Review: Combing Through the White House

Publisher: Harper Celebrate

Pages: 256

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads: Discover a fascinating and novel look at the U.S. presidents, the first families, and American history—all through the lens of hair. With meticulous detail, engaging storytelling, and full-color visuals, encyclopedia editor Theodore Pappas combs through American history, teasing out long-forgotten and little-known ways that hair has influenced the presidency and the public and private lives, personal scandals, and tragedies, of the men and women who have occupied the White House.

Go deep into the history of such topics

Abraham Lincoln's famously ridiculed appearance and the surprising role hair played in both his presidency and assassinationJohn F. Kennedy's connection to James Bond and how hair factored into his vast image-making and infidelitiesThe lush tradition of collecting hair as a way of honoring leaders, remembering our loved ones, and preserving their memoriesScientific hair analysis and how DNA has been used to solve long-standing presidential mysteriesThe connection of hair to the lives, loves, scandals, and tragedies that shaped presidents, first ladies, and the nation at large 

This unique window into the past shines entertaining new light on the decisions, relationships, and tragedies that have shaped the role of the president and the place of the U.S. in the world. Whether you're interested in presidential trivia or historical mysteries, Combing Through the White House personalizes the past through an element of life we can all relate to—hair—giving us new glimpses into our country and even ourselves.

Kritters Thoughts:  Have you ever thought about the venn diagram of hair and the White House?  Not just the hair currently on a President or First Lady's head but after they pass, YES this book goes from President to President and talks about hair has had one impact or another on them and their time in the office.   

This book motivated me to really get started on a reading project that I have been pondering for years.  For a long time, I lived right down the road from Mount Vernon and always wanted to read a book about each President in order of their presidency in hopes to get to know more about that President and our country at that time.  After reading about how hair in different ways impacted the White House, I now want to read more and more about each President.    

There were a few moments where the book got a little repetitive, but it did make me think a little differently about a few presidencies and how hair played an impact on them. 

Rating:

Review: The Correspondent by Virginia Evans

Publisher: Crown

Pages: 281

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Every morning, Sybil Van Antwerp sits down to write letters – to her brother, to her best friend, to the president of the university who will not allow her to attend a class she desperately wants to take, to her favourite authors to tell them what she thinks of their latest books, and to one person to whom she writes often yet never sends the letter.

Because at seventy-three, Sybil has used her correspondence – witty and wise – to make sense of the world. But beyond the page, she has spent the last thirty years keeping the people who love her at arms’ length... Until letters from someone in her past force her to examine one of the most painful periods of her life.

Now, Sybil must send the letter she has been writing for all these years - and find forgiveness within herself in order to move on.

Kritters Thoughts:  Told through the exchange of letters, Sybil Van Antwerp is an older protagonist and she has lived a life.  Through letters she both sends and receives, we the reader, find out about her past, present, and future.  

I loved that the stories that Sybil sent were to all sorts of people - her family, friends, and even some famous authors.  I am glad that the book included both letters that Sybil wrote but also that she received, so the reader gets to not only hear Sybil's thoughts but could also get to know the others in her life through their own words.  I read this book in the middle of the hype and I for sure went into it with some expectations that it would be a good read, but I am glad to say it lived up to the praise it received.    

This book inspired me to want to start writing letters.  I would love to exchange letters with a variety of people and to have a record of my thoughts and feelings for future generations to hopefully be able to get to know me.  

Rating:

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Edelweiss.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

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April was a great month between spending time nap trapped reading and a few long car rides listening to audiobooks, I was able to finish 4 books and hoping that this is the new trend for this year of reading.

1. The 10 Greatest Conspiracies of All Time by Brad Meltzer

2. The Windsor Legacy by Robert Jobson

3. Combing through the White House by Theodore Pappas

4. 365 Connecting Questions for Couples by Casey and Meygan Caston

Total pages read, clicked and flipped: 1,056

Where Have I Been Reading?:

London

Washington, DC