
I'm a fan of Sarah Vowell's books, so when I heard that she had a new one coming out, I immediately put it on my wishlist. It was well worth it.
In
Unfamiliar Fishes
, Vowell takes us on a history of Hawaii from just before Captain Cook's arrival through to the election of the first U.S. President to hail from Hawaii. Shut up, birthers.
Although I didn't really have much interest in the history of Hawaii - and I certainly wasn't as invested in the story as I was for her book "The Wordy Shipmates" - it was a good read. Informative, evocative, witty and touching in turns, Vowell makes history approachable. I want to see the sights she described, especially now that I understand their history better. And that's saying something, since Hawaii had been fairly low on my list of places to visit.