The 2013 Ka Palapala Poʻokela Awards gala is fast approaching (Friday, May 10), and to generate excitement for the event as well as educate the public on the nominees, we will continue our tradition of doing a countdown of posts, highlighting the books nominated for each awards category. Where applicable, I will link to book reviews from Hawaiʻi Book Blog.

For a complete list of all the nominees we’ve posted and for all the updated information on the event, please visit our dedicated Ka Palapala Poʻokela Awards page.

The next category we’re spotlighting is Excellence in Natural Science. Last year’s winners of this award include The World of Bananas in Hawaii, Then and Now by Angela Kay Kepler & Francis G. Rust and Shore Fishes of Easter Island by John E. Randall & Alfredo Cea.

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Books reflecting nature, plants, animals, the earth, the ocean, the sky, etc.

Aloha For Hawaiʻi’s Mauna Loa Observatory: Fifty Years of Monitoring the Atmosphere
Forrest M. Mims III
University of Hawai‘i Press, 2011
480 pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0824834319

In The Beginning: Archipelago The Origin and Discovery of the Hawaiian Islands
Dr. Richard W. Grigg
Island Heritage Publishing, 2012
112 pages, Paperback
ISBN: 978-1617101519

Loulu: The Hawaiian Palm
Donald R. Hodel
University of Hawaiʻi Press, 2012
216 pages, Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0824835675

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SCIENCE! Have you read any of these books? Let us know what you think about them, we’d love to hear your comments!