40 Best 「hawai」 Books of 2024| Books Explorer

In this article, we will rank the recommended books for hawai. The list is compiled and ranked by our own score based on reviews and reputation on the Internet.
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Table of Contents
  1. Moloka'i
  2. This Is Paradise: Stories
  3. Hawaii: A Novel
  4. Shark Dialogues
  5. Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai'i (Vintage Departures)
  6. Waimea Summer
  7. Unfamiliar Fishes
  8. Unfamiliar Fishes
  9. Sharks in the Time of Saviors
  10. The Betrayal of Liliuokalani: Last Queen of Hawaii 1838-1917
Other 30 books
No.1
100

Moloka'i

Brennert, Alan
St. Martin's Griffin

This richly imagined novel, set in Hawai'i more than a century ago, is an extraordinary epic of a little-known time and place---and a deeply moving testament to the resiliency of the human spirit.Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, dreams of visiting far-off lands like her father, a merchant seaman. Then one day a rose-colored mark appears on her skin, and those dreams are stolen from her. Taken from her home and family, Rachel is sent to Kalaupapa, the quarantined leprosy settlement on the island of Moloka'i. Here her life is supposed to end---but instead she discovers it is only just beginning.With a vibrant cast of vividly realized characters, Moloka'i is the true-to-life chronicle of a people who embraced life in the face of death. Such is the warmth, humor, and compassion of this novel that "few readers will remain unchanged by Rachel's story" (mostlyfiction.com).

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No.2
84

This Is Paradise: Stories

Kahakauwila, Kristiana
Hogarth

Elegant, brutal, and profound—this magnificent debut captures the grit and glory of modern Hawai'i with breathtaking force and accuracy.In a stunning collection that announces the arrival of an incredible talent, Kristiana Kahakauwila travels the islands of Hawai'i, making the fabled place her own. Exploring the deep tensions between local and tourist, tradition and expectation, façade and authentic self, This Is Paradise provides an unforgettable portrait of life as it’s truly being lived on Maui, Oahu, Kaua'i and the Big Island.In the gut-punch of “Wanle,” a beautiful and tough young woman wants nothing more than to follow in her father’s footsteps as a legendary cockfighter. With striking versatility, the title story employs a chorus of voices—the women of Waikiki—to tell the tale of a young tourist drawn to the darker side of the city’s nightlife. “The Old Paniolo Way” limns the difficult nature of legacy and inheritance when a patriarch tries to settle the affairs of his farm before his death.Exquisitely written and bursting with sharply observed detail, Kahakauwila’s stories remind us of the powerful desire to belong, to put down roots, and to have a place to call home.

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No.3
77

Hawaii: A Novel

Michener, James A.
Dial Press Trade Paperback

Pulitzer Prize–winning author James A. Michener brings Hawaii’s epic history vividly to life in a classic saga that has captivated readers since its initial publication in 1959. As the volcanic Hawaiian Islands sprout from the ocean floor, the land remains untouched for centuries—until, little more than a thousand years ago, Polynesian seafarers make the perilous journey across the Pacific, flourishing in this tropical paradise according to their ancient traditions. Then, in the early nineteenth century, American missionaries arrive, bringing with them a new creed and a new way of life. Based on exhaustive research and told in Michener’s immersive prose, Hawaii is the story of disparate peoples struggling to keep their identity, live in harmony, and, ultimately, join together.Praise for Hawaii“Wonderful . . . [a] mammoth epic of the islands.”—The Baltimore Sun“One novel you must not miss! A tremendous work from every point of view—thrilling, exciting, lusty, vivid, stupendous.”—Chicago Tribune“From Michener’s devotion to the islands, he has written a monumental chronicle of Hawaii, an extraordinary and fascinating novel.”—Saturday Review“Memorable . . . a superb biography of a people.”—Houston Chronicle

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No.4
77

Shark Dialogues

Davenport, Kiana
Plume

“Compares with Toni Morrison.”—GlamourBeginning with the fateful meeting of a nineteenth-century Yankee sailor and the runaway daughter of a Tahitian chief, and sweeping over a century and a half of passionate, turbulent Hawaiian history, Shark Dialogues takes its place as the first novel to do justice to the rich heritage and cruel conflicts of the beautiful and beleaguered islands and their people. Surreal, provocative, erotic, magical, meaningful, and supremely wise, it is a tale of islanders and invaders, of victors and victims, of queens and whores, of lepers and healers. And at its center are Pono, the magnificent pure-blooded matriarch and seer, and her four mixed-blood granddaughters seeking to come to terms with the contradictions of their ancestries and the hungers of their hearts. Their loves, their hates, the bonds joining them, and the furies possessing them are interwoven with ancient legends and lore of the islands whose past offers their salvation and whose future is their fate. Kiana Davenport has written a major contribution to the literature of the Pacific Rim—a great reading experience both brilliantly contemporary in its form and timeless in its illumination.“A giant, image-fevered, luxuriant saga of a Hawaiian family… powerful, memorable, intoxicating.”—Kirkus Reviews“Complex, resonant… handles the sweep of history and the nuance of the personal equally well… Sensuous.”—San Francisco Chronicle

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No.5
70

Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai'i (Vintage Departures)

Hongo, Garrett
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Part memoir, part Japanese American family chronicle, part luminous work of natural history, Volcano tells what happened when Hongo returned to his birthplace in Hawai'i, as a young man, to reclaim its dreamlike landscape and his own elusive past. A magnificant evocation of heritage and place.

