No nightmares last night <yay> but it was also not a night of uninterrupted sleep, plus I woke up rather early.  Obviously I can't have it all... but

And despite being tired, I didn't drift off to sleep last night until some time around 11:30.  The silver lining to that is I did make considerable progress listening to These Truths - and now only have about one hour left to go!  Expect to finish it today, and then I can move on to something else.  I do recommend it - I've learned quite a bit about American history, and actually plan to re"read" it at some point - but it's certainly NOT a quick read!  

The hardcover edition is 960 pages, 

and the audio version runs over 29 hours.

Jill Lepore leaves it to her readers to answer the questions she poses in the beginning of the book. "A nation born in revolution will forever struggle against chaos," she writes, hinting that the American story isn't yet over, and it's up to us to write the next chapters. She strikes a tone that's wary but hopeful, declining to be glib about a nation that's being torn apart, again, today.

Lepore is an extraordinarily gifted writer, and These Truths is nothing short of a masterpiece of American history. By engaging with our country's painful past (and present) in an intellectually honest way, she has created a book that truly does encapsulate the American story in all its pain and all its triumph. And with this country once again struggling to define itself, Lepore's timing couldn't be better. "To study the past is to unlock the prison of the present," she writes. "The past is an inheritance, a gift and a burden. It can't be shirked. You carry it everywhere. There is nothing for it but to get to know it."

Think I'll go do some binding now (I'll stay nice and warm under that big heavy quilt!) while I listen to the book - and possibly finish it this morning!

Other things on today's agenda include the gym, then lunch afterward 

with Mary at the Noodles and Company restaurant.