5 comments about Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.

1. This book was a page-turner. There is not a false note or a deficient section or arrangement in it. The author does an excellent job in telling Lincoln's story from cradle to grave, with the emphasis of course on his political years, but with enough background to inform and enlighten the discussion of the political years. Even more amazing, the book weaves in substantial biographies of major figures like Seward, Bates, Chase, Stanton, and the Lincoln family. This complex effort could have collapsed under its own weight, become plodding, or become confusing. Nothing of the sort happens. Instead, the pieces fit together very nicely and you feel yourself learning and sinking into the era as you make your way to the tragic ending. The detailed research is impressive, as is Goodwin's ability to relay it in an engaging and clear style. Abraham Lincoln came to life like never before. I finished the book on April 15, the day he died, and found myself sad for his ending and grateful for the skill and dedication with which he led this country through a terrible trial. I highly commend this book, and a visit to Springfield, to tour Lincoln's home and visit his tomb, to those wishing to learn about, and honor, a great man.



2. This is one of those books that, when you are finished, you need a few minutes to sit and let it all sink in. It is a powerful, wonderful, insightful book that I was almost sorry to finish, for multiple reasons -- it was engrossing, and of course it didn't end well.
   
   Goodwin does an excellent job of bringing Lincoln to life and showing his incredible talents for managing people. I had some knowledge about Lincoln, but when I finished this book, I was left with a feeling of sadness, not only for him and his friends and family, but for the country, because we were deprived of four years of Lincoln's leadership. And who knows how things would have turned out in the South and the country as a whole had he been able to preside over the infant stages of Reconstruction.
   
   The relationship between Lincoln and Seward was a pleasure to learn about, as well as the way Lincoln dealt with the various personalities around him without creating personal enemies. Reading about his interactions with Frederick Douglass was also a special part of the book.
   
   While this book may be long (about 750 pages) for those with only a casual interest in history, I would still recommend it to anyone. It is a remarkable book about a remarkable man.



3. There is no other word for it, this book is brilliant. Coming into it, I thought I knew a fair amount about Lincoln and workings of the war. However, the way the author depicts Lincoln and his cabinet is incredible. There is such depth, honesty, and intricacy to it. Although there is not a lot of background info on the war itself, that, for the most part, is not missed. The book focuses on Lincoln and his cabinet, and how he, in his own political genius, pulled together varying factions of the new Republian party to solve the crises facing the country. It's a fascinating insight into one of the great political and moral minds of history. It is not to be missed.



4. His assassination and coronation at such an early age both preserved the mystique and obscured the mystery that surrounded Abraham Lincoln and made him one of the the best-documented men in history. Lincoln has been mythologized beyond criticism or comparison in the historical lexicon. This book brings him back from mythology and puts him into his proper political realm so that he can be criticized and compared to other mortals, whereupon you realize how far beyond criticism and comparison Lincoln is when it came to his political and personal leadership.
   
   Goodwin's Abraham Lincoln is a political leader and wise human being beyond any other, perhaps even Solomon himself. Of the people whom history has documented thoroughly enough to compare, he may be the greatest human being ever in terms of communicating, understanding, empathizing , and motivating others.
   
   Why does every leader since pale by comparison? Is there never to be another Lincoln? Part of the problem is that in Lincoln's time, one man could still control most of his environment. Lincoln created ways to work, study, and think that allowed him to apply his knowledge and wisdom to the problems he faced and come up with the best solutions. The realm of control is much smaller today.
   
   Part of the problem is the pervasiveness and immediacy of communication (the media), part of it is the complexity of the environments, and part of it is the complexity of the problems.
   
   Even a leader of Lincolnian proportions would not be as successful as Lincoln in today's world. Of leaders since then who approached that power on the world stage: FDR, Reagan, Castro, maybe Papa Doc Duvalier--on a small island scale, a lesser man can loom larger, and without a great ethical compass, accomplish much for the wrong purpose!
   
   One great example of Lincoln's abilities: with conservative cabinet member Seward's resignation on his desk because of accusations from liberal Senators (based on inside information from liberal cabinet member Chase), Lincoln agreed to meet with the Senators alone at the White House. After hearing their complaints in a long meeting and promising to think on it, the next day Lincoln called all the cabinet together except Seward, told them about the meeting and told them to come to the White House that night to meet with the Senators, knowing that as a group the cabinet would defend its own against charges from outsiders.
   