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No.6
70

Waimea Summer

Holt, John Dominis
Native Books

Written by John Dominis Holt, this important novel explores two cultures merged in the life of the protagonist. This young boy finds himself on a ranch in Waimea, trying to make sense of the differences in class and peoples as he himself realizes the great divide between the Western and Native Hawaiian identities that he comes from.

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No.7
70

Unfamiliar Fishes

Vowell, Sarah
Riverhead Books

From the bestselling author of The Wordy Shipmates, comes an examination of Hawaii, the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn.Many think of 1776 as the defining year of American history, when we became a nation devoted to the pursuit of happiness through self- government. In Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell argues that 1898 might be a year just as defining, when, in an orgy of imperialism, the United States annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded first Cuba, then the Philippines, becoming an international superpower practically overnight.Among the developments in these outposts of 1898, Vowell considers the Americanization of Hawaii the most intriguing. From the arrival of New England missionaries in 1820, their goal to Christianize the local heathen, to the coup d'état of the missionaries' sons in 1893, which overthrew the Hawaiian queen, the events leading up to American annexation feature a cast of beguiling, and often appealing or tragic, characters: whalers who fired cannons at the Bible-thumpers denying them their God-given right to whores, an incestuous princess pulled between her new god and her brother-husband, sugar barons, lepers, con men, Theodore Roosevelt, and the last Hawaiian queen, a songwriter whose sentimental ode "Aloha 'Oe" serenaded the first Hawaiian president of the United States during his 2009 inaugural parade.With her trademark smart-alecky insights and reporting, Vowell lights out to discover the off, emblematic, and exceptional history of the fiftieth state, and in so doing finds America, warts and all.

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No.8
68

Unfamiliar Fishes

Vowell, Sarah
Riverhead Books

From the author of Lafayette in the Somewhat United States comes an examination of Hawaii, the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn.Of all the countries the United States invaded or colonized in 1898, Sarah Vowell considers the story of the Americanization of Hawaii to be the most intriguing. From the arrival of the New England missionaries in 1820, who came to Christianize the local heathens, to the coup d'état led by the missionaries' sons in 1893, overthrowing the Hawaiian queen, the events leading up to American annexation feature a cast of beguiling, if often appalling or tragic, characters. Whalers who fire cannons at the Bible-thumpers denying them their god-given right to whores; an incestuous princess pulled between her new god and her brother-husband; sugar barons, con men, Theodore Roosevelt, and the last Hawaiian queen, a songwriter whose sentimental ode "Aloha 'Oe" serenaded the first Hawaiian-born president of the United States during his 2009 inaugural parade.With her trademark wry insights and reporting, Vowell sets out to discover the odd, emblematic, and exceptional history of the fiftieth state. In examining the place where Manifest Destiny got a sunburn, she finds America again, warts and all.

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No.9
68

Sharks in the Time of Saviors

Washburn, Kawai Strong
Picador Paper

Amazon.com Review\\nAn Amazon Best Book of March 2020: Kawai Strong Washburn is making his debut, and it is a knockout. Sharks in the Time of Saviors is mythical and grounded, humorous and heart wrenching, contemporary and timeless. I could tell you it’s about a boy who has the power to tame and to heal, but that makes it sound a little more witchy than it is. So maybe I’ll just say that it’s about three siblings who grew up in Hawaii, dispersed to the mainland for their grown-up lives, and all the while are each trying to figure out their own identities—in relation to themselves, each other, and the legends of their childhood. From the heat of Hawaii, to the riotous banter with their parents, and then the shattering disappointment of falling short of expectations, Washburn’s debut beats with the complexity of familial love. Washburn is a gifted writer, one to watch, and more importantly one to read and expand your view of paradise. —Al Woodworth, Amazon Book Review\\nWINNER OF THE 2020 PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL.\\nOne of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020. A finalist for the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. Named one of the Best Books of 2020 by the New York Times (#30), the Guardian, the Boston Globe, Oprah Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, BBC Culture, Good Housekeeping, LitHub, Spectrum Culture, Third Place Books, and Powell's Books.\\nSharks in the Time of Saviors is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawaiian gods into an engrossing family saga; a story of exile and the pursuit of salvation from Kawai Strong Washburn.\\n“Old myths clash with new realities, love is in a ride or die with grief, faith rubs hard against magic, and comic flips with tragic so much they meld into something new. All told with daredevil lyricism to burn. A ferocious debut.”\n―MARLON JAMES, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf\\n“So good it hurts and hurts to where it heals. It is revelatory and unputdownable. Washburn is an extraordinarily brilliant new talent.”\n―TOMMY ORANGE, author of There There\\nNamed one of the most anticipated novels for 2020 by the Guardian and Paste Magazine. One of Book Riot’s Best Books to Give as Gifts in 2020.\\nIn 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.\\nNainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods―a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy.\\nWhen supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i―with tragic consequences―they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

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No.10
67

A woman caught in the turbulent malestrom of cultures in conflict. Treating Queen Liliuokalani's life with authority, accuracy and detail, Betrayal is tremendously informative concerning the entire period of missionary activity and foreign encroachment in the Islands.

