courting Samira by Amal Awad
• Why Men Love Bitches by Sherry Argav (lol)
• Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

B

• Honey by Isabel Banta
• Rumi: The Book of Love by Coleman Barks
• Bad Reputation by Emma Barry
• Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World by Mary Beard
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
• The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
• Warrior Girl Unearthed by Angeline Boulley
• It Only Happens in the Movies by Holly Bourne
• Skin of the Sea by Natascha Bowen
• The King of Crows by Libba Bray
• Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
• A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
• Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman
• How to Disappear: Notes on Invisibility in a Time of Transparency by Akiko Busch
• All Our Tomorrows by Catherine Bybee

C

• All-American Girl by Meg Cabot
• Six Memos for the Next Millennium by Italo Calvino
• Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain
• Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain
• The Stranger by Albert Camus
• Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote
• The Big Picture by Sean Carroll
• Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Love: Stories by Raymond Carver
• A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
• The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro
• The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro
• Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry
• The Bodyguard by Katherine Center
• Hello Stranger by Katherine Center
• The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
• Tiny Pretty Things by Sona Charaipotra and Dhonielle Clayton
• Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture by Kyle Chayka
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
• To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
• Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare
• Mastering Suspense, Structure, and Plot by Jane K. Cleland
• Rave On: Global Adventures in Electronic Dance Music by Matthew Collin
• Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
• Seasons of the Storm by Elle Cosimano

D

• On Love by Alain de Botton
• Through the Language Glass by Guy Deutscher
• This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz
• The Brain That Changes Itself by Norman Doidge, M.D.
• The Selfishness of Others: An Essay on the Fear of Narcissism by Kristin Dombek
• Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
• The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
• Grit: The Power of Passion and Perserverence by Angela Duckworth

E

• Endless Summer by Jennifer Echols

F

• We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal
• Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
• Everything Is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer
• The Accident Season by Moïra Fowley-Doyle
• Extreme Medicine: How Exploration Transformed Medicine in the 20th Century by Kevin Fong, M.D.
• Just One Day by Gayle Forman
• Jackpot Summer by Elyssa Friedland
• History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

G

• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
• 1962-2012: Poems by Louise Glück
• Faithful and Virtuous Night by Louise Glück
• The Wild Iris by Louise Glück
• Winter by Adam Gopink
• The Counselors by Jessica Goodman
• Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
• Belladonna by Adalyn Grace
• The Fabric of the Cosmos by Brian Greene
• The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene
• This Monstrous Kind by Lydia Gregovic

H

• No Mud, No Lotus by Thich Nhat Hanh
• Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton
• Hero at the Fall by Alwyn Hamilton
• Cute, Quaint, Hungry, Romantic: The Aesthetics of Consumerism by Daniel Harris
• You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
• Rites of Passage by Joy N. Hensley
• Book Lovers by Emily Henry
• Siddhartha by Herman Hesse
• All About Love by bell hooks
• Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance by Alex Hutchinson
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I

• What the River Knows by Isabel Ibañez
• Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo

J

• Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
• The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson
• The Bullet Swallower by Elizabeth Gonzalez James
• No one belongs here more than you: stories by Miranda July
• Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston
• The Social Photo: On Photography and Social Media by Nathan Jurgenson

K

• When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
• Fallen by Lauren Kate
• Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dachner Keltner
• This Is the Story of You by Beth Kephart
• Small Damages by Beth Kephart
• Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
• The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
• Carrie by Stephen King
• On Writing by Stephen King
• The Other Side of Lost by Jessi Kirby
• You'll Grow Out of It: Essays by Jessi Klein
• Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World by Naomi Klein
• The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It Every Time by Maria Konnikova
• How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang
• Buzzed by Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder, Wilkie Wilson
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
• Slowness by Milan Kundera
• The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera
• The Festival of Insignificance by Milan Kundera

L

• Love Poems from God by Daniel Ladinsky
• Bird by Bird: Some Thoughts on Writing and Life by Anne LaMott
• The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren
• Anna K by Jenny Lee
• A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee
• Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
• Black Hole Blues by Janna Levin
• Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel S. F. Heller
• Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
• This Is Your Brain on Music: The Science of a Human Obsession by Daniel J. Levitin
• The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
• The Molecule of More: How a Single Chemical in Your Brain Drives Love, Sex, and Creativity by Daniel Z. Lieberman and Michael E. Long
• Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine by Alan Lightman
• Bright Dead Things: Poems by Ada Limón
• Stars and Smoke by Marie Lu