   Chase, who had provided the information to the Senators, especially charges that the cabinet was seriously divided and uninvolved in presidential decision-making, was in a panic throughout the meeting when the cabinet members did indeed defend Seward and Lincoln and present a united front during a long 5-hour session with the Senators.
   
   The next morning, Chase came to the White House to submit his resignation to Lincoln because of his mortification in front of the Senatorial delegation (when the delegation was discussing afterward how Chase could have painted such an incorrect story of the cabinet unity and involvement, one Senator remarked dryly "He lied."). When Chase pulled the paper from his pocket, Lincoln eagerly grabbed it and read it with a smile on his face. "This unties the Gordian knot," he exclaimed, as he recognized that Chase had just given him the answer to his dilemma. He wrote out a letter to both Chase and Seward, rejecting both resignations, thus keeping his cabinet and the warring Republican party united.
   
   This example is multiplied many times by Goodwin throughout the book, highlighted each time by Lincoln's quiet confidence in his ability, his moral authority, and his political authority. His self-assurance was reflected in the way he always accepted other's ideas (and gave credit) when better than his, seldom held grudges, and never paid back ill for ill, a trait that paid off many times in his political career, as those he could have made enemies became valuable compatriots in the war for the Union.
   
   How could a man with such humble beginnings, with so little formal education, who was basically a minimum-wage day laborer until the age of 25, when he learned the law on his own and began a faltering political career--how could this man harbor such ability and confident expectation of success?
   
   It is easy enough to say it stems from his determination, after a bout of suicidal depression in his mid-20s when the first love of his life died, that he did not want to die until he had made a mark on the world. A noble and worthy determination to be sure, and one made--and forgotten--by many of us, as time, ability, and circumstance leave us satisfied with some lower place. But 20 years later in the White House, while talking with his best friend from that earlier time, Lincoln reminded his friend of that pledge and acknowledged his readiness to die now that he had met it. Lincoln had not forgotten his pledge, and had fully intended and expected to meet it as he did! What gave him this ability to satisfy his fully expectant confidence?
   
   One can say it is God's hand of providence working in human history to preserve the United States. That may be the most likely driver, but why through this gangling "great ape" who was mocked and denigrated until met in political or personal arenas where he quietly and gracefully managed every relationship for the best of all parties? Was Abraham Lincoln a committed Christian? Not by most standards of orthodoxy, although he knew the Bible from hours of study, and not in comparison to Chase, whose studied religiosity was belied by his shady financial dealings and unethical manipulation of others.
   
   Regardless, with war in Iraq and economic gloom descending over most of the world, God's providence in the placement of a humble servant leader like Lincoln would surely be welcome.



5. With great writing and fabulous storytelling, Goodwin takes us deep into the inner workings of President Abraham Lincoln's cabinet during the Civil War and into the minds and lives of the key players. This is not another Lincoln biography or a history about the Civil War battles or generals, although we do meet and get a greater appreciation of the good and bad generals -- Grant and Sherman vs. McClellan -- and focus on Lincoln's leadership skills and style. In some ways, you could say this extremely engaging read is a biography of a particular institution -- Lincoln's cabinet and its members -- at the key moment when America's peculiar institution of slavery is being fought over. However, I am glad that I read Shelby Foote's three-volume narrative history of the Civil War before Goodwin's book so that I had the biggest picture first.

5 comments about Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression.

1. I first checked this book out of the public library but once I started reading it I realized there were some really good home remedies and other info that I wanted forever so I bought a copy for myself. I also loaned it to my mother to read who enjoyed it as well - she said it brought up old memories for her. It is a wonderful book and it makes everyone want to tell their parents to write their stories down before they are forgotten or lost!



2. A five Star book for me!
   Even tho' I was born in SD in '42, I could relate to many of the chapters, but ours was a much less difficult time.
   I have sent copies of the book to 2 cousins and a close friend from Iowa who needed a good laugh to help him through some tough times. This book will definitely "take you away" and give you the therapy of many good laughs. You will also count your blessings that we live in this age.
   I compared it to Laura Ingalls Wilder books... with the tough times... except the Iowans were surrounded by generations of family in the same location; rather than a family alone moving from state to state enduring those hardships. What a heartwarming wonderfully written book that you just want to share with all, and hope that it brings them as many laughs and as much food for thought as you got while reading it.