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No.11
67

“A close-up look at how wartime chaos affects a tight-knit group of women living on Hawaii in 1944 at the height of Pacific combat.... [Violet’s] journey overcoming her trials and grief through friendship, family, and romance is a story of strength and perseverance.”—BooklistViolet Iverson and her young daughter, Ella, are piecing their lives together after the disappearance of her husband. As rumors swirl and questions about his loyalties surface, Violet believes Ella knows something. But Ella is stubbornly silent. Something—or someone—has scared her.With the island overrun by troops training for a secret mission, tension and suspicion between neighbors is rising. To get through the difficult days, Violet bands together with her close friends and they open a pie stand near the military base, offering the soldiers a little homemade comfort.Try as she might, Violet can’t ignore her attraction to the brash marine who comes to her aid when the women are accused of spying. Desperate to discover the truth behind what happened to her husband, while keeping her friends and daughter safe, Violet is torn by guilt, fear and longing as she faces losing everything. Again.“A bittersweet story of cinematic proportions.”—BookPage

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No.12
67

Attuned to a world of natural signs―the stars, the winds, the curl of ocean swells―Polynesian explorers navigated for thousands of miles without charts or instruments. They sailed against prevailing winds and currents aboard powerful double canoes to settle the vast Pacific Ocean. And they did this when Greek mariners still hugged the coast of an inland sea, and Europe was populated by stone-age farmers. Yet by the turn of the twentieth century, this story had been lost and Polynesians had become an oppressed minority in their own land. Then, in 1975, a replica of an ancient Hawaiian canoe―Hōkūle‘a―was launched to sail the ancient star paths, and help Hawaiians reclaim pride in the accomplishments of their ancestors.Hawaiki Rising tells this story in the words of the men and women who created and sailed aboard Hōkūle‘a. They speak of growing up at a time when their Hawaiian culture was in danger of extinction; of their vision of sailing ancestral sea-routes; and of the heartbreaking loss of Eddie Aikau in a courageous effort to save his crewmates when Hōkūle‘a capsized in a raging storm. We join a young Hawaiian, Nainoa Thompson, as he rediscovers the ancient star signs that guided his ancestors, navigates Hōkūle‘a to Tahiti, and becomes the first Hawaiian to find distant landfall without charts or instruments in a thousand years.Hawaiki Rising is the saga of an astonishing revival of indigenous culture by voyagers who took hold of the old story and sailed deep into their ancestral past.

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No.13
66

Ka Mooolelo Hawaii

Remy, Jules
Legare Street Press
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No.14
66

Julia Daniels, a Moloka'i pioneer woman of mixed blood, invites her grandsons Jeff and Ben to spend summers with her at her ranch on the east end. She shares the ranch with Chipper, an alcoholic war hero with a life estate bordering the swamp. The brothers roam a paradise of fishponds, waterfalls, pristine valleys, and mountains with herds of deer. Jeff meets the Kahuna Woman who freezes pictures of her enemies, the TS who seduces the Chief of Police, the man who refs cock fights in Kaunakakai, the sexy divorcee who lives in the Saddle Room, and the prodigal grandfather who returns to woo Julia. These characters help shape Jeff's sensibilities as he discovers the secrets of his grandmother's wild past in Honolulu and the intensity of her struggles on the Lonely Isle.

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No.15
66

The Descendants: A Novel (Random House Movie Tie-In Books)

Hemmings, Kaui Hart
Random House Trade Paperbacks

Now a major motion picture starring George Clooney and directed by Alexander PayneFortunes have changed for the King family, descendants of Hawaiian royalty and one of the state’s largest landowners. Matthew King’s daughters—Scottie, a feisty ten-year-old, and Alex, a seventeen-year-old recovering drug addict—are out of control, and their charismatic, thrill-seeking mother, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident. She will soon be taken off life support. As Matt gathers his wife’s friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation is made worse by the sudden discovery that there’s one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair. Forced to examine what they owe not only to the living but to the dead, Matt, Scottie, and Alex take to the road to find Joanie’s lover, on a memorable journey that leads to unforeseen humor, growth, and profound revelations.

