Hawaii Books

Totality by Mark Littman, Ken Willcox and Fred Espenak was a pretty interesting book. This book explained the stages of eclipses of the sun. It also explained how to safely view eclipses and the history of eclipses. Mark Littman( a professor in science writing and astronomy at the University of Tennessee), Ken Willcox( was a professor of physics and astronomy at Bartlesville Wesleyan College) and Fred Espenak( an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center) explained everything about eclipses very well. They explain the parts of the sun and the stages of the sun. The authors used many examples of past eclipses to back up there information. There were many interesting and detailed pictures to look at. They showed pictures of the stages of eclipses and famous people such as Albert Einstein and Joseph Norman Lockyer. I enjoyed this book most of the time but sometimes it got a little boring. I would recommend this book for people who enjoy reading about solar eclipses and people who want to observe solar eclipses themselves. This book is good for people just starting to observe solar eclipses because it gives safety rules to use when looking at and eclipse. Also it tells you what kind of telescopes and cameras you should use and at what focal length to get the best picture you are looking for. I am sure this book could help out a beginner in observing eclipses. The most interesting part of this book to me was when I read observing a total eclipse. I was fascinated when I learned that animals and plants were affected by total solar eclipses. There were many examples of this. Also I was interested in learning about the many different eclipses. There were many different examples of eclipses to read about. The least interesting part to me was when the authors talked about the history of eclipses. That part was a little boring , but overall this was a pretty good book.

very good book for understanding all the aspects of solar eclipses; gives advice on how to view them, and conveys why they are special events; after reading this book, I was lucky enought to travel to Aruba to see my first total solar eclipse right beside the authors--it was great!

Even if you have other eclipse books at home, TOTALITY provides fresh information about this fascinating phenomenon. This book describes in clear language what makes a total solar eclipse so special. The authors explanation of the science behind eclipses helps to demystify the eclipse, while the chapter devoted to impressions from a group of dedicated eclipse chasers, gives a sense of the magic of a total solar eclipse. There are plenty of drawings and photographs complement the writing, with an excellent set of references in the appendix. Highly recommended, Jerry Levy ....

"Totality" is a superior reference providing a very comprehensive coverage of solar eclipses. I highly recommend this book for advice on understanding, enjoying, photographing, and experiencing solar eclipses, especially total solar eclipses. The information provided is easy to understand as well as practical and useful. I have about a dozen books on eclipses and this is one is the best. "Totality" is a must read for anyone preparing to experience a solar eclipse.

After being three times under the Moon's shadow, I already know very well what kind of excitement, marvel and amazement a person can feel during a total eclipse of the Sun. Reading "Totality", not only you learn, understand and comprehend better everything concerning the "most awesome sight in the heavens" (sic from the book's review), but feel again those very special sensations you only expect to find during totality. If you are not infected by the eclipse bug after the 1999 European eclipse, perhaps this book will do the work. I only miss a bit more extent on science (chapter 9) and about historical eclipses (chapter 5). Anyway, a very well-written, complete and fascinating book.

Thank you for this book!
I'm a lomilomi practioner for years and this book is absolut fantastic.

A great in depth study of the word Aloha but more than that, a tremendous history of Lomi Lomi.

Although not a spiritualist, I found myself immersed in the quiet, calm voice of Harry Uhane Jim, as reported by Garnette Arledge. Kahuna Harry shares the secret teachings of his Hawaiian heritage, now in danger of being lost. Of special resonance to me was the principle of "compassionate disengagement." For Harry, genuine healing calls on the presence of the Light Within to reflect energy so as to generate the other person's sovereignty. That sounds right to me.

From the moment I started reading Wise Secrets of Aloha, I could feel the sacred beauty of Hawaii and wanted to go there immediately! (I never had that pull before.) Thanks to Garnette Arledge's exquisite writing, I could feel the fragrant breezes, the ocean, the sunlight and all the lushness and loving energy that permeate the atmosphere there. And then we meet Harry Uhane Jim who so generously shares his delightful spirit and the healing messages and energies of Lomilomi. This book is a great blessing to our planet. It teaches us. It heals us. I'll be forever grateful to Kahuna Harry for allowing these sacred and invaluable teachings to emerge into the world market; and to Garnette Arledge whose deep sensitivity to the essence of this work and prodigious literary skills make her the perfect author of this gem. May it heal millions.

Aloha! As the editor of the Bishop Museum book on lomilomi and of Hawaiian Massage Lomilomi: Sacred Touch of Aloha I am happy to see a new book on this tradition. Although the Hawaiian proverb says, "All wisdom is not taught in one school," all authentic lomilomi practitioners live aloha and give aloha. This is also the way of Harry Uhane Jim.

