My Top Ten Books from 2014

-I don't think any of these books came out in 2014, but these are my top 10 out of the 62 books I read last year.

My Top 10 Books from 2014!
1) Happily Ever After: Walking with Peace and Courage Through a Year of Divorce-Kristin Armstrong--This is by far the book that ministered to me the most while I was going through my divorce.  So much so, that I have bought it for other friends going through the same thing.

2) You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a more Fulfilling Life-Eleanor Roosevelt--A friend was reading this book and bought a copy for me so we could read it together.  We read it in January and it was an awesome book to start my year off with.  Eleanor inspires people with her words and in the way she lived her life.  She was an incredible woman.

3) Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight-Karl Rove--Rove is an amazing man on so many levels.  I thoroughly enjoyed learning more about him in his candid book and about what went on in the Bush Administration.

4) Chasing the Devil: My Twenty-Year Quest to Capture the Green River Killer-David Reichert--Reichert is a man who never gave up on finding the Green River Killer (who turned out to be Gary Ridgeway) and thus bringing some measure of justice and closure for all the victims' loved ones.  This was an inspirational story on not giving up on a just cause.

5) Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10-Marcus Luttrell--The book and the movie about this true story made both of my Top 10 lists.  An incredible story about some amazing men, true heroes indeed.

6) Smokin' Seventeen-Janet Evanovich--No top 10 list is complete without a Stephanie Plum book on it.  Evanovich's series on Stephanie Plum makes me laugh out loud, reader beware if you are reading this in a public waiting room, people will think you are crazy.

7) Sleepers-Lorenzo Carcaterra--I saw the movie about this years ago and didn't realize it was based on a true story.  I found the book in a thrift store and ended up reading it right away and not being able to put it down.

8) Escape-Carolyn Jessop--This is the book that started all of my research on the FLDS and the many brave women and men who escaped the FLDS's clutches.

9) Frances Folsom Cleveland-Susan Sinnott--I found all the first ladies that I read about this year to be fascinating, but I especially loved learning about Frances because I didn't know much about her and there were a lot of firsts for her and her husband in the White House.

10) Harriet Tubman: The Moses of Her People-Sarah Bradford--A wonderful book about an amazing woman.

First Lady Profile #4--Frances Cleveland!

Once the official engagement announcement was made, the country was in the grips of "Frankie mania."  Everyone, it seemed, wanted to catch a glimpse of Frances Folsom's beautiful dark eyes, wavy chestnut-colored hair, and lovely warm smile.

No one, it seemed, could resist her warmth and charm. A White House staff member remembered her arrival at the mansion early on the morning of her wedding, emerging from her carriage excitedly and greeting everyone with a huge smile.--Susan Sinnott

 --I didn't know much about Grover and Frances Cleveland before reading Sinnott's book.  I found them to both be fascinating people.  They were the only couple to do numerous things in the White House.

Only and Firsts:

--Grover Cleveland was the only president to be married in the White House.  And only 2 other presidents were married while in office, John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson
--Grover Cleveland was the only president to serve 2 terms that weren't consecutive.  He was the 22nd and 24th president.
--Grover and Frances were the only couple to have a baby while in the White House.
--Frances was the youngest first lady, she was only 21 when she married Grover and moved into the White House.
--Frances was the 1st First lady to enjoy immense popularity.
--Later on she became the 1st First lady to re-marry after her husband died.

FACTS:
--Frances was born on July 21, 1864, to Oscar and Emma Folsom. Oscar was Grover Cleveland's best friend and law partner.  Frances was actually named Frank, but switched to Frances later in life.
--She was an only child, a sister named Nellie had been born after her, but died in infancy.
--Her father died a day after her 11th birthday.
--Grover made sure Frances and her Mom were taken care of.
--She attended and graduated from Wells College.

--She married Grover while he was president on June 2, 1886.  Her wedding dress is on display at the Smithsonian Institution.
--The American people fell in love with Frances.  Everyone wanted to style their hair like hers and dress the same.  She was a very popular first lady.
--She championed women entering the workforce
--Despite Frances popularity, Grover lost when he ran for president again to Benjamin Harrison.
--Frances gave birth to their first child, Ruth in 1891.  The country so loved the couple and the new baby, that a candy bar was named after her, Baby Ruth.

--The couple moved back into the White House after Grover beat Harrison.
--In September of 1893, Frances gave birth to their 2nd child, Esther, in the White House.
--Frances gave birth to 3 more children, another girl and two boys.
--Sadly, their oldest daughter Ruth, died when she was 13 from diphtheria.
--Frances became a widow when Grover died on June24, 1908.
--She remarried in 1913, to Professor Thomas Preston Jr.
--She was involved in the cause for higher education for women.  She played a big part in the founding of the New Jersey College for Women.
--Frances died on October 29, 1947.  She had lived through 4 wars, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II.

My Frances Cleveland Books:
-Frances Folsom Cleveland--Susan Sinnott
-America's First Ladies--Diana Dixon Healy
-First Ladies--Betty Boyd Caroli
-First Ladies of the White House--Nancy J. Skarmeas

Previous Profiles:
-Eleanor Roosevelt
-Julia Grant
-Louisa Adams