This & That: What Does Patriotic Reading Really Mean?

Plus, the family's June favorites!

Hello and happy Tuesday!

In today’s newsletter, I’m sharing some thoughts on patriotic reading, the Anderberg family’s favorite reads of June, and, as always, some great links to peruse this holiday week.

Let’s get right to it!

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On broadening our patriotic reading

When you see patriotic reading lists on the web these days, they tend to fall into two camps:

1. Classic history books or biographies about the Revolutionary Era and its primary figures — my favorite titles in this category are Hamilton by Ron Chernow and American Sphinx by Joseph Ellis.

2. Modern books that reckon with our nation’s tragic contradictions, particularly relating to racism and other forms of discrimination — On Juneteenth by Annette Gordon-Reed and Stamped from the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi are fantastic.

These categories are totally worth our attention, but why not broaden the definition of patriotic reading to include titles that are a little more lighthearted and can embrace America’s greatness and complexities in the same breath?

Food-related books like Famous Nathan by Lloyd Handwerker and Ambitious Brew by Maureen Ogle have taught me as much about America as any door-stopping history book — and are just really fun, to boot.

I also enjoy American memoirs around the Fourth of July. The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is searing but also hopeful. Educated by Tara Westover, a modern title, is a uniquely American tale of religious freedom gone awry, combined with the inspiring story of a woman making herself into something new.

Irreverent political titles can get the job done as well. Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling’s A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear critiques Libertarianism with a perfect blend of silliness and seriousness. Similarly, Michael Lewis’ lesser-known Losers chronicles presidential hopefuls who have fallen short — way more fun than your average campaign book.

That’s enough book recs for now. The bottom line is this: “patriotic” reading doesn’t need to be such a narrow category. The American story is a big one and can welcome all kinds of genres and moods.

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The Anderberg Family’s June Favorites

• Jeremy — Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit is a slim, optimistic book that I know I’ll revisit again and again. I also read all of S. A. Cosby’s gritty thrillers in June; Blacktop Wasteland was my favorite and is just perfect for the dog days of summer.

• Jane — Dani Shapiro’s Signal Fires is about a family and a neighborhood that holds too many secrets. The writing is top-notch and the story is satisfying — what more do you need?

• Graham (8 years old this week!) — Our oldest kiddo blasted through all five books in Judy Blume’s Fudge series this month. The first title, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, was his favorite.

• Willa (5 years old) — The family continues our stroll through the DK nature anthologies, reading just a few pages together each night. The Wonders of Nature has been a delight.

• Bo (2 years old) — The youngest is really into ripping the flaps off of these types of books, but he hasn’t yet destroyed Peek-a-Flap Moo. So he must really like it.

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Miscellany

📷 This is an older piece, but the idea of Instagram captions being just as performative as the photos we post is really interesting. It’s less relevant now that Instagram focuses so heavily on video, but goes to show that every piece of social media is a bit of an act.

🪧 On the outside, publishing a book is a rather glamorous achievement. From the inside, the promotion machine that’s now required can and does dishearten even best-selling authors.

📖 Here’s the secret that got our oldest kiddo reading independently and reading a lot: a Kindle! It masquerades as screen time and he can read at night really easily, which has also made him more independent at bedtime. Connect the Kindle to your library account and you’re all set for hours of entertainment that’s wayyy cheaper than an iPad (though we do also have a couple of those, to be clear). Also be sure to check out my good friend Kayla’s PBS article, “11 Creative Ways to Enjoy Reading This Summer.”

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Thanks for reading! I really appreciate it.

-Jeremy