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No.16
66

House of Many Gods: A Novel

Davenport, Kiana
Random House Publishing Group

From Kiana Davenport, the bestselling author of Song of the Exile and Shark Dialogues, comes another mesmerizing novel about her people and her islands. Told in spellbinding and mythic prose, House of Many Gods is a deeply complex and provocative love story set against the background of Hawaii and Russia. Interwoven throughout with the indelible portrait of a native Hawaiian family struggling against poverty, drug wars, and the increasing military occupation of their sacred lands.Progressing from the 1960s to the turbulent present, the novel begins on the island of O’ahu and centers on Ana, abandoned by her mother as a child. Raised by her extended family on the “lawless” Wai’anae coast, west of Honolulu, Ana, against all odds, becomes a physician. While tending victims of Hurricane ‘Iniki on the neighboring island of Kaua’i, she meets Nikolai, a Russian filmmaker with a violent and tragic past, who can confront reality only through his unique prism of lies. Yet he is dedicated to recording the ecological horrors in his motherland and across the Pacific.As their lives slowly and inextricably intertwine, Ana and Nikolai’s story becomes an odyssey that spans decades and sweeps the reader from rural Hawaii to the forbidding Arctic wastes of Russia; from the poverty-stricken Wai’anae coast to the glittering harshness of “new Moscow” and the haunting, faded beauty of St. Petersburg. With stunning narrative inventiveness, Davenport has created a timeless epic of loss and remembrance, of the search for family and identity, and, ultimately, of the redemptive power of love.

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No.17
66

In these stories from twenty-three contributors, Pele takes a variety of forms: a four-year-old sees a "lady in a crimson dress"; others see lights or simply feel a presence; drivers pick up hitchhikers - old women, young women - who mysteriously disappear. Pele announces a birth, commemorates a death, issue warnings, deliver blessings and curses. Is she a spirit, a legend or a reality? It's up to you to decide.

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No.18
65

Honolulu

Brennert, Alan
St. Martin's Griffin

From the bestselling author of the "dazzling historical saga" (The Washington Post), Moloka'i, comes the irresistible story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city"In Korea in those days, newborn girls were not deemed important enough to be graced with formal names, but were instead given nicknames, which often reflected the parents' feelings on the birth of a daughter: I knew a girl named Anger, and another called Pity. As for me, my parents named me Regret."Honolulu is the rich, unforgettable story of a young "picture bride" who journeys to Hawai'i in 1914 in search of a better life.Instead of the affluent young husband and chance at an education that she has been promised, she is quickly married off to a poor, embittered laborer who takes his frustrations out on his new wife. Renaming herself Jin, she makes her own way in this strange land, finding both opportunity and prejudice. With the help of three of her fellow picture brides, Jin prospers along with her adopted city, now growing from a small territorial capital into the great multicultural city it is today. But paradise has its dark side, whether it's the daily struggle for survival in Honolulu's tenements, or a crime that will become the most infamous in the islands' history...With its passionate knowledge of people and places in Hawai'i far off the tourist track, Honolulu is most of all the spellbinding tale of four women in a new world, united by dreams, disappointment, sacrifices, and friendship.

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No.19
65

The New York Times bestselling inspirational story of impoverished children who transformed themselves into world-class swimmers.In 1937, a schoolteacher on the island of Maui challenged a group of poverty-stricken sugar plantation kids to swim upstream against the current of their circumstance. The goal? To become Olympians.They faced seemingly insurmountable obstacles. The children were Japanese-American and were malnourished and barefoot. They had no pool; they trained in the filthy irrigation ditches that snaked down from the mountains into the sugarcane fields. Their future was in those same fields, working alongside their parents in virtual slavery, known not by their names but by numbered tags that hung around their necks. Their teacher, Soichi Sakamoto, was an ordinary man whose swimming ability didn't extend much beyond treading water.In spite of everything, including the virulent anti-Japanese sentiment of the late 1930s, in their first year the children outraced Olympic athletes twice their size; in their second year, they were national and international champs, shattering American and world records and making headlines from L.A. to Nazi Germany. In their third year, they'd be declared the greatest swimmers in the world. But they'd also face their greatest obstacle: the dawning of a world war and the cancellation of the Games. Still, on the battlefield, they'd become the 20th century's most celebrated heroes, and in 1948, they'd have one last chance for Olympic glory.They were the Three-Year Swim Club. This is their story.

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No.20
65

Ancient Hawai'I

Kane, Herb Kawainui
Kawainui Pr

How ancient Polynesian explorers found the Hawaiian Islands, the most remote in Earth's largest sea; how they navigated, how they viewed themselves and their universe, and the arts, crafts, and values by which they survived and prospered without metals or the fuels and inventions believed necessary for life today.

