David McCullough has a shelf on my bookcase with all he has written. Yes, I like his work.

Thomas Jefferson is quoted in "John Adams" as saying John Adams was "the colossus of independence." No small matter from the mind of Jefferson.

This book is in part a love story about Adams and his wife Abigail - a very big part.

She was far ahead of her time in terms of securing her own independence of thought and self-assurance. Because of that, John Adams always sought her thoughts on matters that would change the course of history.

Their love, as set forth by McCullough, was as abiding and deep as one could ever hope to see.

John Adams is defined by McCullough as fiery, honest, intelligent and a contrarian. When set in the times he lived and with the position he occupied in the fight for independence, those qualities make for great reading.

As is always the case with a McCullough work, while this is a biography, it is far more. The work is an historical novel of a man and his times. It's a great beachbag addition.

"The source of our suffering has been our timidity. We have been afraid to think. ... Let us dare to read, think, speak, write." ― David McCullough, "John Adams"

For your consideration:

"Charleston shooting suspect Dylann Roof ... should have been required to read 'The Bloody Shirt' by Stephen Budiansky, which describes in vivid detail how between 1867 and 1877 the defeated South was permitted to overthrow new state governments representing black citizens, killing more than 3,000 of them with terrorism. Roof should have been required to read 'Redemption' by Nicholas Lemann, who documents how President Ulysses S. Grant effectively gave back everything he had won in the war when he lacked the will to enforce the 14th and 15th amendments with troops, instead abandoning Ames to the White Line terrorists." - Sally Jenkins, The Washington Post, June 20.

From Beulah Sabundayo of the Enoch Pratt Free Library comes this recommendation: "'Replay,' written by Ken Grimwood and first published in 1986, won the 1988 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel. I first read this book in book club. All of us ladies loved it and thought that our husbands would love it, too. All of our husbands read it and loved it, as well. "

Beulah is a Board Member of the Pratt Contemporaries and chair of the library's annual fundraiser, the Black and White Party. This looks like a book for two on the summer list. Thanks, Beulah.

Gary Thorne is the play-by-play voice of the Orioles on MASN, and the 2015 season is his ninth with the club and 30th covering Major League Baseball. His blog will appear regularly throughout the season. The Enoch Pratt Free Library's Southeast Anchor Library, 3601 Eastern Ave., will be the site of "Make it Mondays!" Join in on the branch's second floor at 6 p.m. for paper folding and origami for adults.

* Hitting the Books with Gary Thorne. © Copyright 2015 Gary F. Thorne. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog's author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Gary F. Thorne and MASNsports.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.