Hello, friends! We’re approaching the end of summer. Did you read any good books over vacation or at the beach? I’ll live vicariously through y’all, since we didn’t do either of those. Here’s what I’ve been reading over the summer.
Common Sense – Thomas Paine
I grabbed a copy of Common Sense several years ago in the bargain section at Barnes and Noble. While politics aren’t normally my thing, I decided to read Thomas Paine’s whole treatise. It’s an easy read (about 80 pages), and it’s surprisingly relevant in the 21st century. A good read for everyone.
The Anne Boleyn Papers – Elizabeth Norton
This is an edited anthology of the known writings of Anne Boleyn, starting with her first letter around the age of 12. It’s interesting to see the whole text of letters you’ve seen quoted dozes of times. This would also be useful as a resource for research on Anne or her family.
Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder – Caroline Fraser
I loved the Little House on the Prairie books (and all of the spinoff series) when I was a kid, so this was a must read for me. It’s a biography of Laura and how the books came to be. The author doesn’t hold back, including the fact that Pa was a draft dodger and the Ingalls family illegally squatted on tribal land in Kansas. It was fascinating to me, and I would recommend it to other fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder and her works.
Anne Boleyn’s Letter from the Tower: A New Assessment – Sandra Vasoli
This book (or a longer essay) explores whether or not Anne Boleyn wrote a dramatic last letter to Henry VIII while imprisoned in the Tower of London. The author theorizes that the letter is real and explores what impact that may have had on Henry. She also explains why he didn’t receive it and wonders if he regretted Anne’s fate. Overall, a quick read with some interesting ideas about the events of May 1536.
The Girl on the Velvet Swing: Sex, Murder, and Madness at the Dawn of the Twentieth Century – Simon Baatz
Warning: the main event of this book is the rape of a teenage girl. The author researches the tragic life of Evelyn Nesbit, a young actress, and her sexual assault by Stanford White, a famous architect in the early 1900s. The case blew up in the news when Evelyn’s husband murdered Stanford White at a theater performance several years later. It’s a crime book, so it looks at before and after the main events. If you’re a crime junkie, this will be a compelling read for you.
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