What really happened to Eddie Aikau? In her inspirational new children’s book, Eddie Wen’ Go: The Story of the Upside-Down Canoe, former Hōkūle‘a crewmember Marion Lyman-Mersereau imagines what Hawai‘i’s ocean creatures saw when the voyaging canoe capsized and the heroic Aikau went for help. Illustrated in lavish watercolor by Melissa DeSica, the 64-page hardcover book tells the story of Hōkūle‘a’s disastrous journey—30 years ago—from the canoe’s launch to the crewmembers’ rescue.

Hōkūle‘a had embarked on only its second open-ocean voyage, bound for Tahiti and relying on the skills of a trained Hawaiian navigator using ancient traditional methods of navigation. Just six hours into the voyage, high winds and rough ocean conditions capsized the canoe in the middle of the Kaiwi Channel between O‘ahu and Lāna‘i. Eddie Aikau, a famous big wave surfer and North Shore lifeguard, volunteered to paddle a large surfboard to the island of Lāna‘i, about ten miles away. The crew, including author Lyman-Mersereau, was sighted by an airline pilot and rescued approximately 22 hours after the canoe capsized. No sign of Eddie was ever found.

To paraphrase Richard Nixon: Let me make one thing perfectly clear — I am not a sports nerd. I’m not. I’m just a regular guy who happens to like sports. I have an actual life. Seriously. Don’t even try to stereotype me as one of those pathetic sports geeks who sleep with their sports almanacs. It’s just that questions like, What was the score of the very first Prep Bowl football game? Who was UH baseball’s first freshman all-American? When was the last time the UH football team shut out an opponent? How many times did “Bobo” Olson fight Sugar Ray Robinson...these things just come to me! Maybe it started when I was a 10-year-old watching UH basketball games on TV. I would list the entire UH roster in my notebook, and then jot down every field goal, free throw and personal foul. Or maybe it began in 1981 when I began tracking stats for every NBA first-round draft pick. This was before the Internet, mind you, so you can imagine how much time I put in to tabulate their points and figure out their scoring averages. So yes, I suppose I have to come clean: I’m a sports nerd. And you know what? There’s nothing wrong with that. ~ Lance Tominaga, author

The Hawaii Sports Trivia Challenge: 1,000 Questions to Test Your Sports IQ! presents 1,000 brain teasers in 100 quick quizzes on the games Islanders play: Rainbow Wahine Volleyball, the Prep Bowl, Little League champs, Hawaii’s Olympians and more. Just released by Watermark Publishing, the 200-page book provides a first-ever source for testing local sports knowledge or settling that friendly wager.

The mai tai — that most tropical of tropical drinks — has come a long way from the early days of Trader Vic and Don the Beachcomber. The New-Wave Mai Tai is a refreshing concoction of more than 50 cutting-edge mai tai recipes, along with dazzling photos, first-person encounters and fascinating historical tidbits.

In this colorful, 138-page book, author Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi traces the rich, swashbuckling story of rum —the mai tai’s principal ingredient — and explores the origins of the famed drink, including the eternal debate over whether Trader Vic or Don the Beachcomber actually created it. Most important, she shares more than 50 innovative and easy-to-follow recipes that tweak the old classic with eye-opening new ingredients from schnapps to sherbet: the Mai Tai-Jito, Sassy Wahine, Smooth Shredder and many others. These creative cocktails from bartenders and watering holes throughout Hawai‘i go far beyond what Don or Vic ever imagined.

Head trainer Melody Toth spent 30 years courtside—and behind the scenes—with the Rainbow Wahine, the basketball ’Bows and the other championship teams of University of Hawai‘i athletics. In Let’s Go ’Bows! Behind the Scenes with University of Hawai‘i Sports, she shares insights and inside stories of this remarkable legacy—the world-class athletes, the heartbreaking losses and the heady triumphs of victory on the national stage.

