-President George W. Bush has written a new book entitled, 41: A Portrait of my Father. This book isn't about himself or his presidency, but about his beloved father.
-I loved his first book, Decision Points, even more than I thought I would. So, I'm looking forward to reading this new book.
-On CBS Sunday Morning, Bob Schieffer interviewed Bush, below are the opening comments to the first part of the interview:
In all our history, we've had just two sets of father-and-son
Presidents . . . John and John Quincy Adams; and George H. W. and George
W. Bush. The younger George Bush (President # 43) has quite a bit to
say about his father (#41), and in an interview at his Presidential
Library in Texas, George W. Bush has much to tell our chief Washington
correspondent Bob Schieffer.
--I have since bought Kyle's book and was very excited to see that they have made a movie about him starring Bradley Cooper. The movie has the same title as his book, American Sniper. It comes out in December. I will be one of the first in line to see it.
--I am a big Bradley Cooper fan, so I'm glad that he is playing Kyle. And to add icing to the cake, Clint Eastwood is the director.
--I have 3 months to get the book read before the movie. I'm looking forward to it.
--Evanovich combines the mystery thrill that you'd get from a Sue Grafton or Mary Higgins Clark novel, and then adds A LOT of humor and romance to boot.
--The only peril about reading her books in public, is that you are constantly laughing out loud. I often read them while waiting somewhere or while I'm working out at the gym.
--The characters are amazing. Below are some quotes to help you learn a little bit about them and Evanovich's humor.
Stephanie's Life--
I have a hamster named Rex, a
utilitarian apartment, and my toaster is broken. My name is Stephanie
Plum, and I work as a bond enforcement agent, also known as a bounty
hunter, for my cousin Vinnie.
Truth is, I was a
college graduate with no skills. And after a bunch of years spent
working as a bounty hunter I feared I was no longer especially smart.
Stephanie's Grandma--
She's lived with my parents since Grandpa Mazur took the big escalator to the heavenly food court in the sky. Sometimes I think my father wouldn't mind seeing Grandma step onto that very same escalator, but I can't see it happening anytime soon. Her steelgray hair was cut short and tightly curled on her head. Her nails matched her bright red lipstick. Her lavender-and-white running suit hung slack on her bony shoulders.
Stephanie's Dad--
My father paused with the tub of margarine in one hand and the butter knife in the other, and for an irrational moment I thought he might stab Grandma Mazur.
Stephanie's Mother--
Even before I touched the receiver the urge to scream told me it was my mother. Grandma and I are a trial to her. My mother tries hard to be a good Christian woman and a model of decorum, but Grandma and I not so much. It isn't that we don't want to be decorous Christian women. It's just that it doesn't always go that way.
I don't understand how you have all these accidents, my mother said. I don't know of a single other person who's had his car blown up.
Stephanie's Cop Boyfriend--
Joe Morelli is one of those good surprises. He's two years older than I am, and for most of my school years, spending time with Morelli was like a visit to the dark side, alluring and frightening. He's a Trenton cop now, and he's my off-again, on-again boyfriend. On the outside Morelli is still street tough and dangerously alluring. On the inside Morelli is now the sexy guy with the toaster.
Stephanie's Mentor--
Sometimes I moonlight for a guy named Ranger who's extremely bad in an incredibly good way. He's a security expert, and a bounty hunter, and he moves like smoke. Ranger is milk chocolate on the outside...a delicious, tempting, forbidden pleasure.
Stephanie's awesome sidekick Lula--
Lula was a former hooker turned file clerk. She'd just recently embarked on a makeover program that included dying her hair blond and then straightening it and recurling it into ringlets. The transformation had her looking like a 230-pound black kick-ass Shirley Temple.
Lula swung her pocketbook in a wide arc and crashed it into Spiro's window, shattering the glass. "Where there's a will, there's a way," she said. My mouth dropped open, and when words finally came out they were in a whispered screech. "I don't believe you did that! You just broke his window!" "The Lord provides," Lula said.
