My Life by Bill Clinton

My Life
by Bill Clinton [B C612]

It starts with him growing up in Arkansas, and explains a lot of family history – there were a couple of dramatic step-fathers involved. He then goes on to talk about his campaign trails, both elections – first against Bush and then Dole. It's a good read – long – but if you enjoy political biographies this is a good one to add to your to-read-list. I, like most people, immediately flipped to the section about Monica Lewinsky cause I love a good scandal and let's face it that one went down in presidential history. He does actually talk a lot about meeting with Monica, the guilt he felt immediately after, how Hillary didn't believe the rumors and stood up for him, and then his eventual admittance of the affair, to the legal aspects with Linda Tripp and Kenneth Starr. Apparently he spent a quite a few months on the couch. -- recommended by Carrie K. - Bennett Martin Public Library [ See Carrie's Reviewer Profile ]

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try other presidential autobiographies.]

[Also available in book-on-cd and Spanish Language formats.]

[ official Bill Clinton page on WhiteHouse.gov ] | [ official Clinton Foundation web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewers recommendations!

It's Election Day in the U.S.A.!

It's the first Tuesday in November -- Election Day here in the United States of America -- and we hope that a majority of our readers got out to exercise their rights to contribute to our participatory citizen government.

If you're not already sick of politics, we encourage you to check out the Presidential Fiction booklist on the libraries' BookGuide readers advisory site. You'll find dozens of novels, featuring past U.S. Presidents as fictional characters.

Happy reading!

The President's Photographer

The President's Photographer: 50 Years Inside the Oval Office
by John Bredar [779.935 qBre]

These are the stories of the nine photographers who covered the presidential administrations from 1960 to 2011. Each photojournalist tells his story of life with the president, his family and his staff. The presidential photographers are on call 24/7 and, as such, have the opportunity to catch the presidents in relaxed moments as well as during tense situations. Turning the pages of this book is like taking a walk through political history. There are black and white images of John Kennedy playing with Caroline and John-John in the oval office. The grim image of Lyndon Johnson taking the oath of office aboard Air Force One. Photos of the Nixon family the night before he resigns from office. A picture of Betty Ford dancing on the Cabinet Room table. Pictures of the tragic assassination attempt on President Reagan. Bill Clinton playing a saxophone. The senior Bushes surrounded by their grandchildren at Kennebunkport, Maine. A thoughtful George W. Bush on 9/11. Oh, the stories these photographers tell. Cecil Stoughton describes how a chance comment by someone in Parkland Memorial Hospital alerted him to the fact that Lyndon Johnson would take the oath of office aboard Air Force One. Yaichi Okamoto talks about his tremulous relationship with President Johnson. (Johnson fired Okamoto and rehired him nine months later.) Ollie Atkins recounts the night in August he was called to take photos of the Nixon family dining in the White House solarium. The next day Richard Nixon resigned. David Kennerly described his warm relationship with Jerry Ford. Michael Evens recalled the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan. There are a substantial number of photos of the Obama presidency in this book. Few of the Kennedy and Nixon administrations. And none of the Carter's time in office. One of the most interesting candid shots was taken by Okamoto of President Johnson standing nose to nose with Senator Richard Russell of Georgia while they discussed Johnson's proposed Civil Rights Act. The photos and the stories give the reader an insider's look at the life a president. -- recommended by Donna G. - Virtual Services Department

[ official PBS Special webpage on the National Geographic web site ]

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide web site. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month.