pickNo book or project could ever be comprehensive when it comes to exploring and capturing the history and legacy that began in 1619, when enslaved Africans set foot on the shores of North America, a year prior to the arrival of the Mayflower. However, as a reclamation of American History, this book is a chronicle, a celebration of poetry, art, and writing, and a call for understanding and moving forward.
pickFinished listening to this one last night- and loved it!! I learned so much about President Garfield, who I really didn‘t know much about before. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
so-soThis was okay. Reading about how state borders came into existence was way more boring than expected. These facts were so obscure they‘ll never even show up on Jeopardy. Worst of all, the book was organized in alphabetical order instead of by region, so there was a lot of repeat information. For example you learn about the border between North and South Dakota when you learn about all of North Dakota‘s border and then again when you get to SD.
This came in the mail on Saturday. I love #bookmail.
This chunkster might sit in my TBR pile for a while. But I will attempt to begin it and read it gradually.
#litsylove #history
pickThis is the story of how a swampy area of MD and VA ended up as the US capital. The story seems perfect for a Cohen brothers movie with incompetency, corruption, stubbornness, and dumb luck eventually resulting in Washington DC becoming a reality. The whole process was quite the shit show, from being selected over various locales in PA (take that Columbia), to its design, to getting funding and then built, burnt to the ground and built again!
pickI found this interesting, though I think it could've been a bit shorter by sometimes just saying “just as with XYZ“ instead of repeating the whole thing...
It's thorough and well-sourced (50 pages of numbered endnotes), and includes examples of various advertising images etc etc to illustrate points.
It's sort of my 3/5 stars: “liked it, but...“
pickThe first of a three part biography by Edmund Morris. This highlights Theodore Roosevelt‘s life up to the presidency. This isn‘t the first time I‘ve read this. This book introduced me as a 19 year old to arguably the most interesting American who ever lived. Certainly the American who lived the fullest life.
so-soI love Ben, but here the biographer‘s hand was too often seen and sometimes heavy. Very often he said things like “When Ben was young he did this and that showed why he did these other things later.” It‘s not as if I didn‘t get anything from this, but it was not enjoyable and too long.
Some of us remember
And some of us forget
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