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No.21
65

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen is a book written by Queen Liliuokalani, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawai'i. It was published in 1898, five years after the overthrow of the Kingdom. In it, Liliuokalani gives her account of her upbringing, her accession to the throne, the overthrow of her government by pro-American forces, her appeals to the United States to restore the Hawaiian monarchy, and her arrest and trial following an unsuccessful 1895 rebellion against the Republic of Hawai'i. Her appeals immediately after the Hawaiian Revolution were acted upon by her friend, President Grover Cleveland, who demanded her reinstatement from the President of Hawai'i, Sanford B. Dole, following a confidential investigation and report by James Henderson Blount submitted July 17, 1893. Dole refused Cleveland's demands. Cleveland then referred the matter to the United States Congress. The Congress investigated further and produced the Morgan Report on February 26, 1894 which concluded that the U.S. had no role in the Hawaiian Revolution. Following the Morgan Report, the Turpie Resolution of May 31, 1894 ended any hope for further assistance in regaining her throne, and her further appeals for help were rebuffed by the Cleveland administration. In 1898, the same year the book was originally published, Hawai'i was formally annexed by the United States of America. This book is seen by many in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement as a key source documenting the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. Many of her assertions regarding the overthrow are contradicted by other primary sources, including the Morgan Report and the Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report of 1983. In either case, many people believe that the work is successful in conveying the frustration and sadness by the Queen and her supporters both for her loss of the throne, as well as the end of the independent nation of Hawai'i upon annexation to the United States.

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No.22
65

The Last Aloha

Quinn, Gaellen
Lost Coast Pr

In 1886, following the tragic deaths of her father and her fiancé, Laura Jennings, alone in the world, travels to Hawaii to live with missionary relatives she's never met. Laura imagines she'll live in a grass hut and minister to savages, but on arriving in Honolulu, she's surprised to find that, far from being savages, the Hawaiians have developed a sophisticated and prosperous kingdom-and Laura's family is among the wealthy elite plotting to topple the throne. To avoid her conniving uncle's control, Laura goes to work for the royal family, little knowing that her destiny will become intertwined with those of great island sovereigns. Winner: BAIPA Award for Best Historical Fiction Winner: Ka Palapala Po`okela Book Award Winner, Texas Writers' League Award for Historical Fiction

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No.23
65

Saturday Night at the Pahala Theatre

Yamanaka, Lois-Ann
Bamboo Ridge Pr

Poetry. Fiction. Asian American Studies. This is a work of fiction during which the characters interact in the form of poetic novellas. Born on the island of Molokai and presently living in Kahalu'u, Yamanaka's poems have appeared in such journals as BAMBOO RIDGE: THE HAWAII WRITER'S QUARTERLY, Michigan Quarterly Review, PARNASSUS, Puerto del Sol and Zyzzyva. "Lois-Ann Yamanaka is a fresh new voice in poetry and prose: irreverent, sensual, street-smart, and passionate. She refuels the English language with her own brand of island music--rich in distinctive rhythms and magical insights"--Jessica Hagedorn.

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No.24
65

The Descendants meets Single White Female in this lush and compelling novel about a woman who moves to Hawaii, only to find herself drawn into a dangerous and mysterious friendship, from the author of We Could Be Beautiful.When Nancy and her family arrive in Kona, Hawaii, they are desperate for a fresh start. Nancy's marriage is in shambles, and she and her husband sleep in separate bedrooms. Their twin sons have been acting out, exhibiting risky behavior. But Hawaii is a refreshing paradise: they plant an orange tree in the yard; they share a bed once again; and Nancy resolves to make a happy life for herself. It's then that she takes a yoga class and is stricken by the charismatic teacher, Ana. Soon, they are spending all their time together, driving around the island, sharing dinners, and relaxing in Ana's hot tub. During all this time spent with Ana, Nancy starts neglecting her family, skipping dinners, and leaving her children to their own devices. But she doesn't care. She feels understood in a way she's never experienced, and she knows that she will do anything Ana asks of her. A seductive story of friendship and manipulation set against the idyllic tropical lull of the Big Island, The Goddesses is a stunning psychological portrait by one of fiction's most exciting new voices.

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No.25
65

Radar Girls

Ackerman, Sara
Mira Books

"A fresh, delightful romp of a novel."—Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose Code* SheReads Most Anticipated Historical Fiction of Summer 2021 pick * Book Reporter Summer Reading pick * BiblioLifestyle Most Anticipated Summer 2021 Historical Fiction Books selection * Greatist Best Historical Fiction Books pick *An extraordinary story inspired by the real Women’s Air Raid Defense, where an unlikely recruit and her sisters-in-arms forge their place in WWII history.Daisy Wilder prefers the company of horses to people, bare feet and salt water to high heels and society parties. Then, in the dizzying aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Daisy enlists in a top secret program, replacing male soldiers in a war zone for the first time.Under fear of imminent invasion, the WARDs guide pilots into blacked-out airstrips and track unidentified planes across Pacific skies.But not everyone thinks the women are up to the job, and the new recruits must rise above their differences and work side by side despite the resistance and heartache they meet along the way.With America’s future on the line, Daisy is determined to prove herself worthy. And with the man she’s falling for out on the front lines, she cannot fail.From radar towers on remote mountaintops to flooded bomb shelters, she’ll need her new team when the stakes are highest. Because the most important battles are fought—and won—together.This inspiring and uplifting tale of pioneering, unsung heroines vividly transports the reader to wartime Hawaii, where one woman’s call to duty leads her to find courage, strength and sisterhood.“A wow of a book…[that is] a captivating story of friendship, heartbreak and true love. Highly recommend!” —Karen Robards,New York Timesbestselling author of The Black Swan of Paris