Toth speaks from a point of view that only a few have access to, having spent eight to 12 hours a day, often seven days a week, with the athletes. Her stories, adapted from her journals, reveal what sports writer Ann Miller of The Honolulu Advertiser calls “stolen moments you have never seen and rarely read.” In Let’s Go ’Bows! Toth shares funny and heartwarming stories fans never knew, and recaps some of Hawai‘i sports history’s most beloved and well-known names and games.

Ten years after Chef Chai Chaowasaree opened his first restaurant, Singha Thai Cuisine in Waikiki, he opened his second restaurant, the much acclaimed Chai’s Island Bistro at Aloha Tower. What would he do to commemorate his second decade as a prominent figure in Hawai‘i Regional Cuisine? Why, put together his long-awaited guide to contemporary cuisine: The Island Bistro Cookbook, a collection of more than 90 recipes from his two award-winning restaurants.

At last, Chef Chai shares the secrets behind his unique brand of Pacific Rim cooking—from Butternut Squash Bisque to Pad Thai Noodles with Crab Claws to his signature dish, Kataifi and Macadamia Nut-Crusted Black Tiger Prawns. Chaowasaree is a founder of Hawaiian Island Chefs, the organization promoting homegrown agriculture and aquaculture. He hosts the popular television cooking program “Dining Out with Chai” and has earned numerous culinary honors, including the America’s Top Tables award from Gourmet magazine.

Why have you taken so long to put out a solo cookbook?

I wanted to be sure that I took the time to do it right, and to do it at the right time. By waiting so many years, I’ve been able to put together a large collection of recipes that I am proud of. Earlier this year, I decided to do the book so that I could share my accomplishments with my family in Thailand, who I never get to see. It was my hope that both my parents, who are very important to me, could see The Island Bistro Cookbook; unfortunately, my father passed away very recently, and I was unable to share it with him.

Besides its distinctive aroma, lavender boasts time-proven health, beauty and culinary value; its use has been well documented for some 2,500 years. The Maui Book of Lavender, a new lavender-scented release from Watermark Publishing, traces the herb’s historic uses in Hawai‘i and abroad, as it unveils the unique agribusiness story of Maui’s Ali‘i Kula Lavender.

A scenic farm with a diverse crop and product line, Ali‘i Kula Lavender perches high on the slopes of Haleakalā, where lavender plants stretch across the hillside in a sea of purple, green and silver. A dry, sunny region on the volcano’s leeward flank, Kula is an ideal place for growing lavender—a drought-resistant plant that requires rich soil, full sun and well-drained southwest-facing slopes.

Stunning photography and useful information on lavender crafts and home uses, as well as 40 recipes incorporating lavender, make this hardcover book a treasure for gardeners, home crafters, cooks and anyone else who appreciates a little lavender in their life.

Born and raised in the most multicultural state in the union, Barack Obama bears the indelible stamp of his native Hawai‘i. The Dream Begins: How Hawai‘i Shaped Barack Obama is a coming-of-age story set in Hawai‘i’s storied “melting pot”—a revealing look at what makes Obama tick.

Authored by veteran political writers Stu Glauberman and Jerry Burris, the 160-page book examines Obama’s early years in Hawai‘i. The self-described “skinny kid with the funny name” flourished in the Islands, where local values foster tolerance, compromise and mutual respect—and where diversity defines people rather than divides them. The social mores of the Aloha State and the experience of growing up in an island culture have had a deep and lasting influence on the candidate. Obama himself has noted, “What’s best in me, and what’s best in my message, is consistent with the tradition of Hawai‘i.”

In The Ultimate Guide to Shopping on O‘ahu, fashionista extraordinaire Kathryn Drury Wagner has compiled 200-plus of the best-of-the-best places to shop. These are her top choices for the best styles, selection, and service. This guide covers it all, from the boutiques stocking the gotta-have-it styles of the moment to the classic department store standbys, and everything in between—gifts, maternity wear, shoes, accessories, and even menswear.

