December 7, 1941. November 22, 1963. September 11, 2001. Days we remember, or our parents remember ... where we were, who we were with ....

What was it like to live in Hawai'i after December 7, 1941? Hawai'i Homefront: Life in the Islands During World War II, by MacKinnon Simpson explains it beautifully with photos (some confiscated from Japanese pilots), memoirs, and archival records. Martial law was established, blackouts were frequent, all mail was censored, but life went on, soldiers and sailors had to be fed ... and entertained ... ;-) The section near the end "wartime faces of the islands" I found to be especially moving.

Did you watch the news about Kennedy's assassination on TV (they were still fairly new at the time). Do you remember seeing a secret service agent crawl up on the back of the car after the shots were fired? That was Clint Hill and he, along with Lisa McCubbin wrote Five Days in November. This is an insider's look at what started as a joyful, happy trip with the energetic first couple and ended in a tragedy that changed, well, everything. Assigned to protect Jackie, this is Hill's account of how she dealt with the events of the next few days from the ride to the hospital where she refused to leave John's side, to planning the funeral, to the final salute of the not yet three-year-old John, Jr.

A Place of Remembrance: Official Book of the National September 11 Memorial, by Allison Blais and Lynn Rasic. I can only imagine (and perhaps not even that) how hard it must be to come up with a memorial to something like September 11, 2001 and yet, Michael Arad did just that. There were thousands of entries, reduced finally to 10 and then one. The name is perfect ... Reflecting Absence ... it says so much in just two words ... This book, from National Geographic, is a great way to learn about this moving and inspiring site.

Reading Hermit With Dog