I find I read the book reviews in the Wall Street Journal the most, especially the one book review that appears every day, Monday through Friday. One of the great things about these reviews is that they are always in the same place in the paper--first section, right before the editorial, op-ed pages, on the right. Always.
These Journal book reviews are seldom, if ever about novels, but rather, history, politics, finance, current events, biographies, and autobiographies.
Take the book review that appears in today's paper, a dual biography of Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, cleverly titled, then ridiculously sub-titled, Sisters in Law: How Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg Went to the Supreme Court and Changed the World.
Book titles these days are like promo movie trailers. If you haven't figured out what the book might be about by reading everything in the title and sub-title, then you're not paying attention and you're just staring at the picture or the artwork.
The book review, by Marissa Medansky, culls some of the biographical highlights found in the book and quickly informs us, without our having to buy the or read the book, that Sandra Day O'Connor grew up on a ranch in Arizona and changed tires on the family truck before heading off to Stanford.
I never met Justice O'Connor, but she always struck me as a capably-sized woman, but one who I never envisioned as having to change tires on anything, let alone a truck, no matter who owned it. But now that I read that, it doesn't surprise me. There are lots of manual tasks on a ranch, and changing a truck tire (we don't know the size of the truck yet) certainly seems within her physical range.
We learn Justice Ginsburg grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Anyone who knows anything about New York City and the unique characteristics of its boroughs, or the five counties that comprise New York City, knows that Brooklyn presents the most possibilities for heading off in any number of directions, legal and illegal. Recreational pursuits are just as varied.
Since Justice Ginsburg is female and Jewish, it would be unlikely that she might be consumed by handball, stickball, or applying for membership in organized crime, certainly the background of some of the borough's most famous citizens.
No, the quick assumption is that Justice Ginsburg would be someone who was always involved in school work. Perhaps a nerd, probably wore glasses at an early age, since they were always reading and not watching television.
Well, there seems to have been that, but we learn from the book review that Justice Ginsburg took up baton twirling and cheerleading, as well as being smart enough to be admitted to the high school honor society.
This is really a revelation, and easily the basis for the grand prize question on a quiz show. Justice O'Connor can be imagined to twirl a tire iron around a lug nut, but at any age, I cannot picture Justice Ginsburg twirling a baton or chanting cheers with pompons.
The things you learn by just reading about books.
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