Litsy

How the States Got Their Shapes | Mr. Mark Stein

so-so

This 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.

JoeMo @TheAromaofBooks #bookspinbingo 1w

The_Book_Ninja Does it tell you why Missouri took a little chunk out of Arkansas? I need to know! 1w

TheAromaofBooks This was also a TV series at some point (can't remember what platform) and it was more engaging in that format - I also found this book to be rather flat. 1w

31 likes3 comments

MaGoose

A People's History of the United States | Howard Zinn

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

IriDas This is one of the books my daughter read for US history in middle school. A much more realistic take in comparison to traditional history books. I hope you enjoy it. 2w

35 likes2 stack adds1 comment

JoeMo

Washington: How Slaves, Idealists, and Scoundrels Created the Nation's Capital | Fergus Bordewich

pick

This 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!

JoeMo #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks 2w

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 2w

33 likes2 comments

shanaqui

Crap: A History of Cheap Stuff in America | Wendy A. Woloson

pick

I 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...“

15 likes

Tkgbjenn1

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt | Edmund Morris

pick

The 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.

25 likes

Litsi

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life | Walter Isaacson

so-so

I 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.

2 likes