July 2020 Book Reviews and Recommendations

This month I read one a book by a former President, another by a former First Lady, one celebrity memoir, one celebrity biography, and the final was a book on writing by a well known author.

Theodore Roosevelt by Janet Benge

Rating: 9/10

Review:

I listened to this on my free Hoopla app. The book started a little slow, but as Theodore Roosevelt (aka Teddy) went to college, his life became very interesting. He grew to become a remarkable man who fought against cronyism and crime in government.

I loved the story of how he became president. It started when he was asked by William McKinley to be his VICE president. He said NO. He didn’t want to be Vice President for three reasons:

1. He enjoyed his current job as of governor of New York.
2. The pay wasn’t enough. He was making $10,000 a year as governor, and his home in New York was paid for. If he became Vice President, the pay was only $8,000 a year – and he’d have to rent a home for his large family in Washington DC. He honestly didn’t think his family could survive on that smaller amount of money.
3. He just wasn’t interested in being Vice President.

Well, the public LOVED how ‘humble’ he was about not wanting to be Vice President. There was enough pressure for him to change his mind and accept the position. McKinley-Roosevelt won the election in a landslide. As Teddy expected, he didn’t love the job of VP. He had to remain mostly quiet and listen (he preferred talking and sharing his point of view), and he didn’t feel like he could make much of a difference as Vice President. However, six months into his new role, McKinley was killed, and Teddy Roosevelt became President. He served for the next 7.5 years, and loved his role. He was only 42 years old – the youngest man ever to be president.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

Rating: 8/10

Review: I slowly listened to the audiobook (that Michelle reads herself) in my car over the last few months.

The beginning is slow. Michelle is a lawyer and the beginning chapters feel like she’s reading a deposition. The first 7 chapters could have probably been summed up in two. I skimmed over a few parts, waiting for this book to get better, and it finally did. When Michelle introduces us to Barack, the story gets interesting.

I enjoyed learning what it was like for a young family to be in politics. I admire how she stuck through the challenges of political life – sharing her husband with the world and carrying the load of raising their daughters, while trying to keep some semblance of family life. She talks about buying lots of “take out” and fast food during their busy life, and how that began to negatively affect their health – especially the health of their children. That’s how her platform as First Lady was born – encouraging Americans, and especially children, to eat a little healthier and get some exercise. She was the first First Lady to have a garden at the White House!

I loved the part of the book where she shares what life was like in the White House. They have a cleaning staff, a cooking staff, etc. There are fresh flowers daily and someone constantly cleaning up behind them. There’s a bowling alley and movie theatre. She compares it to living in a fancy hotel. However, I didn’t know that the Presidents pay for their own groceries. They got a ‘food bill’ at the end of each month!

I didn’t agree with or support everything written in this book, but I think we could all benefit from getting to know and try to understand people who are different from us – different skin color, different beliefs and different politics. Politics can be so mean and ugly. I would love to see Democrats and Republicans work respectfully together to make this a better nation. Michelle and I do agree about this :).

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

Rating: 7/10

Review:

I wasn’t really planning to read this celebrity memoir, but I kept hearing other’s say that they really liked it, so I gave in and checked it out from the library.

The title “Open Book” is exactly what it is. Jessica shares way more details of her life than I was expecting to read. She holds nothing back and everyone is fair game – her ex-husband Nick, her parents, her ex-boyfriends, her current husband, and of course, herself. Jessica shares how she got into music, about her marriage and divorce, about her struggle with addiction and more. She tries to pull out the good and shares the lessons she’s learned along the way.

Who is Jackie Chan?

Rating: 10/10

Review:

We received this book free from our library as part of the summer reading program, so Clark and I read it together. Jackie Chan has had a very interesting life. He began his life with his family in ONE room of a larger house where his dad worked. Jackie began training in Kung Fu and theatre at the young age of 7 – working up to 16 hours a day, sleeping only 5 hours each night. His career began as a stunt person in the film industry, then he began acting, writing, singing, and directing. I had no idea how much he had accomplished in his life – it was a simple and fun book to read together. I love the “Who Was/Is” series for kids!!

Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott

Rating: 7/10

Review:

This is a book on WRITING…written by a well-known author. I wanted some insight and inspiration as I consider my next book, and work on this blog.

Here are a few of the gold nuggets I pulled from the book:

One of the gifts of being a writer is that it gives you an excuse to go places and explore. It motivates you to look closely at life. 

There are stories and ideas and vision and memories and plots inside me, and only I can give birth to them. 

“Present and in awe” is how we should be in the world. There is ecstasy in paying attention. You can find holiness in everything, a sign that God is implicent in all creation.  We can see everything as an outward and visaible sign of inward invisible grace. Anyone who wants to can be surprised by the beauty or pain of the world.

How often have you opened a book and said “YES!” … I want to give people that too!! 

I automatically think that closing down is safe, but really – staying OPEN and LOVING is safer, because then we’re connected to all that life and love. 

Maybe what I’ve written will help others, maybe it will be a small part of the solution. You don’t even have to know how or in what way, but if you are writing the clearest, truest words you can find and doing the best you can to understand and communicate, this will shine on paper like its own little lighthouse. Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save, they just stand there shining.

All quotes by Anne Lamott in her writing memoir, Bird by Bird

Have you read anything interesting lately? Leave a comment!

Click here for the TOP TEN books I read in 2019