Books

Hawaii's literary scene



READ ALL ABOUT IT

Friday, October 4, 1996

To whet the appetite

Jeff Gere presents previews of the Bankoh Talk Story Festival 7 p.m. Saturday at Borders Books and Music, Ward Centre, and 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Video Room at Borders, Waikele. The free storytelling festival will be Oct. 11 and 12 at McCoy Pavilion.

Author signings

Mary Koski signs her "Stowaway Fairy" books for children and other works 11 a.m. Saturday at the Library Store in Hawaii State Library. She also visits Barnes & Noble, Kahala, at 1 p.m. and Borders, Ward Centre, at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Sunday, she'll be at Borders, Waikele, at noon, and at Rand McNally, Ala Moana, at 2:30 p.m.

John Pitre will sign copies of his biography 1 p.m. Saturday at Borders, Ward Centre.

Reilly Moffat, author of "Surveying the Mahele," talks about Hawaii's mapping, 3 p.m. Saturday at Borders, Waikele.

Environmental researcher Mike Walther showcases "Images of Natural Hawaii" 1 p.m. Sunday at Borders, Ward Centre.

Bill Whisenant demonstrates how the body operates according to what a person believes, 3 p.m. Sunday at Borders, Waikele. His book is "Psychological Kinesiology: Changing the Body's Belief."

Carmen Geshell presents her children's book, "Muffin & the Lesson of Kokua," 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Rand McNally, Ala Moana.

James Rumford offers his "The Cloudmakers," 7 p.m. Oct. 11 at Barnes & Noble, Kahala.

Discussion

The Women's Reading Group focuses on Isabel Allende's "Paula," 6 p.m. Sunday at Borders, Waikele.

Romance Readers Anonymous discusses Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander," Johanna Lindsey's "Until Forever," Susan Sizemore's "After the Storm" and Denee Cody's "The Courts of Love" 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Borders, Waikele.

Reading

Tom Conger, author of "Banana Moon," shares stories about the Japanese-American community on Maui, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Japanese Cultural Center. Admission free. Call 945-7633.

For writers

The Writers Group meets to share and respond to each other's work, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Borders, Waikele. The Group will work on exercises from Natalie Goldberg's "Wild Mind" and Pamela Painter's "What If?" 9 a.m. Oct. 19.

The Honolulu Writers Conference has workshops throughout Saturday at the University of Hawaii. Speakers include Martha Noyes, Iris Wiley, Susan Yim and Jim Borg. Registration is $85 in advance, $99 at the door; students, $50. Pick up forms at major bookstores, or call 395-1161.



"Read All About It presents news in brief from Hawaii's literary scene. Send items - at least two weeks in advance of publication date - to Read All About It, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802.



ISLE PAGES

THIS listing of new books about Hawaii or by Hawaii writers is published on the last Friday of each month in the Star-Bulletin.

Friday, September 27, 1996



"The Musubi Man, Hawai'i's Gingerbread Man": Sandi Takayama, $8.95, 24 pages, Bess Press

The star in this version of the classic tale is made of rice with limu hair, a nori jacket, takuan eyes and an umeboshi heart. Illustrations by Pat Hall.

"Chicken Skin - True Spooky Stories of Hawai'i": Edited by Rick Carroll, $9.95, 96 pages, Bess Press

Graveyards, the Night Marchers and even Hilo's Merrie Monarch Festival figure into these new, first-hand accounts of people's experiences with the mana of sacred places and the power of kapu and the kahuna. Carroll is a contributing editor of Aloha magazine and the author of six Hawaii guidebooks.

"The Family Markowitz": Allegra Goodman, $22, 262 pages, Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Novel offers frank, humorous, compassionate portraits of individuals in an archetypal Jewish-American family. Some chapters focus on the experience of a single person; Goodman says as a whole they lead readers to see the family "prismatically." Parts of the novel originally appeared in "The New Yorker."

Goodman's first collection of stories, "Total Immersion," is largely based in the Hawaii of her youth.

"Harvest Year": Cris Peterson, $14.95, 28 pages, Boyd Mills Press

Nonfiction children's book illustrates the year-round harvesting of food in the United States. Lively images by photographer Alvis Upitis accompany Peterson's details on how food is gathered, from Hawaii pineapple in January to Florida oranges in December. States mentioned for each month are highlighted on a map.