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No.26
65

Originally published in 1912, this collection contains six stories:- The House of Pride- Koolau the Leper- Good-bye, Jack- Aloha Oe- Chun Ah Chun- The Sheriff of KonaJohn Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney,January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916)was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist.John Griffith "Jack" London (born John Griffith Chaney,January 12, 1876 - November 22, 1916)was an American novelist, journalist, and social activist. A pioneer in the then-burgeoning world of commercial magazine fiction, he was one of the first fiction writers to obtain worldwide celebrity and a large fortune from his fiction alone, including science fiction.Some of his most famous works include The Call of the Wild and White Fang, both set in the Klondike Gold Rush, as well as the short stories "To Build a Fire", "An Odyssey of the North", and "Love of Life". He also wrote of the South Pacific in such stories as "The Pearls of Parlay" and "The Heathen", and of the San Francisco Bay area in The Sea Wolf.London was part of the radical literary group "The Crowd" in San Francisco and a passionate advocate of unionization, socialism, and the rights of workers. He wrote several powerful works dealing with these topics, such as his dystopian novel The Iron Heel, his non-fiction expos#65533; The People of the Abyss, and The War of the Classes.

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No.27
65

A humorous chapter book about a fourth-grade boy, full of the fun of growing up in Hawaii. Calvin Coconut lives near the beach in Kailua, Hawaii, with his mom and his little sister. All his friends live there, too.Mom says: "You're the man of the house, Cal." Which means: Be responsible. Calvin tries, but fun—and trouble—follows him wherever he goes, even in the classroom, also known as Mr. Purdy's Fourth-Grade Boot Camp. And how can he be the man of the house after teenage Stella-from-Texas arrives to be the live-in babysitter and steps all over Calvin's turf?Award-winning author Graham Salisbury welcomes younger readers to a lively new series with great illustrations by Jacqueline Rogers.

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No.28
65

Folk Wisdom from Hawai'i introduces visitors to island customs and culture, while it affirms and celebrates our interest in local folklore and superstition. We all have credoes we live by, and those of Hawai'i's people are delightfully unique. The book gives residents an understanding and appreciation of their ethnic origins, and at the same time it also preserves the folk wisdom of Hawai'i for future generations. ANN KONDO CORUM was born in Honolulu and graduated from Punahou School. She has a degree in English from California State University at Long Beach and a Master of Science degree from the University of Southern California. She is also the author-illustrator of 'Ethnic Foods of Hawai'i' and 'Easy Cooking the Island Way'.

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No.29
65

Go Simple, Go Solo, Go Now\nIn 1958, while flying from one island to another, Audrey Sutherland sees the remote and roadless northeast side of Molokai, with its spectacular sea cliffs and waterfalls. Always an adventurer, she decides that she must find a way to explore this then inaccessible area. After much study, she determines that the best way for her to navigate these treacherous sea walls is to swim while towing an inflatable kayak. This is the story of fulfilling her dream, of planning then implementing, of launching and advancing, of retreating and reconnoitering, of challenge and success. This is the story of the trip that convinced her that personal growth comes when one goes simple, goes solo, goes now.

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No.30
65

"I went to Maui to stay a week and remained five. I had a jolly time. I would not have fooled away any of it writing letters under any consideration whatever." --Mark TwainSo Samuel Langhorne Clemens made his excuse for late copy to the Sacramento Union, the newspaper that was underwriting his 1866 trip. If the young reporter's excuse makes perfect sense to you, join the thousands of Island lovers who have delighted in Twain's efforts when he finally did put pen to paper.

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No.31
64

For fans of The Glass Castle and Educated, comes mystery author Toby Neal’s personal story of surviving a wild childhood in paradise.We never call it homeless. We're just "camping" in the jungle on Kauai...\nWe live in a place everyone calls paradise. Sure, Kauai’s beautiful, with empty beaches, drip-castle mountains, and perfect surf...but we’ve been "camping" for six months, eating boiled chicken feed for breakfast, and wearing camouflage clothes so no one sees us trespassing in our jungle hideout. The cockroaches�leave rainbow colors all over everything from eating the crayons we left outside the tent, and now a tractor is coming to scrape our camp into the river.\nStanding in front of the tent in my nightgown, clinging to my sister as we face the tractor, I know my own truth: I just want to be normal.\nBut Mom and Pop are addicted.Addicted to Kauai’s beauty, to drugs, to surfing, to living a life according to their own rules out from under their high-achieving parents’ judgmental eyes. I’m just their red-headed, mouthy, oldest kid. What I want doesn’t matter.\nBut I’m smart. I will make a different life for myself someday if I keep up my grades no matter what happens.No matter how often we run out of food.No matter how many times I change schools...or don’t go to school at all.No matter how many bullies beat me up for the color of my skin.\nI might be growing up wild in Hawaii, but I have dreams I’m going to reach, no matter how crazy things get.“An affecting and riveting chronicle of a singular childhood that evokes the contradictions of hippie utopian ideals in an unspoiled Hawaiian landscape long since lost.” ~Kirkus Reviews

