Some books are like the pebbles that start an avalanche. John Adams by David McCullough was one such pebble for me. In the late spring of 2001, one could not walk into the Book Star near the corner of Laurel Canyon and Ventura Boulevards without seeing row after row of hardcover editions of John Adams arrayed at the front…
While on vacation in Florida for the holidays, I finished reading Brandon Sanderson’s Wind and Truth, book 5 in the Stormlight Archive series and the end of the first “arc” of the series. It was a fun read and a worthy conclusion to the “arc.” It was also a long read—over 1,300 pages—so it took…
I am fascinated by presidential biographies. Part of the fascination stems from a love of history, and part from an interest in the mechanics of a job that no one is ever qualified for, until they’ve held it. I’m particularly fond of in-depth, multivolume biographies. I thoroughly enjoyed Edmund Morris’s 3-volumes on Theodore Roosevelt. And…
One afternoon during our recent trip to Disney World, we stopped into the Hall of Presidents. This is a frequent rest stop after a long day of walking around in the heat, when we need time off our feet to cool off and relax. The Hall has changed over the years, adding new Presidents, changing…
One subset of travel books that I enjoy are those that mix travel with some theme of discovery. John Steinbeck’s Travels With Charley is the model from which many of these books have taken their example, and Nathaniel Philbrick is quick to admit that Steinbeck served as a model for his entry in this sub-genre,…
Walking home from the metro station this evening, I thought of an interesting question. I don’t know the answer to the question, but perhaps someone does. My question is: In this day and age, is it a practical possibility that a middle class person, making the average income for a family in the U.S. run…
Happy Birthday, Abe.
Of the 7 U.S. Presidents that have been in office since I was born, Gerald Ford is the one about which I know the least. He was the first President to come into office after my birth (Nixon was President when I was born.) I have read biographies of Nixon, Carter, Reagan and Clinton. I…
Browsing blogs this evening, I came across one of those quizzes. This time, it was “Which president are you most like?” I tried to answer the questions honestly, and I don’t know how this could possibly have happened, but I ended up as, well, see for yourself… You Are Most Like George W. Bush So…