Hawaii Books

If you like bloody mary's don't miss this one. World famous, can't be beat...I've travelled all over the world, personally had Mark serve me a bloody mary every Saturday, sometimes on Sunday. Aloha Mark, Duane, Heidi and Madison.

I love the intro. and the pictures of the drinks!
I also bought an extra copy for my nephew who likes to tend the bar eveytime we have a family reunion! Way to go Mr. Sullivan!!!

This is the best recipe book ever for party drinks and gelatin shots. The book is spiral bound so easy to use and lay flat on the bar. There are pages of great information and explanation of bar tools. The pictures are beautiful and the commentary on each page a delight! The innovative and original gelatin recipes are a hit wherever I take them. No home bartender should be without this book!

Who doesn't love jello shots? IF you don't..your no friend of mine! Buy a few, give to the college student in your life...Hey! they should learn the proper way to make them...

Learn about "things Hawaiian" while treating yourself to photos of Hawaiian models on every other page! ALOHA!

I travel to the Islands at least once a year and appreciate it when the locals open their hearts and offer an insightful glimpse of the life one can expect to see. In a way, this helps set expectations and guides one's unfoldment of that which makes the aloha experience so special. My only suggestion would be to offer a geographical gem to the enticing cover to complement the obvious human beauty. In truth, Hawaii is more beautiful in person than the pictures portray, which is a very welcome surprise, given how wonderful the pictures are.

I was impressed with the quality of the photos and the useful information about Hawaii ranging from the beaches to the history of Hawaiian icons, such as the Hawaiian shirt. I was especially intrigued by a description of a traditional Hawaiian instrument. I called a friend in Hawaii and he found one for me. Anyone looking for a good descriptive book about the modern Hawaiian culture will find this book helpful. The diversity of the Hawaiian people shows in the faces of the beautiful local girls pictured in this edition.

This piece is beautifully written with many photos that capture the essence of the Hawaiian Islands. The breathtaking photos really make this a wonderful keepsake for not only visitors to the islands but for the local people, as well. The interesting articles provided me with sufficient information and background that allowed me to visualize the uniqueness of Hawaii. I have enjoyed this book tremendously and recommend it to anyone that enjoys the Islands as much as I do.

This incredibly well written book offers a wealth of ideas, projects, and approaches.
It is a must-have addition to every crocheter's library. It expands the vocabulary of dimensional
crochet with clarity and invention. A delight and a treasure trove!! I create and design
crochet jewelry and I love flowers. This book is a feast for the eyes and joy for the hands.
I am so grateful that the author did the hard work of recording her fabulous patterns
and sharing her insights. Thank you, Roberta Wong!

If you are looking for an inexpensive craft that yields great results, this is the book for you. The projects are beautiful, and the supplies are easy to find. The leis can also easily be adapted to garlands for decorating. (I crocheted a very long lei in red and green, didn't join the ends, and wrapped it around my bannister as a Christmas decoration. Compliments abounded.)
My thanks to Roberta Wong for a wonderful book!

I found this books, and it is one of the best crochet book that you can ever own, The instructions are so easy. The flowers lovely .I just love it. There are so many proyects.

This book just so fantastic and very easy to follow. I have never come acroos this book here in the Mainland. Only when my daughter who lives in Oahi, Hawaii sent me this book as a Mother's Day gift did I learn of such crocheted Hawaiian Leis and I tell you, I started crocheting the very day I got the book and was very pleased with my finished projects... Looks just like the Leis in the pictures. Thank you... another crochet world had been opened to me.

This new edition of the classic book is simply wonderful. As the editor of the Bishop Museum book Na Mo'olelo Lomilomi: The Traditions of Hawaiian Massage and Healing, I look first to the lineage of information provided. This book is based on in-depth interviews with members of the Kame'ekua family of the island of Moloka'i. The author worked as a researcher for the Bishop Museum where she first learned of Kaili'ohe Makaweliweli Kame'ekua, the matriarch of the family. Although traditions vary among the people of different islands, and not all Hawaiians will agree with everything in this book, it beautifully recounts the oral history of this family.

