Needing a happy read, I chose to wallow in nostalgia for happy times past with this large coffee table book, Obama: The Historic Journey (NYT). Packed full of great photographs from the time of President Obama, this book was put together using the journalistic resources of the illustrious New York Times and was a pleasure to read. The NYT seems to have the best journalists and photographers, and I really enjoyed this browse through years past, even though it’s not really that long ago. (I think it just seems like a long time ago since our Orange Goblin came in office. Sigh.)

This book not only had great production values with the award-winning photographs, but it also included some of the main speeches which Obama gave, including the nomination acceptance speech, and the Presidential acceptance speech. As a constitutional law professor, Obama was incredibly articulate at describing his vision for the country, and some of his speeches almost made me cry as they were so perfect (and, unfortunately, so very different from the 5^th grade utterances of our current Prez).

The book covers Obama’s journey from childhood through to his junior Senator position in Illinois through to his election campaign, the nomination, and then when he is actually President, and if you loved and now miss Obama, you’ll be in the target market for this title.

Spectacular photographs (including some from official WH photographer Pete Souza) combined with solid journalism and spectacular speech-writing skills made this a really interesting and poignant read for me, and I highly recommend this book. You can probably read it in one afternoon on a weekend, and I just loved it. If you’re not an Obama fan, maybe not for you, but for those who are: this was a great read.