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No.32
64

Marty Langsmith is only five years old when a strange thunder rolls across the Hawaiian sky and life as she knows it explodes into flames. With her mother, April, and hundreds of other women and children, Marty is evacuated from the ruins of Pearl Harbor and sent into a brave new world overshadowed by uncertainty and grief. Feeling abandoned by her deployed Army officer father in the wake of the attack, Marty is haunted by nightmares of the lion in the lei shop, a creature that’s said to devour happy children. But as the years pass, mother and daughter slowly begin to embrace their new life and make peace with the pain of the past. Spanning the tumultuous war years, The Lion in the Lei Shop deftly recaptures a dramatic chapter of American history.Originally published in 1970 and reissued for a new generation of readers as part of renowned librarian Nancy Pearl’s Book Lust Rediscoveries series, this lyrical novel gives a rarely heard voice to the women and children of Pearl Harbor.

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No.33
64

Night Fisher

Johnson, R. Kikuo
Fantagraphics Books

First-rate prep school, SUV, and a dream house in the heights ― an island paradise was handed to Loren Foster when he moved to Hawaii with his father six years ago. Now, with the end of high school just around the corner, his best friend, Shane, has grown distant. Rumors abound. Loren suspects that Shane has left him behind for a new group of friends. Their friendship is put to the test when they get mixed up in a petty crime. Johnson has a naturalistic ease in exploring these relationships, which sets this drama apart. This graphic novel debut is at once an unsentimental portrait of that most awkward period between adolescence and young adulthood and that rarest of things ― a mature depiction of immature lives. His lush-yet-unsentimental-depiction of Maui creates an immersive, visceral sense of place.In 2006, critics heralded R. Kikuo Johnson's Night Fisher as one of the most exciting debuts in the medium's history. Johnson won the prestigious Russ Manning Newcomer Award at the 2006 Eisner Awards, the Harvey Award for Best New Talent, and a Harvey Award nomination for Best Graphic Novel. On its 15th anniversary, Fantagraphics is proud to publish this new edition of Night Fisher in hardcover for the first time.

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No.34
64

To Paradise: A Novel

Yanagihara, Hanya
Doubleday

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the award-winning, best-selling author of the classic A Little Life—a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia.A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: VOGUE • ESQUIRE • NPR • GOODREADSTo Paradise is a fin de siècle novel of marvelous literary effect, but above all it is a work of emotional genius. The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara’s understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love—partners, lovers, children, friends, family, and even our fellow citizens—and the pain that ensues when we cannot.In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him—and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances.These three sections comprise an ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.

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No.35
64

WINNER OF THE 2020 PEN/HEMINGWAY AWARD FOR DEBUT NOVEL.One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020. A finalist for the 2020 PEN/Jean Stein Book Award. Named one of the Best Books of 2020 by the New York Times (#30), the Guardian, the Boston Globe, Oprah Magazine, Kirkus Reviews, BBC Culture, Good Housekeeping, LitHub, Spectrum Culture, Third Place Books, and Powell's Books.Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawaiian gods into an engrossing family saga; a story of exile and the pursuit of salvation from Kawai Strong Washburn.“Old myths clash with new realities, love is in a ride or die with grief, faith rubs hard against magic, and comic flips with tragic so much they meld into something new. All told with daredevil lyricism to burn. A ferocious debut.”―MARLON JAMES, author of Black Leopard, Red Wolf“So good it hurts and hurts to where it heals. It is revelatory and unputdownable. Washburn is an extraordinarily brilliant new talent.”―TOMMY ORANGE, author of There ThereNamed one of the most anticipated novels for 2020 by the Guardian and Paste Magazine. One of Book Riot’s Best Books to Give as Gifts in 2020.In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends.Nainoa’s family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods―a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family’s legacy.When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai’i―with tragic consequences―they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival.

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No.36
64

Cook Real Hawai'i: A Cookbook

Simeon, Sheldon
Clarkson Potter

The story of Hawaiian cooking, by a two-time Top Chef finalist and Fan Favorite, through 100 recipes that embody the beautiful cross-cultural exchange of the islands.ONE OF THE TEN BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New Yorker • ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, Taste of Home, Vice, Serious EatsEven when he was winning accolades and adulation for his cooking, two-time Top Chef finalist Sheldon Simeon decided to drop what he thought he was supposed to cook as a chef. He dedicated himself instead to the local Hawai‘i food that feeds his ‘ohana—his family and neighbors. With uncomplicated, flavor-forward recipes, he shows us the many cultures that have come to create the cuisine of his beloved home: the native Hawaiian traditions, Japanese influences, Chinese cooking techniques, and dynamic Korean, Portuguese, and Filipino flavors that are closest to his heart.Through stunning photography, poignant stories, and dishes like wok-fried poke, pork dumplings made with biscuit dough, crispy cauliflower katsu, and charred huli-huli chicken slicked with a sweet-savory butter glaze, Cook Real Hawai‘i will bring a true taste of the cookouts, homes, and iconic mom and pop shops of Hawai‘i into your kitchen.

