1. What are you currently reading? Calico Joe. This Grisham baseball novel was a surprise giftie from my aunt, who knows how I love my Cubs (who are -- knock wood -- headed for the playoffs this season!). Grisham also loves the Cubs and the game. It's a leisurely paced, lovely little book. Bonus: some of it is set in Arkansas, a part of the country I developed affection for during my spa trips to Hot Springs.
2. What did you just finish reading? Being Nixon by Evan Thomas. Far more emotionally engaging, and emotionally taxing, than I expected. Yes, he was paranoid and vindictive and opportunistic and very comfortable spewing anti-Semitic rhetoric. But he was also patriotic, committed to creating a peaceful global community and touchingly, unexpectedly optimistic. My favorite moment is the one Thomas quotes more than once. As guests would slip out of a White House screening because they'd given up on the movie, Nixon would stop them and encourage them to stay. "Wait! It'll get better!" That was his attitude after every setback (even and especially the tragic ones he engineered). I expected to be repulsed by him, and frequently I was. I didn't expect to be touched by him, and frequently I was.
3. What will you read next? I don't know.
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