Hawaii Books

Given the fact that I was a kaamaaina (local of the Hawaiian islands) for a few years, I thought I'd never use a travel guide for Hawaii. When we were planning for our anniverary trip to Hawaii this fall, we decided to look into a few guide books so we can use it to suppliment our knowledge of the islands. This book is so well-organized by categories, we ended up using its maps and recommendations for eateries and restaurants daily. On top of that, we saved so much money on food and we also got to eat at all the places the locals eat! Having the book made our trip worry-free! We definitely recommend this book for all those who plan to visit the Hawaiian islands!

We have just returned to the mainland from our first ever trip to Hawaii. We stayed at a wonderful B & B on Oahu, where we found the Frommer's guide to Honolulu, Waikiki and Oahu along with many other guide books, but we found it to be the best. This book was a fabulous guide, with all the maps and notes of places to go and things to see. We used it like a bible. It helped to make our trip very memorable.

A friend gave me this book and I felt as if I had won a jackpot! The recipes are well and concisely written and there are descriptions of each fruit at the beginning of each section. The fruits run the gamut from Acerola, which is sort of like a cherry of Spanish origin and includes others such as avocado (yes, it is a fruit!) banana, breadfruit, carambola (starfruit) coconut, grapefruit, guava, Kumquat, lychee, mango, mountain apple (also called Malay apple here), ohelo berry (which is unique to Hawaii) poha berry (which is unique here also, but originated from the New England gooseberries brought by the early missionaries), soursop and much more, all the way to even watermelon!

It covers each fruit with a detailed description, history, nutritive value, vitamin and mineral contents and recipes for each. It also covers a section for supplies and equipment for preparation and preservation of the fruits.

It also has sections on: Freezing Hawaii Fruits; Canning and Bottling Fruit and Fruit Juice; How to Make Jelly; Hawaii Fruits as Sources of Vitamins; Vitamin Content of Hawaii Fruits (!!)
Criteria for Rating Fruits as Sources of Minerals and Vitamins
approximate Measure and Calorie Value of Hawaii Fruits per Pound, as Purchased and Edible Portions And a great Bibliography for more extensive research.

The previous owner must have made a recipe using soursops as that is where I found the only food stains in the whole book!!!!

This book is great because it combines two of my passions in
collecting cookbooks, both about the State in which I live and love so much and about tropical fruits!!!!!!! It still has it's original clear acrylic cover and its in perfect condition (except for the soursop pages, LOL).

A great read from start to finish. Paints a vivid picture not only of Chad Rowan, but also of life in Hawaii, Japan and life on the sumo "circuit". It's a niche topic, for sure, but those who discover this book by accident or intentionally will be very pleased they did so. Polished writing, interesting subject - you can't lose!

Honest and very moving story about a Japanese family in Hawaii. Don't be fooled by it's tiny size and readability-- good things come in small packages. Touching and heart-felt, highly recommended.

There are many excellent village studies available for those looking to understand how 70% of the population lives, but this one, of a Jiangxi Province (South-Central China) village, is especially good because it is written by someone who actually grew up in the village, then returned as a scholar years later. While the educational opportunities of urbanites were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, primary and secondary opportunities increased substantially in the countryside during these years, and Mobo Gao was one of the beneficiaries, eventually going all the way to a PhD in the US.

He makes many interesting points.

-That commericialization was meaningless to the Gao village peasants until a grain surplus was attained. That the lack of specialized knowledge holds many peasants back from taking advantage of the opportunities of commericialization, and a failure to address this problem is leading to polarization and some disillusionment with the reforms (corruption and increased crime also factors).

-The ever increasing population pressure on the land is causing social as well as economic changes in the village, as people migrate to find work, and remittances become a key source of income. The social bonds that sustained collective endeavors in the past are breaking down as the village becomes as much or more connected to the outside than with each other. A potential worry because local public action is still a major way growth can be attained in rural China, and the richest villages tend to be the ones that have success in this area.

-Clan rivalry and even violence, kept under wraps in the tightly controlled Mao years, increased substantially in the 1980s and 1990s.

-Abysmally low agricultural prices were the main reason for slowly increasing incomes in the Mao years, not lack of work incentives. And the concept of the "People's Commune" meant nothing to the Gaos, it was just seen as an upper level of government.

There's plenty more in this insightful glimpse into the Chinese countryside by an insider.

If you are a serious scholar in Japanese history or a student on Oriental studies, I would probably recommend to put this book on your "must" list. Far from being a leisurely evening read, this book sheds light into depths of Japanese medieval concept of state governance and interplay between the Emperor's court, powerful courtiers, prime religious institutions and warrior governments of Minamoto (and Hojo regents) and Ashikaga.

Starting with Prince Shotoku's introduction of Buddhism as the state religion in Japan and blending of Buddhist practices with native Japanese beliefs, religious institutions, temples and shrines started competing among themselves for patronage and, obviously coming with it, donations. The author considers three main sects of Shingon, Tendai and Hosso and their relationships with the court, involvement into court politics and tracks down their development through the times of eighths to early fourteenth century. In light of the politics and main economic concerns of the era, it becomes much clearer, for example, why the capital was moved from Nara to Kioto, or why the warrior government of Ashikaga lobbied the development of the Zen sect of Buddhism and it is much easier to understand a lot of other questions.

Kofukuji, the centre of Hosso sect and the family temple of a powerful Heian family of Fujiwara grew into the shugo (the governor) of Yamato province and accumulated so much influence that it employed excommunication of Fujiwara clan chieftains (its hereditary patrons!) in its arsenal of measures exercising the pressure on the court to defend its economic interests. Enryakuji, the Tendai centre and the main provider of ceremonies for the imperial court, expelled head abbots appointed by the Emperor and marched into the capital with sacred symbols showing thereby the anger of gods caused by incursion of warriors into the Temple's estates. Lovers of samurai history such as myself can see what overwhelming reasons Oda Nobunaga had to destroy this immense complex in his swift operation viewed as an example of cruelty of the Sengoku era.

The work is full of names, facts and dates and occasionally I personally found myself swamped by the wealth of information. However, the author does a good job at overthrowing some well established myths in official history relating to the role of Buddhism by putting under a microscope the practice of "divine demonstration" (or "forceful protests", or "goso" in the original language) and describing the economic and social environment and bases for the all-powerful temple-shrine complexes serving as gates of power, or kenmon.

This is a really good book that every Asian Studies student should own. It actually looks at all East Asia civilizations, not just China and Japan. Holcombe's skilled at hightlighting the connections between the East Asian societies, and paints a picture of interconnected, yet distinct cultures. Highly recommended.

I loved this book. I am an astronomer by hobby only and was looking for a great read, that provided background on the area under observation and the sky above. This book does a great job of bringing high level thinking down to the everyman's level and providing wonderful history and insight about the island of Mauna Kea. The photography is breath taking and the story is exceptional. A must read for any astronomy lover or even for the Mauna kea tourist.

Wow! Kerri LeRoy's debut romance was wonderful! The main characters are fun, easy to identify with, and well developed. Loved the plot of former nerds turning into hot and available adults. You felt for Paige as she shed her bookish exterior, but it was worth it! LeRoy's descriptions of Hawaii made me feel like I was there. I couldn't put it down.
Definitely an enjoyable read!