Despite his protestations to the contrary, Carlos Lozada really does read the Washington insider books so we don't have to. I have no desire to read such books as James Comey's A Higher Loyalty, Mike Pence's So Help Me God, or Shirley Grisham's (google her if you don't remember) I'll Take your Questions Now; however, it's great to get insights into these self-serving memoirs that go beyond the sensational headlines that they inevitably produce. What makes this book work is that Lozada's writing is invariably enjoyable, often funny and always appropriately skeptical. If you enjoyed reading his columns in the Washington Post or New York Times (but hopefully haven't already read all of them), you'll probably enjoy this collection.

Lozada doesn't just review memoirs; he also includes historical accounts (there's a great review of 9/11 literature on its 20th anniversary), commission reports, and supreme court decisions. I am now resolved to read The Free Word by Louis Menand. But this book does suffer from one problem that may limit its appeal - it will simply be hard to care about many of these topics as their time has passed. But if good political writing is enough for you, you will find plenty to savor.

Thanks to netgalley for providing a pre-release copy for review.

The Washington Book is a primer for those of us who want to read current events or recent history books, but are overwhelmed by the amount of books available. Mr. Lozada has compiled a series of short articles on these books to curate and help the reader with only a short window of reading to pick books of merit for deeper reading. I am glad to have this resource to sift out the wheat from the chaff of books that are mere conjecture. The book is easy to read and I will refer back to it often.