The book has 10 chapters: Time Before Time, Mana, 'Ohana, Kahuna, 'Aumakua, Pono, History and Mythology, Huna, Aloha Is, and 'Imua. It begins with one of the most wonderful stories in Hawaiian tradition, the bowl of light. "Every child born has at birth a bowl of perfect Light. If he tends his Light during his life it will grow in strength and he can do many things..." This parable is a precious teaching that gives us a new way to look at life.

Interwoven with the stories from the family are Pali's personal reminiscences of her life in Hawai'i. My favorites are the ones about her husband, Koko Willis. Koko was 100% menehune, as he liked to say, and "coincidentally" a member of the Kame'ekua 'ohana. Indeed, the story of how they met and eventually married is one "coincidence" after another.

This book is especially important for anyone interested in Huna to learn more about authentic Hawaiian traditions.

Readers of this book will experience a delightful journey to old Hawai'i that will give them new perspectives on how to live their lives in balance.

*****
This book was an outstanding introduction to Hawaiian culture, told through the eyes of the author. It is a personal book, part memoir, and filled with Hawaiian mo`olelo (stories) that describe the true Hawaiian culture. It is more personal than comprehensive, and does indeed discuss "the Hawaiian way", helping me to understand the intricacies of this complex (and, paradoxically simple, too) and precious way of life, and how and why it has conflicted so with the Euro-American way of living. The author does this through personal stories and gentle explanations, showing more than telling, and helping the reader to appreciate the beauty of an exotic and wonderful culture.

The author discusses the concept of mana, the importance of the `ohana to Hawaiians, `aumakua...and popular misunderstandings as well, including much about huna. It is a beautifully illustrated book with simple black-and-white drawings that add beauty and some personal photos as well. Most importantly, it is a Hawaiian book, done in the Hawaiian way (which is non-linear), including genealogy, and most importantly, stories...it was a treasure to read. It includes a glossary for the many unfamiliar Hawaiian words.

Reading this book felt like a privilege. I feel like the author's culture was being shared with me in a vulnerable and gentle way that gave me so much insight and appreciation for her and for the Hawaiian people.

Highly recommended.
*****

This book helped me to understand more about Hawaiian ancestral roots.
It os writing in a very sweet way.

This book not only gives plenty of history of Hawai`i, and Moloka`i specifically, but it teaches you how to live your life as it should be lived. With aloha, with unconditional love. It teaches respect for the `aina, respect for the moana, respect for kupuna, respect for the keiki, respect for ke akua, for all people and all things. And, more importantly, it teaches respect for your own self.

This book shows how to be what we all should aspire to...pono.

Must reading for EVERYONE.

"Excellence in a Picture Book" award-winner 2006 from the Children's Literature Council of Southern California!

This book is beautiful, sweet, lush, and the lines and colors are flowing and musical. A visual treat.

Great new author. This book is absolutely wonderful. The writing and paintings are excellent. Wherever you live, the story will immediately bring you and your child the tranquility of Hawaiian night. Lovely! I hope to see more children's books from Ms. Kono soon.

A young girl cuddles in her mother's lap and falls asleep to the soothing sights and sounds of this Hawaiian lullaby.

Extraordinary Hawaiian pictures and a soothing lullaby rhythm make this an excellent bedtime selection. Descriptive language and sensory details work with the illustrations to transport the reader to a Hawaiian dream land.

See my other reviews at YABooksCentral

This beautifully illustrated book of Hawaii is a joy to loo upon and enjoy. It illustrates the beauty of Hawaii. Little Keiki (child) is shown to appreciate the magnificence of the Aloha way.

I have purchased various volumes on Ilocano and Tagalog languages....some claiming to be dictionaries. However most are either only one way translation or hard to use.

This dictionary is just what it claims to be.....A DICTIONARY OF ILOCANO / ENGLISH. Easy to use and has already been extremely helpful. Most official words are here and I will find it so helpful in my quest to learn the language.

This is the best Ilocano dictionary out there.

The author's love and dedication to the Ilocano language is an accurate reflection of the hardwork over that years that he has put into this impressive and high-quality dictionary.

Not many dictionaries dealing with Philippine languages are as detailed as this one. And not many go great lengths as to include a meaty grammatical sketch, history, and explanation of pronunciation. However, this one does. And very well, I may add.