Harry is native Hawaiian, and his wife is the granddaughter of Kahuna Papa Bray, one of the first Hawaiians to teach Huna. This book is filled with Huna concepts and will be treasured by Huna people. Those who believe Huna is not Hawaiian will still find nuggets of traditional practice, and his stories growing up on Kauai are wonderful glimpses into small kid time. His lineage is the Manoi and Kaimikaua families, and he learned from Auntie Rev. Mary, a minister in Kapaia on Kauai.

The book focuses on philosophy and personal stories, briefly describing a few treatment protocols. Harry says he gives Temple Lomilomi but it is quite different from what is described in Nancy Kahalewai's book, Hawaiian Lomilomi: Big Island Massage. The receiver is fully clothed and focuses on breathing. The giver mostly uses elbows. The work is not just physical but also verbal. Though he doesn't call it ho'oponopono, he describes a process of letting go of the past. The book includes heart-warming stories from people who have been healed by Harry's work.

Harry has a creative approach to the Hawaiian language and is not constrained by the Pukui Dictionary. Native Hawaiian scholars who are dedicated to perpetuating their language and who are deeply aware of its esoteric subtleties will disagree with the rationale for many of his spellings and definitions. There are some factual errors about place names and history, and some of his interpretations seem like New Age flights of fancy, but some of the more far-out ideas are actually documented historically. For example, across all the islands the Pleiades are considered the ancestral home, as Harry relates.

In some of the marketing, Harry is referred to as "the last lomilomi kahuna" but the book makes clear he is only the last of his family's lineage. He is not the last in existence. They may not call themselves "kahuna," but there are masters practicing openly today, and others who quietly keep their lomilomi in the 'ohana or family.

I give 5 stars because this book is filled with aloha spirit, and is an authentic contribution to the literature reflecting the diversity of native practice. I hope it inspires others to document their family lineages. This is now only the third book on lomilomi (I'm publishing a fourth in October 2007). The person with a genuine heart and sincere desire to learn about Hawaiian traditions should read all four books to begin to understand the diversity of lomilomi, and the complexity of Hawaiian spirituality.

I read the book American Diaries Janey G. Blue. This book is great. It is a really amazing book because its about a twelve year olds life and part of our countrys history. I thought this book was interesting because of the excitement. This is now one of my favorite books. I learned some interesting facts. That when there is danger you have to go into another city. I would recommend this book for three resons. One of the reasons I would recommend this book is it kept me interested. Another reason is because I liked it. Last I recommend this book because it kept me busy.

American Diaries Janey G. Blue is an oustanding book.

Very good book, it covers just three days in the whole thing, but you always want to finish it in one setting. I highly recomend this book.

This book is a real touching one. The suffering of all the characters was passed to the reader and worried him also. It was a great book because it taught great lessons of love and especially of life. It also taught about how surprising the morning of the Japanese attacks in Hawaii were and how clueless the people were of what was happening. I hope you also enjoy the book and learn as much as I did about the terrifying morning of December 7, 1941.

A 6th grade student

Twelve-year-old Janey, her parents, and her four-year-old brother Michael have left their home in Kansas to live on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. It's December 1941, and Janey's father, a welder, has been hired by the military to work at Hickman Airfield, near Pearl Harbor. Janey loves the beauty of her new home, but she is terrified by the threat of war between the United States and Japan, which could lead to an invasion of Hawaii. On the peaceful Sunday morning of December 7, without warning, Japanese planes attack. Janey and her mother and brother are separated from her father. They are forced to evacuate their home, but Janey is determined to return - because she knows in her heart that her father can't be dead, and that she will see him again. This was an excellent new book in the American Diaries series that captured the terror of the day Pearl Harbor was attacked, as faced by the many civilian families living on the island.

This book is full of deep and universal thruths. Full of great inspirational and spiritual thought-provoking ideas. "The fruit is already in the seed." Many of us would need to read it several times to understand and appreciate this wonderful book. Great gift idea for anyone who is seeking...

Ano Ano is an exquisite book of poetry that we all can relate to. Even though it encompasses the belief system of the ancient Hawaiian people, it still reads like it was written today. It addresses goal setting, dealing with a loss of a loved one, feeling lonely, and how to be successful! It's like getting advice from your best friend! Words of wisdom-Hawaiian style! The illustrations are so beautiful-keep it on your coffee table. This is a book to cherish forever! You will find yourself giving it as a gift for others to enjoy!

This book was exactly what I needed in my life. I bought it for a research paper that I chose to do about Hawaiian Literature, and I ended up buying a book that would ironically change me as a person. I was amazed. I actually cried at how perfect this book was for me. If you are in search of a sense of security in this world, or just want to really touch base with yourself, you will be so refreshed once you read Ano Ano. I have no doubt in my mind. Peace...

