Welcome to Litsy!

REREAD: Sarah Vowell is a Gen X historian with a Gen X wit, which is to say this book is a dark, wisecracking comedic take on U.S. history. While Vowell very much shows her personal interest in the Lincoln assassination, she also reminds us that Garfield and McKinley were assassinated as well, you know. And one of the assassins even had ties to a 19th Century biblical sex cult-turned-kitchenwares company. But we already knew that. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Rereading because Sarah Vowell is hilarious and super American history nerdy. 😂 🤣 😂

Sarah Vowell just makes history fun, all while pointing out hypocrisies, terrible deeds and how we often don‘t learn from the past.

In this book she chronicles her vacation that leads to her writing about presidential assassins. From possible skull bones to Abraham Lincolns son being in the close vicinity to multiple assassinations this book was full of interesting facts and humor.

This was some real History geek reading which was the perfect companion for a few days of teaching online. Heaps of fun on audio. If presidential history, assassinations, or the expression and development of historical memory are your niche, this is absolutely for you. I had heaps of fun with this.

A good first day for #24b4Monday

Almost done with my #LMPBC and listened to a bunch of City of Girls while working. Now listening to the tagged book for a while before bed.

1. Tagged!
2. Spiders 🕷
3. I used to love doing pottery, I kinda want to start doing that again
4. Trials by Starset

#friyayintro @4thhouseontheleft @howjessreads

An interesting perspective to take on history & I enjoyed the actual historical information & research presented. However, it's interspersed w/information about Vowell's research trips along w/her own snarky commentary. Those asides were distracting & made it hard for me to connect all the history. Not to mention I'm not a fan of snarky political comments anyway. So overall, okay, but I would've appreciated a more focused book on just the stories.

Today seemed like a perfect morning for quiet reading (of the tagged) and tea before the rest of the family rose, but then Husband sent the Minisaurus to have breakfast with me. 🙄🤷‍♀️

What a first line. 😄

Assassination Vacation is definitely a #FaveNonfiction of mine. I've read it a dozen or so times and now I'm loving the audiobook! In three parts, it explores the assassinations of Lincoln, Garfield, and McKinley with good, solid facts and a great amount of humor. I particularly love the section on Garfield, as his assassin, Charles Guiteau, is one of the most fascinating historical figures you could ever hope to know. #FebruaryFeels

⭐️⭐️⭐️ Illuminating and quirky, Sarah Vowell takes us on a tour of the assassinated US presidents. She focuses largely on Lincoln, but touches on all three. There are some incredible coincidences and overlaps. This is my first of her books, but I like her offbeat humor, and will definitely read more.

Two books I have read & own that are both about presidential #deaths. Dead presidents is about many of our presidents, and the author visited their gravesites. Assassination vacation (such a great title) is about 3 presidents who were assassinated, not JFK. Vowell is more political in her book, several times complaining about George W. It made me laugh & wonder what she thinks of our current politics. #chillingphotochallenge @Clwojick #scarathlon

Sarah Vowell was a guest speaker at my school today. I can't wait to read the tagged book.

I don‘t think Sarah Vowell is for me. I bailed on one of her others in the past. She is definitely knowledgeable but too many asides and too much “I” for my taste.

Decided on the bail while waiting for my son during his drive test.

He passed 😅!

1. Done!
2. Hm...Aiden got the gum ball color of the week at Family Video the other day which meant we got a free rental!
3. Mediterranean or Asian
4. Only 4...then 7 step first cousins.
5. 💜💜💜💜
#FriyayIntro @howjessreads

It‘s not as cold today as I feared. Suddenly spring seems possible. I only have about a half hour to go in my book. Maybe Stephen King next? I‘ve been working on a re-listen of the Dark Tower series.

#litsywalkers #audiowalk

A very wet walk today. Still loving this re-listen. #litsywalkers #audiowalk

I only got a half mile in, but it was something. Busy day! #litsywalkers #audiowalk

Going to have to break it up into short walks today. Just walked through the melty fog to get the kids to school. Switched audiobooks because I was having trouble concentrating on fiction. #litsywalkers #audiowalk

I really enjoyed this walk through history following the paths of Presidential assassins and the very twisted stories of what brought the president‘s into their sights, and what happened to them after...from harrowing rides to assume the office, to free love cults, to truly insane men...it‘s all fascinating. Truth really is stranger than fiction.

Oh history....🤯 as the song goes:
“same as it ever was, same as it ever was”
or maybe I should go with
“we didn‘t start the fire”?🤦‍♀️

Funny because she‘s referring to George W Bush‘s election, states to close to call (FL recounts) and popular vote too...and as I‘m reading it I‘m thinking, here we are again with another president who didn‘t win the popular vote. Strange how this seems to reoccur with republican candidates though...🧐

I know Sarah Vowell‘s histories aren‘t everyone‘s cup of tea, but I love her dry humor, and personal tangent asides...not only has she been horribly sea sick already just getting there, she‘s also casting shade on the things that were just too barbaric to considering making the prisoners do...hang them by their thumbs, yes...doing the laundry, oh you go to far!😂

A interesting and humorous look at the US presidents who had the misfortune to be assassinated while in office, delving into their lives, careers, politics, legacies, and the weird quirks of fate that connect them to one another. I really enjoy both Sarah Vowell's lighthearted style of writing and her blunt honesty regarding the negative aspects of our country's past and its supposed heros.