Purchase a copy of The Ultimate Guide from www.bookshawaii.net and receive a special savings pass for Fashionista's Market, Hawaii’s premiere designer sample sale shopping event (while supplies last; no coupon code necessary).

Humble Honest Men is a comic novel from Hawai‘i author-historian Bob Dye. A dozen years in the writing, Dye’s new book tells the story of Kapala Dolan, a Hawai‘i native who moves to Kinsale, Ireland, and soon becomes embroiled in the historical controversy surrounding the sinking of the Lusitania and her mysterious cargo.

Dolan’s fascination with the Irish half of his hapa haole ancestry—and the family lore that placed his maternal grandparents on the Lusitania as it sank off the coast of Kinsale—leads him to jump at the chance to consult for the town whose city fathers seek to make the Lusitania as successful a tourist attraction as Pearl Harbor’s Arizona Memorial. The job proves to be more than a simple consultancy, as Dolan is drawn deeper into intrigue and cultural conflicts, while his sincere intentions rub some of the townspeople the wrong way.

Wordsworth, the little Hawaiian mouse who loves poetry, doesn’t understand why there is so much whispering around the house since Grandma came to live with his family. He remembers her last visit, when the house was filled with laughter, and he and Grandma danced around the room together. But now, Wordsworth and his siblings have to walk softly and be quiet so they don’t disturb Grandma.

In Wordsworth Dances the Waltz, children are introduced to the concept that as grandparents age, they may become different, and even forget important things.

I was a kid in the 40’s and 50’s, a time when it still was not cool to be Hawaiian. Kamehameha, my school from seventh through twelfth grade, even though instituted for Hawaiian children, sought to make us thoroughly American. Which I was. Except for those “aboriginal twinges” and a gaping hole in my heart. I consciously—and self-consciously—pursued article assignments to learn about being Hawaiian as well as to write about specific topics. I learned about hula, heiau, the Hawaiian diet. I spent three days on Kaho‘olawe during January Makahiki ceremonies, addressed a personal health problem through lomilomi, sailed for an afternoon on the voyaging canoe Hōkūle‘a. Eventually I came to know dozens of people in the Hawaiian community. They all welcomed me, especially after I learned to approach any Hawaiian by placing myself in my family, school, and community. I think it is today’s version of what some have told me was the ancient recitation of genealogy between strangers until they came to a point of commonality. Never mind the journalism degrees and writing achievements. I am the younger Pierre Bowman’s older sister, Uncle Wright’s niece, Scotty’s cousin. I am KS ’58. I am Kailua, O‘ahu. Now we can talk.

Feng Shui for Hawai‘i by Clear Englebert is a complete guide to creating harmony and positive energy in the Hawaiian home. According to feng shui principals, everything in and around the house creates or directs the flow of energy (chi)—from the slippers outside the door to the position of the beds, each item should be chosen and placed with care. Englebert, a nationally acclaimed feng shui teacher and consultant, addresses all aspects of feng shui in the home with specific attention to Island landscape, culture and décor.

Getting married in Hawai‘i is a special experience, but even in paradise, planning a wedding has its challenges! In Wedding Belles: Ideas & Inspiration from Island Brides, local wedding guru Tanna Dang guides soon-to-be brides on a smooth trip down the aisle.

Wedding Belles isn’t the typical “how-to” wedding book. Although packed with useful sidebars filled with personal tips and advice from Dang—after years as a wedding professional, she’s amassed a staggering amount of nuptial knowledge—the book’s main focus is on the stories and photos shared by more than 70 real-life recent brides. “There are lots of books out there that list vendors or tell you how to plan your wedding, but they tend to show only a few personal examples,” Dang says. “I thought having real, local brides share, in their own words, what they learned through the wedding planning process would be a great way for new brides to find amazing ideas and advice they can trust.”