Most travelers arrive in Hawaiʻi having read exactly one thing about the islands: the hotel’s welcome packet. That’s a missed opportunity. Hawaiʻi has a history as dense and strange as anywhere in America — a Polynesian voyaging culture, a unified kingdom, a contested overthrow, a plantation-era immigration wave that rewrote the demographics, a Pacific war, statehood, and a sovereignty movement that is still very much alive. You don’t need a PhD to appreciate a beach, but a few of the right books and podcasts will change how you see every town, every church, every heiau, and every conversation you have with a local.

This is a short list — the books and podcasts I actually recommend when someone asks what to read on the plane. Each one earns its spot either because it’s genuinely the best on its topic or because it opens a door to a perspective most visitors never consider. Pack two or three and you’ll arrive a better guest.

“Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert (2003). If you read only one novel before your trip, read this one. It follows Rachel Kalama, a young Hawaiian girl sent to the Kalaupapa leprosy settlement on Molokaʻi in the 1890s, and stays with her for the next seventy years. Brennert is a mainland writer who did extraordinary research — the book has been widely adopted in Hawaiʻi classrooms and book clubs — and it’s the rare historical novel that gets both the cultural texture and the human story right. Read it before a Molokaʻi trip and the isolation of Kalaupapa stops being an abstraction. Available at pretty much every Hawaiʻi bookstore and widely in print. Brennert’s follow-up novel “Honolulu” (2009) follows a Korean picture bride arriving in early-1900s Honolulu and is an excellent companion read.

“Hawaii” by James Michener (1959). The big one. Michener’s nearly-thousand-page historical epic starts with the islands forming out of volcanic rock and ends in the statehood era. It’s long, it’s dated in places, and Michener’s takes on Native Hawaiian culture have been fairly criticized — but as a sweeping introduction to why the islands look the way they do (Polynesian voyagers, missionaries, plantation laborers from China, Japan, Portugal, the Philippines), it’s still hard to beat. Treat it like a very well-researched novel, not a textbook. It’s exactly the book for a long flight from the East Coast.

“The Descendants” by Kaui Hart Hemmings (2007). You’ve probably seen the George Clooney movie. The novel is better. Hemmings grew up on Oʻahu, and the book’s quiet observations about modern kamaʻāina life — old Hawaiian land-trust families, the tension between development and legacy, the emotional weather of a Punahou-school childhood — are the parts the movie rushes past. Short, sharp, funny, and a much better primer on how locals actually think about land than any guidebook.

“Unfamiliar Fishes” by Sarah Vowell (2011). The ideal airplane book. Vowell is a Public Radio regular and writes history with the tempo of a really good stand-up set — she walks you through the arrival of New England missionaries in 1820, the slow collapse of the Hawaiian Kingdom, and the 1898 U.S. annexation, all in about 240 pages. Funny, pointed, and legitimately good at explaining how a sovereign nation ended up absorbed by the United States. If you’ve never read anything about Hawaiian history, start here.

“Lost Kingdom: Hawaiʻi’s Last Queen, the Sugar Kings, and America’s First Imperial Adventure” by Julia Flynn Siler (2012). The deeper, more reported version of the same era. Siler is an award-winning journalist, and her account of Queen Liliʻuokalani, the missionary-descendant sugar barons, and the 1893 overthrow is the single best narrative explanation of how the kingdom ended. If “Unfamiliar Fishes” hooks you, this is the next step.

“Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands” by Gavan Daws (first published in 1968, still in print through the University of Hawaiʻi Press). The classic academic survey, but written in real English — Daws is a historian and a pleasure to read. This is the book you reach for when you want the full arc from Captain Cook’s arrival to statehood in one volume. Available through the University of Hawaiʻi Press. Less of a beach read than Vowell or Siler, more of a “I want to actually understand this place” read.

Almost every Hawaiʻi reading list for tourists skips Native Hawaiian writers entirely, which is a minor scandal. The three books below are not long, not expensive, and will give you a perspective the Michener-era shelf simply does not offer.

“From a Native Daughter: Colonialism and Sovereignty in Hawaiʻi” by Haunani-Kay Trask (1993, revised 1999). Trask was a longtime professor of Hawaiian Studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa and one of the sharpest writers in the sovereignty movement. This essay collection is direct, unsparing, and occasionally uncomfortable for mainland readers — which is exactly the point. It is the single best short introduction to the case for Hawaiian sovereignty as understood by Native Hawaiians. Published by the University of Hawaiʻi Press.

“Aloha Betrayed: Native Hawaiian Resistance to American Colonialism” by Noenoe K. Silva (2004). Silva, a Kanaka Maoli scholar, went back to the Hawaiian-language newspapers of the 19th century — sources that English-language historians had ignored for a hundred years — and rebuilt the story of Native Hawaiian resistance to annexation from primary documents. Game-changing scholarship written for a general reader. Published by Duke University Press.

“The Value of Hawaiʻi” edited by Craig Howes and Jonathan Osorio (multiple volumes, 2010 onward). A University of Hawaiʻi Press anthology of short essays from dozens of writers — Native Hawaiian and otherwise — on every aspect of contemporary island life: land, tourism, education, military, food, language, housing. Each essay is five to ten pages. It’s the closest thing to a “what are people in Hawaiʻi actually arguing about right now” crash course. Details at the UH Press page.

