Rise of the Titans (Pegasus Book 5)

New deities come on to the scene in the 5th Pegasus book. Even after Emily promises to take her battle elsewhere, we still get a battle between Olympians and Titans right over Hawaii. (They manage to show up just at the "wrong" time.) This books gets a little more confusing and contrived. Pegasus is flying around the world to eventually get to Hawaii. There the fallen shard is protected by a Hawaiian god. However, there is another girl that shares the power with Emily and her "head-mate".  This girl is a spoiled brat that wants everything. They eventually are able to defeat her and then join with her. The "super beings" also show up and banish the Olympians and Titans for misbehaving. Things get confusing, with some leaps in logic. But there are also some fun random moments with various gods exercising their personalities.

The Wayfinders: Why Ancient Wisdom Matters in the Modern World

Wayfinders started out as a series of lectures in Canada. The book explores bits of "wisdom" of ancient cultures. Polynesians could navigate across vast oceans long before the Europeans could. They used many different pieces of information to piece together the complete mental "map" of where they had been in order to find where they are going. There are other cultures that treat the land as an integral part of life. Other cultures had various rituals and customs that helped unite them as people as well as sustain the life in the world. Our view of many of these ancient cultures is often quite incomplete. We see the society after they have spent time in contact with western culture. This has caused them to adapt their ways. 

The has respect for ancient skills and wisdom. However, he does not idolize them as is often the case. He acknowledges that they had a way of wisdom and a certain set of skills. They are not necessarily better or worse than others, just different. It is valuable to retain these bits of wisdom rather than attempt to force everyone into the current mold of western civilization.

Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia

Sea People explores the unfolding of the Western World's knowledge of Polynesia. It follows the numerous encounters that Europeans have had with Polynesian islands. The book details the evolution in the theories and thoughts of the migrations of the people. It also explores the differences in thinking among the primarily oral Polynesians and the visual (maps and writing) culture of the Europeans. If only the Europeans had taken better notes in their first encounters, we may have a better understanding of the cultures and people.
In the post world war 2 era there have been many theories and "experiments" done. Some postulated they must have floated from south America. A Scandinavian tried sailing on a raft and did manage to make it to an island. Others postulated Polynesians just floated around and happened to stumble into islands. Computer scientists later simulated travel to see where people could have traveled. This refuted some of the "floating randomly" ideas, and showed there must be a degree of intentional behavior. Decades later, there were attempts to revive Polynesian boat making and traditional navigation. They were actually able to navigate throughout the various islands. Modern genetic testing has also helped to present a better picture of where they have come from. However even that is somewhat mudddy. (This may be due to various bottlenecks.)
Currently, the accepted theory is that the Polynesian population came out of Asia, then spent a millenia in Somoa/Tonga before spreading out to the remaining islands. (Rat DNA has been used to help with the analysis.) Moana has helped to further popularize this understanding.

Call It Courage

Call it Courage by Armstrong Sperry

Call it Courage is the story of a young Polynesian boy who is initially branded a coward. He then overcomes his fear of the sea to go on a solo voyage. He successfully fends for himself out on the ocean and makes it back home as a brave man. It seems very similar to the story that was later adopted for Disney's Moana.

Pacific

Simon Winchester uses the Pacific Ocean as a central theme to discuss a number of events that happened since 1950 (the "present" of Before Present time). Many of the events involve the military - the nuclear tests on Bikini Island, the division of Korea, and the growth of Chinese power on the Pacific. The environment is discussed, both in the context of newly discovered species in deep sulfuric trenches as well as climate change's impacts on coral and the "garbage" vortex.

There are also stories of the business and culture, including the rise of Sony and the building of the Sydney Opera house.

Intertwined with these stories is the plight of the people that call the pacific home - especially the Polynesian and Micronesian inhabitants of the pacific islands. They are often given faint mention in the rhetoric of the western world. The Bikini islanders lost their homeland due to the nuclear tests and the contamination of the land. Many Polynesians still live on their islands, but have lost their traditional lifestyle and navigation skills due to the advances of western civilization. Many islands are in further danger of being submerged due to sea level rises.

Winchester has a unique writing style. He loves to add details from personal experience and loves to dive into details of seemingly random topics. He will also use a narrow thread to string together a set of seemingly unrelated stories. It is not your typical linear writing style, but is a nice refreshing, entertaining style.