“Learning to Eat Along the Way,” by Margaret Bendet (She Writes Press, $16.95): “I had spent virtually the whole of my twenties trying to tamp down my anger,” writes Margaret Bendet, a former features writer for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, in her memoir. A devotee of yoga and meditation in search of self-knowledge, she hears the ghost of her Manoa house’s former owner telling her to get out. And she does. She interviews a visiting Indian holy man — “The swami moved like a force of nature, and he glowed” — and leaves her job and marriage to follow him. She also battles anorexia. Despite a few extraneous office anecdotes, Bendet’s briskly written story is frank, funny about the pratfalls of ashram life — and at times surprising, like the swami himself.
“Bones of Paradise: A Big Island Mystery,” by Jane Lasswell Hoff (self-published, $10.99): This crime romance by Hoff, a forensic anthropologist and Hilo resident, stars red-haired Mimi, who works at the Hawaii State Medical Examiner’s Office in Hilo. Mimi does autopsies: the skeleton of a fetus, a maggoty corpse at Pohoiki Beach Park, even an ancient skull. All while grieving for her husband. Then her colleague Lehua disappears and she meets “Mitch Kaupu — wow!” But the pace slows when Hoff pauses for digressions — for instance, to explain what pau and poi dog mean and that flip-flops are called slippahs here — and the proliferating characters and expository dialogue make it difficult to follow the plot.
“Rama’s Labyrinth,” by Sandra Wagner-Wright (self-published; $19.99 print, $2.99 e-book): “Just at the crease of time when dusk turns into darkness, the market woman appeared,” observes Rama, a child when her tale begins in the late 19th century. She is named after the brother of the god Krishna, a Maui-esque prankster and namesake of Rama’s older sister. Their parents seek to protect Krishna from her husband, which leads to the family’s dispossession and homelessness; everyone dies except for Rama, who marries and has a daughter. But shadows cling. Mythical tales intersect with Rama’s life until she becomes a Christian educator of women in this uneven but charming novel by Wagner-Wright, a Hilo resident.
“Nani O‘ahu… Beautiful O‘ahu: Through a Surgeon’s Eyes,” by Linda Rasmussen (self-published, $30): An orthopedic surgeon who lives on Oahu’s Windward side, Rasmussen’s colorful landscape and ocean photographs are struck with an arresting light that has a painterly quality, glazing rooftops and Koolau ridges, falling down stone steps at Byodo-In Temple. Yes, there are the usual sunsets and sunrises, but with refreshing variations, such as the sun reflected in wet sand. From monumental waves to delicate forest streams, this collection reawakens our eyes and imaginations to what surrounds us in Hawaii every day.
Page Turners highlights books by Hawaii authors and books about Hawaii or of interest to Hawaii readers. To submit a book for consideration, send a copy and information to Features Department, 500 Ala Moana Blvd. Suite 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. Written by Mindy Pennybacker. For more information, email mpennybacker@staradvertiser.com or call 529-4772.
