I will freely admit that I judge books by their covers. The cover is usually what first captures my attention when browsing Goodreads or Netgalley. Actually, in all honesty, it isn't just usually, it's pretty much all the time. The cover determines if I look at the synopsis and reviews.
A gorgeous back yard patio. A table set for two. Who will be dining? Are they friends or family? The title would suggest that they perhaps are neighbors. Who is the woman next door and what is her story?
Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated with Erin at Flashlight Commentary. If you want to check out some other terrific bloggers and what their Cover Crush posts look like, you can do that here: The Maiden's Court, Flashlight Commentary, A Bookaholic Swede, Layered Pages, indieBRAG, A Literary Vacation, Of Quills and Vellum.
I keep a wish list on Goodreads called "want to read". Currently, it's up to 2754. Yeah. I also have several stacks of books tucked against walls throughout my house. Each is probably at least 3 feet high of books I haven't read yet. I periodically go through my list and purge it, but it still is not slowing down. Nor are the books that keep appearing on my Kindle. They're all still on my wish list, I just haven't gotten to them yet.
Each month I highlight 5 books I want to read. I don't set out to plan themes, but somehow patterns creep into my viewing.
This month several books about presidents popped up in my Goodreads browsing. I'm not normally one for politics, but I've managed to accumulate a list of Presidential/White House-related books about what happens behind the scenes during elections and in the White House.
The Presidents Club, established at Dwight Eisenhower's inauguration by Harry Truman and Herbert Hoover, is a complicated place: its members are bound forever by the experience of the Oval Office and yet are eternal rivals for history's favor. Among their secrets: How Jack Kennedy tried to blame Ike for the Bay of Pigs. How Ike quietly helped Reagan win his first race in 1966. How Richard Nixon conspired with Lyndon Johnson to get elected and then betrayed him. How Jerry Ford and Jimmy Carter turned a deep enmity into an alliance. The unspoken pact between a father and son named Bush. And the roots of the rivalry between Clinton and Barack Obama.
Time magazine editors and presidential historians Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy offer a new and revealing lens on the American presidency, exploring the club as a hidden instrument of power that has changed the course of history.
The first in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at the White House Chiefs of Staff, whose actions--and inactions--have defined the course of our country.
What do Dick Cheney and Rahm Emanuel have in common? Aside from polarizing personalities, both served as chief of staff to the president of the United States--as did Donald Rumsfeld, Leon Panetta, and a relative handful of others. The chiefs of staff, often referred to as "the gatekeepers," wield tremendous power in Washington and beyond; they decide who is allowed to see the president, negotiate with Congress to push POTUS's agenda, and--most crucially--enjoy unparalleled access to the leader of the free world. Each chief can make or break an administration, and each president reveals himself by the chief he picks.
Through extensive, intimate interviews with all seventeen living chiefs and two former presidents, award-winning journalist and producer Chris Whipple pulls back the curtain on this unique fraternity. In doing so, he revises our understanding of presidential history, showing us how James Baker's expert managing of the White House, the press, and Capitol Hill paved the way for the Reagan Revolution--and, conversely, how Watergate, the Iraq War, and even the bungled Obamacare rollout might have been prevented by a more effective chief.
Filled with shrewd analysis and never-before-reported details, The Gatekeepers offers an essential portrait of the toughest job in Washington.
Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin
A rare and fascinating portrait of the American presidency from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Days in November.
Secret Service agent Clint Hill brings history intimately and vividly to life as he reflects on his seventeen years protecting the most powerful office in the nation. Hill walked alongside Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford, seeing them through a long, tumultuous era—the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Spiro Agnew and Richard M. Nixon.
- Eisenhower’s reaction at Russian Prime Minister Khrushchev’s refusal to talk following the U-2 incident
- His decision to place White House files under protection after a midnight phone call about Watergate
With a unique insider’s perspective, Hill sheds new light on the character and personality of these five presidents, revealing their humanity in the face of grave decisions.
A behind-the-scenes, revelatory account of John F. Kennedy’s wily campaign to the White House, beginning with his bold, failed attempt to win the vice presidential nomination in 1956. A young and undistinguished junior plots his way to the presidency and changes the way we nominate and elect presidents.
