Hawaii Guide Books

There are so many guide books on Hawaii that you really need a guide to help you choose one. Hopefully this can be it. This is not meant to be a comprehensive list, so I will only list the books I've used and can comment on.

The "Revealed" Series
Hands down, the best guide books to Hawaii are the "Revealed" books by Andrew Doughty and Harriett Friedman. Everyone who lives in Hawaii has these books. The authors live in Hawaii and have personally gone to all the hotels, eaten at all the restaurants, and done all the activities (anonymously) to write their reviews. There are also a ton of photos. This is the closest thing you can get to having an insider's guide. The books talk about hidden waterfalls, secluded beaches, hole-in-the-wall restaurants, etc. My favorite part about the books is that they tell you all the things the big guidebooks don't without holding back their opinions. They'll tell you that a whale-watching boat is really tight seating even though the guides are knowledgeable, or that the hotel room is dirty, or that the "ocean view" is actually a sliver of water seen between other buildings, or that some restaurant is good, but overpriced. You will not be disappointed in these books, guaranteed. You will want these in your car with you as you drive around, as you will constantly be checking them to find out what other cool things you can do.

Other Guide Books
	The Moon books are very thorough guides that are quite thick and very useful to find anything you want. This book is for all of Hawaii, yet it still gives very good coverage to each of the islands.
	This is a good book to go with if you like to explore and, as the title implies, venture away from the crowds. It has nice, long descriptions of different places and activities, which are useful when you want to know whether its worth it to drive an hour out of your way to see something.
	I find Fodor's to be the best of the big name travel guides. They are very thorough, though I wish their reviews were a little more opinionated. That is generally my problem with these types of guides... sometimes you just want to hear, "this hotel sucks!".
	This is the guide that everyone I know who hikes on Oahu has. I'm sure there are others with good coverage, but this is the only one I've used. He gives long, very descriptive narratives of each trail, including how to get there, how difficult or dangerous it is, and what the highlights are. I wish it had more hikes listed and that the author was more opinionated on what he thought of the hike, and it could use a little bit better organization (or a companion website), but in general you will enjoy the book and trust Ball's descriptions.
	This was one of the first guides I bought when I moved to Hawaii. It has beautiful photos and illustrations, a nice historical account, and brief descriptions, but it not a very thorough tour guide. If you're looking for a coffee table book, this is a good one.
	Personally, I'm not a huge fan of "local" food, but this book gives a great summary of lots of little hole-in-the-wall restaurants that feature that cuisine. If you want to get a taste of what's really popular in Hawaii, check out this book. It's a nice little handbook that will point you at places that the big guides won't cover.
	If you've ever read another book in the "Chicken Soup" series, you'll know what to expect from this book. Lots of short stories written by a variety of people, from authors to casual tourists. Many have had some spectacular experience in Hawaii, others have just written beautiful narratives of a little moment they had while visiting paradise. It's a good read for the short attention span, and a perfect book to get you excited about your upcoming trip to Hawaii.
	This book is very similar in style to the "Chicken Soup" book listed above. Lots of short stories from a variety of people who had some unique experience while in Hawaii. This book is a bit more diverse than "Chicken Soup", as evidenced by a short story from a Hustler editor who talked a little about what $200 can get you from some of the prostitutes down in Waikiki. That story was rather atypical though; most were about trips to hard-to-find locations or personal journeys and emotional struggles.