I keep this book close by so that I can refer to it often. It helps me remember "the truth" that we so easily forget in our hectic lives -the reason we are here in the first place. Whenever I feel lost or alone I just open it up (no matter what page) and read that passage. It always seems to bring me back "home". A WONDERFUL GIFT - THE GIFT OF TRUTH. I'm sending a copy to all of my close friends and family members.

excellent luau recipies all you need is to learn the hul

This book is in print and is available in gift shops. I saw it today at the Menele Bay Hotel on the island of Lanii in Hawaii.

Bring the warmth of Aloha into your home and into your kitchen as you experience the flavors of island cuisine. Turn ordinary meals into a tropical feast for the senses - island style. With beautiful cover artwork by renowned Hawai`i artist Pegge Hopper, the award-winning A Taste of Aloha, contains over 360 recipes donated by Junior League of Honolulu members, notable chefs, restaurants and hotels reflecting Hawaii's diverse ethnic backgrounds. It includes a complete glossary, unique fish chart and a guide for a Hawaiian luau.

Recently our family went to Hawaii and formed cooking teams for dinner. We used Another Taste of Aloha for most of the recipes and found it to be FANTASTIC. I have just bought 5 more to give to the family as gifts as a memory of fantastic recipes that can be cooked at home to recapture the memories.

Traditionally, four major East Asian languages have used Chinese characters for their writing systems: Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, and, of course, Chinese. Wm. C. Hannas knows all of them, and in this book he uses that extensive knowledge to deliver a broadside against the Chinese characters' lack of efficiency as a writing system.

Anyone familiar with John DeFrancis' work on the Chinese language will recognize some of Hannas' arguments (DeFrancis writes the forward for this book and was clearly an inspiration for Hannas' work). But Hannas is more wide-ranging in his scholarship and goes further with his arguments.

The first part of the book introduces the four major languages that have used Chinese characters for their writing systems, introducing them in order of the frequency they presently use the characters. Thus, Chinese -- which is comprised entirely of characters -- is introduced first and Vietnamese -- which no longer uses any characters -- is introduced last. This part describes the history of each languages' writing system and is highly readable.

After the languages have been introduced, the second part of the book critiques the Chinese character-based writing system. This part varies between highly readable sections and some more abstruse sections that deal with linguistic, analytical, and even psychological arguments that require close readings by the layman who doesn't have an expertise or at least a strong interest in those areas. But these arguments are the meat of Hannas' book as he looks at what Chinese characters represent, reading and literacy in Chinese character-based scripts, and even whether those writing systems are really appropriate for East Asian languages as some people have argued.

The third and final part winds down with a look at why reform of the Chinese character-based writing system fails (as Hannas argues it does) as well as what the future is likely to hold for it. One chapter alone is dedicated to the effect computers are having on characters. I found this part the least plausible of the three and also somewhat repetitive as arguments made earlier were restated.

While I agree with most of Hannas' general arguments and found his book both highly interesting and entertaining, I also think he greatly overstates his case. Hannas seems to actually believe that characters are on their way out. The growth in education and wealth, as well as the general social vibrance found in so many of the societies which still use Chinese characters suggests, at the very least, that perhaps inefficiency in a writing system is simply not an important aspect to a well-functioning, modern society -- that whatever impact it has is more negligible than Hannas imagines.

But disagreements over some of its points shouldn't be a reason not to read this outstanding book. Hannas' scholarship, lucid writing, and forceful exposition will give anyone who has experience with any of the East Asian languages that use Chinese characters a wonderful read.

This, following the tradition of John DeFrancis's Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy, uncovers the myth of East Asian languages: Korean, Japanese, "Chinese" and Vietnamese. The author provides an academically reliable and easy-to-read account of how the language works (or, doesn't work), and the future prospects for these languages and their writing systems. Read it and believe it instead of the myths running around in our societies.

I found this book to be a well written and interesting look at the use of Chinese characters. It uncovers some of the commonly held misconceptions about the use of the characters. It does a very thorough job of examining the differences between them and phonetic alphabetic scripts. The book covers the use of characters in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. The view of Hannas is that the characters are "on their last leg". I have discussed this book with several of my Chinese, Japanese, and Korean friends and they all seem to disagree with Hannas and are not in favor of abolishing the use of the characters. Hannas claims that he is not writing from the point of view of a disgruntled Westerner, but sometimes this is hard to believe. The introduction by John DeFrancis states that Hannas is one of the few people (Western or Asian) to have mastered Chinese (several "dialects")Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. I would highly recommend this book for anyone curious about East Asian languages. As an aside, I'm sure that an Asian could find plenty of things about English that do not make sense and should be changed!

This work is a highly polemical look at the writing systems of East Asian languages, specifically those that use Chinese characters. The author is out to demolish standard ideas about the use of Chinese characters in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese, and he does a thorough and persistent job of it. The book is accordingly much more exciting than a straightforward introduction to these writing systems could ever be. What is more, the author's insights are pretty well spot on, although not likely to endear him to those who entertain the myths that he sets out to demolish (which includes most speakers of these languages). Bold, refreshing, and definitely recommended.

