Curling up with James A. Michener’s 1959 novel Hawaii is the next best thing to jetting off to the sunny islands themselves. The book, a favorite of Tory’s mom Reva, is an epic tale that traces the history of Hawaii from its creation (literally — chapter one begins with volcanic eruptions) to its statehood, as seen through the eyes of various families through the ages. Equal measure fact and fiction, it’s a lush, sweeping narrative, much like Michener’s 1947 account of the South Pacific, which turned into the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. There’s a Hollywood version of Hawaii, too, which starred Julie Andrews. One of the extras was a young as-yet-unknown Bette Midler. Who, it so happens, is a Honolulu native.