3. Little Heathens is a near anthropological survey of life on a small family farm in Iowa during the 1930's, when there was no electricity, running water, bathrooms and very few if any "store bought" goods. It is today a world foreign in this age of convenience and Millie laments the loss of the "rich store of knowledge that had been bestowed on us by life on that simple farm," and the self-confidence and self-reliance it fostered. It's odd that this simple little memoir - nothing more than an elder grandparent retelling what life was like "when I was young" - has struck a chord with so many readers, it is one of the New York Times 10 most notable books of 2007. The Times attributes its success in part because so many memoirs today are about unsavory people doing scandalous things, it is a relief to read about a real person going about a "normal" life (if such a thing exists), someone you'd like to have as a relative or friend, or even to walk in her shoes (when she wore any). Partly it is Millie herself who is humble, sincere and likable.
   
   But it is also, I believe, about bigger current day issues: Global Warming, Peak Oil, Recessions, high food prices and other man-made slow motion train wrecks have many questioning if society is on the right track and naturally many are looking back to the past for answers. A return to the country, simplicity, slow pace of life, the values of thrift, honor and tradition are finding wides audiences in modern forms, such as organics, slow food, alternative energy. They say when you reach a certain age "everything old is new again" and Millies account of the 1930s is finding a lot of interest in these times. It's a beautiful book of substance and simplicity, I recommend it highly.



4. As you might expect of a former English professor and school teacher,
   the book is easy to read and is well-written. The author's reminiscences about growing up on an Iowa farm are interesting because her formative
   years were the difficult years of the Great Depression, when economy and making do with what one had were important virtues. She demonstrates the way in which the family was extraordinarily thrifty in saving and making use of every scrap of food, piece of clothing and spare bit of thread.
   Like a number of the books that have been written about people's lives in
   more exotic locations, like "A Year in Provence" or "Under the Tuscan Sun", the author also provides some recipes that she particularly enjoyed when she lived on the farm in addition to when she prepared meals for a
   family. The variety of home remedies are also fun to take a look at. On the whole, it is an entertaining book as well as a lesson in how times of thrift and privation needn't be unhappy.



5. Wonderful book. So full of the real side of life that is sorely missing in today's culture. Would love for my grandchildren to read it.

5 comments about The 33-Year-Old Rookie: How I Finally Made it to the Big Leagues After Eleven Years in the Minors.

1. Philadelphia Phillies catcher Chris Coste has written an inspirational account about what it takes to get to the major leagues. Coste, a backup catcher, shares the heartaches, self-doubts and physical injuries he had to endure during his 11 years in the minors. He gives the reader an interesting look at life in the minors and with independent teams. Although Coste was determined to make it to the majors, there are hundreds of others who are just as talented and as determined who don't achieve their dreams.
   
   Coste's book is refreshing in that he's a player who appreciates everything he receives as a major leaguer. He vows not to complain about how much taxes he pays on his major league minimum salary of $370,000. He's a down-to-earth guy who hasn't been jaded by the major league life, and hopefully will never succumb to the pitfalls.
   
   You can't help but to root for Coste and cheer for him when he does well in the book. Any one who reads this book will be a Chris Coste fan. The book is thin at 196 pages and easy to read. While adults will enjoy it, I believe younger readers who don't know much about what it takes to get to the majors will also find it interesting and enjoyable.



2. This is a wonderfully entertaining book. It is great to read about people like Chris who work hard trying to reach their goal, and then to actually make it. Well-written. This book, along with "Working at the Ballpark" by Tom Jones, and "We Would have Played for Nothing" by Fay Vincent, are the top baseball books of the year because they provide truthful and poignant stories of what it's truly like to work in major league baseball.



3. I am currently still reading the book, but so far it is very good. I am a true Chris Coste fan and can now appreciate his story.



4. every body should read this book about life about never giving up in life in hard time and good time



5. Very well written, loved the beginning dream sequence, story of grit and determination.
   
   I would recommend it to any baseball fan - or anyone else who needs a review lesson in "how to catch your dream".

5 comments about Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson.

