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What Members Thought
This is pretty much historical non-fiction at its best. A skilled author takes a subject, in this case several events over the course of one summer, provides enough background information on each event and is still able to create something that is easy to read and is well paced.
The summer of 1927 was busy, with Babe Ruth's homerun record, Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic, scandalous murder cases, an epic flood, and talking pictures. Each story is interwoven with political and historical context a ...more
The summer of 1927 was busy, with Babe Ruth's homerun record, Lindbergh crossing the Atlantic, scandalous murder cases, an epic flood, and talking pictures. Each story is interwoven with political and historical context a ...more
Mar 23, 2015
Mary
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
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Read Harder - Microhistory. Whoa, America was a hot mess back then (maybe still is?!) and Bill Bryson tells it all in a most entertaining and engaging way.
Amazing book about an incredibly influential summer in America's history.
I purposely only read a few pages every evening because I wanted this book to last and so I could really absorb all of its' great detail.
I've lost count of how many Bill Bryson books I've read by now. I think I'm up to seven maybe?
Not all of them are perfect, but this one comes pretty close to it, dealing with baseball (who knew I'd care at all about this sport??), aviation, politics, literature, eugenics, talkies, crime, ...more
I purposely only read a few pages every evening because I wanted this book to last and so I could really absorb all of its' great detail.
I've lost count of how many Bill Bryson books I've read by now. I think I'm up to seven maybe?
Not all of them are perfect, but this one comes pretty close to it, dealing with baseball (who knew I'd care at all about this sport??), aviation, politics, literature, eugenics, talkies, crime, ...more
Sep 03, 2017
Denise Cormaney
rated it
liked it
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review of another edition
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This book was fascinating, but a bit long. That might be unfair, as I was rushing to finish it in time for a book club meeting. There were so many parallels to what is happening today (in mostly scary ways). I also didn't like how he jumped from subject to subject and then would abruptly go back to the first subject without any transitions.
...more
I just didn't love this one- my first disappointing Bryson. Some interesting anecdotes and things I didn't know about Babe Ruth and Charles Lindbergh, but it was all too disconnected for me. For the first time I also didn't love Bryson's narration. It just kind of grated.
...more
Oct 01, 2013
Deedee
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Oct 02, 2013
Kate
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Oct 04, 2013
Jenny
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Nov 04, 2013
Katie
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Nov 05, 2013
Kate
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Nov 05, 2013
taeli
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Nov 19, 2013
Donna
marked it as to-read-nonfiction
Jan 01, 2014
Jennifer de Ridder
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Jan 03, 2014
Rudy
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Nov 18, 2014
Laura
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Nov 21, 2015
Jill
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Feb 23, 2018
Artemis
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Aug 30, 2019
Elizabeth
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