This dictionary itself is two sections (English & Ilokano). Ilokano words are listed by rootword along with its affixed varieties and their varieties. Entries usually have a Tagalog equivalent and maybe even equivalents in other Philippine languages such as Ibanag, Kankana-ey, Pangasinan, and others.

Since stress plays a significant role in the meaning of Ilocano words, I am very grateful that accent marks have been included.

I also have to mention a comprehensive appendix dealing with charts of "fused" pronouns and verb affix charts. There are even lyrics to popular Ilocano songs such as Pamulinawen, Toy Karayo, and Tontonennaka toy Ayat.

This book is perfect for anyone; be it a tourist visiting the Ilocos region, a person of Ilocano descent, a linguist, a language enthusiast, or even a Filipino who is curious about the language of his or her Ilocano countrymen.

Also, the covering of this book ensures that it will last for a long time.

As an enthusiast of Philippine languages, excellent resources such as this gem come few and far between. I am completely satisfied with this book, and I'm guessing that you probably will, too.

Seeing as this is only one of two grammars of Ilocano I've ever seen--the other one being in a university library 20 years ago that was somebody's doctoral dissertation printed on poor quality, smudgy paper--I was prepared to read it no matter how bad it was. The surprise was that this is a very well done grammar of Ilocano, along with separate phrase and word dictionaries that are quite extensive. The author has a Ph.D. in languages and linguistics himself from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and his interest and enthusiasm in the language comes through in this very well done book.

Ilocano belongs to the northern Marianas subfamily of the western Austronesian language group, and is spoken by about 10 million people, mostly on the northern Philippine island of Luzon. It has many interesting grammatical features, such as having an ergative-absolutive based case system, an extensive system of prefixes, infixes, and postfixes, as well as enclitic particles (i.e., word morphemes that can be attached to more than one category of words), and a three-way spatial system of demonstrative pronouns consisting of the proximal, distal, and medial, similar to Kapampangan, another language from Luzon. Like other Philippine languages, it is a predicate-initial language, meaning that verbs and adjectives usually occupy the initial position in a sentence. It makes extensive use of sound symbolism, having many onomatopoetic root words. In that sense it sounds similar to Swahili, which has something known as "onomatopoetic ideophones"--words which attempt to capture in sound the idea of the object, such as in the word, "trinka-trinka," (or tractor). I'm not sure if the two features in Ilocano and Swahili are really the same, but Swahili is the only other language I've read about that does something like this.

The first 101 pages of the book are devoted to the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Ilocano, with the remaining 165 pages being taken up by the phrase dictionary and the word dictionary. Throughout the grammar portion the author intersperses numerous vocabulary lists, so you can build your vocabulary as you go along. According to what I've read, this is the most extensive dictionary of Ilocano to date, and was compiled from a large number of sources. This is no doubt the best book on Ilocano out there, and one of the most scholarly as well as readable books and grammars on a more exotic language that I've ever seen (and I've seen a lot of them). :-)

The Ilocano Dictionary and Grammar is the most comprehensive dictionary ever produced for Ilocano (Iloko), the lingua franca of Northern Luzon, and historically the native language of the majority of Filipino immigrants to the United States. The body of the dictionary includes entries for roots and affixes, with illustrative sentences, idioms, proverbs, common derivatives, and scientific names (when applicable). Tagalog, Pangasinan, Ibanag, and Kapampangan equivalents are supplied for high frequency words. Derived words that undergo morphological fusion are listed as separate entries to facilitate lexical searches. There is also an affix cross-reference list to help the beginning student recognize root words. Sources of loan words are indicated. The Grammar (including Phonology, Morphology and Syntax sections) is an version of the author's thesis "A Reference Grammar of Ilocano" rewritten in a pedagogical format. The Appendixes include grammatical charts, maps and traditional Ilocano songs. Layout of Volume: Intro and Grammar (i-lxxxv 85 pages); Ilocano-English (pp. 1-647); English-Ilocano (647-752); Appendixes and Bibliography (752-777).

