Amazon.com
Books on day trading are big sellers in Hawaii,
according to a tracking system at Amazon.com.

I know what you
read last summer

Day-trader books are big here,
Amazon.com's data shows

Star-Bulletin staff

Be careful what you read and what you listen to. Big Brother, or Amazon.com and who knows who else, may be looking and telling the world about it.

Well, they won't actually say what you, specifically, are reading, but a Purchase Circle on the e-tailer's web site does keep track of favorite reading material by region, government, educational institutions and corporations.

It's a relief to find out, for instance, that the University of Hawaii's top three picks at Amazon are appropriately academic, not Danielle Steele.

UH types are reading:

1) "Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples" by Linda Tuhiwai Smith;
2) "The Symbolic Species: The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain" by Terrence W. Deacon;
3) "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared Diamond.

It's more fun than reading the New York Times best-seller list because it gives a better idea of what your neighbors are interested in.

For instance, who knew that day trading is so big here? Hawaii's Top 3 reads are no surprise. They are:

1) "Blu's Hanging" by Lois-Ann Yamanaka;
2) "Folding Cliffs: A Narrative" by W.S. Merwin;
3) "Dr. Shintani's Hawaii Diet" by Terry Shintani.

But after 4) "Family Therapy: Concepts and Methods" by Michael P. Nichols; and 5) "Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage" by Sherry Sontag, spots 6, 7, 9 and 10 go to, respectively: "The Electronic Day Trader" by Marc Friedfertig, "How to Get Started in Electronic Day Trading: Everything You Need to Know to Play Wall Street's Hottest Game" by David Nassar, "Trading for a Living: Psychology, Trading Tactics, Money Management" by Dr. Alexander Elder, "Electronic Day Trader's Secrets: Learn From the Best of the Best Day Traders" by Marc Friedfertig.

No. 8 is one for fitness, "Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Fitness Forever" by Bill Phillips.

The Hawaii list breaks down further into areas, from Waipahu to Kamuela.

Over in San Francisco, technology dominates the list of local favorites. Topping the list are books with titles like "The Silicon Boys and Their Valley of Dreams." Po Bronson's "The Nudist on the Late Shift and Other True Tales of Silicon Valley" and Michael Wolff's near-classic Net tale, "Burn Rate," also pop up on this list.

Amazon has files on ZIP codes across America. One click of the mouse and you'll see that history, technology and genetics texts are hot at Harvard. You can also find out that they read these books while grooving to tunes from Lauryn Hill, U2, Madonna and the Buena Vista Social Club.

George Stephanopoulos' book, "All Too Human," is a natural best seller in the U.S. Senate; it's more surprising to know that folks there are listening to folk rocker Lucinda Williams.

What the site doesn't have is a listing for Hawaii government and businesses. Bet they're relieved.