1. I had been given multiple recommendations from friends and family to read this simple, but heartwarming book, and I didn't decide to sit down and read it until recently. The author decided to take his career as a sports writer, and use his writing to tell the words of an inspiring man. Mitch Abom wrote sports highlights in the Detroit Free Press, and tried to write novels about sports instead. After not becoming successful with his first few novels, he decided to try a different type of book.
   
   Tuesdays With Morrie is about Morrie Schwartz, a retired history professor at Brandeis University who is dying of ALS, which is more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's Diesase. A former student of his named Mitch Albom hadn't seen his old professor in years but he saw the old man on Nightline. Albom decided to visit Morrie. After a few visits, Morrie and Mitch decided to meet every Tuesday to discuss the meaning of life and how to embrace life. More specific things like family and love were discussed and to be honest, hearing a dying man say such things was a little depressing. However, the morals that Morrie taught made me think more about life and how to live it to its fullest. In reading this book (which was a quick read by the way) I learned an interesting viewpoint on life. Considering the fact that the book is about a dying man, you can figure out how it ends, but it surely finishes strong, and with a powerful message. The writing was easy to understand, but at times, the book became tedious and depressing. Overall, the message overweighed the depressing parts of the book.
   
   Tuesdays with Morrie was published ten years ago, yet it was a multiple award winning novel. The story of Morrie Schwartz has been and will continue to be remembered by many.



2. Tuesdays With Morrie
   Danny Cubberly
   One could describe Mitch Albom in many ways. He's a good listener, a good student, and an emotionally deep human being. But most importantly, he was the student of someone he described as "a man who loved dancing and having a good time." This man was Morrie Schwartz. Mitch Albom wrote down the lessons that Morrie would talk to him about every Tuesday. Through those inspiring life-lessons came this story that teaches us all to live life to the fullest.
   All the lessons in this book were inspirational. Although Morrie was slowly wasting away with only months to live, he never felt depressed about his condition because he knew that this was his time to die. There were several half-page chapters that could be interpreted as meaningless in others, but if one reads between the lines, they can interpret the message being sent by Morrie. For instance, in one chapter, Morrie told Mitch that if he could be any animal, it would be a gazelle because they are "graceful and fast." This message can be interpreted as Morrie wishing that he could still have that energy he possessed before his diagnoses.
   This book has several strengths, but with it come a few weaknesses. Anyone who loves tear-jerkers and philosophical books should consider picking up this one-of-a-kind book. This book will make anyone think back and remember that one special person who influenced them the most throughout their life. Still, young people would most likely find this book sappy and dull, as it does not connect with the young, but more with adults and the elderly. Whether it be the healthy or the unhealthy, the young or the old, this book will convince anyone that life is something that we need to love because it is all we have. As Morrie's most famous quote says: "When you learn how to die, you learn how to live."



3. I don't read a lot for leisure but this book came highly recommended. This book touched me so strongly that I could not put it down until I was finished. I have recommended this book to others and will be buying more copies for gifts.



4. I'm sure you've read many reviews on how touching this book is, and I would say 'to each their own'. But an entire book written about a death-bed conversation can be a bit much for some people. Think of the scene in 'The Empire Strikes Back' when Yoda is dying and speaking his last words to Luke... well now imagine that scene was the content of the entire movie and you get a sense of what it was like to read this book. The first half was touching... Morrie - an old college professor was dying, passing on his words of wisdom to his dear ex-student. Well, by the second half of the book, I just wanted him to pass away so I can finish the book and start another. I'm sorry, some may say this is blasphemy, but how many tear-jerking eye opening last words of wisdom can you really absorb? And to be honest, I can hardly remember what they were after I closed the book.



5. Charming memoir done by a student of Morrie, now a famous sports journalist. He rediscovers his professor when he catches the tail end of a broadcast by Ted Koeppel and learns his teacher is dying but Morrie, no ordinary man, is making a study of death. Albom soon finds himself hopping a plane from Detroit to Boston every Tuesday to spend the day with his former professor as the only student in a course entitled "The Meaning of Life." Reads quickly and holds reader interest.

5 comments about Willie Nelson: An Epic Life.

1. "Willie Nelson: An Epic Life", written by acclaimed Texan Joe Nick Patoski, is a meticulously researched and very readable documentation of the life and career of the legendary Willie Nelson. Combining insightful observations about Willie along with exclusive interviews of Nelson and the people that have been closest to him in his personal and professional life, this official biography has a very engaging and fluid style that makes it an entertaining and enlightening read for those either new to the story of Willie Nelson or for the long-time fan.
   
