Staff Picks – Summer Reading

One of the things that happens when you do a bookstore or book festival signing is that you generally don’t leave without buying a few books yourself. Case in point is Kent State an American Tragedy by Brian Vandermark. While I wasn’t at Kent when the shootings happened, my dorm sort of bordered the commons and Blanket Hill where the shootings took place. If nothing else, I can vouch for the accuracy of the the author Brian VanDermak’s descriptions of the stage where the events unfolded. I found it to be one of the more thoughtful books I’ve read on the shootings, and very even handed in the presentation of the story and the points of view of both the national guard as well as the students. It’s also reveals some new information on what sparked the shootings, and answers some long standing questions about the tragic events of May 4.

Chuck Ayers, who was there that day, and I did a story in Crankshaft about May 4 which can be found under the tag Ephemera on my blog. 

And as long as we’re in a historical mode, I’m also reading Rick Atkinson’s tome The British Are Coming about the the start of the American Revolution. While I obviously have no first hand knowledge in regard to that way back when era, the book has the sense of being thoroughly researched, and is definitely well written. My final staff pick for the summer is The Adventures of Superman illustrated by Gil Kane. The iconic superhero drawn by one of the iconic artists of the Silver Age. It doesn’t get any better than that.