In my Mailbox #3

Although I only got one book today, I thought I would share it with you all because I'm quite excited about this one, despite it not being the kind of thing that I would usually read.
It's a non-fiction read, more specifically travel writing, which is a bit different from me - I'm usually just a fiction reader.


State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
Waterstone's synopsis:
Editors Sean Wilsey and Matt Weiland have turned to 50 of the finest, funniest, and foremost writers in America to create a state by state celebration of their country: Jonathan Franzen on New York, Louise Erdrich on North Dakota, Dave Eggers on Illinois, Ann Patchett on Tennessee, Jhumpa Lahiri on Rhode Island - the list goes on. At turns poignant and hysterical, and uniformly insightful, these fifty writers capture the beauty, the kitsch, the unexpected and the quintessential things that make America. There is something and someone in State by State for everyone. With a roster of bestsellers and award winners, from Ann Patchett to Rick Moody to Myla Goldberg, Wilsey and Weiland have culled the best of the best from the literary creme de la creme to write on something all Americans are interested in: our country.

I came across this at work about 6 months ago, and as I don't usually read this kind of thing, I decided to leave it. However, it kept popping up when I was out shopping or at work, and after those 6 months of resisting, I finally gave in! It's definitely one that I will be dipping in and out of - the chapter for each state is relatively short, but it still provides you with information about each state (like the 'motto', population figures, state bird, state nickname etc) as well as each individual author's account of each place.
I have a great interest in America, which is (unfortunately for some people that know me) getting a little worse as time goes on. I visited Florida when I was 9 year old with my parents, but haven't been back since, and I am looking forward to the possibility of being able to travel around America for a couple of months when I graduate from University.
Until then though, I have this!