This is my first time reading Sarah Vowell and I'll probably pick up more of her work in the future. It was funny in an amusing sort of way, as Vowell is my kind of historian and finds the more absurd or weird a lot more fun than rehashing the same details readers learned (maybe) in school. I liked that Vowell chose an outsider to center her book on the Revolutionary War. However, Lafayette just didn't have the charm or presence of an Alexander Hamilton or Patrick Henry, so his story got old and I found myself more interested in the historical monuments and museums Vowell travels to; okay, I was also very interested in the attempted coup to unseat Washington from his generalship. A good book for the July 4th holiday.

This week I read Lafayette and the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell and Lethal Warriors by David Philipps. I am still working my way through Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, which I hope to finish by the end of next week. I am adding Eye on the Struggle by James McGrath Morris (biography of Ethel Payne) and The True American by Anand Giridharadas (true crime).

I am just binging on non-fiction, as it grabbing me so much more than fiction. I went a little OTT at the library and pulled a bunch of books. I have two read-a-thons I am doing towards the latter half of the month.

1. No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller by Harry Markopolos

         My current read is how Markopolos discovered the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and was the whistleblower that brought Madoff down. He is not kind AT ALL to the SEC. 

2. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

           I want to learn more about criminal justice reform, so I am starting here.

3. Lafayette in the Somewhat United States by Sarah Vowell

              For the July 4th holiday, I am trying Vowell for the first time.

4. Negroland: A Memoir by Margo Jefferson

               Heard nothing but good things about this book.

5. The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas by Anand Giridharadas

              True Crime that doesn't involve Wall Street.

6. Lethal Warriors: When the New Band of Brothers Came Home, Uncovering the Tragic Reality of PTSD by David Philipps

                This is a really long title.

7. Zodiac Unmasked: The Identity of America's Most Elusive Serial Killer Revealed by Robert Graysmith

                 True Crime.

8. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

                      True Crime plus history.

9. Believe Me: A Memoir of Love, Death, and Jazz Chickens by Eddie Izzard

                      Not a true crime book, lol. Manicure on the cover is beautifully done.

10. Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press by James McGrath Morris

                    Also not a true crime book. I wish she was more of a household name today as she was when she was working. 

I finished Conspiracy of Fools (the story of the rise and collapse of Enron) this morning, went bowling and lunch with the kids, then came home and started No One Would Listen (written by the whistleblower of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme). So No One is my focus to knock out this weekend. After that, I want to get to Just Mercy and for the holiday, Lafayette in the Somewhat United States. 

I am getting backed up on reviewing, which is bad for me because it is COYER time and part of COYER is reviewing. So this weekend I will be here writing reviews  - sorry in advance for the review wave coming. Also writing my personal essay and resume for grad school this weekend, as that is all that is left on my end for the application process. I will probably write while watching season two of 30 Rock, my show of the summer to binge this year. 

A collection of Vowell's essays culled from several magazine/newspaper columns and This American Life, this is one of those books that is difficult for me to rate.

On the one hand, I found her dry humour entertaining, but on the other, I'm not a fan of cynicism in general, and Vowell's weaponised form often taxed my patience.  

She and I are the same age, but our childhoods did not share much in the way of common experiences, and we definitely don't share a common political view.  I was, in fact, incredulous that she referred to perjury on the part of a president as a "fib".  But we do share a deep, abiding love for our country even when it disappoints and horrifies us.

The essays I connected with, or enjoyed most were the ones where she was able to put her disaffected persona to the side (or at least mute it) and talk about those experiences common to most everybody: battles with insomnia, her experiences at the rock and roll camp, learning to drive.  There's an essay about Chicago that is brilliant and even though I think she let herself get in her own way, her piece on the Trail of Tears was devastating and moving.

So even though I can't say I loved this work, it's only because I was unable to find enough common ground to do so.  But I do think Vowell is an excellent writer and I'd happily read more of her work; she has a book on famous assassinations I've had my eye on for some time now that I'm definitely going to hunt down.

I read this book for my final Free Friday read; it was 209 pages.