Birthday Celebrations

St. Michael's, Maryland.
Near the Chesapeake Bay.

Until a friend posted the idea of celebrating the United States’ 250th by reading books from major historical eras, I intended to not recognize this civic ‘birthday’ at all.  What is there to celebrate?   Corruption of American-sized portions on our plates?  The nihilist advances of the Project 2025 bros?  Scunge in the Reflecting Pool? Never mind all that.  Learning and reflecting – that I can get into.

The local brick-and-mortar bookstore (yes, we have one!) also encourages reading as part of the nation’s celebration.  I have not read any of these.

I've read a book by Jill Lepore, but not that one.

The other side of the table had more suggestions (no photo).  I ordered a hardcover of Regime Change: Inside the Imperial Presidency of Donald Trump by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan. Like Timothy Snyder’s book On Tyranny, I think this will be a book that I don’t ever want J. Bezos to snatch away from me.  It was sold out, so it’s on back order. 

My friend’s fiction suggestions for this celebration are at the end of this post.  I selected some nonfiction suggestions, in the next post.

Patriotic bunting and an admonition.
But I say:  
if you are pushing the moral arc of the universe
toward justice, lean away.

Two high-school friends and I try to get together once a year, ostensibly to celebrate our birthdays.  This year we are all reaching a birthday milestone.  We made June into our birthday month and had a marvelous time in Annapolis, Maryland.  Look for that in a future post, if I get around to it.

Cake AND pie.

Then we had a flurry of family birthday celebrations here, with the birthdays of two of the progeny coinciding with the homecoming of one of said progeny.  For her birthday she requested an apple pie homebaked jointly by her and me.  And for the Common Household Son’s birthday, she wanted to recreate “Linda’s Fudge Cake” (Cheesecake Factory).  This meant more home baking in three days than we’ve done in the first six months of the year.  

We go for flakiness, not beauty,
when making pie crusts.

The pie was delectable and is gone.  

The Fudge Cake recipe called for an obscene amount of melted chocolate chips for the ganache.  I counseled halving that part of the recipe but, as usual, my input was ignored.  There is now 1+ cup of chocolate ganache staring me in the face whenever I open the fridge.  The Common Household Son took most of the ganache-engulfed cake away to store in his freezer. Whew.

Younger Daughter made the cake, but guess
who had to do the dishes?

C.S.H. recommends the following books, for celebrating America 250:

The Traitor’s Wife, by Kathleen Kent (First Settlers). 352 p, 2010. StoryGraph rating 3.5 out of 5.

Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson (Revolutionary War) 416p. 2025.  Middle grade. SG rating 4.0.  

Sunflower Sisters, by Martha Hall Kelly (Civil War). 516p. 2021. SG rating 4.2.

These is my Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine, 1881-1901, Arizona Territories… by Nancy E. Turner (Western Expansion).  384p. 1998.  SG rating 4.3.  Romance.

The Woman in the Photo by Mary Hogan (Gilded Age/Suffrage).  432 p.  2016.  SG rating 3.8.

The Alice Network by Kate Quinn (World War I). 503p. 2017.  SG rating 4.2.

Dead Dead Girls by Nekesa Afia (Roaring 20s).   317p. 2021.  A Harlem Renaissance Mystery #1. Storygraph 3.2.  

The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah (Great Depression). 454p. 2021.  SG rating 4.3

The Martha’s Vineyard Beach and Book club by Martha Hall Kelly (World War II)  336p. 2025. SG rating 3.9.

The Briar Club  By Kate Quinn (Cold War) 432p. 2024.  Thriller. SG rating 4.3.  

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (Civil Rights). 211p. 2019.  I’ve read it.  It’s excellent.  SG rating 4.3.  

The Women by Kristin Hannah (Vietnam War) 471p. 2024.  I’ve read it.  It was eye opening. SG rating 4.5.  (Personally I thought The Nickel Boys was better written than The Women, but the ratings disagree with me.)    

 * * * * * * * 

The rubric for the historical eras in my friend's list ended with the Vietnam War. What books might you suggest for historical fiction for after the Vietnam War?

Does the way I’ve listed the number of pages make it look like the books are priced in pence?