   From the Blackland cotton patches of Willie's boyhood home in Abbott, Texas, through his musical "coming-of-age" in the rough and tumble, blood and guts honky-tonks of Fort Worth, his trials, tribulations and ultimate successes in the music business of Nashville, Nelson's return to his roots in Texas and to Austin, then on to the heights of The White House and his well-deserved legendary status worldwide, Patoski wonderfully leads the reader on the road of Willie Nelson's life.
   
   This well-written, flowing " page-turner " is a joy to read.
   
   Jim Yanaway



2. Willie Nelson's craggy profile on this book's cover looks like it was carved out of granite. He appears like a man who has lived a rough life, one who has not taken particularly good care of himself. An Epic Life explores the reasons why Willie's face looks like that, and does a pretty good job explaining things.
   
   Author Joe Nick Patoski gives you all the down-and-dirty details of the fighting, drinking, womanizing, tax cheating and drugs, as well as all the stories behind Willie's timeless songs. Patoski conducted hundreds of interviews with Nelson and his family and friends over 35 years of research, and it shows. He's crafted a true insider's view of an icon that's also a comprehensive biography, an interesting read filled with many personal glimpses, with the bonus of some fascinating profiles of other folks both known and unknown.
   
   A section of glossy pages in the middle has 26 black and white photos. They range in time from 1929 to 2007, from a vintage shot of Nelson's parents to a portrait of Willie and his sister Bobbie Lee from last year.
   
   Here's the chapter list:
   
   1. Somewhere in America, 2007
   2. Abbott, 1938
   3. East of Western Grove on Pindall Ridge, 1925
   4. Abbott, 1933
   5. Waco, 1952
   6. San Antonio, 1954
   7. Fort Worth, 1955
   8. Vancouver, Washington, 1956
   9. Fort Worth Again, 1958
   10. Houston, 1959
   11. Nashville, 1960
   12. Los Angeles, 1961
   13. Ridgetop, Tennessee, 1964
   14. Tennessee to Texas, 1965
   15. Coast-to-Coast, Border-to-Border, 1967
   16. Lost Valley, 1971
   17. Austin, 1972
   18. Orange to El Paso, Dalhart to Brownsville, 1973
   19. Garland to Hollywood, 1975
   20. The Hill, 1979
   21. The World, 1986
   22. The Valley, 1991
   23. The New World, 1993
   24. Paradise, 2004
   25. Home, 2006



3. This masterful, extremely well-written, critically-acclaimed book is one of the most entertaining I have read in years. I loved it. You will love it too. Willie Nelson's seventy-five years are packed full of amazing honky-tonk characters, historic music, and priceless philosophy. The characters that he attracts like a magnet had me laughing out loud. It also manages to lay out the cultural history of Texas country music and show business over the span of Willie's life in well-researched, fascinating detail.
   
   Joe Nick Patoski did over 100 interviews with Willie, his family, his band, and his long-term friends. They tell their story in their own words mixed in with Patoski's novel-like story telling. The love and extreme loyalty of the major characters is a constant theme. Willie does everything he can to help the people that helped him all these years. It is a fascinating, biography that young and old will love. It would make a perfect gift for anyone. No one has lived a more interesting rags to riches to rags to riches life than Willie. As Patoski makes clear, its hard to find anyone that doesn't love Willie Nelson. I did a search of Joe Nick Patoski and was delighted to find all the rave reviews.
   
   Johnny Hughes



4. If someone had asked me who would be the best person to write a biography of Willie Nelson, I would have said Joe Nick Patoski without any hesitation. He's been "on the story" for years, as a journalist and as a fan. (I have too, in fact, but Nick got there before I did!)
   
   What fascinated me about this book was how well he negotiated the huge cast of characters -- and I mean "characters," a term used in the Texas underworld for small-time criminals, as well as dramatis personae. Willie has never been able to say no to anyone, resulting in a "family" the size of a small town, and it looks like Patoski has interviewed all of them.
   
