17 Books Set in Hawaii to Read While You’re Stationed There
To know me is to know that I LOVE to read! And I try to make the most out of every duty station by making bucket lists and exploring the local area as much as possible.
(We are steadily checking items off our Hawaii Bucket List!)
So, it’s only natural that I want to read about the places I’m living in. I’m not a huge fan of non-fiction, but I love a good novel! I feel that I learn a lot from fictional stories, especially Historical Fiction, which is probably my favorite genre.
Since we’re currently stationed at Wheeler Army Airfield on the Island of Oahu, here are 17 books set in Hawaii.
There are probably an innumerable amount of books written about Hawaii, but these are the ones that received 4 stars or more on Goodreads.
Hula
Set 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 brilliant blend of There, There and Sharks in the Time of Saviors that is a tale of mothers and daughters, dance and destiny, told in part in the collective voice of a community fighting for its survival.
www.goodreads.com
Moloka’i
Set in Hawai’i more than a century ago, this is the story of Rachel Kalama, a spirited seven-year-old Hawaiian girl, who 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.
www.goodreads.com
Daughter of Moloka’i
The book follows young Ruth from her arrival at the Kapi’olani Home for Girls in Honolulu, to her adoption by a Japanese couple who raise her on a strawberry and grape farm in California, her marriage and unjust internment at Manzanar Relocation Camp during World War II—and then, after the war, to the life-altering day when she receives a letter from a woman who says she is Ruth’s birth mother, Rachel.
www.goodreads.com
Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers
Island of Sweet Pies and Soldiers: A Novel
When her husband mysteriously disappears and rumors swirl about his loyalties, a mother must rely on the remarkable power of friendship in war-torn Hawaii.
www.goodreads.com
Honolulu
The story of a young immigrant bride in a ramshackle town that becomes a great modern city.
www.goodreads.com
The Islands at the End of the World
The Islands at the End of the World (Islands at the End of the World Series)
In this fast-paced survival story set in Hawaii, electronics fail worldwide, the islands become completely isolated, and a strange starscape fills the sky. Leilani and her father embark on a nightmare odyssey from Oahu to their home on the Big Island. Leilani’s epilepsy holds a clue to the disaster, if only they can survive as the islands revert to earlier ways.
www.amazon.com
The Girl at the Center of the World
The Girl at the Center of the World (Islands at the End of the World Series)
In this fast-paced, exhilarating sequel to the acclaimed The Islands at the End of the World, Leilani and her family on the Big Island of Hawai’i face the challenge of survival in the world of the Emerald Orchid, a green presence that appeared in the sky after a global blackout. As the Hawaiian Islands go back to traditional ways of living, people must grow their own food and ration everything from gas to bullets. Medicine is scarce; a simple infection can mean death. Old tensions and new enemies emerge. And one girl, Leilani, is poised to save her world.
www.barnesandnoble.com
From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity (Penguin Modern Classics)
From Here to Eternity is a raw, electrifying account of the soldier’s life in the months leading up to Pearl Harbor-of men who are trained to fight the enemy, but cannot resist fighting each other.
www.amazon.com
The Descendants
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.
www.amazon.com
**This is one of the books set in Hawaii that became a movie starring George Clooney!**
East Wind, Rain
From the New York Times bestselling author of The Gutsy Girl comes this provocative, compelling novel of irrevocable consequences for people thrust unwittingly into a devastating war of nations and American identity—based on a little-known true event.
www.amazon.com
Hawaii
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.
www.goodreads.com
About A Girl
About a Girl (Tess Brookes Series, Book 1)
Tess Brookes has always been a Girl with a Plan. But when the Plan goes belly up, she’s forced to reconsider.
www.goodreads.com
Freckled
[TW Neal] Freckled_ A Memoir of Growing up Wild in Hawaii – SoftCover
![[TW Neal] Freckled_ A Memoir of Growing up Wild in Hawaii - SoftCover](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51t9h3UoeWL._SL500_.jpg)
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…”
www.amazon.com
This is Paradise
Elegant, brutal, and profound, this magnificent debut captures the grit and glory of modern Hawai’i with breathtaking force and accuracy.
www.goodreads.com
Shark Dialogues
A Hawaiian grandmother and seer gathers her estranged granddaughters from around the world in this “compelling” saga spanning generations of history.
Publishers Weekly
House of Many Gods
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.
www.goodreads.com
The Lieutenant’s Nurse
The Lieutenant’s Nurse: A Novel
Set in the vibrant tropical surroundings of the Pacific, The Lieutenant’s Nurse is an evocative, emotional WWII story of love, friendship, and the resilient spirit of the heroic nurses of Pearl Harbor.
www.amazon.com
Unfortunately, the library on Schofield doesn’t have many of these titles. However, finding used bookstores and cheap books on the island has become another hobby in and of itself.
I can’t wait to read these books set in Hawaii while we actually get to live on this beautiful island!
