April 1, 2021

Welcome again to BOOKBEAT, a monthly newsletter about Hawai‘i books focusing on Mutual titles. We have two new word search puzzle books coming out soon and we’re busy working on a cookbook that will be a collection of Hawai‘i’s favorite community cookbook recipes; a Bible devotional to inspire, comfort, and teach in both English and Hawaiian; and a dim sum cookbook started by the late Muriel Miura.

20% OFF PROMO CODE STILL VALID FOR BOOK CLUB MEMBERS

We are still offering free shipping to Hawai‘i addresses for orders of $30 and over. And be sure to use your Book Club member promo code to get 20% off all regular-priced books! Let your family and friends know that if they join our Book Club they will receive a special promo code and receive notice of all our upcoming promotions.

CURBSIDE PICK UP is still available. Just call us at 808-732-1709 when you’re here and we will bring your order out!

UPCOMING NEW RELEASES

We’re adding two new word search titles to our collection of puzzle books. Each book features 90 word searches covering topics and themes like movies, food, natural wonders, surfing, and more.

Pass the time and keep your mind sharp with these word search puzzles.

FEATURED BOOKS Start making your ribbon, shell, or crochet leis now and plan your flower leis in time for May Day!

All our lei-making books are on sale the month of April.

In Judy Dela Cruz’s second crochet lei book, she encourages lei makers to use their imagination and experiment with all kinds of yarns of different textures and colors. In addition to learning more basic lei patterns, get ready to drop the needles and crochet “outside the pattern” by exploring the innovative technique of using straws to create lei. Crafters will find this new way of lei making faster and easier and especially handy when needing to create numerous lei at the last minute. Whatever method is used—traditional or straw—the effect is stunning and life-like. Above all, it is always fun to see people’s amazement when they realize it is a crochet lei and not a real flower lei. On sale for $5.99 (retail $10.95)

Her third book teaches you how to make lei from rickrack and beads. She also includes new variations on the popular quick- and-easy straw lei, or lei made with the help of a few fast-food straws. Ever made a lei with two straws? Three? Four? Judy shows you how to make beautiful lei such as Lilac, Mauna Loa, Pīkake, blending different colors of yarn, chord, and even beads. On sale for $5.99 (retail $10.95)

In How to Make Hawaiian Ribbon Leis, authors Coreen Iwamoto and Jim Widess give photographic instructions for ribbon lei that will be treasured through the years—gifts of aloha that can last a lifetime. Beautiful and everlasting ribbon lei are a popular alternative to flower lei in the Islands. With this first-ever easy to follow visual guide, you can fashion your own ribbon lei from materials found at any craft or fabric store. Fifteen different ribbon lei designs are showcased—many are created to resemble local floral favorites such as pīkake, ‘ilima, hinahina, firecracker, and white ginger. Each design is described in detail with step-by-step instructions and colorful photo illustrations. On sale for $9.99 (retail $17.95)

Hawaiian Shell Lei Making by seasoned author and crafter Laurie Shimizu Ide, combines stunning visual beauty with down-to-earth craft. It is a primer as well as a feast for the eyes. Step-by-step instructions are given which anyone can follow, along with expertly taken and detailed photographs. There are forty projects involving an almost infinite variety of shells—from the well-known and easy-to-find Olepe to the more exotic Momi and everything in between. In addition to explaining tools, safety rules, and the process of the art, author and talented lei-maker Laurie Shimizu Ide demonstrates the nine basic methods for lei making. On sale for $8.99 (retail $13.95)

And Laurie’s first book that started it all, Hawaiian Lei Making Step-by-Step Guide, is everything you’d ever want to know about lei making! A complete photographic instruction guide & reference tool to over 50 major flowers and plants used in making Hawaiian lei. On sale for $9.99 (retail $14.95)

RECENT RELEASE

You may have missed this book by Evan A. Ponton and Philip H. Scharper Jr.

Catholic Churches of Hawai‘i: A Shoal of Faith provides a thorough and compelling reference to the historical, spiritual, and cultural richness that Catholicism contributed to Hawai‘i’s identity including saints, coral cathedrals, and remote wooden churches. Here is a complete and fascinating historical introduction on the origins of Catholicism in Hawai‘i, including a brief history of parish churches across the Islands, featuring archival photography and original watercolor artwork, compiled from church archives, newspaper articles, and personal interviews. Ponton and Scharper’s work shares the timeless and timely story of Catholicism in Hawai‘i and is destined to become a classic in the history and role of Catholicism in Hawai‘i.

FEATURED RECIPE—Mango Chutney-Glazed Ham

This recipe is from Celebrating in Hawai‘i: Favorite Recipes for Holidays and Special Occasions, by Muriel Miura

Makes 10 to 14 servings

1 fully cooked smoked bone-in ham, about 5 pounds 8 whole cloves ¾ cup water 1 cup mango chutney

Preheat oven to 350°F. Using knife, score ham in diamond pattern at 2-inch intervals, making slits ¼-inch deep. Place ham, scored side up, on rack in small roasting pan. Stud ham with cloves at 1-inch intervals. Pour water into roasting pan; cover securely with foil. Roast 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat chutney in small saucepan over medium-low heat until warm, stirring occasionally; set aside.

