Hawaii Books

i don't believe this document is in print anymore which is unfortunate because it was full of insight and wit. i heard that the author wrestled with some of the pitfalls of fame and has withdrawn to a private life somewhere in arizona.

After searching my library for novels not in the Anglo Saxon fashion, I came across this book, which I found to be a real page turner.

After an introduction/bio on Kido Okamoto, the author, you are given 14 cases or stories centered around Inspector Hanshichi which take place during the Late Tokugawa-Early Meiji Era. And you really feel like you've being transported back to that time as you read these stories. The cases are usually homicide with a hand full with paranormal themes in them.

Inspector Hanshichi remains me of Sherlock Holmes. Not surprisingly the Japanese author was a fan of Arthur Conan Doyle's creation. Nonetheless, fans of Sherlock Holmes or of crime novels will find this an interesting read. I now wonder if the rest of the Hanshichi stories will be translated into English (Okamoto wrote a total of 69 stories using the character).

This is not a childrens' book. I purchased it directly from the author and Peggy in Kailua-Kona's King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel lobby. He writes as locals speak, the phrases ring true. If you want real insight to the Hawaiian prospective on past, present and future - buy this book. If you are fortunate enough to meet the author and his Mongoose, you'll see they overflow with humble charm and the true Aloha Spirit. If you are a Hawaiian living on the mainland, buy the book to remind you of home. Aloha Nui Loa

We lived in Hawaii for 6 years, that really helps since most of the humor is ethnic. Also you learn some of the history of the various groups in Hawaii. example: Chinese are called 'Pake' from 'Bakka' or father in Hakka dialect of Chinese. here's two 'Pake' jokes:

Hear about the new brand of tires, 'Pakestone'?
They not only stop on a dime, they pick it up.

Difference between a Pake and a canoe?
Canoes sometimes tip.

'Haole' or white person joke:
Why did God invent Golf?
So Haoles can dress up like Filipinos.

What do you call a Filipino family without a dog?
A family that doesn't know where its next meal is coming from.

Steven Curry's second book of poems is a look into the dreamy reality of island life and the wonderous feelings that living in a surfer's paradise can inspire.

Curry's poetry keeps it soothing tone, vibrant imagery and active language constant throughout this entire collection of unrhymed verse, moving between the heavenly landscapes of Hawaii and its relaxed, underwater world. The short translations of thirteenth century poet/philosopher Rumi and unique seascapes of Wayne Levin make Dancing The Waves And Other Poems a complete product.

Standout excerpts are; "Bodysurfing Makapu'u," comparing the "bone-jarring" power of a shorebreak pounder against the "Soft curl" of the same ride; "Small-Day Wave-Play," with its calm, "Crystalline" images; the respectful, introspective goodby, "Elegy (Sea Burial); "Na Kupuna O Ke Kai," an homage to senior longboarders and their favorite morning ritual; the celebration of volcanic life in "Lava Variations"; and "Still Point In Motion," ending the assembladge with a soulful breakdown of surfing.

Dancing The Waves And Other Poems is an original opus, possibly the only collection of surf-flavored poems in print, with phraseology demanding a second and third reaading.

Published by Anoai Press, Honolulu, Hawaii.

This is a great book, I have read it several times and will read it again anytime. This book is right full of suspense, mystery,and fun. This book also does a great job of teaching that it's not winning that counts but how you play the game.

Livia Kohn has taught Daoism to college students for over 15 years, and she just edited the Daoism Handbook (which you can buy for a whopping $245!). She's one of the world's experts on Daoism, and for the first time she's put together an extraordinarily readable introduction to one of the world's most fascinating and least understood religions.

Unlike many books on Daoism this book covers the whole history from ancient wisdom traditions, through medieval religious communities, to contemporary spiritual practices such as Qigong and Falun gong. Nowhere else are you going to get as comprehensive, and as readable an introduction.

It's not just dry history because the author makes connections to broader issues in Chinese culture and also to issues in comparative religions such as mysticism, modernity, identity and community. It's a great book and great value too.

I am a taoist priest in Hong Kong, and also a candidate of M.A.(Philosophy). Actually, I have read quite a lot of books relating taoism and DAOIST IDENTITY is one of the best books. I highly recommend Chapter 9 "Manifestations of Luzu in morden Guangdong and Hong Kong: The Rise and Growth of Spirit-Writing Cults" by Shiga Ichiko. It contains very useful information for my academic research paper.

However, I would like to point out that the book is mainly for academic purposes, it is not suitable for beginners!

