When taking an Advanced Placement course, one should expect to read a book in the summer. This year AP US scholars were able to choose between two books: The Mayflower or The Wordy Shipmates. After skimming through summaries of the two books online, I made the decision that I was going to read The Wordy Shipmates this summer.

The basic plot of the book was the establishment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. It followed the voyage the Puritans made and then how they tried starting a new life. John Winthrop was the new governor and it showed his struggles in trying to start new. He was a very influential member of the society and he was there to help the other Puritans realize this “was what God wanted them to do”

What a mistake on my part! The book wasn’t actually bad, but it was very confusing. Author Sarah Vowell tried making the book more fun by relating herself to the stories, but in reality, it just made it more complicated. One minute Vowell would be talking about how John Winthrop wanted to build “a city upon a hill,” and the next she would be talking about visiting a museum with her nephew.

This book was very interesting if you like history, but if you don’t, I recommend reading The Mayflower. From this experience, I learned that it doesn’t matter about how many pages a book has because even if it is shorter, it might take just as long to read if it doesn’t capture your attention.