John F. Kennedy and his young warriors invented modern presidential politics. They turned over accepted wisdom that his Catholicism was a barrier to winning an election and plotted a successful course to that constituency. They hired Louis Harris—a polling entrepreneur—to become the first presidential pollster. They twisted arms and they charmed. They lined up party bosses, young enthusiasts, and fellow Catholics and turned the traditional party inside out. The last-minute invitation to Lyndon B. Johnson for vice president in 1956 surprised them only because they had failed to notice that he wanted it. They invented The Missile Gap in the Cold War and out-glamoured Richard Nixon in the TV debates.
Now acclaimed, award-winning journalists Tom Oliphant and Curtis Wilkie provide the most comprehensive account, based on a depth of personal reporting, interviews, and archives. The authors have examined more than 1,600 oral histories at the John F. Kennedy library; they’ve interviewed surviving sources, including JFK’s sister Jean Smith, and they draw on their own interviews with insiders including Ted Sorensen and Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
From the start of the campaign in 1955 when his father tried to persuade President Johnson to run with JFK as his running mate, The Road to Camelot reveals him as a tough, shrewd political strategist who kept his eye on the prize. This is one of the great campaign stories of all time, appropriate for today’s political climate.
If your funny older sister were the former deputy chief of staff to President Barack Obama, her behind-the-scenes political memoir would look something like this...
Alyssa Mastromonaco worked for Barack Obama for almost a decade, and long before his run for president. From the then-senator's early days in Congress to his years in the Oval Office, she made Hope and Change happen through blood, sweat, tears, and lots of briefing binders.
But for every historic occasion--meeting the queen at Buckingham Palace, bursting in on secret climate talks, or nailing a campaign speech in a hailstorm--there were dozens of less-than-perfect moments when it was up to Alyssa to save the day. Like the time she learned the hard way that there aren't nearly enough bathrooms at the Vatican.
Full of hilarious, never-before-told stories, Who Thought This Was A Good Idea? is an intimate portrait of a president, a book about how to get stuff done, and the story of how one woman challenged, again and again, what a "White House official" is supposed to look like. Here Alyssa shares the strategies that made her successful in politics and beyond, including the importance of confidence, the value of not being a jerk, and why ultimately everything comes down to hard work (and always carrying a spare tampon).
Told in a smart, original voice and topped off with a couple of really good cat stories, Who Thought This Was A Good Idea? is a promising debut from a savvy political star.
5 Books I want to Read is a monthly meme started by Stephanie at Layered Pages. If you want to check out some other terrific bloggers and what their wish lists look like, you can do that here: A Bookaholic Swede, Layered Pages, The Maiden's Court, Flashlight Commentary and A Literary Vacation.
Labels: #wishlists, 5 Books I want to Read, America, books, Politics, Presidents, Reading, Wish Lists
Black and white covers are some of my favorites. Without colors to distract, sometimes we see photographs differently. Here, two people sit on chairs in the middle of what is likely a park. Where are they? The photograph has a vintage feel...is it a world war setting somewhere in Europe? They are facing away from the camera--why? Who are they? What is their story?
Childhood favorites. Everyone has a favorite book or author from childhood. A book that touched them or changed them. A book that perhaps initiated their love of reading and put them on the path of libraries and learning.
I'd check out my favorite stories over and over and The Boxcar Children were among those stories. And while I read many of the books in the series, my very favorite was the first one.
I loved the story of the orphan children running from the mean people. Henry buying bread and them all sharing it. Finding the abandoned boxcar and making it a home. And then discovering their grandfather and that he loved them. One of my favorite parts was how after the children came to live with him, he brought the boxcar to his house for them.
The Boxcar Children is a book about resourcefulness. About family sticking together no matter what and brothers and sisters caring and looking out for one another. When I discovered it as a 10 year old, it resonated with me.
A woman, walking down a tree-lined lane, accompanied by two young children. She is walking towards light, but is that leaving or arriving? What is her story?
Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated with Erin at Flashlight Commentary. If you want to check out some other terrific bloggers and what their Cover Crush posts look like, you can do that here: The Maiden's Court, Flashlight Commentary, A Bookaholic Swede, Layered Pages, indieBRAG, A Literary Vacation, Of Quills & Vellum.
War time. Bombed out buildings. Rubble. Chaos. Destruction. And two children, sitting together. Drawing strength from one another. The boy, looking after the girl. Are they siblings? Friends? The muted colors and styling suggest World War 2. Is the war just beginning or is it finally over? What is their story?
It's Paris. Paris will always have my heart. I loved it there. Some day I wll go back. I have stood where that woman is standing. The colors are muted, suggesting sunset or perhaps sunrise. Why Paris? Is she French? Is she visiting? What is her story?
Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated with Erin at Flashlight Commentary. If you want to check out some other terrific bloggers and what their Cover Crush posts look like, you can do that here: The Maiden's Court, Flashlight Commentary, A Bookaholic Swede, Layered Pages, indieBRAG, A Literary Vacation, Of Quills &Vellum.
Each month I revisit some of my past reviews. One of the reasons I started this book blog was to remember what books I have read. My memory isn't the greatest anymore and I found that I would read a book and then not remember if I liked it or what it was even about.
Maybe one of these will prompt you to seek out an older, but amazing book. Or, if you've read one of these and your review was different, please share!
"Cold River was an entertaining read, but something was just missing for me and I had a hard time taking the premise seriously. I liked it, I didn't love it. There are some great, quirky characters, but I would have liked to see more depth and back story. Liz Adair has created some terrific characters and they deserved to have more fleshed out details in their stories.
I haven't read Liz Adair before, but I would definitely read more of her books in the future. Even with my frustrations with the story, this is a light, entertaining, wholesome read and a nice diversion and one I can easily recommend."
"I really don't like first person and I really don't like first person present tense. I know there are some who think it more dramatic or real, but it annoys me. I can often look past it, but not here. Part of that, too, was that I just couldn't find a reason to keep reading. I didn't like Samantha, I couldn't believe her relationship with Carson. There was nothing in this story that compelled me to keep reading. Fans of Alice J. Wisler will love it, but it wasn't for me. This is the second of her books that I've tried to read and I think it will be the last. There are authors you connect with and authors you don't and this is one that just doesn't work for me. "
No memory of this one, but if it was a first person present tense narrative, I am pretty much guaranteed to not like it.
"While historically, this is a very rich novel, it's not a particularly happy story. Sally's life is hard and it never gets easier, although she's tough and plucky and manages to overcome obstacles and adversity. She meets an a assortment of young women in the WASP program, all of whom have their own secrets and reasons for joining up. Their collective story is fascinating. Moderate profanity and innuendo is noted.
I think Karl Friedrich has done a terrific job of portraying a time in our history that was difficult for all: those who went to war and those who were left behind. Women rose to the occasion and took on many jobs that until the war came, had been male only jobs, including flying military jets. I'm appalled at the treatment these women received at the hand of our government and I'm proud of them for the pathway they paved for future women."
I am not currently accepting books for review. Thank you for thinking of me and best of luck to you!
I'm the wife of one and the mother of two. My world is often loud and always busy, but it is awesome.
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We are an obnoxious bunch, no doubt about it. Even after our humbling season last year (ugh, 3-9) we have not learned humility. Even though we're not crazy about our new coach, Rich Rod is looking a quite a bit shinier since our glorious win over those overweening Irishmen (affectionately known in our family as "they who must not be named").
I'm not quite sure why I love Michigan football the way I do. Sure, I was raised on maize and blue, watching my father and our Buckeye next-door neighbor exchange insults and carry out ridiculous bets. But my brother and my dad are sports fanatics. They would watch competitive tiddly winks if ESPN broadcast it. None of that carried over into my adult life — only football, specifically college football, more specifically Big 10 college football — but those other teams really only count insofar as how the outcomes of their games affect Michigan's ranking.
I could say my passion stems from my college days in Ann Arbor, during the height of the Bo years (the winningest coach in Michigan history), when I cheered on Rick Leach, Anthony Carter, Butch Woolfolk and my favorite kicker, Ali Haji-Sheikh. But, truth be told, as much as I loved going to the games, I often sold my tickets for much-needed cash. I could always count on announcer Bob Ufer to make me feel like I was at the game, though thankfully, I did not miss Anthony Carter's amazing catch against Indiana in '79 — I was there for that one.