It took me a while to digest all the scientific evidence, ecology, biology, case studies, arguments, and historical perspective. But once I got comfortable with its presentation, I eagerly read the book during my metro train rides to/from work each day, and I ended up with a tremendously deeper respect for Hawaiian nature as well as a better understanding of how politics and money interact with the future of America's tropical "paradise." It's definitely not a book you can take in all in one sitting (at least for me). But once you've allowed yourself to hear its arguments, you'll come to realize (as the book correctly points out) that Hawaii is indeed a microcosm of the greater United States and even the world. Moreover, the crisis facing Hawaii's nature can easily be extended to the rest of the world.

The book presents each aspect of Hawaii's ecosystems and wildlife both before and after human activities. The author was very careful in establishing scientific evidence and historical accounts/case studies to either back up his arguments or to establish how nature was in the past. It's here where the info can be very dense and difficult to digest, but if you want to know the truth, then you have to invest the time and energy to get the whole story - which Culliney does with unwavering determination.

All in all, it's not often you have a book as thorough, passionate, and uncompromising as this. I think it's a must-read for those who care about the Islands of Aloha and the well-being of its future as well as our own in general.

This timely study is a worthy companion to the late Alan Ziegler's authoritative Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology, and Evolution. Where Ziegler deals with the natural history as it developed up to and including the Polynesian settlement of the islands, Culliney focuses on the impacts of human settlement.
At the outset, Culliney sets up the Hawaiian islands as a microcosm of the planet. The picture that results is depressing. At first sight, there is plenty of wilderness left in the islands: remote places like Kaua'i's Alaka'i swamp still harbour their unique plants and birds. The more sober view that emerges is that (some) endemic species hang on to a precarious existence in such places to which they have been driven because these are the only places not (yet) overtaken by human occupation, alien species and the diseases they carry. Encouraging exceptions, such as the development of disease resistance in a few of the remaining honeycreepers, successes in captive breeding of endemic thrushes and the growth of responsible eco-tourism, are dwarfed by the massive environmental vandalism associated with golf courses and the pointless military occupation of the saddle area of the Big Island. Of the main islands, only Moloka'i has steadfastly resisted development, although feral beasts have ravaged its forests and its mountains were not high enough to save any of its spectacular endemic birds from malaria.
In his later chapters Culliney's measured prose turns increasingly bitter, as he exposes the shocking failure of the state government to protect its remaining wild treasures, with feral sheep and pigs left to run amok in deference to the "hunting" lobby. Some steps which might be taken are suggested based on experience in New Zealand, where planting of native species and fencing are mandated in ecologically sensitive areas. Hawaiian politicians please take a trip to New Zealand and learn how responsible stewardship can be attempted, before it is too late.

I bet "Islands in a Far Sea" is the first book published by a taxpayer-supported public university press to call the taxpayers -- or at least the ones ranching on the Big Island -- "juvenile yahoos."
Hawaii Pacific University professor of biology John Culliney lets it all hang out in his updated review of the natural history of "the world's finest natural laboratory for the study of evolution." Subtitled "The Fate of Nature in Hawaii," it makes for gloomy reading.
Although a strong environmentalist, zoologist Culliney at least does not buy into the ohia-hugging claptrap that decorates all too much writing about Hawaii's natural history. Ohia is the native name for Metrosideros polymorpha, the characteristic and unique tree of Hawaiian rain forests.)
Nor does he fall for the PC notion that pre-Contact Hawaiians loved the aina (land) so much that they lived in placid harmony with it. "Humans would shape the nature of the islands far more than they would be shaped by it," Culliney writes. "The nature of Hawaii was far from pristine when the Europeans and Americans began to influence the islands."
Overall, Culliney brings tradewind freshness to a field of writing clogged with sappy romanticism.
He is virtually unique among nature writers -- whether mere enthusiasts or professional ecologists -- in failing to rave about our islands' "rich volcanic soil." "Rich volcanic soil" is a cliche that was originally and accurately used to describe the slopes of Mt. Etna in Sicily. Hawaiian volcanoes are different, and Hawaii's soil is good for little but to hold plants out of the ocean.
Citing work by Peter Vitousek of Stanford University, Culliney points out that older islands, like fabulously green Kauai, would be scarcely able to support plant life, for lack of phosphorous, if it weren't for dust blown over from the steppes of Central Asia.
But if Culliney casts a more than commonly beady eye on the more inane claims of the greens, he is far from contented with what's been going on here.
Except for humans themselves and their fire, nothing has harmed native plants and animals more than big grazing mammals. And no one group arouses Culliney more than hunters. He calls their contrived arguments to continue, even enhance, the damage "neolithic eco-thinking."
Even real estate developers finish second to hunters in Culliney's rogues' gallery, though not by much.
For a reader wanting a compendious summary of the history and present prospects of Hawaii's natural life, "Islands in a Far Sea" is hard to beat. So much has changed, even in the 18 years since the first edition came out.
Not only have new kinds of assaults on native life been introduced -- noisy coqui frogs from Puerto Rico, for example -- but an enormous amount of fresh research has been published on these already much-studied islands.
The discoveries of unsuspected species of flightless birds -- probably eaten to extinction by the first Polynesians, who found little here in the way of vegetable food -- were just one of a large number of surprises brought to light in recent years.

