I always have a book that I keep at school to read during lunch or if I'm prepared for class early enough to have some time to read. As you can imagine, it takes me quite a while to get through my "school book" reading only a few pages at a time here and there. But it's better than trying to remember to bring a book back and forth from home. Inevitably, the book is guaranteed to be wherever I am not. This book has been my "school book" for the last couple of weeks.
Maier discusses not only at THE Declaration of Indepdence, but also smaller declarations by communities all over the thirteen colonies. It was meant to show how it was more than just the founding fathers who were ready to break away from England. Further, the declarations were all remarkably similar, even though there was little to no communication among groups who may have been located anywhere from Massachusetts to Georgia. This should have been a book I liked. Unfortunately, it just wasn't working for me. It is only on rare occasion that I decide to quit reading a book. I usually slog my way through it out of principle -- one should finish what one starts, right? However, sometimes it's just best to quit and move on.
I think the main problem is that this book was a little too academic for my tastes. It read to me more like the law review articles I dealt with in law school: well researched and documented but lacking in any kind of passion, almost as if the author had to write it rather than wanted to write it. It certainly wasn't a book I looked forward to reading at lunch every day. Rather, I was reminded of something a history professor might assign to his/her students, and the students grumble about having to read it. Once I realized that, like a student might do, I was forcing myself to read the book, I knew I had to stop.
So what do I do with a book I don't really care for? I don't throw books away; they just go back on my shelf in case someone else might be interested in reading it. Who knows, maybe I'll give it another go one day.
