Today I'm doing my second favorite volunteer activity: serving as an election judge. We're voting on a local option sales tax penny. In honor of this, I thought I'd share a book review on Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin since it's election related. (A presidential campaign is much more exciting than voting on a penny tax though.)
I'd heard about this book on NPR and the New York Times and thought it sounded fascinating. It was.
I usually don't pick up political books. They are too Democrats-are-evil or Republicans-hate-black-people for me, but this was a different kind of political book. It was about behind the scenes at the horse race rather than policy or having a obvious side in ideology.
I was amazed at the information about Sarah Palin. She withdrew into herself to the point that McCain aides were worried she was mentally unstable. And she was clueless. The book certainly cites the examples of this: She didn't know why North and South Korea were different countries, what the Fed did, and when asked thought Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11. OMG. What an irresponsible move by McCain. Really, he could have picked a 7th grader that knew more.
Obama seems arrogant, but if you think you could be President, you've got to have some confidence in yourself. He also remains calm, even when things go momentarily crazy and methodically plans and acts throughout the campaign. Michelle Obama seems about as great as I already thought she was.
John Edwards, fittingly, comes off as delusional with an ego the size of China.
The Clintons are an interesting pair in their dysfunction.
This book read like a novel. Even though you know what the outcome will be, the stories of the action behind the scenes make this a fascinating read. If it were fiction, you'd think NO WAY this would ever happen (black man, former first lady, candidate hiding his love child, Rep candidate almost choosing a Dem VP, etc, etc). And yet, we watched it all unfold.
While you saw it all on the news, I highly suggest this book. Whether they won the race or not, these people are all still very powerful. (Except maybe John Edwards, but who can turn away from such a train wreck?!)
I did persevere and find a few books for myself. I could have bought a lot more, but they do have to fit in my suitcase.
Definitely worth the trip!
Summer at Tiffany was a quaint memoir of a young woman and her best friend spending the summer of 1945 working in New York City. They lucked out and were the first women on the sales floor of Tiffany. The girls were sorority sisters at the University of Iowa. Their story was light and interesting, and I read it in a couple hours.
Goodreads Summary: After a year working an office job in Sydney, author and Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman Tony Horwitz finds himself longing for the open road. Spurred on by a colleague's "Aren't you a little too old for this game?" he sets off on a 7,000-mile adventure around Australia, hitchhiking to Alice Springs and beyond: through desolate mining towns, sheep stations, countless bush pubs (do not attempt to match his beer intake), and the forbidding, Martianesque emptinesses of Australian deserts. On the way he encounters hostile, friendly, and downright strange natives; jumps a train; survives a harrowing accident; and uses his relentless sense of humor to face down a cyclone.
The students' favorite was Funny in Farsi. Funny in Farsi is Dumas's memoir about immigrating to the United States from Iran. The book is hilarious while talking about serious issues relating to immigration and learning a new culture. It's an easy read that is really informative. You'll cringe for Dumas at times, but be cheering her along the whole way.