Islands In A Far Sea: The Fate Of Nature In Hawai'i, by John L. Culliney, is not a trivial, easy to read, shallow review of neat places and critters in Hawai'i. Rather, it is an in-depth, sobering, and comprehensive review of what has been, what is now, and what may be, here in Hawai'i.

The book covers many aspects of the physical and biological world of these "islands in a far sea." Let me just comment on three aspects of Culliney's book.

1. Sea turtles: this is not a book "on" sea turtles. Nevertheless, Culliney dedicates one full chapter to sea turtle and monk seal biology and conservation issues. There are insights in this chapter that were new to me. Again, this was not just a "sea turtles are neat, they lay eggs at French Frigate Shoals, the population is recovering, etc." coverage.

2. Hawaiian tree snails: This chapter is very interesting, and again contained material new to me. I was particularly interested in the genus Achatinella (on O'ahu), its conservation, management, and history, since my ohana was involved in bringing cannibal snails to O'ahu, and I've visited with folk working on these snails on a protected ridge in Makua Valley, tending to the fence protecting their habitat from feral goats and collecting tissue samples for DNA analysis from the snail "feet."

3. The geological history of the islands: Culliney goes beyond just restating the "hotspot" theory of island formation, and goes into detail about what happens after the islands quit "growing."

All in all, this is a readable, scholarly reference book and textbook. All people serious about understanding Hawaiian natural history should read it.

You, as well as I, or lot of people more have heard stereotypes of Japan and its people, for sure. Maybe you use such stereotypes when talking about any topic on Japan. However, there are very good explanations for them, and I recommend you this book to know such basics.

In the first half, you'll read about Japan's history and the evolution of its society. In the second, you'll use those arguments to understand the behaviour of the groups of Japanese identified through the book.

The book set clearly two distinctions:
1. Talk about groups of Japanese, not "the Japanese," that is, don't use stereotypes.
2. Consider the time. Any argument is valid only in a certain period of time.

On that second point, the book was edited in 2001. It has arguments for 2005 or so. After that, you should look for new arguments.

McCreery is an anthropologist who has spent years working in the Japanese advertising industry -- not working in the sense of anthropological field work, but actually earning a living in the Japanese advertising industry. His book draws both on his insights into the industry and its products from this perspective, and his anthropological training. It is a data-rich book that ingeneously makes use of advertising or marketing research to create portraits of what advertisers think about different generations or sub-sets of Japanese consumers. It is a fascinating mosaic of materials and in many ways an experimental ethnography. Highly recommended.

The expertise gained from years of experience in Japanese advertising is supplemented with interviews and translations from Hakuhodo's think-tank newsletter on consumer mindsets. Highly recommended.

Japanese Consumer Behavior is a challenging book. There are multiple frames of reference: an analytical outsider, analyzing insiders analyzing their own culture, and changing trends within that culture. And that is just the approach. Then there is the data, relatively rapid changes across generations within a culture in response to major post-World War II, economic, gender-role, urbanizing, and, well, other real big changes. In essence there is a real fine grained analysis coupled with an analysis of the larger trends. And then there is the weird sense of dislocation, of finding "sneaker middles" in Japan bearing an almost but not quite resemblence to "yuppies" and trying to put a finger on what that "almost" but "not quite" is. The traditional anthropological road map one acquires does not apply very well to this book, hence it is an active reader book. If anyone is interested in what anthropology is going to be like in the future this is a good place to start.