Uncover ham; brush generously with chutney glaze. Continue roasting, uncovered, until ham is warmed through, 45 to 60 minutes more, brushing with glaze every 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer ham to carving board. Slice and arrange on warmed platter. Serve hot or cold.

Variations Pineapple, blueberry, onion, plum, or jalapeño chutney may be substituted, or use any jam.

BOOK NEWS

National sales continue to grow. Print unit sales are forecast to grow by fifteen percent from a year ago. Hawai‘i sales in accounts that sell to the local market remain steady. (Accounts that sell mainly to tourists have been adversely affected.) Board book sales remain strong, along with cookbooks. Our reprint of Six Feet Together was quickly absorbed.

HALL OF FAME Every issue, we visit an out-of-print title that has become a publishing classic. Titles are on display when you visit the Mutual Publishing Bookstore in Mutual’s office.

Hawai‘i 50: Five Decades of Photography, A Community Album

Pictures are worth thousands of words.

What better way to have celebrated Hawai‘i’s fiftieth year of statehood in 1989 than with a community photo album? And what better place to have found photos than among the 250,000 images in the archives of the Star-Bulletin, now the Honolulu Star-Advertiser?

From over a quarter of a million moments captured in time, across five decades—more than 700 images were chosen to highlight Island life since statehood.

There are our politicians, sharply dressed and usually smiling. Shots of the men and women who captured our imagination with their showmanship or athleticism—Duke Kahanamoku, Don Ho, Gabby Pahinui, Braddah lz, and Rell Sunn. The glamour of Hawai‘i’s numerous beauty pageants, along with the pomp and circumstance of the Merrie Monarch Festival. Our favorite sports teams, and island folks outdoors, hiking, swimming, surfing, paddling, or just picnicking enjoying the day with friends and family. Nostalgic pictures of old stores and historic landmarks, gone now, demolished, but still in our memory. Crowds massed in protest, holding signs and marching. The effects of Mother Nature's fury and her grandeur. And, of course, arresting photos of the sheer beauty of the Islands as well. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the photographs that were assembled in Hawai‘i 50 are worth millions.

Interspersed with the photographs were newspaper front pages and headlines to anchor us in time, as well as Corky's cartoons poking fun at Island life and leaders.

Hawaii 50 is a visual treasure chest, filled with the riches and wonders of fifty years, to be cherished and shared, looked upon and reminisced over. Every page holds some picture that serves as a reminder of why we are so very fortunate to live in Hawai‘i.

Turn any page and it is all there, in closeup, the human comedy, the human tragedy, and everything in between—Kīlauea’s nonstop eruptions, the sudden disaster of Hurricane ‘Iwa and the New Year’s Eve storm of December 31, 1987. The long-running show of local politics, from Jack Burns to George Ariyoshi to John Waihee, and from to Frank Fasi to Frank Fasi. Nonstop prime-time entertainment, from Jack Lord to Tom Selleck. The rise of Jesse Kuhaulua and the fall of Ronald Rewald. The melodramatic entrance of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos and the hasty exit of Randy Crossley. The magic touch of The Fabulous Five, and the thrilling leap and spike of the Volleyball Wahines. The strong left arms of Derek Tatsuno and “El Sid” Fernandez. The long and notable lives of venerated children of the islands—Iolani Luahine, Duke Kahanamoku, and Mary Kawena Pukui. And others who left us too soon, from Kui Lee and Rap Reiplinger to George Helm and Ellison Onizuka. The restoration of ‘Iolani Palace, harvests of green sugar cane and green tourist dollars, and the biggest of all, the Green Harvest of marijuana. The depths of Hawaiian despair, the tumult of Hawaiian protest, and the heights of the Hawaiian Renaissance.

Incomparable human variety. Rich local history. The grand procession of life, all the way from the nostalgic charm of Hawaiian yesterdays to the present moment with its bubbling energy and volatile excitement. With a poignant, humorous text by Gavan Daws. His Shoal of Time, still in print, is the all-time best-selling history of Hawai‘i with an audio book in the works; Holy Man: Father Damien of Molokai is translated and published worldwide.

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY

April 1, 1946—Following an underwater earthquake in the Aleutian Islands, three tsunami hit the shores of the Hawaiian Islands. Hilo suffers the worst damage and 159 lives are lost. (photo from Pacific Tsunami Museum)

April 8, 1927—The Honolulu Academy of Arts opens on the site of the former home of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Cooke.

April 20, 1951—President Truman names Oren E. Long governor of Hawai‘i. He becomes Hawai‘i’s 10th territorial governor.

April 24, 1898— Spain declares war on the and the U.S. Congress responds in kind on April 25. Troops are temporarily stationed near Diamond Head at Camp McKinley.

April 27, 1907—The Oahu Country Club formally opens.

April 30, 1900—President McKinley signs the Organic Act making Hawai‘i a territory of the United States.

MUTUAL’S 2020 CATALOG

Our 2020 catalog featuring over 330 books is available on our website. Click here to view a PDF. Or, call us at 808-732-1709 to ask for a catalog and we will mail one to you.