Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.61 AVERAGE
4.61 AVERAGE
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
How I wish my fellow countrymen would have read this book before the 2025 elections. This book is a solid lesson in history and utterly devastating to read in 2025. Leigh was right about everything. God help us all.
challenging
informative
medium-paced
After watching many of her PoliticsGirl podcast episodes, I was excited to get a civics refresher course from a woman who chose to be American, does a deep dive into research, and clearly explains what is broken in America. As I read, my blood boiled. I had to put the book down and walk away. I had to breathe deeply. Many times, I wanted to cry. A Return to Common Sense< published during the Harris/Trump presidential election. Reading it in June/July 2025, with *him* back in office, I cannot help but think “If this had been required reading, would the votes have swung the other way?” Sadly, probably not. After all, one of the pieces that McGowan discusses as “broken” is the Electoral College—and the explanation of how *he* won without the popular vote was meticulous.
I would have liked more specific “you can do X” action items. Yes, I can (and do) vote. But what else can be done to reform the Supreme Court, overhaul (or eliminate) the Electoral College, secure our voting rights, and hold our representatives accountable. Yes, all those things can be accomplished by voting—and voting out those who are not doing their jobs—but there must be more to do when the person I voted for is not the one in office.
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
informative
medium-paced
*This book was received for free as a part of a Goodread’s Giveaway*
This book is good, but I prefer other political breakdown books. It has a decent rundown on US politic structures and its formation, as well as some counters to the current state of the Republican party. However, the author doesn’t offer much to the reader aside from “Go vote!” and a short list of books to read.
Had there been more of a point made to express our rights to protest, organize, and speak/write our minds, I would have put this at 4 stars. I also am not a fan on the heavy reliance on trust in the Democratic party when many Democrats now are showing their hands of how wishy-washy they are at protecting poor folks and minorities. While the book does offer some criticism for them, a point should be made that a blanket-trust in Democrats can be faulty.
Otherwise, an easy read and good for a Democrat voter’s library, though I recommend looking into other lefty authors as well.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced