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98/100 This took me longer to finish than the average audiobook, not because its not well written, it's just that the book recounts an ugly, brutal part of American history. I've always had a low opinion of Woodrow Wilson, and nothing here changed that. Wilson was a bigot and a hypocrite, who betrayed his so-called progressive idea. While preaching liberty, freedom and Democracy for the rest of the world, his administration was jailing ⬇️

I decided to read more about Morman history after watching “American Primeval”. This book is fairly comprehensive and covers it in some depth.

This is a light pick for me. I enjoyed it but didn‘t love it. I appreciated the early history of how bookstores developed in the U.S. and found the stories of well-known independent bookstores interesting. However, this is an incredibly broad topic, and hearing about a few specific bookstores I know or have visited just made me want to learn of more variety for my list.

#audiobook #Nonfiction #NonfictionNovember #NFNovember #LitsyBookClub

Listening to this audiobook was a bit like poking at a wound that hasn‘t fully healed yet but it was still an interesting look behind the scenes from Kamala‘s perspective. I am still mourning for what could have been but I am glad I was persuaded to give this a try.

Putting this out there for my fellow history nerds who may have watched the Netflix series that draws heavily from the tagged book (which is fabulous, by the way): I discovered a blog by a guy who has read and reviewed 260 presidential bios, from Washington to Obama. (He stopped where I would, too. 😖)

Some great stuff in here if you want to go down numerous rabbit holes: https://bestpresidentialbios.com/best-bios-summaries/

An intriguing historical account of the beginning of America's war for independence. Very well written, it not only details the events, but also the conflicting ideals of the people and nations involved. America ultimately won its independence, but had cooler heads prevailed that independence may never have been fought for, or even desired. A worthwhile read.

Next up for reading. I remember watching the HBO series several years ago, but never read the book.

While I would certainly not call myself a presidential history enthusiast 😆, I‘m so glad the new Netflix series put this book and author on my radar because I‘m a big fan of both now. This was very well-written and engaging and tied together so many historical events and figures that I didn‘t realize were connected. (Not to mention I knew nearly nothing about Garfield, who was impressive.) Now I can‘t wait to dive into Death by Lightning!

Now that the Netflix series is out, I‘m listening to this one again. It was one of my favorites when I read it several years ago.

Two quotes from my reading this morning:

From Kamala‘s mother
“Kamala, don‘t ever let anyone tell you who you are. You tell them who you are.”

From Angela Merkel

“Don‘t you ever let them make you cry.”

#TodayILearned #NFN