Teaser Tuesday: The American Spirit

Like a contestant trying to win big money on Wheel of Fortune, the Wheel of Time has turned ’round to Teaser Tuesday.

Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish theme, and anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*

*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather @ bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.

Wonder of wonders and miracle of miracles – I’m actually ahead of my Goodreads challenge! Although, by the time you read this, I may be merely “on track” or worse: behind.

The bookstore was good to me last week and I was able to pick up two books on my TBR for under $17 total. I wrote about one of them yesterday, and now I’m teasing the other: The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For by David McCullough.

The Goodreads’ Blurb

A timely collection of speeches by David McCullough, the most honored historian in the United States—winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, among many others—that reminds us of fundamental American principles.

Over the course of his distinguished career, David McCullough has spoken before Congress, the White House, colleges and universities, historical societies, and other esteemed institutions. Now, at a time of self-reflection in America following a bitter election campaign that has left the country divided, McCullough has collected some of his most important speeches in a brief volume designed to identify important principles and characteristics that are particularly American. The American Spirit reminds us of core American values to which we all subscribe, regardless of which region we live in, which political party we identify with, or our ethnic background. This is a book about America for all Americans that reminds us who we are and helps to guide us as we find our way forward.

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The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 91:

We've just been through an experience none of us will ever forget. The heartache, the sadness, the grief of September 11 will stay with us as long as we live. I'm sure we'll all experience that sensation of waking up in the morning, and there's about thirty seconds, maybe a minute, minute and a half, when it's not in our minds. And then suddenly it comes back, and we remember.

from “History Lost and Found” 2001

I did not choose this passage because of yesterday being the 16th anniversary of 9/11.

Sometimes, things just align.

What are you reading today?