   And although I've been covering Willie since his 1973 Atlantic sessions, and have interviewed him numerous times, I was astonished at how much new stuff I learned from reading An Epic Life. It's great to have all this information in one place, and for serious fans, or, indeed, anyone interested in Texas music, the history of country music, or what it's like to be a superstar today, this will very likely be the definitive book on the life and work of Willie Nelson for some years to come.
   
   At which point, I don't doubt Patoski will get back on the case and update this one.



5. 
   No matter how many stories you have heard about Willie Nelson, or what you know about him -- I promise that you will learn new things about him when you read Joe Nick Patoski's book, 'Willie Nelson: An Epic Life."
   
   I have been reading Joe Nick's articles about Willie Nelson for years. It's always like I'm sitting down listening him to tell a story. You can kind of hear his southern accent in your head while you're reading :)) Joe Nick doesn't ask the same questions of Willie, and he always gets new answers. This book is so well researched, well written, and entertaining. Joe Nick tells the stories behind the stories. He is a Willie Nelson fan, and you can feel when you read it that this book was a labor of love.
   
   The book is about Willie Nelson, but it is also tells the history of music in Texas, and the characters and musicians. There are several books written about Willie Nelson, and I've read them all. This one is the best!
   
   Thank you, Joe Nick, for writing this book!

5 comments about The Millionaire Next Door.

1. I had always heard about this book and was eager to finally read it. Unfortunately it was somewhat disappointing. The data is getting dated. The message, while sound, is so oft repeated that it gets a little boring. However, I enjoyed very much the passages dealing with how to (or more accurately - how not to) handle wealth issues and transfers with children. Overall it is a book everyone should read, but I wish they would release a newer edition with more recent data, etc.



2. This book was written based from research that was conducted through the usage of surveys that were taken in 1995. They basically accumulated information from 1000 american millionaires regarding their methods of house-hold finance, behavior, spending habits etc. Simply an analysis of the American millionaire demograhpic in the year 1995. No practical wisdom. Useless info in becoming wealthy.
   
   The whole book could've been summed up to: "be modest, cheap, and save as much as possible".
   
   IN CONCLUSION: If you're looking to learn to make more income, save your money and time, this one sucked. If you want a lesson in history, go right ahead.



3. Financial books providing insight into the attitudes and mannerisms required to accumulate wealth generally focus on a lot of theory. The Millionaire Next Door presents a straight forward account based on research and feedback from qualified millionaires.
   
   The information presented in this book focuses on the habits that create millionaires from ordinary people who often have ordinary incomes. The authors show that to be wealthy, you do not necessarily require extraordinary skills or require ardent pep talks; you just need financial discipline and a willingness to live within your means and avoid certain amounts of debt.
   
   The information in the book is substantiated with a number of graphs, charts, and summations of data that will limit one's ability to push through the information quickly. The content of the book is very reliable and will be eye opening for many readers. There is no doubt this book presents a very formidable foundation for wealth that anyone with grand financial aspirations should be aware of, making this book rather worthwhile



4. A Great book with expert advice- too many charts, but the case histories were great and wonderful advice for parents tempted to spoil their children by financing their lives after they are finished with their education. Married children get to living way beyond their means and then resent it when parents stop paying 10 to 20 thousand a month for them. It is clear that those who succeed do it better when they are responsible for their OWN finances and learn to live within their budget.



5. I wish everyone would read this book. You assume someone to be rich because of their car, or clothes. That just proves that they waste more money and probably go into debt for it.
   
   I spent time as a financial analyst for a commercial lending department. Part of my job was to go through people's personal financial statements. My boss, a CPA, recommended this book to me. On of our wealthiest, millionare clients wore sweat pants, had a mullet, and drove an old beat up vehicle. We had another client who was always sporting the latest fashions and drove a Porsche, but was broker than broke and always pleading with us to not return her checks.
   
   The key is to have the self confidence to not spend the money to fix the way people judge you. Would you rather have 10 million dollars and look like crap or be on the edge of bankruptcy and look like a million bucks? I refuse to spend that kind of money to impress someone I probably don't even like or people I don't even know.
   
   Read this book, it will shed some clarity!

5 comments about Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph.

1. Such an excellent book! I recommend this to everyone! I encourage young ladies to read this book. It Is inspiring and motivating. Even with life's tragedies Coach stringer still was able to overcome and Triumph.
   She is a role model for all.