I didn't just play the race card, Lula said. I played the race card and the fat card. BAM! My thinking is you gotta use what you got. God didn't make me a big beautiful black woman for nothing. I got cards to play.
No one gets through without a ticket, she said. I don't care if you're a cop, the tooth fairy, or Jesus Christ. That's blasphemy, Lula said to her. You better watch what you say or you're going straight to hell. God don't like people implying he needs a ticket.
--A movie was done on Evanovich's first book. They originally were going to have Sandra Bullock play Stephanie Plum, which I think would've been a better pick. But Katherine Heigl did a good job. The guy they picked to play Ranger was great, but they could've done better with Morelli.
--All that said, I hope they plan on doing more movies based on her books.
--I have gotten numerous friends and even my mother to read the books, I highly recommend them!
I went to a church book sale and found these great books. All their hardbacks were only $1, no matter what they were. The huge, older Kennedy book and the Churchill ones were especially worth more than that.
I went hunting for pictures of all of these on the internet. I should've just taken my own pictures and uploaded them, but these are all pretty close to accurate pictures. Except, mine are actually in better condition. I look forward to delving into all of these someday.
A couple of months ago I heard Rudy Giuliani recommend the book, The Forgotten Man. Newt Gingrich, Mark Sanford, Jon Kyl, Mike Pence and Fred Barnes have offered praise for it as well.
In the book, Amity Shlaes takes an in-depth look at the Great Depression and what effect Hoover and FDR's policies did to not only help but also prolong the depression.
I had put the book on hold at the library weeks ago and it finally became available. I've started reading it and below are just a couple of quotes that I've taken note of so far:
"But the deepest problem was the intervention, the lack of faith in the marketplace. Government management of the late 1920's and 1930's hurt the economy."
"Where the private sector could help to bring the economy back--in the arena of utilities, for example--Roosevelt and his New Dealers often suppressed it."
"The New Yorker Magazine's cartoons of the plump, terrified Wall Streeter were accurate; business was terrified of the president."
"Coolidge's personal wager about the 1920's was that the private sector would and should take the lead, and that then the possibilities for progress would be boundless."
My teenage daughter isn't a big reader, but she loves the "Twilight" book series by Stephanie Meyer. It is a teenage love story between a normal girl and a guy who is a vampire. They are a huge hit right now with teens AND adults. Several friends of mine have read the books and really liked them.
My daughter has been counting down the days until the premiere of the movie based on the first book. So, last night 2 friends of mine, my daughter and one of her friends all went to the Midnight premiere of the movie. The movie theater we went to was showing it on 5 different screens, and the parking lot was packed.
I was the only one in the group that hadn't read any of the books. They all thought the movie wasn't as good as the book, although they enjoyed it. I had nothing to compare it with, so I thought it was pretty good. I can see why the storyline is so compelling and I look forward to reading the books.
Since this election cycle was hard on all of us, I figure a diversion from politics is a good thing. My liberal buddies James and Dave are so happy about their Obama win that they are taking some time off from politics. Kudos to them, while being happy about their win there was no gloating to those of us who were mourning a loss.
1) True but funny story--I was working out on the elliptical machine at the gym last night and this guy starts working out next to me. He starts talking to me even though I have headphones on but he gets my attention. We start talking for awhile, when I realize that he is hitting on me. By this time he knows I'm married, have 4 kids, that my husband does kickboxing, etc... I even talk about how I'm a Republican and he is an Obama supporter and still he is not dissuaded. Finally, I happen to mention that I'm one of those people who still loves Bush and he finally disappears. LOL :-)!
2) Nickelback's New Cd--I'm a big fan of Nickelback and they are coming out with a new Cd. Ironically, it comes out the same day as David Cook's, November 18th. I'm looking forward to both of them. I'm really bummed that a friend and I didn't go to the Nickelback concert here in KC a year ago with Chris Daughtry. I'm a huge fan of both and it would've been worth the money. Hopefully, sometime in the near future. My friend is also a homeschooling Mom of 4 so we joked about how we would have to get some leather pants to go.
