Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings

suzanne.literarylife

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

There is something beautiful in our capacity to accommodate atrocity, even If it can also be our undoing.

2 likes

suzanne.literarylife

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

Monday morning train read

#literarylife #thomasjeffersondreamsofsallyhemings #bookishmoments #booklover #literary_images

2 likes

BeckaroniAndCheese

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

I don't want to go to the gym, or work, or do any kind of adulting today so I'm procrastinating with this hefty library find and a cup of tea ☕️ Anyone else just wishing to enjoy the summer without the responsibilities???

LauraBeth 🙋🙋 7y

Avanders That'd be nice ☺️ ps your profile pic is magic sauce 🤜🏽🤛🏽 7y

BeckaroniAndCheese Thanks @Avanders -it makes me giggle every time I see it 😂 7y

Avanders Lol me too! Every time... 😄 7y

28 likes1 stack add4 comments

LauraBeth

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

When I see a book I want to read but then notice the length...

Cinfhen I do that all the time 😂 8y

Notafraidofwords This is the year where I don't look at page numbers and it's seriously has changed my life. 8y

LauraBeth @cinfhen although I usually end up reading it anyway 😂 8y

See All 22 Comments

LauraBeth @Notafraidofwords that's a great resolve! I need to stop it! 8y

Notafraidofwords @LauraBeth it's my challenge for this year...it was to take on whatever I wanted to read regardless of page numbers. 8y

Cinfhen Good for you @Notafraidofwords I wish I could, but big books scare me now! I definitely have some reading A.D.H.D. since I've gotten older😬🙄 8y

Notafraidofwords @Cinfhen ohh, I do too. It's been hard but worth it thus far. Not sure if I'll keep the same resolve for next year. Lol. 8y

CoffeeBooksRepeat Challenge accepted? Lol 8y

bitterbear Is this nonfiction?? It could be 200 pages of citations? 8y

LauraBeth @Cinfhen and @Notafraidofwords did someone say reading ADHD? 🙋what's helped me with this is before I start a book, I'll google how long the audiobook is, so I have a gauge as to how many hours I need to set aside. So if a book's audiobook is 5 hours, then I will literally carve out five hours during the week to it and then put it in manageable and realistic reading blocks of time - I've found that when I read intentionally this way it helps 😀 (edited) 8y

LauraBeth @GeraldineReads yes! Challenge accepted! 8y

LauraBeth @bitterbear it's historical fiction - although I like the idea of 200 pages being eaten up with footnotes 😀 8y

Sace Right? My average is 250ish pages. I kind of panic if they are longer. 8y

Tav Have you read

Monticello: A Daughter and Her Father; A Novel

LauraBeth @Tav I haven't read that one - stacking it now - thanks for the recommendation! 8y

LauraBeth @tav plus, I always love what the good folks at William Morrow recommend 😀 8y

LauraBeth @Sace for some reason I've been reading some longer than usual books lately! 8y

Sace I used to read chunksters all the time. In fact, I preferred them. What's happened to me?! 😭 8y

Tav @LauraBeth 😃 8y

britt_brooke I'm so intimidated by long books! 300-400 is my sweet spot. 8y

LauraBeth @britt_brooke says the woman reading Infinite Jest! 😀 8y

britt_brooke @LauraBeth 😆😆😆 #guilty 8y

122 likes22 comments

LectricSheep

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

I'll admit it, this blurb 💯percent sold me on this book. And so far, it's everything Karen Russell (my real Patronus, no matter what the Pottermore quiz said) claimed it would be. (Also: cameo from Jesmyn Ward!) #bestblurb #seasonsreadings2016

RealLifeReading

Suet624 You just convinced me! 8y

TheBookStacker I love Karen Russel! 8y

vivastory Sold! 8y

RealLifeReading Definitely makes me want to read it! 8y

53 likes5 stack adds4 comments

TheresaKaminski

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

pick

I couldn't put this book down. O'Connor's imagining of the lives of Jefferson and Hemings was totally compelling.

1 like

Sydsavvy

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

I tried to put it away, because it's so hard to read this indictment. But reading it is the least I can do for Sally Hemings and her descendants. And this tome is amazingly written, and cool and strange, too. I'm afraid it's gotten lost in the shuffle of the other books on slavery this year, and it should definitely not be. It's not as thick as it looks, There's loads of white space. Plenty of room for the chatter of my mind. #Recommendsday

annahenke Interesting. Haven't head of this. Thanks! 8y

BooksTeasAndBookishThings ^seconded 8y

Louise Do you have the impression that this book offers a truer account of Jefferson than most biographies have given us thus far? It sounds very interesting! 8y

Sydsavvy @Louise Well it's an amazing mix of fiction with the contradictory anti-slavery Jefferson writings thrown in so it is definitely a different POV on the subject. I think it's just brilliantly written and so creative. I am adding this author to my must read list. @annahenke and @BooksTeasAndBookishThings - it's weird how it has been completely missed, isn't it? I don't know why. I can't remember how I learned of it. 8y

Louise Thanks, @Sydsavvy. Sounds like a really good read! 👍 8y

34 likes5 stack adds5 comments

Sydsavvy

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor

I already read one new novel on Jefferson and Flemings this year. I seriously had no intention of reading this one so soon. Especially since it is longish. But I bought it, for when I was ready. And Nothing else was working. And it's smart. And It still matters. And It's like my thing with WWII, I always think just one more book will help me understand it. Well, I think I'm hooked, that magical, magical feeling.

Sydsavvy Hmmmm. A bit further in, this may just be more than I can handle. 🤕 And I'm not sure how many like this I can read in a year. 8y

SaraFair Was it America's First Daughter? I just read it, and I am ready for some more history of that era.... 8y

Sydsavvy @SaraFair yes, it was! And I am, too, I just feel I'm drowning in all the typical stories that are offered by NY (even though they are/ may be brilliant). Why can't I find more books in that era? Other than those that are hard to digest. I think this is definitely a hard to digest one. 8y

See All 6 Comments

SaraFair @Sydsavvy - I do have a huge biography of George Washington that was my Dad's but its so long! That 600 pages just flew with Patsy Jefferson.

Citizen Washington

SaraFair Also haven't started this one that is gigantic

John Adams

Sydsavvy @SaraFair thank you! I had not heard of the Washington. One, it's striking my fancy. I went ahead bought this time- it's Huge!!! 8y

22 likes6 comments

Sydsavvy

Thomas Jefferson Dreams of Sally Hemings | Stephen O'Connor