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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
A humorous history of Hawaii. I actually didn’t know anything about Hawaiian history, other than a couple random facts that my mom told me (she spent a bit of time there). Sarah Vowell manages to make it interesting and entertaining. The audiobook is essential for this one since Vowell’s narration is so particular.
I couldn't finish this. I kept making myself go on, but the author keeps going off on tangents and I found it frustrating.
With her trademark caustic wit and satirical asides, Vowell tells how Pilgrims and Puritans sparked the Hawaiian revolution.
Listened to the audiobook, read by the author. There were a few sections that were really really interesting, but overall I found it a bit hard to keep track of the timeline as I was listening, and therefore it became a bit of a slog.
This was selected by our book club. Slight but unformative. Nothing much to recommend it from a literary standpoint. If collecting historical facts in a bloodless, sort of Rain Man-esque sort of way, this may be your bag.
Relates the invasion of Hawaii by American missionaries, then businessmen, then the U.S. government.
Two thumbs meh.
informative
medium-paced
Interesting, but as I’m in a reading slump the information did not flow well enough to keep my attention. Writing is engaging and easy to understand, so this would be a quick read, just not the book for me.
I enjoy Sarah Vowell's wry humor, witty one-liners, and succinct summations as she details the history of how Hawaii became part of the United States. However, my largest complaint about this book is that it has no external structure or organization whatsoever. No table of contents, no chapters, no subheadings, nothing. It is one long narrative with a few topic changes signaled by some symbols between paragraphs. I generally read several books at the same time and this unbroken stream format made it difficult to set down and come back to without skimming the previous few pages to recall what I had been reading. I may be overly petty about the lack of chapters but I found it quite exasperating and would more accurately rate this book 2.7 stars because of it.
As always, an irreverent, accessible, entertainingly told tale of our American History. This time Vowell focuses on Hawaii, her history, and how she became part of America. I will admit that I do not have any special interest in Hawaiian history, but I always enjoy Sarah Vowell's perspective and story-telling style. So I chose to listen to this one. The audio is very fun, with some familiar voices portraying the historical figures whose letters, speeches, journals, etc. are quoted in the text. As always, informative, thoughtful, and enjoyable.