Review: The Autobiography of Santa Claus

The Autobiography of Santa Claus by Jeff Guinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the "autobiography" of Santa Claus. Written from the perspective of Saint Nicholas, he begins his story at the year of his birth, 280 AD. He grew up in a Christian home and was well educated and of financially comfortable means. Nicholas always felt that he should share his wealth with the people of his home in Lycia, and at the advice of his priest Philip, he found ways to enter the homes of poor families while they slept and left items and money that were needed. By being secretive, he was able to help these families without hurting anyone's feelings of pride. Nicholas grew up to be a bishop in the church and continued to bless local families in need. He eventually branched out beyond his home but had developed a following and was eventually sainted after locals believed he had passed away. Secretly, Nicholas had simply moved to new areas where he could be of help to those without. He also realized that he was not aging the way many his age were. Allowing him to continue giving secret gifts for hundreds and thousands of years.

Along the way, Nicholas meets many people that learn of his timeless circumstances and his secret of gift giving to children throughout the world. Some of these people included historical figures such as Attila the Hun, Leonardo Di Vinci, King Arthur, and Benjamin Franklin. Even Teddy Roosevelt got in on it and had Saint Nicholas, aka Santa Claus in America, name a toy, the Teddy Bear, after himself. Santa also meets his wife Layla, who is eventually known as Mrs. Claus. The story ends when Santa makes his home at the North Pole.

This book was an interesting concept and I particularly enjoyed the first 1/3, learning some of the historical backstory to Saint Nicholas. However, it turned into a bit of an implausible story as the historical characters that Santa met along the way, joined with him and lived throughout the centuries as his helpers. It was hard to think that Leonardo Di Vinci lived centuries, along with King Arthur and Atilla the Hun. That's when the unbelievable was truly unbelievable. I think it would have been better if Santa met these characters and moved on to met others that would help for those specific eras. I do think it was an interesting story and I know there are other books in the series, so I will revisit these other books in the future for Christmas reads. I think this is worth reading, but a little on the hokey side. Others may not be bothered by historical characters living forever.

View all my reviews

Review: Iced Inn: A Gray Whale Inn Short Story

Iced Inn: A Gray Whale Inn Short Story by Karen MacInerney
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a sweet holiday read in the Gray Whale Inn series by Karen MacInerney. Natalie is the innkeeper at the Gray Whale Inn and her favorite niece, Gwen, is about to get married to the man of her dreams. As the families descend on the little Maine island, a snowstorm approaches and family tempers flair. Add to that a mystery of missing presents earmarked for a fundraiser to help a local resident in need. It's up to Natalie to solve the mystery and make sure that Gwen makes it to the altar.

View all my reviews

Review: Leadership: In Turbulent Times

Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Doris Kearns Goodwin profiles four past presidents who endured tumultuous times during their administrations. Abraham Lincoln had to work through warring factions in the US to see the Emancipation Proclamation become law. Teddy Roosevelt had to deal with a miners strike. FDR took over the country during the depression, seeing multiple programs and projects instituted for his New Deal to come to fruition to stabilize the country's economy. Lyndon Baines Johnson took over as president when the nation lost JFK to an assassin's bullet. He worked hard to see Civil Rights legislation passed during a tumultuous time in our history. All four men had specific leadership qualities that allowed them to persevere through trials and tribulations during their administrations to achieve major goals in moving our country forward. Are these qualities learned or ingrained in these men? They all had uphill battles throughout their lives and their learned experiences in life certainly contributed to their leadership styles.

Goodwin looks at the lives of these men in three sections. The first section covers their young lives and leadership traits they developed before their foray into politics. The second section described some of the hardships they endured in life and their uphill battle getting into politics. The final section covers a specific case study for each president: Emancipation Proclamation, miner's strike, New Deal programs, and Civil Rights legislation. For each president, Goodwin details the leadership qualities that helped these men persevere through turbulent times to become great leaders.

I enjoy Goodwin's writing and how she analyzed each president and their leadership qualities. They were not perfect men, so she did show some of their flaws. In the final chapters, she focused on specific case studies that showed these qualities and the strengths of each man. She did not go into other issues that the presidents dealt with, outside of a brief discussion on the Vietnam war. That seemed a little out of place. I liked how Goodwin focused on one aspect of each man to really show what makes a person a great leader.

View all my reviews

Review: Fear: Trump in the White House

Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I have refrained from reading books on our current POTUS (as I do with any past POTUS's during their tenure) but decided to read this one simply because I like the journalism of Bob Woodward, who along with Carl Bernstein uncovered the events of Watergate in such great detail. His investigative journalism garnered the Pulitzer for his work at the Washington Post.