Part of the allure, of course, is Michigan Stadium. There is no place quite like the Big House to watch a football game. More than 100,000 people file peacefully in and out every home-game weekend, where there's not a bad seat in the house, and you sweat together in September and freeze together in November. I remember the first time my dad and I took my daughter to see a game when she was about 8 year's old. We tried to explain beforehand that more people would be in the stadium that day than the entire population of our hometown of Evanston, IL. When she saw the crowd, her jaw dropped; when she watched the wave circle the stands, she clapped in delight; and when the 150-member Michigan marching band took the field, she danced and shimmied right along with them. Michigan football games are just plain fun.
Though I believe children should be encouraged to think for themselves, since the minute they were born, I've worked hard to indoctrinate my kids into the cult of Michigan. Their father has had nothing to do with it (what can I say, he went to Northern Illinois). We have pictures of every one of my babies in onsies, sweatshirts, baseball caps and Ts all emblazoned with big block Ms. If it's possible to have two favorite colors, ours are maize and blue. I actually wrote a letter of protest to the Crayola company when they tried to eliminate maize as one of the colors in the big 64 box of crayons.
The Victors was the first song I learned to play on the piano, and the first song I taught my kids to sing. On my daughter's third day at kindergarten, she came bursting through the door after school saying: "Mama, Mama, guess what I learned to spell today: G-O B-L-U-E!" That's my girl.
So what is it about this team that makes us into such True Blue fans? How can go into the last game with a 3 and 8 record (as we did last year, in our worst season ever) and still show up for the Ohio State game hoping to win and knowing it will be a good year if we can only beat the Buckeye's during this final, best and always most important game? Why do we TiVo the games and cast the evil eye if someone threatens to be a spoiler before we can get home to watch the game ourselves.
It's a magnificent obsession, a heady curse that brings us Wolverines together on a dozen Saturdays each fall to experience once again the joy of victory and agony of defeat as only Michigan football can bring it. This year, we are trying to convince ourselves that this is still a transitional season, that it will take time for everyone to get used to the new coach and to build a new program. My brother claims he'll be happy with eight wins, a victory over one of our big rivals (Notre Dame, Michigan State and Ohio State) and no more scandals. He's lying. Even though we beat the Irish, like the rest of us, he won't be happy unless we beat Ohio State to become the undefeated champions of the Big Ten.
This year, we start the season 2-0. We feel good. We've got force in our QB with Tate Forcier. We've got another great kicker with a kick-ass name — Zoltan Mesko! We've even got our gloat back. Go Blue!
Where are your loyalties? Do you have a favorite team you cheer for, win or lose? Or do you think spectator sports are a waste of time? Do you have some other inexplicable passion or loyalty? Click here to show us your colors (Buckeyes need not apply). And if you want to see a real True Blue fan in action, do not miss Bob Ufer in the clip below, who had "never been so happy in all his cotton-pickin' 59 years," even after broadcasting 327 ball games. Now that's a fan!
i did not know we shared this obsessi, uh, love for the wolverines! i will be joining you in hoping, praying, and wishing we can beat ohio state this year!
You know, I never knew the depth of your feelings! I have to admit, I don't care at all about football, but it sounds fun (most of the time; last year, not so much) to be a real fan! Thanks for your post.
I'm married to a Michigan State alum. There must be something in the water up there because he and his siblings are all fanatics. Funny because their Dad is a Michigan alum. I guess he was just out-numbered at some point.
I am happy to report that my three-year-old is an avid Michigan fan -- without me even having to prompt him. I heard him laying in bed last night singing "hail to the victors . . ." to himself. He will spontaneously blurt out "Let's Go Blue!" for no reason at all.
Author of the Animal Store Alphabet Book. Marketing Communications Consultant and social media maven. Freelance writer/editor, and blogger. WIPs in PB, MG and adult fiction, and memoir. Contact me: 2kopeople at gmail dot com