"Out of Order: Stories from the History of the Supreme Court" by Sandra Day O'Connor (Random House 2013)

In March of 2014, I went to visit my parents at their winter home in Arizona.  One of my main objectives while I was there was to go to the Tucson Festival of Books at the University of Arizona.  I am a big fan of book festivals and this was my second time at this particular festival.  I am a US Supreme Court junkie and wanted to see a talk by retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.  We were really lucky we got in as the line was already long by the time we got there and I think I and my parrents were literally the last people they let in.  My dad didn't even get a seat. Her talk was primarily about her work as an advocate for civics education in schools.  It was interesting, although I was hoping to hear more about her experiences on the Court.

At the festival, there is a tent where you can buy books by the authors presenting there.  That is where I picked up this book.  It was a quick read and generally enjoyable, but I think it is targeted towards people who are largely unfamiliar with the Supreme Court and its history.  I didn't really come away having learned anything new, aside from the fact that there is a basketball court above the courtroom.  That I didn't know.

I also wasn't thrilled with the style of writing, which again I think is because of its target audience.  The language is a bit too informal for my liking for this kind of topic.  For example, I tend to not like the use of exclamation points in nonfiction work as a way of emphasizing a point.  There were a lot of exclamation points in this book! (irony intended).  Also, there was a lot of repetition of facts from chapter to chapter which was distracting for me but probably a good reenforcement technique for readers new to the topic.  Law can be a bit dry and this book isn't at all dry.

Overall, I enjoyed reading the book.  It certainly wasn't a waste of time because it only took me a few days to get through and I always like to hear about "behind the scenes" aspects of the Court from the point of view of a Justice.  I would definitely recommend this book for those less familiar with the Court and I will add it to my list of recommended reading for my paralegal students who are interested in this topic.