The title Fear comes from a comment that Donald Trump made to Woodward during an interview stating "Real Power is - I don't even want to use the word - fear." That really sums up Trump in many ways. He feels he rules with power through intimidation and fear. Others fear him because of the power he holds and uses, unwisely. They fear the effects of knee-jerk reactions and decisions that are made on his own with or without counsel. As a newcomer to politics and Washington, DC, it has been essential that POTUS leans on members of his staff to brief him on all areas affecting his presidency. Most of the time he listens, but it seems that he rarely heeds that advice and instead governs by a spur of the moment decision and reaction.

The focus of this book was on the constant changes in staff through early 2018, relations with North / South Korea, and China, the Mueller investigation, and Trump's obsession with following his own gut instincts and running the government via Twitter. I felt like Woodward was painting Trump to be a new age Nixon. I often found myself wondering if Nixon would have reacted similiarly if Twitter was around for his administration. He also seems as obsessed with watching TV / the news as LBJ was.

I don't feel the book offered any new insights into Trump that have not already being confabulated by the media. However, I trust what Woodward presents and he presents a picture of a, at times, chaotic and energetic administration. Woodward presents the good and the bad. Most of the book follows Steve Bannon's term as White House Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor to the President. Bannon had been the voice of reason that tried to keep Trump focused on his own agenda. Woodward presents Trump as a person who is often easily distracted by policy threads that slide through his brain. As easily as he narrows in on a topic, he can often be distracted onto a new one. This has given his staff time to do some possible damage control in cases where Trump may not want to wait for needed briefings and direction.

Most of what Woodward focuses on are foreign policy issues and Trump's obsession with making financial decisions. After all, he is a businessman and he is running the country like a business. According to Woodward, he often does not take in the full implications of changes, specifically the strategic repercussions of any foreign policy change. An example being changes in trade agreements with South Korea. Major changes could adversely affect our ability to react to North Korean threats because the US would lose their physical presence in South Korea.

One thing that bothered me about Woodward's writing in this book is the occasional interjection of information that had no bearing on that chapter's thesis. Usually, these were comments about a relative or close staffer. Ivanka was the source of most of these comments. It might be some interjection of a smart-alec or entitled comment that she might make, but had nothing to do with the events being described. Very little was mentioned about Melania or Barron, again, except for one or two comments about something frivolous like Barron interrupting Trump's day for a picture for his friend. It just seemed out of place since 99% of the book is about Trump's governance and relationships with his staff and policy advisors.

The focus of this book is very narrow and not a comprehensive look at Trump's life and all of what he faces as POTUS. This is not a tell-all book and it does not cover the various scandalous topics that have surrounded Trump since he announced his candidacy. I still like Woodward's writing, but I think he would have had a stronger book if he had waited until the end of Trump's administration to see what the final result is of his term as POTUS.

View all my reviews

Review: Memories of Childhood's Slavery Days

Memories of Childhood's Slavery Days by Annie L. Burton
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a short little book written by Annie L. Burton, a young African American who grew up a slave. Most of her autobiography is written about her life after emancipation but it does briefly discuss the days of living as a young slave on a plantation in Alabama. The last 1/3 or more of the book is dedicated to poems and songs that inspired her.

View all my reviews

Review: Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America

Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America by Wil Haygood
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a really good look at the confirmation process of Thurgood Marshall. Haygood details the players that helped and hindered Marshall's confirmation. It was clear that LBJ was Marshall's champion and may have been the sole reason Marshall made it to the high court. There were those that did their best to keep Marshall from donning the big black robe. Dixiecrat senators McClellan, Ervin, and Thurmond, spearheaded by Senator James Eastland did their best to break down Marshall during the confirmation hearings and show him as unqualified. Eastland would postpone the hearings or flat out not show up to go out on a campaign against Marshall across the south. LBJ did his own campaigning to make sure the needed votes were there and convince dissenters not to vote. Marshall certainly was qualified for the Supreme Court on his own merits, but he needed that push and support from LBJ to become the first African American Solicitor General and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, in an age of segregation and the fight for civil rights.

This is one of those books that reads like a novel. Very enjoyable. Haygood does go off on a few tangents and does not always come full circle after introducing various players in Marshall's life or cases that he might have argued. They didn't seem to have a relevance to his actual confirmation, however, the information was interesting.

View all my reviews

Review: LIFE The 1960s: The Decade When Everything Changed

LIFE The 1960s: The Decade When Everything Changed by The Editors of LIFE
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A wonderful pictorial look at the Sixties, a decade of change, of turbulence, and of conflict. So many different things happened that were in direct opposition of each other. War at home and abroad, progress on the ground and in space, conservativism against a new left society. Life was in the middle of it all, doing what they do best, reporting and capturing the moments in pictures.

This is a great little book that gets to the heart of what the Sixties were all about with award-winning photos. This book captures it all.

View all my reviews