I am a beginner in Kendo so take this all with a grain of salt.

I thought this was a tremendous book. Well written, clear, and thorough. I think it rivals "Kendo: the Definitive Guide" as one of the two best Kendo books. Particularly interesting, though not useful unless you're already a sandan or so, are the sections on Nito and Jodan. I haven't seen info on those kamae in English anywhere else.

Good book and a worthy addition to your library.

The book is exactly as the title states. It explains the philosophy, history, and rules of Kendo. It also has illustrations for the techniques so you can learn them. You still need to study Kendo in person to learn it, but this book is good as a reference book in case you haven't practiced something in awhile. It also has the terminology, which is useful to know as a student.

Dr. Tokeshi's book is great. It covers everything from the philosophy and history behind kendo to waza (techniques) and the basics of equipment care. Not to mention the comprehensive section on nitto ryu and the Nihon Kendo Kata. Using Dr. Tokeshi's book I've learned to take apart and maintain my shinai and how to fold my keikogi and hakama. I especially like the sections where he explains the reasons behind the different kamae and what the different kata is supposed to teach you.

Jinichi Tokeshi provides a succinct albeit comprehensive guide to Kendo and all that is entails. It begins with a short history of Kendo in an effort to familiarize the reader with the origins of the "sport". Tokeshi then spends some time on the necessities such as equipment and the correct manner in which to wear the kendogi and bogu! He also pays strict attention to appropriate etiquette and behaviour. The book deals with the movements, strikes, general philosophy, rules, regulations and ends with short biographies on historically significant samurai/Kendo masters! All in all the book amicably demonstrates the "elements, rules, and philosophy" of Kendo and as a new student to the Japanese art of fencing it has proved indispensable.

I thought I'd buy this to help teach history in school to my middle school ESOL students, I also am a fan of Diane Stanley, the illustrator. I didn't count on how absorbing the story would be and that I would be drawn into a world I barely knew existed. I had never heard of Princess Kaiulani before. I thought I would be reading about Queen Liliuokalani and it took me back a bit when I found out the story was about her niece. Kaiulani has a touching and very short life. I really want to read more about her. What more can an author hope for if they spur an interest in the subject they wrote about?

My daughter and I loved this book, even though the text was challenging for her as a 4-year old. The story of Princess Ka'iulani's childhood, and her bravery, poise, and eloquence in defending Hawaii when the Haoles brought in an army to depose Hawaii's queen, is beautifully told and made a deep impression. Also beautifully illustrated.

Gives children a real look at the history of Hawaii. A beautiful, sad and true story. Would like to buy a bunch more and give to children for gifts.

Fay Stanley's very worthy true story, "The Last Princess," is the tale of the life of Princess Ka'ilulani of Hawaii (or "Hawai'i" as it's more correctly spelled throughout the book). The book is illustrated by Fay Stanley's daughter, Diane Stanley, and this mother-daughter team has come up with a captivating and sad true story about a portion of history little of us know anything about.

Princess Ka'iulani was the niece of the king of Hawaii when she was born towards the coming of the 20th century. Great rejoicing attended her birth, as the king himself had no children. By all accounts, Ka'iulani was cheerful, beautiful, polite, kind, intelligent, and more than worthy of taking over the throne when the time came. Unfortunately, Americans intervened and little by little usurped the king's power. By the time Ka'iulani returned to the island after her schooling in England, the Hawaiian islands were an entirely different place--and not for the better.

Ka'iulani appealed to President Grover Cleveland's better nature and although he did his best to help her, upon leaving the White House after his presidency, Ka'iulani now had no American political friends. It was far more in America's interests to annex Hawaii to America than it was to help this charming, serious princess regain her rightful access to the Hawaiian throne.

This is a terrifically absorbing tale. Ka'iulani is presented beautifully by the illustrations, which show different aspects of her personality while always emphasizing her dignity and popularity among the Hawaiian people. The two Stanley ladies have taken a little-known subject and presented it to us with power and handsome decoration, and the end result is highly compelling.