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I just started Island of Sea Women (Lisa See) and it's (as expected) very very good, but it's not a quick read for sure.
After Ask Again, Yes, I am really looking forward to good writing.
I just finished reading James K. Polk by John Seigenthaler. This is a book for serious history buffs. President Polk, IMHO was a "near great" President, in the same pantheon as Harry S. Truman, Andrew Jackson, and John Adams. He was not "great" in the tradition of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan. He was definitely not in the cellar inhabited by Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Millard Fillmore Franklin D. Roosevelt or Richard Nixon.
Speaking of James Buchanan, he looms rather large in this book. He was Polk's Secretary of State. The book concludes that Polk was largely his own Secretary of State since Buchanan appears to play the role of incompetent buffoon much as he did later as President.
Seigenthaler concludes that Polk ranks as a "near great" for the reason that he was clear on what he intended to accomplish and largely executed the punchlist. These included the creation of an independent treasury, the annexation of California and what is now New Mexico, the confirmation of Texas's permanency in the Union, and (partially) the annexation of the "Oregon Country", an area jointly administered with Great Britain including present-day Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and part of Montana (the book mistakenly referred to that as part of Wyoming, but in fact it was Montana west of the Continental Divide).
I was selectively recommend this book. As the author points out, unlike Jackson President Polk was colorless and humorless. The author honestly points that he was blatantly partisan. While the book is not a "hagiography" it is clear that he admires the subject. Nothing wrong with that.
I'm working my way through the DCI Jack Logan series, which is a police mystery series, set in Scotland, I am enjoying the dialect. Written by JD Kirk. That's for my fun reading.
For book club, I am about to start "Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead.
Oh & I also just downloaded the latest Gia Santella thriller ( written by Kristi Belcamino) "Dark Justice"
Bliss. I love good historical fiction, and I'm so happy to have a prolific author I like. I got the recommendation from one the threads here.
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