Heading out on vacation - a cabin on a beach on a lake. My 3-year-old did a dance this morning while shouting “Beach! Beach! Beach!”

Here‘s to several days of (I hope) sunshine, books, and little to no internet. Obviously I won‘t be posting or liking (sorry) but I will be reading and I hope to post a bunch of reviews when we return.

Just got out of watching Solo and now waiting for my husband and son to get out of Infinity War! Glad I brought my book along for the wait!

1. I haven‘t actually started this yet but am going to today!
2. Not really. My husband is working so our son and I are going to work on some school stuff and maybe play outside a bit! I also need to start packing to be gone all summer 😬
3. Steak sandwiches with this mustard sauce my grandpa used to make!
#ManicMonday @JoScho

I love this woman‘s books. History with a bit of sass and humor. A dark topic but fascinating, and I love the places she goes and the people she meets.

Her audiobooks are the best!

Vacation: I either will have plenty of time to read the 1 million books I packed, OR, l‘ll spend 5 days being too drunk to read. 😂

This kitty at the Book Barn (best used book store ever) annual sale didn‘t want to pose with my #bookhaul but he did purr while I petted him. Had a lovely book club field trip (freezing cold but everything was 30% off, and then we had tacos). 👍 #bookbarn

#autumnreads Day 18: Author who shares your name

Major catching up on #backtoreading : Day 20, sock Sunday

Major catching up on #backtoreading : Day 21, recommendations

Sarah Vowell is my spirit animal.

"Hard to believe that the candidate who lost the popular vote could actually become the President of the United States. Luckily, that kind of travesty never happened again"

Hahaha. Oh wait. ?

Some interesting historical detail here, but I found the book as a whole a rather uneven jumble, not nearly as interesting as I had expected. And the audiobook was simply dreadful. While I'd enjoyed Vowell's unique voice on NPR, etc., I now realize that such enjoyment is limited to small doses. And the inclusion of celebrity narrators for direct quotes didn't work at all, making this one of the clunkiest audio adaptations I've encountered.

#QuoteOfTheDay

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Oooh, I'm going to love this!

#QuoteOfTheDay

This book was written in 2006. An intriguing, uncomfortable resonance to the rage I am carrying in my body today.

Since these presidents didn't #livetotell their stories, sarah vowell takes on the task and does it with the wit she always brings to her writing. #augustgrrrl

When I told my friend @Megann886 that I was about to start Sarah Vowell's audiobook, she said, "You know what she sounds like, right?" I do. I know she sounds like a babydoll that would kill you in your sleep. I'm okay with it.

"Assassination Vacation" is a morbid romp. Vowell takes you on a road trip to learn about the first three American presidential assassinations: Lincoln, Garfield & McKinley. It's educational & ghoulishly entertaining.

"The McKinley Memorial...is a domed edifice on top of a hill. It‘s a gray granite nipple on a fresh green breast of grass." I'll be honest, having a tombstone that looks like a boob doesn't even sound that bad. #grlpwr ???

If not though, I just want a fox to lounge around on my book-shaped grave all day. Is that so much to ask? And the epitaph should read, "Late to her own funeral." #timeisaconstruct

Littens: What are your posthumous plans?

tfw Sarah Vowell is your aunt:

"Owen is the most Hitchcockian preschooler I ever met. He's three. He knows maybe ninety words and one of them is "crypt."

"I have not been particularly shocked by how much I love Owen, but I am continually pleasantly surprised by how much I like him. He's truly morbid."

"Owen climbed on top of it [John Hay's grave] and hollered, "This is a nice Halloween Park!" (That's what he calls cemeteries)."

"She points at a lopsided armchair, says Garfield had it "'specially made for him. He would lean his back up against the high side of the chair and flip his legs over the low side."

“If there is a recurring theme in Garfield's diaries it's this: I'd rather be reading.”

"I have always felt,” Garfield wrote in his diary, “that the ocean was my friend."

Vowell's book has me identifying hardcore with our lackluster 20th President.

Summer treats: Kabobs, California pasta salad and Assassination Vacation! 😊

Sarah Vowell is an amazing writer with a grating voice. No wonder this was the only one of her titles without a waitlist at the library. I'll have to do this one in print.
#24in48

This is the second book I have read by Sarah Powell, and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one. Vowel is a sharp, witty writer who presents things with just enough of a dark tone. I especially found the Ohio connections in this book interesting, and I learned plenty of new historical facts.