Sarah Vowell's Lafayette in the Somewhat United States
It seems like Vowell has been working on this book for a few years, but I'm sure that she's happy it was published during Hamilton-mania, when everyone is extra interested in America's Favorite Fighting Frenchman! Of course, this book isn't really a biography of Lafayette; being a Sarah Vowell book, it's also about the Revolutionary War, French-American relations, and the fact that the United States have never really been "united," per se. It jumps around a lot. I wonder if this would work better as an audiobook, since it reads like having a very long conversation with a very chatty friend who is prone to digressions (I liked the one on the Touro synagogue!). With an audiobook, though, you'd be missing the adorable illustrations (I am particularly partial to the one of Franklin in a fur hat). B/B+.
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