Aloha, Liz!

I've read scads of books about Hawai'i, but my porous brain presently holds only these:

Nonfiction:
Plague and Fire: Battling Black Death and the 1900 Burning of Honolulu's Chinatown by James C. Mohr

Honor Killing: How the Infamous 'Massie Affair' Transformed Hawai'i by David E. Stannard

The above note seminal events in Hawaiian history.

Fiction:
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert (the setting is the famous leper colony on that island)

When I get home I'll check my bookshelves for other exact titles and authors.

When will you be in the Islands? You may know that I live part time on O'ahu and my son lives in Hilo on the Big Island.

How about "Hawaii" by James Michner.

Michener's Hawaii is the best.
Alan Brennert also wrote Honolulu, but I thought Molokai was better. H. is about picture brides sent for by the plantation workers.
Did you see the movie The Descendants? That is also a book.
From Here to Eternity by James Jones (or the movie)
The Charlie Chan novels by Earl Derr Biggers are out of print but available on line. They are fun. House Without a Key is probably the best one.
Shark Dialogues by Kiana Davenport
Diamond Head by Charles Knief

Can you tell I love Hawaii?

Liz, here are a few more for your list that I've read. I don't know how nitty gritty you want to get but there might something here that will capture your attention.

Nonfiction:
The First Strange Place: Race and Sex in World War II Hawai'i by Beth L. Bailey and David Farber
Mainlanders just did not know what to make of Islanders' attitudes toward race and sex. Lots of misunderstandings, as you can imagine, from both sides.

Haoles in Hawai'i (Race and Ethnicity) by Judy Rohrer and Paul Spickard
Haole is both a derogatory word and one that has been appropriated to mean white, Caucasian, or non-Native without the derogatory sense. It's a prickly word unless the context is clearly known.

And if you're at all interested in linguistics:
Pidgin Grammar: An Introduction to the Creole Language of Hawai'i by Kent Sagoda and Jeff Seigel
The book is in humorous vein which I think is a good way to get acquainted with the Hawaiian pidgin.

How 'Natives' Think About Captain Cook, For Example by Marshall Sahlins
Good examination of how history too often is presented only from one side.

The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Moloka'i by John Tayman

If you can get hold of some of the Then and Now picture books of Honolulu, I think you will enjoy seeing how it once was and then you can decide whether the modern view you will see is an abomination or quite fine.

Fiction:

Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux
Theroux's brand of satire is not everyone's cuppa, but I think he nails the mythologizers in this one.

Waikiki Widow
The Mamo Murders
The Kahuna Killer
by Juanita Sheridan
These are vintage mysteries (1940s or '50s, if I remember correctly) that were never as popular as Charlie Chan but which, I think, are more appealing.

Liz, sorry I have absolutely not the slightest glimmer about Hawaii except for the old Laurel and Hardy song Honolulu Baby.
You are just about to be 50? To look at you I'd have put you at the right side of 35.
Have a wonderful trip.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stan and Olly

Liz, which island(s) do you plan to visit? Please post a trip report; you can always tell us what you read. And Happy Birthday!

Thank you all for the titles - lots to choose from so you are a big help. I had been digging around, but seemed to have got stuck in the history of Hansen's Disease/Hawaii, which is interesting but I was looking for a more well-rounded selection. Thanks all.

Not sure which island(s) yet - any recs? I have heard Waikiki is quite tourist-y and Spring Break-y, but that's all.

Vee- ooh la la. The costume of the actress is this clip is pretty risque! Haven't seen Laurel and Hardy since I was a kid so thanks for the memory.

And Frieda - we will be there sometime during the week after Christmas and before the new year...

Please don't be put off by the "touristy" reports of Waikiki. There's a reason for that! The view of Diamond Head and the old Moana and Royal Hawaiian hotels are iconic, and if you rent a car for a day you can drive around the island where there are very few people and more scenery that you can absorb. Downtown, I recommend seeing the Iolani Palace, Chinatown, and the Ahoha Tower where passenger ships came in before air travel. See Pearl Harbor, the Bishop Museum, the view from the Pali, Kailua Beach, Hanauma Bay, and the Blow Hole, and eat shave (no "d") ice with ice cream in the bottom of the cone in the little town of Haliewa and garlic shrimp from the tacky looking shrimp trucks. Then if you have had enough, catch an inter-island flight and go see another island. It's all good.

THE HOUSE OF PRIDE by Jack London

The only books I could think of that I've read about Hawaii are already mentioned here. I will, however, add that years ago, I nearly passed up a trip to Hawaii, thinking it was some tacky Disney-like tourist hotspot. Instead--as anyone who lives there or has been there knows--I found it breathtakingly beautiful, still drool thinking about some of the terrific foods, and would go back in a heartbeat. Kauai and Oahu were the islands I visited. Enjoy your trip!

Wow. Hawaii sounds like a fantastic place! I've only seen pics so am very curious to see the island(s) for realz.

One more post from me, Liz. Do go either to your library or a bookstore and look through the available travel guides to see what appeals to you most; you may then want to purchase one. My favorites are the Eyewitness Guides because they have such gorgeous pictures, but they don't have nearly as much advice on hotels and restaurants as many of the others.

Carolyn, who loves travel second to books--maybe third after books and chocolate.

Carolyn - took your advice and bought a Lonely Planet guide to Hawaii.... Now I just have to... you know... read it!

:-)

Seven or so years ago, I started a thread on this same topic here. Tried to find it but can't--too bad as there were some very good suggestions. (And the trip was memorable as well.)

I had not been interested in going to Hawaii til I read the book 'Paths of Duty' about the New England missionary wives who went out in the early 19c. A book I really enjoyed and recommend.

No one has yet mentioned Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang. It is the biography of the real person the Charlie Chan novels were based on.

Other than this one, every book I know about Hawaii (and then some) has already been listed.

Have a wonderful time! I'd love to go to Hawaii some time but my husband is not interested. He has the tacky-tourist-glitz image in his mind and it appalls him.

Rosefolly

Thanks to Frieda's suggestion, I have read three of Juanita Sheridan's books and requested the fourth through inter-library loan. She was right (surprise) in that they are more appealing than Charlie Chan. I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I'm very glad to have found this as my husband and I are going to Maui next month to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. Time flies...sigh...I remember reading Michener's Hawaii last time I went which was on our honeymoon .

Congratulations on your anniversary.

I don't think anyone mentioned From Here to Eternity in the reading suggestions. I've read it a couple of times and, of course, seen the movie. It was a shocking book way back when.

I really like Lois-Ann Yamanaka, especially Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers. You really get a feel for every day life on the islands.

Also, if you can find a copy of Growing Up Local: An Anthology of Poetry and Prose from Hawai'i edited by Eric Chock, it's pretty good. Have fun on your trip!