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Books set in Hawaii

artringwald

artringwald

TUG Review Crew
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Location
Oakdale, MN
Resorts Owned
HVC: The Point at Poipu, 3 deeded weeks, 1 is in The Club.
There's snow on the ground. I need to read a novel set in Hawaii. I've already read:

1) The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
2) Mai Tai One On by Jill Marie Landis
3) Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux

Any other suggestions?
 
Hawaii by James Michener comes to mind. All his books have been great (imo).

Jim
 
Moloka'i , Alan Brennert
Honolulu, Alan Brennert
The Betrayal of Liliuokalani: Last Queen of Hawaii 1838-1917, Helena Allen (non fiction)
 
artringwald said:
There's snow on the ground. I need to read a novel set in Hawaii. I've already read:

1) The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
2) Mai Tai One On by Jill Marie Landis
3) Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux

Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Is Mai Tai One On the first book in a series, or are there other before this one?
 
nygiants11991 said:
Is Mai Tai One On the first book in a series, or are there other before this one?
Click to expand...

It's the first an only... so far. I hope she writes more soon, because several of us have enjoyed it.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions. It will keep me busy until we leave for Hawaii in 66 days.
 
"Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings" by Christopher Moore
Really entertaining. Moore has a seriously wacky imagination.

"Unfamiliar Fishes" by Sarah Vowell This is not a novel. It's a newly written historical book on Hawaii.
 
bcat said:
"Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings" by Christopher Moore
Really entertaining. Moore has a seriously wacky imagination.

"Unfamiliar Fishes" by Sarah Vowell This is not a novel. It's a newly written historical book on Hawaii.
Click to expand...

I forgot that I read Fluke. That was great. I haven't read Unfamiliar Fishes, but it sounds good. Thanks.
 
If you want to dream a little, I'm reading "Living and retiring in Hawaii: The 50th
State in the 21st Century" by Diane Smith B.S.

You gonna be at the Point in Poipu in 66 days? I'll be at the Pono Kai for 15
days, in 59 days.:D
 
slip said:
If you want to dream a little, I'm reading "Living and retiring in Hawaii: The 50th
State in the 21st Century" by Diane Smith B.S.

You gonna be at the Point in Poipu in 66 days? I'll be at the Pono Kai for 15
days, in 59 days.:D
Click to expand...

Now there's a book I could really get interested in, especially if the stock market doubles. We're starting in Ka'anapali, then Poipu, and a stop in Waikiki.
 
Ok here goes with my list -- I am sure there are books I forgot to add but here is a good start(and I will be adding to this collection once I am there again LOL) I also just finished reading the Mai Tai one and it was just so so. Best on the list for me was Fatal Paradise:

The Island snatchers -- Janice Kay Johnson

Walk Through The Fire - Marcia Muller

Diamond Head - Charles Knief

Hawaiian Sunrise -- Lauraine Snelling

Shark Dialoges -- Kia Davenport

Lava -- Pamela Ball

Fatal Paradise -- TC Lawrence

Glass Beach -- Jill Marie Landis

Death in Paradise -- Carolyn Hart

Vacations Can Be Murder -- Connie Shelton

The Last Paradise --- ???

Pearl Harbor Murders - Max Allan Collins

After the Ball -- David Penhallow

Born in Paradise -- Von Temski

Hotel Honolulu -- Paul Theroux

A Little Too Much is Enough --- Kathleen Tyou

The Wild Wind -- Majorie Sinclair

My Samoan Cheif -- Fay G. Calkins

Song of Exile -- Kiana Davenport

Silversword -- Charles Knief

Distant Echoes -- Colleen Coble

Black Sands -- Colleen Coble
 
Kauaigrl00 said:
I also just finished reading the Mai Tai one and it was just so so.
Click to expand...

I didn't think Mai Tai One On was that great, but the wife, daughter, and sister-in-law really liked it. Thanks for the long list. It should keep me busy until the leaves turn green. :)
 
Kauaigrl00 said:
Ok here goes with my list -- I am sure there are books I forgot to add but here is a good start(and I will be adding to this collection once I am there again LOL) I also just finished reading the Mai Tai one and it was just so so. Best on the list for me was Fatal Paradise:

The Island snatchers -- Janice Kay Johnson

Walk Through The Fire - Marcia Muller

Diamond Head - Charles Knief

Hawaiian Sunrise -- Lauraine Snelling

Shark Dialoges -- Kia Davenport

Lava -- Pamela Ball

Fatal Paradise -- TC Lawrence

Glass Beach -- Jill Marie Landis

Death in Paradise -- Carolyn Hart

Vacations Can Be Murder -- Connie Shelton

The Last Paradise --- ???

Pearl Harbor Murders - Max Allan Collins

After the Ball -- David Penhallow

Born in Paradise -- Von Temski

Hotel Honolulu -- Paul Theroux

A Little Too Much is Enough --- Kathleen Tyou

The Wild Wind -- Majorie Sinclair

My Samoan Cheif -- Fay G. Calkins

Song of Exile -- Kiana Davenport

Silversword -- Charles Knief

Distant Echoes -- Colleen Coble

Black Sands -- Colleen Coble
Click to expand...

Emma,

If you haven't read Molokai or Honolulu by Alan Bremmert..then I HIGHLY recommend you do so. Also, House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport. I bought that one on Ebay and ended up with a autographed copy!

Funny thing. I have After the Ball sitting right here. I bought it on your recommendation MANY years ago and then it got packed away in a move and I am now revisiting it.

I think I'll print out this list as well. Thanks!
 
Stressy said:
Emma,

If you haven't read Molokai or Honolulu by Alan Bremmert..then I HIGHLY recommend you do so. Also, House of Many Gods by Kiana Davenport. I bought that one on Ebay and ended up with a autographed copy!

Funny thing. I have After the Ball sitting right here. I bought it on your recommendation MANY years ago and then it got packed away in a move and I am now revisiting it.

I think I'll print out this list as well. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Stressy, yes I did read those, This was an old list I had saved and didn't add to it. There was one not on the list and for the life of me cannot remember but it was a great book I know the title started with "Wiamea......" It was so good and not a big book about growing up on Kauai. Wonderful reading!

By the way, great to hear from you!:wave:
 
This is a wonderful gift idea for my 84-year-old mother-in-law, who goes with us to Maui or Kauai every year. But she only reads romance novels. She likes the goofy romance novels, though. Some are so cornball, I cannot read them. So if you know of any that would be good from your lists, please point those out to me.
 
Kauaigrl00 said:
Stressy, yes I did read those, This was an old list I had saved and didn't add to it. There was one not on the list and for the life of me cannot remember but it was a great book I know the title started with "Wiamea......" It was so good and not a big book about growing up on Kauai. Wonderful reading!

By the way, great to hear from you!:wave:
Click to expand...

I remember the book now! It is called Aloha Kauai: A Childhood by Waimea Williams. It was a wonderful book!

My all time favorite is still Fatal Paradise. Romance? I guess it would have to be Glass Beach, though it has been quite a while since I read it. I did order 4 new books, one being the Mai Tai one and I really wouldn't waste my money on it again. Nothing spectacular. Her Glass beach was better.:zzz:
 
I'd like to add a warning against a book I purchased with the intent of reading in Hawaii, because it's set on Maui: Swimsuit by James Patterson. Normally, I enjoy his books, but this one just turned me off. (Not to be too graphic, but there's a sexual assault early on in the book - I couldn't read any further). Not the kind of thing I wanted to be reading on vacation.
 
I lived in Hawaii for a long time and loved reading about the history of Hawaii and particularly, the annexation of Hawaii and how it came to be. Living on Kaiulani & Liliuokalani Aves in Waikiki in the '70s, I read a lot - both required for school and pleasure.

Scroll down to the "References" section to see some good sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaʻiulani More non-fiction than fiction, but good stuff, eh ?

My late Grandmother-In-Law came from Japan to work the cane fields in the early 1900s. If you want to see a good movie about this period, I'd like to recommend "Picture Bride" http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?pid=8551852. This is how she met her husband.
 
Last edited:
slip said:
If you want to dream a little, I'm reading "Living and retiring in Hawaii: The 50th
State in the 21st Century" by Diane Smith B.S.

You gonna be at the Point in Poipu in 66 days? I'll be at the Pono Kai for 15
days, in 59 days.:D
Click to expand...

I read a book several years ago about retiring in Hawaii. It was only about retiring on the Big Island.

Does it actually cover all the islands??

Mahalo,

Sterling
 
The author retired to the Big Island but he does mention all the islands and
points out some things to think about for each one. Like health care on the
different islands and the housing costs that are different. I think it was written
in 2009. It may be the same book. I also read "Moving To Hawaii" by Mike Fook.
He tells of the non-paradise side of moving to paradise. Both were good, they
didn't scare us away. We are going to try to retire there but at the very least
we'll be there 3 months a year when we retire.:D
 
artringwald said:
There's snow on the ground. I need to read a novel set in Hawaii. I've already read:

1) The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings
2) Mai Tai One On by Jill Marie Landis
3) Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux

Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

My husband and I read "MICRO" by Michael Crichton (and Richard Preston) while we were vacationing in Hawaii last month. The setting is on the Island of Oahu, so it was fun to visit the same places he references in the book. GREAT NOVEL ... couldn't put it down.
 
If you have a Nook or Kindle, there's a wealth of free books you can download which vary from historical accounts, beautiful poetry, and early travel journals written in the early 1900's which offer some interesting information.


Aloha,

Marty
 
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