Much like I discovered by accident that I was reading Pulitzers (by my third straight) last year, I’ve stumbled upon much the same this year. I’ve already mentioned getting through Masters of the Air and A Higher Call, I’ve now started on Empire of the Summer Moon, a book that my son left behind on his last trip over that is about the rise and fall of the Comanche nation. I’ve always been sensitive to the treatment of Native Americans, so I’m not sure I’m going to like how it ends, but still, it’s an important and fascinating period, and the writing (by S. C. Gwynne) is quite good. Ironically, the book was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for General Nonfiction in 2011.
After that, someone who works in my building and saw I was reading Masters of the Air dropped off a book on Chiang Kai Shek and the Nationalist government’s loss of China to the communists. Of course I’ve loved China and its history for quite some time.
I really don’t mind the pattern, and I think it’s going to be even better than the Pulitzer run from last year. There are just so many more books of so many varied topics. If the German Air Force strikes my fancy (as it has), there are a boatload of books on it out there. Or maybe Vikings…or Hawaiian history (in which I took a class while attending Chaminade and found fascinating). I mean (and speaking of Chaminade), I got my BA in History from them. I’ve always loved it, and there’s so much of it out there.
So here’s to another year of something interesting, and I’ll be learning something new along the way.