M

• Second Chance Summer by Morgan Matson
• Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
• Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta
• Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
• The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen
• End of the Earth: Voyaging to Antarctica by Peter Matthiessen
• All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• Frostbite by Richelle Mead
• Shadow Kiss by Richelle Mead
• Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
• Fury by Elizabeth Miles
• Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
• The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality by Amanda Montell
• On Trails by Robert Moor
• Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• Dragonwatch (all) by Brandon Mull
• Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage by Alice Munro
• Dear Life by Alice Munro
• The Love of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
• Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
• You're Not Listening: What You're Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy
• Fingerprints of You by Kristen-Paige Madonia

N

• I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson
• Blue Mind by Wallace J. Nichols

O

• Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver
• Devotions by Mary Oliver
• Upstream: Essays by Mary Oliver
• The Reunion by Kayla Olson
• A Prayer Journal by Flannery O'Connor
• A Sense of Self: Memory, the Brain, and Who We Are by Veronica O'Keane
• The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke

P

• Murtagh by Christopher Paolini
• Even in Paradise by Chelsey Philpot
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Books by Leah Price
• Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
• Insomnia: Poems by Linda Pastan
• The Grimrose Girls by Laura Pohl
• This Is Not a Ghost Story by Andrea Portes
• A Peterson Field Guide to Eastern Forests
• Wine Folly: The Master Guide by Madeline Puckette and Justin Hammack

R

• The Season: The Social History of the Debutante by Kristen Richardson
• Waves by Fredric Raichlen
• Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Unfortunate Side Effects of Heartbreak and Magic by Breanne Randall
• Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
• This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You by Susan Rogers and Ogi Ogas
• Amelia Anne Is Dead and Gone by Kat Rosenfield
• Writing Deep Scenes: Plotting Your Story Through Action, Emotion, and Themes by Jordan Rosenfield and Martha Alderson
• Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jethá
• Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
• The Big Red Book by Rumi

S

• Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
• Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
• Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
• Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
• Congratulations, by the way: Some Thoughts on Kindness by George Saunders
• The Four-Dimensional Human: Ways of Being in the Digital World by Laurence Scott
• The Edge of Every Day: Sketches of Schizophrenia by Marin Sardy
• Art & Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light by Leonard Shlein
• Challenger Deep by Neil Shusterman
• The Influential Mind: What the Brain Reveals About Our Power to Change Others by Tali Sharot
• Drunk: How We Sipped, Danced, and Stumbled Our Way to Civilization by Edward Slingerhand
• Just Kids by Patti Smith
• Mountain Sounds by Grace Smith (had to, always)
• The Unfinished World: Stories by Amber Sparks
• The Poetry of Rilke by Edward Snowe
• The Good Enough Job: Reclaiming Life from Work by Simone Stolzoff
• The Science of Storytelling: Why Stories Make Us Human and How to Tell Them Better by Will Storr
• The Mysteries of Sleep by Ben Swire

T

• Every Word Is a Bird We Teach to Sing: Encounters with the Mysteries and Meanings of Language by Daniel Tammett
• Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
• Walden and Other Writings by Henry David Thoreau
• Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui
• Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (all) by April Genevieve Tucholke
• Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought by Barbara Tversky

V

• The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

W

• Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
• Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality by Jonathan Weiner
• Impossible by Nancy Werlin
• Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker Ph.D
• The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther
• What Happens After Midnight by K.L. Walther
• The Path of Most Resistance: Stories by Russell Wangersky
• Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating by Moira Weigel
• Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
• The Wren Hunt by Mary Watson
• The Wickerlight by Mary Watson
• For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten
• To Dye For: How Toxic Fashion Is Making Us Sick by Alden Wicker
• Only If You're Lucky by Stacy Willingham
• Altered States of Consciousness: Experiences out of Time and Self by Marc Wittman
• Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World by Maryanne Wolf

Y

• Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
• Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
• Places No One Knows by Brenna Yovanoff

Z

• Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin