Reading Supreme

I'm about 100 pages into Jeffrey Toobin's great book "The Nine: Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court" and so far I am really enjoying it. I'm reading the section covering the late period of the Rehnquist court, with Breyer just getting appointed to the court. And with all things, this book is really appealing to my nerdy side and I have the opportunity to do one thing that I do a lot which is ranking the justices (I do this all the time with things I enjoy, just ask me about my Jane Austen novel rankings). Now I've also had a soft spot for Sandra Day O'Connor and Ruth Bader Ginesburg. But after starting to read this book, Stephen Breyer might be my favorite Supreme Court justice. He was considered for Ginsburg seat but was not selected due to a disastrous interview with Bill Clinton (he was recovering from a serious bicycle crash, so please imagine a Justice on a bike). And once appointed, Toobin says he was the most optimistic justice on the court. Breyer also attended every State of the Union address out of solidarity with the other branches of the government. How can you not like someone who is optimistic in the face of a job like Supreme Court Justice and is still so enthusiastic for his job? Furthermore, Stephen Breyer played Not My Job on NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. But beyond letting me pick my favorite Justice, there is a lot of interesting information about the impact of previous justices on the current justices. I really recommend it.