Hawaii Books

This collection of articles constitutes by far the best, most reliable general historical treatment of Shinto that I know of, and in overall quality is on a par with Helen Hardacre's excellent "Shinto and the State, 1868-1988" (which of course deals in depth with a more specific time period). This is good, solid, critical scholarship that plies the middle course between the Scylla of ahistorical, essentialist, culturally nationalist fuzz and the Charybdis of politicized, deconstructive, debunking wrath. Not that the contributors don't have a point to make, but they do so without sermonizing (one way or the other); their primary interest is in shedding some much needed light and clarity on the many fascinating and important aspects of the traditions we call "Shinto" today, spanning the seventh to twentieth centuries in the process. And I have already seen a number of these articles cited in books and academic journals, so this promises to be an influential set of studies. Most of these articles are original to this book, while some are translations from Japanese journals appearing in English here for the first time. If you are interested in Japanese religion generally or Shinto specifically, you won't want to miss out on this hefty volume, and those into Japanese history should also find it useful.

Note: I've appended a list of this book's sixteen articles below in the ProductWiki section.

"One of trhe few well-written collections of surf related stories available today. A very enjoyable read." LongBoard Magazine Review Oct/Nov, 2000

I grew up in Honolulu during the early sixties and Tom's book brings back so many memories. The British Invasion shows at the HIC, Led Zepplin at the old Civic, the crater concerts, the Golden Hibiscus Contest, the Poi Boys, each is a gem. My father worked for the competition at KORL and KULA. What a hoot ! Thanks Tom for all the great entertainment over the years. This book is a must buy for all music fans in the Aloha "state of mind.

Simple Solutions for Planet Earth is a must read for many if for no other reason than that its author, Patrick Takahashi, is a now retired PhD in Chemical Engineering who has spent his entire career in renewable energy. Among many other things, it explains in clear terms how the release of methane, a greenhouse gas 20 to 62 times worse than carbon-dioxide, from the continental shelf and arctic tundra could turn the earth's atmosphere into the 460 degree centigrade hell like the planet Venus that once had an atmosphere like Earth's. (By the way, the book notes that when Steven Hawking was asked his thoughts on the environment, he stated it was that the Earth "might end up like Venus, at 250 degrees centigrade and raining sulfuric acid.")

Simple Solutions is a sometimes stream of consciousness personal narrative with frequent gems of insight from analysis of the post peak oil energy alternatives and their relative potential for actually being implemented. It is also a practical treatise on the national and international politics of getting science done. This book is a "must read" for any investor, policymaker, CEO, aspiring CEO or business student. Every citizen in a democracy should also read it. Alas, that's not likely to happen. You will read it now but find yourself referring to its gems of insight, history and fact for years to come (I finished it 2 months ago and already my copy has more dog-ears than a mid-sized kennel). Its informal and personal style makes its high science accessible to everyone including those who might think a logarithm is something you find in a forest. The book does need an index but its strengths in facts and science far outweigh anything a copy editor could do for it.

If you are visiting Hawaii and you are interested in learning more than a guide book can tell you, this book is a must. It is an entertaining and adventurous tale of a daring woman's visit in 1873. It is a long book, but it will give you a much deeper experience of a fascinating land and its people.

This book provides one of the most user-friendly methods of presenting the night sky that I've ever used. First, the viewpoint is for a person at 21 degrees north, so really shows the sky as you would see it in Hawaii. Second, the book is spiral bound, so it will lie open and flat when you're using it. Third, it's large enough so that several people can share it easily. Fourth, a simple, one-page table tells you which page is appropriate for a particular viewing direction, date and time.

The body of the book is divided into 12 sets of 8 pages - two pages for each of the main compass directions. One page (the basic page) depicts the night sky and repeats the information about the direction, the time of night, and dates it's appropriate for. The *other* page (this, to me, is a delightful innovation) is translucent. It outlines the various constellations. When the translucent page is laid over the basic page, it's very easy to find those constellations. The back of the previous basic page contains interesting information about what you can see. The text is clearly and gracefully written.

This is a wonderful introductory book to astronomy - it focuses on the pleasure of watching the sky and provides as a marvellously easy-to-use tool for 'newbies' of any age to find familiar or new constellations.

For easy-to-read books, you can't find a better bargain than the Hooked onPhonics books.
Except for the last two items on this list, all of the books are available for 1 cent.

The books in the Hop Book series take an adult reader from 1 minute to 1 minute 30 seconds to read.
These books are 24 pages long, illustrated with color cartoons:

15. Slam and Dunk and the Big Game (188794236X)
16. Slam and Dunk Go to the Moon (1887942378)
17. Slam and Dunk in the Dark (1887942386)
18. Skip and Spin Swim with Dolphins (1887942394)
19. The Race (1887942408)
20. Mad Dog (1887942416)
21. Whacky Jack! (1887942424)
22. Camper Kim (1887942432)
23. The Best Grandma Ever (1887942440)
24, The Very Hungry Bear (1887942459)
25. Cat Tricks (1887942467)
26. Night is Right for Me (1887942475)
27. The Cereal Box (1887942483)
29. A Rose, a Bridge, and a Wild Black Horse (1887942505)

Beginning with Level 2, the books are of a smaller size,
These books are 64 pages long with black-and-white cartoon illustrations.

Level 2 books take an adult reader a little more than 3 minutes to read.
1. Detective Dog and the Lost Rabbit (1887942564)
2. Detective Dog and the Ghost (1887942572)

Level 3 books take an adult reader a little more than 9 minutes to read.
1. Slam and Dunk Go to Hawaii (1887942971)
3. Detective Dog Goes on Vacation (1887942998) $8.24

Level 5 books take an adult reader less than 20 minutes to read.
2. Goblins (1931020035) $1.00

Using the same characters that appear in the first two books of her Hawaiian trilogy (My Old Sweetheart and The Whiteness of Bones), Moore continues to explore the dilemma of tradition and culture --- and what one is to do with these precious things. Her love of nature is manifest, as in her earlier books, but her attempt to discover what it means to be a woman is moving and heart-breaking. Whereas The Whiteness of Bones seems to be a milder, dress-rehearsal for her later novel, In the Cut, this book is concerned with the importance of cultural history --- it can't be an accident that the heroine's name is Clio, who is also the muse of history. It's also very sexy --- Clio marries a movie star and tries to escape her heritage by running off to Hollywood. I don't understand why this book is never mentioned when Moore's work is under its (sometimes controversial) discussion...

The cat is many colors.
The cat purrs and meows a lot.
The cat eats like dogs.

This is a beautiful story of love, acceptance, and the many faces of "family." Funny & warm, the author reveals tremendous growth, both spiritually & emotionally that innocently shames those of us who have become judgmental, condemning, and withholding. It's not always easy to distinguish what is genuine in our experience from what is distorted, but with a clever combination of candor & metaphor, the author is able to uniquely identify our struggles with inner peace & happiness. He seems to recognize, support, and forgive all that is so silly within himself, and all that is so silly within our own small worlds in a way that still manages to make us feel pretty good! Love is reconciled, and love grows, if we believe, "Man is not perfect, but his intentions can be!"