On Election Day 2010, VOTE! (and then read)

On Election Day 2010, plan to put down your book for an hour or so and take advantage of one of our most important rights: voting for local, state and national representatives. Here in Maryland, a deep blue state, many of the elections were settled in the Democratic primary. But we still have an interesting race for governor, and a 1st District Congressional race that mirrors national themes.

The folks who commented last week for Freebie Friday (we're giving away "At Home" by Bill Bryson) also had some good recommendations for Election Day reading. One of my all-time favorites is Robert Penn Warren's "All the King's Men," -- a novelized version of Huey Long's populist rise. It echoes today's tea paty fervor, and would be a good book to include on the syllabus for any political science class. Other suggestions from Read Streeters:

-- Fareed Zakaria's "The Post-American World. Travis said the "connections made in that book offer so many insights that it's not hard to find comparable ideas and situations, even on the local and neighborhood levels of government."

-- "A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the White House." Denah said: "Schlesinger's is a truly unique perspective with a glorious narrative."

-- "Imperium" by Ryszard Kapuscinski, Jonathan said, "is superb. Whether he's talking about the downfall of the Soviet Union or civil war in Angola, the man turned journalism into poetry. R.I.P."

Judy enjoyed Sarah Palin's biography, "Going Rogue."

Michelle said, "I usually enjoy any book by Amy Goodman. I also really enjoyed 'The Shock Doctrine' and 'Blackwater' by Naomi Klein and Jeremy Scahill, respectively."