A showcase compendium of recipes from the islands of Hawaii, "A Dash Of Aloha: Healthy Hawai'i Cuisine And Lifestyle" is a collaborative project of the University of Hawai'i's Kapi'olani Community College and based on the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) program. Beautifully illustrated with full-color photography, "A Dash Of Aloha" has a spiral binding enabling it to be laid open on a kitchen counter, and features healthy eating tips from the American Heart Association, food nutrition and seasonality charts, as well as exercise and lifestyle advice. The seventy 'kitchen cook' recipes are 'kitchen cook friendly' as they are delicious and nutritious. Ranging from Ginger-Bran Cake; Spanish Rice with Napa Cabbage Rolls; and Loco Moco Fried Rice; to Tofu Burgers with Mango Chutney; Curried Sweet Potato Chowder; and Forbidden Black Rice Salad, every recipe comprising this outstanding collection comes with serving size information, a brief commentary and a Nutrition Facts chart about the dish. Especially recommended for personal and community ethnic cookbook collections, "A Dash Of Aloha" is particularly appropriate as a culinary reference for anyone having to deal with weight loss, cardiopulmonary, or general health and fitness improvement issues.

"A Date Which Will Live" is both a stimulating and accessible history of how the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor has been remembered and a sterling example of the employment of the theory of memory in history and postmodern analysis. The author, now a professor of history at the University of California, Irvine, had fashioned a compelling narrative of how Americans have related to the experience of Pearl Harbor in the latter half of the twentieth century. She divides her narrative into two parts, the first dealing with the memory of the experience from December 7, 1941, until the end of the cold war. Her second part discusses the difficult battles over recollections of the World War II experience that took place in the 1990s, largely at the time of their fiftieth anniversaries.

Twin themes inform this narrative. The first is one of "infamy," the immediate reaction to the attack in 1941--President Franklin D. Roosevelt used that terminology in announcing the attack to the American public--and it has been a critical component of the memory of the event ever since. This has been a dominant strain in the recollection, and both popular and scholarly accounts point to duplicity on the part of the Japanese to undertake a surprise attack, demolish the American Pacific fleet, and conquer the bulk of the Asian-Pacific region. Rosenberg does an outstanding job of tracing the charges and recriminations on both sides over who was responsible for the war, and who was rthe bad actor both in causing and in conducting it.

A second theme is one of "deceit," not so much on the part of the Japanese although it is sometimes invoked there as well but on the part of FDR and other key strategists in the U.S. government who sought to maneuver the U.S. into a war with Hitler's Germany. This "back door to war" argument arose soon after the Pearl Harbor attack and has shown remarkable staying power. It suggests that FDR wanted to enter the war in Europe on the side of Great Britain but American isolationists prevented his doing so. He goaded the Japanese into an attack, and considerable circumstantial evidence has been assembled to argue that he even knew in advance that the attack was coming but chose not to warn the Pacific Fleet so that U.S. entry into the war would be assured. Despite overwhelming contrary evidence, and a preponderance of historical analysis debunking this conspiracy theory, it continues to have adherents, even arising in the 1990s as a congressional mandate for the Naval Historical Center to investigate the issue one more time. Rosenberg does an excellent job of telling this story, noting the point/counterpoint of the arguments, and offering sober judgment on the current state of the controversy. This aspect of the book is one of the most satisfying in the work as a whole.

Rosenberg also traces the manner in which the attack has been depicted in a succession of important feature films that have influence popular ideas about Hearl Harbor. These include such works as the wartime documentary made about the attack, in which the striking imagery known to all who have watched even a handful of documentaries on the subject were not actually of the attack itself, but a recreation undertaken in Hollywood. It also includes powerful films such as the 1950s film "From Here to Eternity," the 1960s film "In Harm's Way," the 1970s "Tora, Tora, Tora," and the recent "Pearl Harbor." All have affects on public conceptions of the attack in ways much more significant than most historians like to admit.

Finally, "A Date Which Will Live" offers a complex portrait of an event and its recollection in modern America. Rosenberg writes about the manner in which the recollection of Pearl Harbor fit into the larger history wars of the 1990s. She argued that "the most heated debates generally pitted the country's associations of academic historians against groups of political and cultural conservatives..." (p. 132). As she concluded, "At heart was the question of who had the right (and the power) to claim privileged knowledge of the past. Pro-military lobbying groups, cultural conservatives, and congressional critics railed that historians were `revising' history to suit current agendas; many historians railed back that partisan groups were seeking to `revise' history into popular oversimplifications" (pp. 132-33). So much of this effort was oriented toward what Rosenberg called a "final judgment" of the event in American history. Of course, such an ultimate statement is impossible in any historical debate.

"A Date Which Will Live" is a most welcome addition to the literature of the memory of World War II. One could make the case, and Rosenberg does, that perception and memory of an historic event might be more important than what actually occurred. It is the perception and memory that provoke response in the endless dialogue between the past and the present. Enjoy this well-written and provocative book on an important subject in twentieth century history.