Abraham Lincoln Book Acquisitions for 2020

Given COVID, the election, the post-election, and everything else that happened this year, it should come as no surprise that my Abraham Lincoln book acquisition pattern was different that in previous years. While last year I had a big jump in the number of new Lincoln books I acquired (82), this year was back around my average. Overall I acquired 55 new books this year. This is actually more than I expected. I had decided when I set my annual goals for 2020 (which mostly got tossed out as soon as COVID hit) that I would purchase fewer Lincoln books. Driving factors in that decision were a decreasing amount of shelf space, a reassessment of the amount of “stuff” I have in the house, and the knowledge that I would likely be receiving some books from publishers for review. I also planned to spend more time writing a book (more on that later).

I started the year off slowly in accordance with my plan. And then I became an official reviewer for the Lincoln Herald, a journal published by Lincoln Memorial University. They sent me two books to review, plus I reviewed a book I already had on my shelf (one review has been published; the other two will be in future issues). Starting in the summer I also received about ten books from publishers to evaluate for the Abraham Lincoln Institute annual book award competition. Another half dozen books were received late in the year. And then I discovered my health insurance company had been giving me points for something and I could cash those in for even more Lincoln books. I also decided to enter into my spreadsheet the PDF books that I had downloaded, so some of those in the list below exist only as PDFs, not hard copies. All of this added to my slightly less active purchasing obsessions, totaling 55 for the year, including duplicates.

Twenty-four are new books published in 2020. The oldest copyright is 1796 for a PDF book. The oldest physical book was published in 1941. The shortest actual books were 26 pages (M.L. Houser’s Abraham Lincoln Mathematician) and 58 pages (Daniel Kilham Dodge’s Abraham Lincoln: Evolution of His Literary Style). Longest books stretched to 1066 pages (Abe: Abraham Lincoln In His Times by David S. Reynolds) and 1097 pages (a two-volume set called The Tragic Years by Paul M. Angle and Earl Schenk Miers).

There were some blockbusters, including the aforementioned Abe book by David S. Reynolds, along with Harold Holzer’s The Presidents vs. The Press and Ted Widmer’s Lincoln on the Verge. There were also more obscure books like the two by M.L. Houser, the New Philadelphia book by the McWorters, and Robin Blackburn’s An Unfinished Revolution: Karl Marx and Abraham Lincoln. There is also a graphic biography by Mark Shulman (author) and Tom Martin (illustrator) called Abraham Lincoln: Defender of the Union. I rarely buy fiction, but I so enjoyed the library copy of Stephen L. Carter’s The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln that I bought one for myself (the book explores the alternative history that Lincoln survives the assassination attempt and then is impeached in his second term for not being hard enough on the surrendering South). Also, I may have the only copy of a pre-publication book by Ed Steers that he accidentally made available on Amazon just long enough for me to buy a copy before it was shut down; the final version is due out in March 2021 from the University Press of Kentucky). The most bizarre book I acquired is Richard Salva’s The Yoga of Abraham Lincoln (and yes, it is as contrived as the title suggests).

As a huge departure for me, there are several books that I would classify as Civil War books and not expressly Abraham Lincoln. I usually avoid such books, but some came from publishers and others provided some insights I wanted to better understand Lincoln. One book that covers Lincoln and the Civil War but begins pre-Revolutionary War and expands to the present is Heather Cox Richardson’s How the South Won the Civil War. Richardson has become a social media sensation this year with her daily “Letters from an American” and social/political commentary on Facebook. The book is an excellent read and one from which all Americans would gain valuable insight.

One huge change this year – only one of the books is signed by the author, and it was purchased that way. Normally I would have ample opportunity for authors to sign the book directly to me, but this year COVID moved all the usual in-person events to virtual lectures, including the Abraham Lincoln Institute symposium normally held at Ford’s Theatre in March, the Lincoln Forum (Gettysburg in November), and the monthly Lincoln Group of DC dinner lectures. Most of these are expected to be virtual in 2021 as well, although there is hope COVID will be under control enough to hold the fall Forum in Gettysburg. At some point I hope to catch up with authors for signings.

As always, collecting these books means I do a lot of reading. While I can’t claim to have read all of them, I have read many of them and plan to read the rest over time. And, of course, acquire even more. Note to publishers: I’m always open to receiving books in return for an honest review via my various venues, including Goodreads and Amazon.

So how many Lincoln books will I acquire in 2021? As with this year the plan is to hold back on buying too many books in the early part of the year (my shelves are not getting less packed). I do expect to be on the ALI book award committee again this year (along with taking on Treasurer duties). But even more important is that I just agreed to terms with a publisher for my the book I’m writing myself, with a pretty tight deadline for turning in the manuscript, so I won’t have much time for reading during the first half of the year. I’ll have more details on this in my annual Year in a Writer’s Life post but by summer I know I’ll be ready to read a lot about Lincoln that isn’t directly related to my book.

See the 2020 list showing author/title/publication date below my signature blurb below.

David J. Kent is an avid science traveler and the author of Lincoln: The Man Who Saved America, in Barnes and Noble stores now. His previous books include Tesla: The Wizard of Electricity and Edison: The Inventor of the Modern World and two specialty e-books: Nikola Tesla: Renewable Energy Ahead of Its Time and Abraham Lincoln and Nikola Tesla: Connected by Fate.

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Here is the 2020 list! [Author, Title, Date of Publication]