Welcome to Litsy!

“Beach read” is all about location. An interesting overview of Washington‘s life that includes good, bad, and ugly- and illuminates the places where certain historians (whom Coe dubs the “Thigh Men of Dad History”) have exercised a particular lens in interpreting primary texts.

Short comprehensive biography of the nations first president. Early life to death, through tales of the good, the bad and the ugly. There is so much more to him than the black and white revolutionary hero we hear who becomes president. Let alone this table. It was very nice to see these tables show up to share information. Washington wanted to retire, yet the nation wanted their first celebrity to be front and center. feel bad for Martha. #history

This and the fact that the British were asking slaves to join their side for freedom was an interesting read.

Bright and breezy bio that will tell you things you didn‘t want know. Hint: his fake teeth were not made of wood.

A concise, clever bio of Washington that just hits the high points, with an emphasis on the women and enslaved people whose lives are mere footnotes in other works. Plus the glorious introduction doubles as a fantastic take-down of The Men Who Write History and I am here for every bit of it.

Just a few off my #OctoberPile, with the cool breeze of a Michigan fall right outside that door! Can't wait to get started! #LittensDressedInBlood #MittenLitten #TBR

As a romance lover I grabbed this George Washington biography based purely on the title.It was entertaining and honest about how while Americans have put him in a pedestal he was just a man and made mistakes.He also acknowledged that enslaving people was wrong, but didn‘t do anything to change that in his lifetime.In fact he participated in and enforced it.The facts in this book were at times funny and snarky. I appreciate learning more about him.

I enjoyed this biography of George Washington. It is more about the person, his relationships, his slaves, and his inner anxieties. It is a welcome and necessary addition to the corpus of books about Washington.

I throughly enjoyed this book. I liked her style so much I‘m hoping she writes more books! (And I‘m reading the other soon!) I was so happy with her commentary about Chernow‘s book as I quit a few chapters in with the same complaints. It‘s nice to not have a huge boring biography but something engaging even tho it‘s smaller. I like her not flossing over his Indigenous genocide as well-not many writers do that. Recommended #presidents

Biographies aren't usually my thing, but I really enjoyed this one! Amusing, inspiring, baffling, balanced, and entertaining. Recommend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I welcome a presidential biography that isn‘t bogged down with every minuscule, mundane detail. My goal is not to become some Washington scholar. This was just enough info for me. Coe hits the highs and lows, adding a bit of fitting humor. I wasn‘t put off by her assessment of typical door-stopper, male-written pres biographies. She made valid, if snarky, points. But, honestly, there‘s room for all the biographies, FFS.
#coverlove

This gorgeous sunrise made the 22°F, 2-mile dog walk tolerable this morning. ?

#audiowalk

#audiocooking
🥣 carrot apple ginger soup with chicken apple sausage

This is not your dad‘s biography! I really enjoyed this fresh look at George Washington‘s life. There‘s more about his domestic affairs than the other bios I‘ve read, but there‘s still plenty of action, spying and silent stewing. GW has always been my favorite president because of his mystery, charisma, and stony deportment. We couldn‘t have become the United States without him! ♥️ 🇺🇸 This bio is woke!

Rachel, thank you so much for the wonderful #JolabokaflodSwap gifts!! This is my FAVORITE swap of the year and I was thrilled that you were paired with me 👯‍♀️ I‘ve already eaten half the M&Ms and started this book! Love it! Thank you so much, my friend 💜📚😍

This is book isn‘t nearly as detailed as other biographies but it‘s great in it‘s simplicity. It tells the story and it‘s perfect for younger ones and doesn‘t weigh you down with intimate details. Those books exist and I‘m glad for them but this was fun. Also Washington wasn‘t that great a guy and neither was Martha for the war they treated slaves. Our history is embarrassing

I‘m sure it‘s fine, but other books came up on my library hold list and it wasn‘t holding my interest enough to prioritize.

Great biography!

Sure this isn‘t Chernow‘s tome but isn‘t that kinda nice? Coe gives us a quick and easily digestible bio of George, and I for one am here for it. Isn‘t there room for both types of biographies in this world? Found my late night reading steered to this book til I finished.

GIVEAWAY🚨

Not sure how many are left - but one of my local bookstores is doing a giveaway of this book for the first 60 people! I just got mine. Go to the link in their bio to try and snag yours before they‘re gone! I only had to pay for shipping!

I learned some new things about George Washington. Overall though, I‘m not sure that I would recommend this book. It wasn‘t horrible, but I didn‘t love it.

A more condensed bio of George Washington that talks about his good qualities (a true family man and killer commander) and his not so great (he really wanted to keep his slaves). This quote from the intro is perfection: "So...you are writing a book about George Washington....is it about his marriage?" "No." "His wife?" NO." "His social life?" "No! It's a biography. Like a man would write."

This is a good title.

I think she wanted to make this humorous but pulled back.

While certainly different than most Washington biographies, it‘s not 1000 pages, she should‘ve probably not tried to cover his whole life & his complicated interpersonal relationships and legacies in a 7 hour audiobook.

I enjoyed her assessment of his relationship with his mother, wife and other family, as well as his slaves. But her coverage of his war record and presidency lacked. 3.5⭐️

This biography of Washington approaches the subject with a heavy dose of cynicism. Instead of glorifying his deeds in battle it criticizes his treatment of his slaves. It's well-written & easy to read. It‘s a difficult topic, as it's easy to skim over the dark aspects of the founding fathers, but the author uses historical documents to back up her claims. He did many great things, but enslaving people to work his plantation is abhorrent.

I went into this hoping to learn some things (which I did) and see a more honest/modern viewpoint on who Washington was. I didn‘t quite get what I wanted as the majority is a straightforward biography. There is some insight on the relations with the slaves he hired but not as much honesty as expected. If you‘re expecting a progressive POV, it‘s not really in this read.

Photo snapped while #audiowalking

Did some #audiowalking this afternoon. This was painted in the window of a local pizza place.

Great love stories don‘t often begin with dysentery.

Such a perfect line!

Thank you @runswithscissors007 #Presidentialbookswap arrived safely today! I can't wait to dive into both of these!

NOTE: This review/rant continues in the comments ...
I had high hopes for this book. By the end, however, I was regretting the money I‘d spent on the e-book. There‘s $13.99 I will never get back.
It didn‘t help that the author begins by insulting anyone who has ever enjoyed the more academic and thoroughly researched presidential biographies on Washington, including Ron Chernow‘s “Washington: A Life.” ⬇️

Okay, only 29 pages in and I‘m irritated. I‘m so tired of seeing presidential biographies and certain kinds of historical narratives referred to as “Dad books.” My father does not read these books. My husband, who is also a father, does not read them either. I, who am most assuredly not a man, read them. I love these kinds of books. Can we please stop categorizing books by the types of readers we assume are picking them up?

In honor of his 288th birthday today, I‘m starting this biography of George Washington. Happy birthday, George! 🎉

Only 20 pages in and I‘m already recommending it to everyone I know

HERE COMES THE GENERAL: Getting ready to read this book on little-known truths about the first-est of Founding Fathers, the “model of a modern major general, the venerated Virginian veteran whose men are all lining up to put me up on a pedestal.” (And, yes, that is a skeleton of Thomas Jefferson, but it‘s the only thing I have with a Founding Father in it.) 🇺🇸