2. I became interested in reading this book after I watched HBO's Real Sports feature on Vivian Stringer. I don't think I've ever even watched a women's basketball game in my 44 years of life. But I was intrigued by the courage and persistence of Vivian Stringer. I asked our library to borrow this book from a neighboring library on interlibrary loan. I got the book Saturday afternoon and finished it Sunday afternoon. I just could not put it down. Vivian writes with such warmth and personality, I felt, or perhaps just wished, she was my friend by the time her book ended. I laughed and cried, deeply moved by her writing, by her life, by her courage. She is a wonderful role model and hero to me and I have never met her. If your life has crossed paths with this strong woman, you have been truly blessed. If you have never met her,(as I haven't) you can still be blessed and touched by reading her story and carrying her inspiration with you as you face life's challenges. An outstanding book to be re-read and shared with women and men of all ages. Athletes and non-athletes will appreciate her tenacity, her faith, her courage, and her integrity.
   Thanks Vivian, for an awesome book, long to be remembered and held close to the heart.



3. C. Viviens Stringer's book is written with such exceptional passion for life that you can't help but feel it. After reading her book I wanted to cry for joy at all of the lives she has touched and inspired. My husband devoured it in a few days. Every young person should read this book. Every woman will feel prouder and every man will be called to a higher standard. Thanks for sharing your amazing story Vivien. My feelings that we should all "live like we are dying" was embraced by her experiences.
   Robin Dilg



4. I have always admired Coach Stringer. Her book opened up a wide new respect for the person, the woman, the coach. She is absolutely incredible and her book is written in such a way to hold your attention through to the end. Her book left me breathless and in total awe.



5. An absolutely outstanding book about a remarkable woman. A must read for anyone who follows Rutgers' womens basketball and/or coaches ANY sport!

5 comments about Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality.

1. We should all do the confessional thing Miller and his crew did at Reed. Gotta read the book to find out!



2. Pros: This book was like a breath of fresh air. It was so refreshing and entertaining. Very powerful and deep at times but always enjoyable. I could hardly wait for my reading time each day. In many ways I wish I could think more like him. Its just a great read, and not necessarily just for passing around as an outreach tool for Christians.
   
   Cons: I did not realize there were Christians out there on that waveband. Don is heavily influenced by his Portland Starbucks crowd. He is not from Texas anymore. Sometimes he offends my conservative roots. In his books he mentions several times the shortcomings of the conservative evangelical crowd, and the Republicans. If he is going to talk about this stuff, he needs to mention the untold amount of damage some liberal thinking has done to this country. Give liberal carnage equal time.



3. I had been unhappy with my church for over a year when I read this book. As I read, I kept thinking "I want what this guy has". When I got to the part where he said he felt like belonged at his church, I knew I was church shopping. And yes I found a church where I belonged.



4. This is a great read and an effective outreach tool for unbelievers/doubters. NON-Christian thoughts on Christianity. How cool is that?



5. I just finished this book in 2 days and found it a bit refreshing to read a person who says what we at one time or another may think. I highly recommend this book, as anyone can relate to a persons struggle with religion.

5 comments about Night (Oprah's Book Club).

1. Regardless of how many times I return to this book, it never fails to shock and inspire. An indispensable recollection of the horror of the Holocaust and one survivors struggle to reconcile his experience and his faith.



2. There are no words worthy to describe this epic and true tale of the Holocaust.
   
   Buy the book, but prepare yourself for this tragedy that is our world history.
   
   Never again.
   
   Wolfe



3. I have been to Germany, toured Dachau and have been interested in reading about the holocaust ever since. Reading "Night", was nothing short of amazing. There wasn't one page where I lost interest and by the end, I felt conflicted. I was happy that such a sad story was over, but sad that such an amazing book was done. Elie Wiesel is hero, a survivor, an excellent son and a gifted author. It's so sad that all this greatness came at such a personal cost. Would I ever love to sit and talk with this man... amazing from cover to cover.



4. Elie Wiesel's story will stay with you forever. Stark, powerful and written in simple prose, it will haunt you. How does one go on after surviving the Holocaust? 'Night' should be read in schools the world over.



5. I loved this book! It made me feel so grateful for the freedoms we enjoy. But, it is sad to think that mankind can be capable of such horrors.

3 comments about White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters.

