The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

Title: The Wordy Shipmates

Author: Sarah Vowell

Publisher: Riverhead Books 2009

Genre: History

Pages: 272

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (Nonfiction Adventure); Mount TBR

To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Sarah Vowell investigates what that means-and what it should mean. What she discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoebuckles- and-corn reputation might suggest-a highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty people, whose story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance.

Finally finished this book in the early morning hours. I always love a good history book where I learn something. Thankfully Vowell dives deep into the Puritans to get a good look at the people, their lives, and their beliefs. I enjoyed reading the back and forth between John Winthrop and all of his adversaries. I knew some about Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, but this book expanded my knowledge. My only issue with the book is Vowell's deviations into current times. Those passages felt a little too long for how short this book is overall. I wanted more time in Puritan New England and less time in the 20th century...

The Partly Cloudy Patriot by Sarah Vowell

Title: The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Author: Sarah Vowell

Publisher: Simon & Schuster 2002

Genre: History

Pages: 197

Rating: 4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Perpetual (NonAd); Nonfiction; 52 Books - W10

In this insightful and funny collection of personal stories Vowell travels through the American past and in doing so ponders a number of curious questions: Why is she happiest when visiting the sites of bloody struggles like Salem or Gettysburg? Why do people always inappropriately compare themselves to Rosa Parks? Why is a bad life in sunny California so much worse than a bad life anywhere else? What is it about the Zen of foul shots? And, in the title piece, why must doubt and internal arguments haunt the sleepless nights of the true patriot?

Her essays confront a wide range of subjects, themes, icons, and historical moments: Ike, Teddy Roosevelt, and Bill Clinton; Canadian Mounties and German filmmakers; Tom Cruise and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; twins and nerds; the Gettysburg Address, the State of the Union, and George W. Bush's inauguration.

So I love Sarah Vowell. She is funny, but also insightful and relevant. Sometimes she writes exactly what I am thinking about a situation. I think she's my spirit animal. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of essays. I love her perspective. My favorite essay was about Gettysburg. I had many of the same thoughts when I visited years ago. My only issue with this collection is that some of the essays feel very dated when reading them 14 years after the fact. I remember the events, but wow, such old news. Still an entertaining read for this history buff!