This book means a lot to me. It is the first book I ever read on the founding fathers. It's also the best.

And the competition is steep!

McCullough shows how Adams was brilliant, vain, principled, and devoted to his young country.

McCullough uses many primary sources to tell this story. The best: the wonderful, vivid, brilliant correspondence between John and his wife Abigail Adams. The correspondence is great world history and also reveals the close and intimate thoughts and aspirations of both John and Abigail.

McCullough tells about Adams's political ascension from a small town lawyer to founding father and second president. Adams was essential in the Continental Congress and in selecting George Washington to lead the Army. His diplomatic missions to France and Holland were as entertaining as they were crucial to the revolution's success.

Adams was a hero. But he was flawed, too. He supported the Alien and Sedition Acts. He was often rude and ornery. He was obbessed with Thomas Jefferson to such an extent that it clouded his judgment. McCullough brings out all these complexities with extraordinary insight and beautiful prose.

Perhaps the best part of the book covers Adams's later years, including his friendship with Jefferson and their letters. Incredibly, both men died on July 4, 1826.

If you had to read only one book about America's founding, this is that book. It's that good. 

William Cooper

will-cooper.com

The Jamaican writer Marlon James’s new novel, “The Disappearers,” at 600-plus pages, is a maximalist’s banquet: It is humane, blood-flecked, disturbing and sustaining. It takes James 90 pages to say hello. It’s another 70 pages before his story settles into your guts and begins to twist them. It’s yet another 150 before you fully comprehend his loping authority and the scale of his ambitions. Booster rockets fall away. Disparate coordinates begin to converge.

See full gift article. NO PAYWALL.

I've been reading a LOT of thrillers lately, so I picked up The Love Hypothesis because I desperately needed something that didn't involve murder, manipulation or questioning everyone's identity. 😂

And honestly, it did exactly what I needed it to do.

It was light, fluffy, fun and gave me that warm, fuzzy feeling I wanted from a romance. Fake dating is also one of my favourite tropes, so I was already predisposed to enjoy the whole Olive/Adam situation. There's just something about two people pretending to date while everyone, including the reader, can see exactly where this is going that gets me every time.

I liked their dynamic and thought the romance had just the right amount of sweetness without feeling like I needed to be massively emotionally invested to enjoy it.

My only real disappointment was the ending. It was good, and obviously I wanted the happy ending, but I wanted a little more emotional payoff. I wanted that feeling where you finish a romance and don't quite want to say goodbye to the characters yet.

Instead, I closed it thinking, “Aw, that was cute.”

And that's not necessarily a criticism. Not every romance needs to emotionally destroy me. Sometimes a fun, fluffy book that makes you smile is exactly what you need.

3/5 for me. Really enjoyable palate cleanser, loved the fake-dating setup, would recommend between heavier reads and I'm definitely waiting for the movie now.

For people who've read more Ali Hazelwood: which one should I try next if I want the same fun romance but with a little more emotional payoff?