Compulsively Aimless

  I've previously done a blog on a smaller collection of my Ohio books Round on the Edges, High in the Middle  that includes some of the books mentioned here. Since then, my collection of books on Ohio has grown and I've now broken it into two subgroups: History and Culture and Biography and Memoir. Into the next stage of life, I'm trying to expand my understanding of Midwest history and especially my Ohio roots.  Here are the highlights of my collection of History and Culture: Top Row Ohio – Walter Havighurst (1976). Broad overview of Ohio’s history, culture, and industries by one of the state’s best-known historians. I co-authored a commemorative article about him with Jacqueline Johnson of the University of Miami of Ohio for The Middle West Review ,  A Midwestern Storyteller of the Inland Seas: A Tribute to Walter Havighurst The Trees – Conrad Richter (1940). Historical novel about pioneers settling in Ohio; first book in The Awakening Land trilogy. A f...

Midwest Reading   I’ve been trying to develop my knowledge of the Midwest and trying to capture the different categories of my reading on the topic.  1. Midwest in general  2. a. Ohio history (my home state)     b. Ohio memoir  3. Michigan (my paternal state) 4. Great Lakes 5. Leelenau County, Michigan  6. Native Americans    I've written blogs on several of these topics before but adding to them here with more books read.   Here's the first of six posts on the different areas.  Midwest Generally How to Speak Midwestern ( Edward McClelland , 2016) A light-hearted linguistic study of Midwestern speech patterns, accents, and vocabulary. McClelland explains how regional dialects—from Chicago to the Great Lakes to the Plains—developed, while also examining the cultural identity reflected in Midwestern speech. Land of Promise ( Walter Havighurst , 1946) A sweeping narrative history of the Midwest, started from the Northwest Or...