This book gives a comprehensive overview on the Island's environments, geology, weather patterns, and history. The book is filled with up-to-date maps of all kinds and color photographs. The book contains statistical information that is difficult to find in any of the other publications concerning the Hawaiian Islands.

Don't be deceived, this is not just a book of maps. This title is a comprehensive look at Hawaii: its physical environment from geology to earthquakes, its biotic environment from animals to plants, its culture from archaeology and history to religion and architecture, its social environment from land use to communications, and complete with appropriate tables and statistics. Color pictures, graphs, and excellent maps add to the quality. The only shortcoming in the book is that there is only a one paragraph discussion of VOG, volcanic emissions that cause significant pollution on the island of Hawaii and that are sometimes blown to other Hawaiian Islands, as well. Since this is likely the main source of air pollution in the islands, a more serious discussion would have been worthwhile. Aside from this, this is an outstanding work, by two University of Hawaii-Hilo professors. A must have for people that love Hawaii.

Hawaii is one of the remotest locations on the face of the earth...However, this much awaited new Atlas of Hawaii has been prepared in such a style as to intrigue the reader to explore deeper into these islands, combining events of cultural significance with statististics it instills a closeness that one does not get from a typical atlas. From the turning of the first page, the feel of the premium stock, the wonderfully drawn cartography in conjunction with the up to date color photography, and the hundreds of sources and contributors leaves little doubt of it's quality. This is a serious endeavor a remarkable achievment that will be the ultimate reference tool for the islands.

The subject matter is broad and the graphics are well placed.
However the demographic and statistical data is dated (ten years old) and not reflecting the more recent changes in population and density.

Yachiyo is someone from a previous era whose life is very contemporary in many ways. Her struggle to assert herself and find her place in the world is constrained by her time, place, class and status as an immigrant woman. It's a bittersweet story that portrays some harsh realities about life in Hawaii in the early 20th century. Highly recommended.

i love how this play tells the story of 1919 hawaii, through the playwrites family history. very beautiful and moving.

Breathtaking. That is the single word which best describes Gotanda's "Ballad of Yachiyo". The story is very moving and, while I normally have a hard time following play scripts, Gotanda's use of imagery really allows for the reader to visualize the performance every step of the way. Each detail to the description of the scenes and the actions of the characters drew me further and further into the story. I would love to see a performance of this play! Someone please bring it to Michigan :)

A must-read, even for those who don't normally read plays. He tells a beautiful and captivating story through an exquisitely choreographed dramatic work. My complimentary words cannot do justice to him - I will just say that, as an aspiring writer, he is someone I truly admire.

Allison never lets the reader of this well researched fast paced historical drama off the hook. From Maine to Hawaii he carries us through the dynamic period just before the Civil War. What emerges is a portrait of a seldom explored time in our history when giants walked the land and sailed the seas.

CHASE is a page turner. It is in the rank and carrys like flavor and fragrance of James Michner and Jane Austen. I can see a movie or better yet, a mini TV series made from CHASE.

In this historical novel, William Allison uses a spartan but powerful choice of words to tell the story of George Chase (who actually lived from 1806 - 1855) and his wife (1811-1893). The story of their lives takes the reader from Maine to Hawaii. It is not only action packed, but extremely interesting in its presentation of the era. I couldn't put this down and am hoping there will be a sequel.

"Chase" takes places in the early 19th Century when America was beginning to understand the horrors of slavery. George Chase is forced to weigh his own ambition and political aspirations as he witnesses firsthand the humiliation of slavery and the abusive power of captains on the whaling fleet. "Chase" is a well researched book about a rare indidivdual, "a politician with a conscience".

Anyone interested in the history of surfing will be thrilled to look at this assortment of great shots. All are sepia toned, and don't expect crisp, high resolution reproductions here. What counts is the subject matter, and that's all here in spades. We got the Duke, Tom Blake, interestng beach goings-on at San Onofre circa the '40's, Billy Hamilton, Greg Noll and others. The price is a little stiff, but all are suitable for framing and, looking at it that way, what you are really purchasing is art. If you like surfing, you'll get a kick out of these.

Although it was hard to part with [money] for a portfolio of pictures, this is really a bargain. Everyone of the pictures is breathtaking. Added to the fact that it's a limited edition...

If you like surfing, or even classic American photography, this is for you.

I was blown away. These are some of surfings most famous images all in one collection. Beautifuly printed with a warm sepia tone. There are 15 11x14 inch black and white prints in the collection. All the prints are loose-not bound-great for framing. Steve Pezman from the Surfer's Journal wrote a wonderful introduction as well.

not much to add to the other review. this is the best photos pre Beach Boys. there is no better.