LOCAL BEST SELLERS

August 1996 Favorites

CHILDREN'S

1. The Goodnight Gecko Gil McBarnet, Ruwanga Trading (1)
2. Gecko Hide and Seek Gil McBarnet, Ruwanga Trading (9)

3. Three Whales Who Won the Heart of the World Suzanne Kita, Island Heritage (6)

4. Aloha Bear and the Meaning of Aloha Dick Adair, Island Heritage (7)

5. The Legend of the Laughing Gecko Bruce Hale, Geckostufs (4)

6. Tales of Tutu Nene and Nele Gale Bates, Island Heritage

7. Fishes of Hawaii Susan and Thomas Kelly, Bess Press (5)

8. The Three Little Hawaiian Pigs and the Magic Shark Donivee Martin Laird, Barnaby Books (10)

9. The Stowaway Fairy in Hawaii Mary Koski, Island Heritage

10. Sand to Sea: Marine Life of Hawaii Stephanie Feeney and Ann Fielding, University of Hawai'i Press



GIFT AND TRAVEL

1. Scenic Hawaii Series Island Heritage

2. Viewbook (series) Douglas Peebles, Hawaiian Resources (2)

3. Hawaii Blossoms Dorothy and Bob Hargreaves, Island Heritage (6)

4. Islands of Hawaii Ray Helbig, Hawaiian Service (5)

5. Kauai, The Garden Island Allan Seiden, Island Heritage (7)

6. Hawaii The Big Island Glen Grant, Peter French and Greg Vaughn, Mutual Publishing

7. With Sam Choy: Cooking from the Heart Sam Choy, Mutual Publishing (1)

8. The Essential Guide to Maui Island Heritage

9. Flowers of Hawaii Allan Seiden, Island Heritage (9)

10. Maui, The Valley Isle Allan Seiden, Island Heritage



LITERATURE

1. The Three-Inch Golden Lotus Feng Jicai, University of Hawai'i Press

2. Legends and Myths of Hawaii David Kalakaua, Mutual Publishing (7)

3. Hawaiian Mythology Martha Beckwith, University of Hawai'i Press (3)

4. Twilight Over Burma: My Life as a Shan Princess Inge Sargent, University of Hawai'i Press (5)

5. Myths and Legends of Hawaii W.D. Westervelt, Mutual Publishing (6)

6. The Betrayal of Liliuokalani Helena G. Allen, Mutual Publishing (10)

7. Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen Lydia Liliuokalani, Mutual Publishing (2)

8. Mark Twain in Hawaii Mark Twain, Mutual Publishing (8)

9. (tied) Sons for the Return Home Albert Wendt, University of Hawai'i Press

9. (tied) A Hawaiian Reader edited by A. Grove Day and Carl Stroven, Mutual Publishing



HAWAIIANA

1. Hawaiian Journey Joseph Mullins, Mutual Publishing (1)

2. Hawaiian Names English Names Eileen Root, Press Pacifica (3)

3. Waikiki 100 B.C. to 1900 A.D.: An Untold Story George Kanahele, University of Hawai'i Press

4. Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands Gavan Daws, University of Hawai'i Press (6)

5. Honolulu Mysteries Glen Grant, Mutual Publishing (8)

6. Na Mele O Hawaii Nei Samuel Elbert and Noelani Mahoe, University of Hawai'i Press (5)

7. Ka Lei Ha 'Aheo: Beginning Hawaiian Alberta Hopkins, University of Hawai'i Press (2)

8. Pele - Goddess of Hawaiian Volcanoes Herb Kane, Kane Press (9)

9. Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai Gavan Daws, University of Hawai'i Press

10. Hawaii This 'N That LaRue W. Piercy, Mutual Publishing



REFERENCE

1. Handy Hawaiian Dictionary Compiled by Henry P. Judd, Mary Kawena Pukui and John F.G. Stokes, Mutual Publishing (1)

2. Pearl Harbor: The Way It Was Scott C.S. Stone, Island Heritage (4)

3. Hawaiian Dictionary (revised) Mary Pukui and Samuel Elbert, University of Hawai'i Press (5)

4. Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific J.E.N. Veron, University of Hawai'i Press

5. Hawaii's Fishes: A Guide for Snorkelers, Divers and Aquarists John Hoover, Mutual Publishing (3)

6. Atlas of Hawaii O.A. Bushnell, Gavan Daws and Andrew Berger, Island Heritage (6)

7. Conversational Tagalog Teresita Ramos, University of Hawai'i Press

8. Maui's Floral Splendor Angela Kay Kepler, Mutual Publishing

9. Exotic Tropicals of Hawaii Angela Kay Kepler and Jacob R. Mau, Mutual Publishing (10)

10. Tropical Trees of Hawaii Dorothy & Bob Hargreaves, Island Heritage (7)



These are best-selling books in Hawaii during April 1996. Figures are courtesy of the Hawaii Book Publishers Association and Book-lines distributors, and reflect sales by Hawaii-based publishers. A star () denotes a title that has been on the market at least five years or more; a number in parenthesis indicates a title's previous ranking.




Write to Features, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, HI 96802 or send a fax to 523-8509 or E-mail at features@starbulletin.com. Please include your phone number.




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