history pragmatic historian reading thought fodder

Reading to Understand the Roots of Racism in the U.S.

I set a goal of reading at least 3 history books this year. The first one I picked up was recommended to me by a friend: “White Trash. The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.” by Nancy Isenberg. Little did I know how incredibly relevant the book would be in terms of current events in Minnesota when I started reading this at the beginning of May. The killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black…

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observations reading

I’m Not an Action-Adventure Gal

After a marathon day of reading yesterday that ended at 11:30 p.m., I am finally finished with the first book I’ve read in 2020: Reamde by Neal Stephenson. I picked it up on the promise that it would involve technology, which it does but only tangentially. What I discovered in this 1000+ page tome was a lot of shoot-em-up action-adventure. If you like action-adventure, that’s great, but I’m not an action-adventure gal. The book was…

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observations reading

Do Not Tumbletry

Bought a set of socks from Amazon before the holiday season. They were marketed under the brand name of Lovely Annie’s, which I thought was a delightful name. Strange thing, though. While I was searching for warm, knee-high socks to buy, I kept running across what appeared to be photos of the same set of socks (sometimes with 4 pair, sometimes with 5) with different brand names. I mean, these photos were identical, not just…

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reading

Reading: 84K by Claire North

On a lark, I picked up a book at the library recently. I wasn’t really looking for fiction to read because I have a stack of nonfiction by the bed to get through and I’ve read quite a bit of fiction in the past year. But, after reading the cover and opening description of 84K by Claire North, I realized a dystopian novel was just what I needed. If you want a book that describes…

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reading

Rereading: The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

Major SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven’t read this book and want to, do NOT read this post!!! You have been warned. 🙂 My year of rereading continues, although I am losing steam for the project. There are simply too many other books calling me to read them. Also, there’s this book …. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski. I am so heartsick by the ending of this book that I’m wondering what made…

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