The Wordy Shipmates

I saw this author on the John Stewart not too long ago and enjoyed her brand of humor and the fact that her book involves real history. I think any one of my siblings would enjoy this also. She has this ironic, dry humor - glad I discovered her. I got "The Wordy Shipmates" today on audiobook and put her other 2 books offered on audible.com in my wish list. I look forward to listening to this - you should check it out!

Here is a summary of the book:

The Wordy Shipmates is New York Times best-selling author Sarah Vowell's exploration of the Puritans and their journey to America to become the people of John Winthrop's "city upon a hill" - a shining example, a "city that cannot be hid."

To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Vowell investigates what that means - and what it should mean. What was this great political enterprise all about? Who were these people who are considered the philosophical, spiritual, and moral ancestors of our nation? What Vowell discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoe-buckles-and-corn reputation might suggest. The people she finds are highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty. Their story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance. Along the way she asks:

• Was Massachusetts Bay Colony governor John Winthrop a communitarian, a Christlike Christian, or conformity's tyrannical enforcer? Answer: Yes!
• Was Rhode Island's architect, Roger Williams, America's founding freak or the father of the First Amendment? Same difference.
• What does it take to get that jezebel Anne Hutchinson to shut up? A hatchet.
• What was the Puritans' pet name for the Pope? The Great Whore of Babylon.

Sarah Vowell's special brand of armchair history makes the bizarre and esoteric fascinatingly relevant and fun. She takes us from the modern-day reenactment of an Indian massacre to the Mohegan Sun casino, from old-timey Puritan poetry, where "righteousness" is rhymed with "wilderness," to a Mayflower-themed waterslide. Throughout, The Wordy Shipmates is rich in historical fact, humorous insight, and social commentary by one of America's most celebrated voices. Thou shalt enjoy it.
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Starting Audio Book "Water for Elephants"

I started listening to a new audio book on Tuesday called "Water for Elephants". I haven't listened to an audio book in a while because I was so turned off by the last book I listened to "Jack Maggs".

"Jack Maggs" was supposed to be as well written a story and in the manner of a Charles Dickens book. From the beginning it was rather boring but I kept listening in hopes the story would become engaging and I would see why it was given such rave reviews. Hours into the book I realized that moment was never to come. I kept listening to the book because I feel obligated to since I did pay good money for the book. Always feel like I should get my money's worth and listen to it in it's entirety.

But when I was a little past halfway through (entire book is 12 hours) - I just couldn't bring myself to listen to it any longer for fear I would slip into a deep coma. The premise of the book is Jack Maggs is a criminal and was, as a result, banished from Britain as part of his punishment. He returns to Britain anyway in search for somebody. In the interim he gets hired as a footman. This writer discovers he's there illegally but promises to keep his secret if Jack lets him hypnotize him as fodder for a book. Jack agrees. While hypnotized it's discovered the brutality Jack has endured and a demon that haunts his subconscious. Throughout the book they drag on about the demon Jack is haunted by (but I didn't discover why) and why he came to Britain looking for this particular person (didn't find that out either). The book would've been better if they had an interesting side story to go along with it. But, no dice.

"Jack Maggs" was one of a few books that really disappointed me. Then there are books that are only mildly entertaining. Or books that are interesting but aren't exactly light reading/listening - such as "The Sociopath Next Door" (about why people are/become sociopaths and how to spot them) or "Sex, Time and Power" (about a women's ability to reproduce, etc. and how it affected human evolution and our survival as a species). So I've been kind of avoiding listening to my audio books lately.

The only book I really enjoyed out of all the ones I've listened to was "Double Play". A fictional book about a guy who ends up becoming Jackie Robinson's bodyguard Jackie's first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. The book was more about the bodyguard then it was Jackie Robinson.

The story was entertaining and engaging throughout and I looked forward to plunking on my earphones when I got on the train. It accomplished everything it intended with suspense, action and a little romance thrown in. I tried looking for other books by this author but I'm not convinced that I'll be interested in the subject matter of the other books. I should probably give one of them a shot since I really enjoyed "Double Play".

So, anyway, I'm about 1.5 chapters into "Water for Elephants" and it seems like it might actually be good. Crossing my fingers!!