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No.37
64

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLEROne of NPR's "Books We Love" of 2021Longlisted for the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for BiographyWinner of the Christopher Award“Masterly. An epic story of four Japanese-American families and their sons who volunteered for military service and displayed uncommon heroism… Propulsive and gripping, in part because of Mr. Brown’s ability to make us care deeply about the fates of these individual soldiers...a page-turner.” – Wall Street JournalFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat, a gripping World War II saga of patriotism and resistance, focusing on four Japanese American men and their families, and the contributions and sacrifices that they made for the sake of the nation.In the days and months after Pearl Harbor, the lives of Japanese Americans across the continent and Hawaii were changed forever. In this unforgettable chronicle of war-time America and the battlefields of Europe, Daniel James Brown portrays the journey of Rudy Tokiwa, Fred Shiosaki, and Kats Miho, who volunteered for the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and were deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, where they were asked to do the near impossible. Brown also tells the story of these soldiers' parents, immigrants who were forced to submit to life in concentration camps on U.S. soil. Woven throughout is the chronicle of Gordon Hirabayashi, one of a cadre of patriotic resisters who stood up against their government in defense of their own rights. Whether fighting on battlefields or in courtrooms, these were Americans under unprecedented strain, doing what Americans do best—striving, resisting, pushing back, rising up, standing on principle, laying down their lives, and enduring.

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No.38
64

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen

Liliuokalani, Queen
Mutual Pub Co

The Hawaiian kingdom's last monarch wrote her biography in 1897, the year before the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands by the United States. Her story covers six decades of island history told from the viewpoint of a major historical figure. Introduction by Glen Grant.

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No.39
64

Hula: A Novel

Hakes, Jasmin Iolani
HarperVia

Named a Best Book of the Summer by Harper's Bazaar and ELLE • Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award Winner • HONOLULU Magazine’s Book of the Year About Hawai`i“Stunning . . . An intricately built novel that spans decades, moving in and out of a collective voice, while also telling Hi’i’s deeply personal and devastating story of trying to find her way.” —Los Angeles TimesSet in Hilo, Hawai’i, a sweeping saga of tradition, culture, family, history, and connection that unfolds through the lives of three generations of women—a tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny.“There’s no running away on an island. Soon enough, you end up where you started.”Hi'i is proud to be a Naupaka, a family renowned for its contributions to hula and her hometown of Hilo, Hawaii, but there’s a lot she doesn’t understand. She’s never met her legendary grandmother and her mother has never revealed the identity of her father. Worse, unspoken divides within her tight-knit community have started to grow, creating fractures whose origins are somehow entangled with her own family history.In hula, Hi'i sees a chance to live up to her name and solidify her place within her family legacy. But in order to win the next Miss Aloha Hula competition, she will have to turn her back on everything she had ever been taught, and maybe even lose the very thing she was fighting for.Told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival, Hula is a spellbinding debut that offers a rare glimpse into a forgotten kingdom that still exists in the heart of its people.“A full-throated chant for Hawai'i . . . It’s impossible to come away unchanged.” —Kawai Strong Washburn, author of the PEN/Hemingway award-winning Sharks in the Times of Saviors

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No.40
64

The Descendants: A Novel

Hemmings, Kaui Hart
Random House Trade Paperbacks

Narrated in a bold, fearless, unforgettable voice and set against the lush, panoramic backdrop of Hawaii, The Descendants is a stunning debut novel about an unconventional family forced to come together and re-create its own legacy.Matthew King was once considered one of the most fortunate men in Hawaii. His missionary ancestors were financially and culturally progressive–one even married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and one of the state’s largest landowners.Now his luck has changed. His two daughters are out of control: Ten-year-old Scottie is a smart-ass with a desperate need for attention, and seventeen-year-old Alex, a former model, is a recovering drug addict. Matt’s charismatic, thrill-seeking, high-maintenance wife, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat-racing accident and will soon be taken off life support. The Kings can hardly picture life without her, but as they come to terms with this tragedy, their sadness is mixed with a sense of freedom that shames them–and spurs them into surprising actions.Before honoring Joanie’s living will, Matt must gather her friends and family to say their final goodbyes, a difficult situation made worse by the sudden discovery that there is one person who hasn’t been told: the man with whom Joanie had been having an affair, quite possibly the one man she ever truly loved. Forced to examine what he owes not only to the living but to the dead, Matt takes to the road with his daughters to find his wife’s lover, a memorable journey that leads to both painful revelations and unforeseen humor and growth.

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