I know some of you may not find that to be funny and I don't mean for it to be funny. But I have been wanting to read American history again for so long that I feel as though I am breathing again. Now, I have to confess that I did read more Elmer Kelton's westerns - even though they are fiction. But his accuracy, storylines, and writing are truly wonderful. For now, though, it's time to go back to my first love - American history.
My recent reading has included such books as The Children's Blizzard, The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War, both by David Laskin. Right now, the book of choice is The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan. I have my eye on Nathaniel Philbrick's The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Big Horn, John Barry's Rising Tide: The Mississippi Flood of 1927, and so many, many more.
Why? You know, that is a hard question to answer. I know that I enjoy learning about this country and its people. For me, it's not enough to know there was a Civil War. I want to know what those people experienced, what they thought, how they survived. It always amazes me when game show contestants cannot answer questions concerning this country's history. One of my favorite examples is Jay Leno asking a woman who lives at 1600 N. Pennsylvania Street and she doesn't know.
It's just something I love and we have some really great authors that relate these stories. And these stories were told by some pretty incredible people - the people who experienced these events. No, it's not Harry Potter or vampires, but there are mysteries, witchcraft, murder, wars, spacecraft, romance, monsters (a different kind), and ghosts. And just like fiction, you just have to find the writer that is right for you.
So long for now. I need to take another deep breath.
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