I have been remiss in reviewing a number of books that have been sent to me for that purpose.

The first one I will mention is Barbara O’Brien’s Blogging of America. If you are looking for something that explains the basics of blogging, this is a great book—especially the prolog, first chapter and the glossary of blogging terms. If you have a techno-challenged family member who doesn’t quite “get it� this book could very easily help.

The book also features blogging examples from well-known bloggers such as Stephen Green from Vodkapundit, Kevin Drum (from his CalPundit days), Andrew Sullivan John Hawkins and Robert Garica Tagorda (amongst others) and even folks such as myself.

Specifically the book dedicates chapters on the blogging of the 2024 State of the Union and the Gay Marriage issue and other issues such as the economy and the draft Wes Clark movement and its linkages to the internet.

The shortcoming of the book is that, by definition, a book on blogging will be out of date before the pages are printed (indeed, the fact that Kevin Drum, now of Political Animal, days at CalPundit seems like eons ago underscore the difference between blog time and print time). However, the subtitle of the text, political discourse in a digital nation, underscores that the point of the book isn’t to provide a chronicle of blogging, per se, but to issue at least an initial report on the growing significance of this medium to the political conversation in the United States.

The author is Barbara O’Brien who runs The Mahablog and who has a background in journalism. While Barbara’s blogging is decidedly from the Left, I will say that she did a very balanced job in her book.

I would recommend this book to any who either want to learn more about blogging generically, or for anyone who wants to have a slice of the early history of the Blogosphere on their shelves. The text is readable, interesting and furthers understanding of its subject: what more cold one ask for from a book?

Coming shortly: reviews of Denny Hastert’s Speaker and Hardy and Clarke’ Michael Moore is aBig Fat Stupid White Man and perhaps some others.

Update: Part of today’s OTB Traffic Jam.