3) The Jane Austen Book Club--I knew I wanted to buy this movie the first time I saw it. It is an excellent movie but I was waiting for it to be a decent price. Then, this past weekend I needed a good movie to distract me from the rough political news. I went to Target and they had it for a great price and it was the last copy. How could I not buy it?
4) North and South--I started reading this during the summer but things got crazy busy with the campaigns. It was hard to get much reading done, but if I did, it was easier books. So, now that the campaigns are over I went back to reading it and I am enjoying it. I also only have 3 books after this to finish my 50 book list.
Tomorrow, will be my Fun Stuff--Part 2 post, stay tuned!
A group of friends and I are going to see Laura and Jenna Bush when they come to promote their children's book this month. Here are the details via Rainy Day Books:
Time: Tuesday, April 29, 2008 7:00 p.m. Location: Unity Temple on The Plaza, Sanctuary, 707 W 47th Street, Kansas City, MO 64112 Phone: 913-384-3126 Title of Event: Laura Bush and Jenna Bush for Read All About It!
Authors: The First Lady Laura Bush and The First Daughter Jenna Bush. Be one of the 1,000 lucky people to meet Laura and Jenna in person.
Title: Read All About It!, $17.99 Hardcover, ISBN 9780061560750, On Sale Date: April 22, 2008. Local Customers can Pick-Up their Tickets, Wristbands and Books at Our Bookstore, Tuesday, April 22 through Monday, April 28, 2008. Out-of-town Customers can Pick-Up their Tickets, Wristbands and Books at Our Author Event on Tuesday, April 29, 2008, beginning at 6:00 PM. You are advised to Pick-Up your Admission Packages of Tickets, Wristbands and Books either at Our Bookstore or at Our Author Event because the time is too short to Ship them.
What: The First Lady Laura Bush and The First Daughter Jenna Bush will give us a Multimedia PowerPoint Presentation about their new book, Read All About It! and the importance of reading for about 30 minutes and then they will autograph Single Copies of their new book, Read All About It!, purchased from Rainy Day Books, on our website and / or at Our Author Event, that are accompanied by a Stamped Sequentially Numbered Ticket and a Booksigning Line Wristband. Still Photos with cameras and cell phones will be allowed at a distance of individuals in the moving Booksigning Line. Posed Photos hold up the Booksigning Line and are Prohibited. Personal Video is Absolutely Prohibited.
When: Tuesday, April 29, 2008, 7:00 PM
Where: A Rainy Day Books Author Event at Unity Temple on The Plaza, Sanctuary, 707 W 47th Street, Kansas City, Missouri 64112
I mentioned at the beginning of this year that I had joined a group where we committed to read 50 books this year. I was excited about it but had no idea I would be doing as well as I am this early in the game. Most of the credit goes to how easy and fun the Stephanie Plum series is but I have read and listened to a couple of other good books as well.
Right now I am listening to Bonhoeffer: The Cost of Freedom on CD. It is phenomenal!! It is an inspirational true story and I am enjoying it immensely. I am also in the middle of reading the 12th book in the Stephanie Plum series, entitled, Twelve Sharp.
Here are the books that I have read so far:
1) The Faith of the American Soldier--Stephen Mansfield 2) My Grandfather's Son--Clarence Thomas 3) A Patriot's Handbook (CD)--Caroline Kennedy 4) 1776 (CD)--David McCullough 5) One for the Money--Janet Evanovich 6) Two for the Dough--Janet Evanovich 7) Three to get Deadly--Janet Evanovich 8) Four to Score--Janet Evanovich 9) High Five--Janet Evanovich 10) Hot Six--Janet Evanovich 11) Seven Up--Janet Evanovich 12) Hard Eight--Janet Evanovich 13) To the Nines--Janet Evanovich 14) Ten Big Ones--Janet Evanovich 15) Eleven On Top--Janet Evanovich 16) Visions of Sugar Plums--Janet Evanovich
Also, this is a perfect post to wish my friend a Happy Birthday because she is a huge book reader and puts me to shame in her book reading.