1. Not your normal, outside-the-classroom reading, but pick it up. If you're even the slightest bit interested in politics, Washington, or behind-the-scenes anecdotes of the Presidency, this is a must-read.



2. This is an insightful, detailed and well balanced history of the relationships between American presidents and the people who write their speeches. Mr. Schlesinger interviewed more than 90 speechwriters and other aides. He devotes a separate chapter to each president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to George Walker Bush.
   
   Raymond Moley wrote about FDR: "My job from the beginning . . . was to sift proposals for him, discuss facts and ideas with him, and help him crystallize his own policy. Schlesinger writes that FDR believed "policies and words are inextricably linked -- the former cannot be conjured in the absence of the latter." FDR's speechwriters were "advisers as well as wordsmiths."
   
   Truman continued FDR's practices; speeches were written at meetings "at which most of his principal advisers, including Dean Acheson, were present, and during which policy was really and carefully shaped through its articulation."
   
   Over time the job evolved. "As television eclipsed radio as the nation's medium, as the White House staff grew from a handful to a sprawling group of specialized cadres, and, of course, as each president has dealt with it in his own way."
   
   For awhile, the role of the speechwriter was something of a secret. John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address was in nearly final form. But he pretended to be writing a first draft of it in longhand to give a leading reporter the impression that he, not Theodore Sorensen, was the major author.
   
   Johnson continued the secrecy tradition. Richard Goodwin remembers that "the finest moments of my life in politics" were spent writing an address leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. "It is not just Negroes, but it is all of us, who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And we . . . shall . . . overcome." Johnson [and Goodwin] made black protest his own.
   
   Reporters were told that Johnson himself wrote the speech, but the speech was Mr. Goodwin's work. He had worked closely with Johnson for a year and, Goodwin wrote later, Goodwin had drawn on his own knowledge of Johnson -- "not merely his views, but his manner of expression, patterns of reasoning, the natural cadences of his speech. [My goal was] to heighten and polish -- illuminate, as it were -- his inward beliefs and natural idiom, to attain . . . an authenticity of expression.... the document was pure Johnson."
   
   Nixon broke with the secrecy tradition and "established the first formally structured White House speechwriting office, called the Writing and Research Department, or in Nixon's words, "the PR department". Schlesinger writes that the writers were rarely consulted on policy matters. In fact, Nixon wrote speeches on his own with little or no input from the speechwriting office.
   
   Schlesinger writes that speechwriters had little involvement in the making of policy and only limited access to the president in most of the administrations that followed Nixon's. For example, "Ronald Reagan's speechwriters had diminishing access to a president who was remote from even his closest aides. [But Reagan] had presented a clear ideology and style so they had gotten his voice even though they might go months without seeing him."
   
   Schlesinger argues that George Herbert Walker Bush, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford were not very concerned with their speeches. Mr. Bush disliked "high-flying" rhetoric and rarely practiced them in advance. Mr. Carter "didn't much like the idea of using [speechwriters], ever." President Ford "rarely faced up to the fact that making a major address is one of the most important things a President does," according to his chief speechwriter, Robert Hartmann. Journalist John Hersey was "profoundly disturbed by what seemed to me the aimlessness of [Ford's] speechwriting session."
   
   Bill Clinton returned to involving speechwriters in the making of policy. "There was more crossover between the speechwriters and policy aides than in any presidency since [LBJ's]. . . . Clinton preferred to work on speeches with aides who could answer substantive questions about policy." But Clinton often ad libbed, spoke in public often, and in practice devalued his own words.
   
   According to Schlesinger, George W. Bush recognizes the importance of speeches: "He put a great deal of time and energy into speech preparation and faith in his speechwriters."
   
   Schlesinger believes that Presidential speeches are important to educate and persuade the public and to force decisions and clarify policies within the executive branch. Schlesinger believes that by divorcing speechwriters from policy making, recent presidents may be depriving themselves of a useful tool for achieving their objectives.
   
   Whatever your views of the value of speechwriters, this is a fascinating and insightful view of the American presidency.
   
   Robert C. Ross, 2008



3. Schlesinger has summarized the presidencies from FDR to W. How each president used, or not, the skills of their respective 'ghosts' shows one and all that words do matter; as well as the wisdom of our first executives when it came to choosing their wordsmiths. Witty and full of details, each chapter of this book is a joy. Indeed, this a must read.