“Hawaiki Rising: Hōkūleʻa, Nainoa Thompson, and the Hawaiian Renaissance” by Sam Low (2013). The story of the voyaging canoe Hōkūleʻa, the revival of Polynesian wayfinding, and Nainoa Thompson’s apprenticeship with the last master navigator of Satawal. If you’re going to spend any time around Oʻahu’s Sand Island, the Polynesian Voyaging Society’s home, this is the background you want. It also explains why the Hawaiian Renaissance of the 1970s still shapes how Hawaiians talk about identity today. More at the author’s site.

“Volcano: A Memoir of Hawaiʻi” by Garrett Hongo (1995). Hongo is a Japanese-American poet who grew up away from Hawaiʻi, then returned as an adult to the small Big Island town of Volcano (yes, that’s its real name) to try to understand where he came from. The result is a quiet, beautifully written memoir about Hawaiʻi County, plantation-era family history, and what “going home” actually means when home is a place you barely remember. Perfect reading before a Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park trip.

“House of Many Gods” by Kiana Davenport (2006). Davenport, a Native Hawaiian novelist, writes about the Waiʻanae Coast of Oʻahu — the side of the island most visitors never see. This is a good antidote to a Waikīkī-only trip: a novel that takes the other Oʻahu seriously and treats its people with dignity. If you’ve ever wondered what life looks like on the west side of the island, start here.

The surprise pick: “The Last Aloha” by Gaellen Quinn (2009, Lost Coast Press) is a lesser-known historical novel about a young woman who goes to live with missionary relatives in Hawaiʻi and gets swept up in the end of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Not as famous as Michener, but a tighter, more focused read for anyone already interested in the overthrow era.

Podcasts are how you stay current on what’s actually happening in the islands right now — the legislation, the cultural debates, the economic weather. A few episodes of the right shows and you’ll step off the plane with a much better sense of the conversation you’re walking into.

“The Conversation” — Hawaiʻi Public Radio. HPR’s daily news interview show, hosted by Catherine Cruz. A mix of local politics, cultural features, breaking news, and long-form interviews with Hawaiʻi writers, scientists, and officials. The single best way to get up to speed on what’s in the local headlines before your trip. Episodes free at HPR’s site or any podcast app.

“Offshore” — Honolulu Civil Beat. A narrative investigative podcast series from Civil Beat, Hawaiʻi’s nonprofit news outlet. The back catalog digs into Native Hawaiian lineage, land, and the limits of statehood-era justice, and remains one of the best pieces of Hawaiʻi-specific audio journalism ever made. Search “Offshore Civil Beat” in any podcast app, or start at Civil Beat.

“Hawaiʻi’s Best” with Bryan Murphy. A travel-focused podcast with long interviews with Hawaiʻi-based tour operators, chefs, and small-business owners. Less politics, more “where should I eat on Kauaʻi” and “which North Shore activity is worth the drive.” A useful pairing with the more serious shows above if you want trip-planning advice alongside the history. Search “Hawaii’s Best Podcast Bryan Murphy” on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Browse the HPR podcast library. Beyond “The Conversation,” HPR produces and hosts several feature series on Hawaiian music, culture, and history. The full catalog lives at hawaiipublicradio.org/podcasts and it’s worth a browse before a flight — whichever series is currently active is usually better than anything you’d queue up from a mainland news outlet.

Not everyone has time for a dozen books. Here’s how I’d combine titles based on what kind of trip you’re taking:

First-time family trip (5–7 days): “Unfamiliar Fishes” by Vowell on the plane out, “Moloka’i” by Brennert on the plane home. Two quick reads, one funny history and one unforgettable novel. You’ll know more about Hawaiʻi than 95% of visitors.

Honeymoon or couples’ trip: “The Descendants” by Hemmings (quiet, adult, island-set) plus a few episodes of HPR’s “The Conversation” on the flight. Short, thoughtful, modern.

History-focused or repeat visitor: “Lost Kingdom” by Siler, then “From a Native Daughter” by Trask. The first to understand how the kingdom ended, the second to understand why the sovereignty conversation is still alive.

Big Island trip: “Volcano: A Memoir of Hawaiʻi” by Hongo. Specific to the southern Big Island and the town of Volcano. Read it before visiting Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and the drive up Māmalahoa Highway will hit differently.

Maui trip (especially post-wildfire): Skip Michener, read the Civil Beat Maui coverage, plus listen to HPR’s recent “The Conversation” episodes on Lahaina recovery. These are living stories, not historical ones, and staying current matters more than backstory right now.

Kauaʻi or Molokaʻi trip: “Moloka’i” by Brennert (obviously), plus “Hawaiki Rising” by Sam Low. Both lean into voyaging, isolation, and the deeper Polynesian connection that the outer islands still hold onto.

Every title on this list is available on Kindle, in paperback, and most as audiobooks — long flights make audiobooks especially useful. Amazon’s Hawaiʻi history section has all of them, and the University of Hawaiʻi Press titles ship directly from uhpress.hawaii.edu if you’d rather buy direct from the source.

Once you’re on the islands, the best local bookstores to browse are Da Shop in Honolulu’s Kaimukī neighborhood, Native Books at Arts + Letters in Nuʻuanu (focused on Hawaiian-language and Native Hawaiian titles), Bookends in Kailua, and Basically Books in downtown Hilo on the Big Island. Any of these will point you at local-author titles that never make it onto national bestseller lists but are worth the shelf space.

One last note: the libraries are excellent. The Hawaiʻi State Library at 478 S. King Street in downtown Honolulu keeps a remarkable Hawaiʻi & Pacific Section you can walk in and browse for free — genealogies, archival maps, out-of-print island histories, rare photography collections, Hawaiian-language newspapers. An hour in that room is one of the most underrated free activities on Oʻahu. Details and hours at librarieshawaii.org.