I am only about one-fifth of the way through the 1,100-page doorstop that is Chernow’s biography of Grant, and — this is the best part — I haven’t touched it in weeks. The only way for me to get through a book of this size is to read two or three hundred pages of it, put it down for a month or two, then go read a couple other books before picking it up again. Grant (whose given name is Hiram, by the way, and whose middle initial, S, was a clerical error he couldn’t ever successfully correct) was just beginning to transition from the “Penniless loser” phase of his life to the “Civil War Hero” phase when I put the book down at the end of May. It seemed like a good place to stop, put a bookmark in it, and give it a little rest.

The next book I’m going to crack open is either Bruce Catton’s “The Coming Fury” or John McPhee’s “Coming Into the Country.” I noticed just now that both books have “coming” in the title but I promise I didn’t decide to pit them against one another on purpose. Total coincidence, honest. Maybe I should buy a Lotto ticket this morning. Anyway, I’ve read all the other books in the Library of America’s excellent anthology of McPhee’s popular works and enjoyed them very much, but I am also still very smitten with Catton’s crackerjack writing style. This will be a hard choice to make. Leaning slightly towards Catton. Watch this space for updates.

I’ve been pecking through George Templeton Strong’s “Civil War Diaries” a little bit at a time, usually just before bed, but also as a sort of supplement, to get another point of view while reading Chernow’s “Grant” or Catton’s civil war histories. It helps me to clear up, and to remember, what’s going on and why. AND I have this weird compulsion to read other people’s diaries. Don’t leave yours unattended around me. Fair warning.

While I was searching the aisles of Half-Price Books for something else, I found a decent copy of “The Journals of Lewis and Clark,” which I’ve been meaning to read for years and years but have never gotten around to. Well, it’s on my TBR pile now, and will probably end up on my bedside stand. It’s the perfect kind of book to read a few pages of right before bed. Probably take me at least five years to finish it.

(I used to keep a copy of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species” on my bedside stand to read when I was having trouble sleeping. Two or three pages of that, and I was out like a light. Most effective cure for insomnia I’ve ever found. I don’t have any trouble sleeping, now that I’ve retired, but I still have my copy of “On the Origin of Species,” just in case.)

(As much of a yawner as “On the Origin of Species” is, I have to recommend Darwin’s “Voyage of the Beagle” as one of the most solid travel memoirs I’ve ever read. So Darwin could write well. He just chose not to do it when he proposed one of the most earth-shattering theories of biological science ever. Weird.)

(I may be almost alone in this assessment. I’ve read comments from many people who have not only read “On the Origin of Species” without falling asleep, but they’ve claimed to have enjoyed it immensely, and some have even called it one of the most engaging books they’ve ever opened.)

(Nope! No more parenthetical observations! Just kidding!)

“The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” by Becky Chambers — I know nothing at all about this book. I had twenty minutes to kill after driving my Mom to an appointment, so I visited a nearby book store, where I browsed the shelves in air-conditioned comfort. I didn’t see anything I’d been looking for, but I don’t like to leave an indy book store empty-handed, so I randomly picked a science-fiction book by a Hugo award-winning author, usually a dependable indicator they’ll be worth reading. Haven’t cracked it yet.