Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created The World’s Most Dangerous Man by Mary L. Trump and The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton
Let’s start with Bolton’s book. I’ve never been a fan of the guy and managed to only get through 35%, according to my Kindle. It was painful. Yes, John, you are smart, and Trump is not. I have summarized the book for you. Mary Trump’s book was far more interesting, though I must say I kept thinking about F. Scott Fitzgerald’s comment to Ernest Hemingway that “The rich are different from you and me.” Unlike Hemingway, I don’t think it is all about the money. Trump’s father had high expectations for his son, and Donald did what he needed to meet those expectations—including lying, cheating and bullying. Mary Trump’s book is ultimately a sad memoir about a dysfunctional family. It should make you happy that your last name isn’t Trump.
The Cold Vanish: Seeking the Missing in North America’s Wildlands by Jon Billman
This book did everything to reinforce my view that nature is scary! Billman, a former wildland firefighter and teacher, explores people who vanish into the wilderness without a trace. One minute, they are hiking along a trail, and the next minute, they’re GONE. So where do they go? What happens to them? Billman focuses on the disappearance of Jacob Gray, who heads into Olympic National Park and disappears. Billman weaves in interesting details about other missing people, Bigfoot believers, clairvoyants who really aren’t, and a bunch of other fascinating information you didn’t know you needed. Read it, but wait until after your hike.
Cleo McDougal Regrets Nothing by Allison Winn Scotch
How would people from your past describe you? What if they wrote an op-ed about you? Especially those who knew you as a teenager? Yeah, maybe not such a great idea. A sitting Senator is thinking about a run for the presidency when a former friend decides the senator is the reason her life is in shambles. This book is not your typical “chick lit,” as Cleo apologizes for nothing she did or does. Maybe that’s why I liked it so much.
