The Starr Report by Kenneth W. Starr

The Starr Report: The Findings Of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr On President Clinton And The Lewinsky Affair by Kenneth W. Starr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I thought I wrote a review of this but I can't find it anywhere. Probably I was just too horrified after reading (horrified by both Bill Clinton and Kenneth Starr). First of all, this reads like a smutty romance turned crime thriller so prepare yourself for that. It's dirty but definitely not hot, so I don't think Starr has a future as a romance writer.

Second, I was disappointed to realize, in retrospect, that Bill Clinton probably should have been impeached because he clearly broke the law. The issue isn't that he was cheating on his wife, nor was it the power dynamics with Monica Lewinsky, whatever you may think about that (3rd-wave-feminist-consenting-adult-view versus the concept that she was a low-level intern and her job was negatively impacted). The issue is that he was being deposed in one of his many sexual harassment lawsuits and he lied about related and relevant questions regarding his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. On top of lying in a sworn deposition, he almost definitely committed the relevant sexual harassment (Gennifer Flowers I think?). Though isn't it almost charming in retrospect that Clinton let himself be deposed and allowed an impeachment to proceed against him? History is definitely going in the wrong direction.

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Shattered by Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes

Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton's Doomed Campaign by Jonathan Allen, Amie Parnes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Even though I witnessed most of these events- I was an election junkie and watched all the debates and read all the articles- I was still captivated by this fairly straightforward account. The authors got all of the information for the book "on background" during the election in exchange for not going public until after the election. The writers do a great job of giving everyone and everything that happened a lot of life and movement. I think this book will be especially helpful as a historical account one day. Because honestly, no one will be able to understand how this horror happened unless we get it down clearly now.

It's a pretty good campaign playbook complete with dos and don'ts, though the authors put a lot of blame on Robert E. Mook, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign, who relied a lot on "analytics." It also places blame on Hillary, Bill, Senator Bernie Sanders, and former FBI Director James Comey.

This book mentions but does not really examine the Russian involvement which seems like a huge oversight when the numbers were in tight in numerous states and the Russian advertisement was targeted at precisely the people who did vote for Trump. Nor does it talk about the two third-party candidates who also drained votes. But that's just not what this book about. This is fairly solidly about what Democrats did wrong, not what others contributed to this mess.

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My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg

My Own Words by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I love The Honourable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I think she's one of the most brilliant Americans alive today. This collection of speeches is a mess though. For example, one of them is a brief introduction for Gloria Steinem at an event for her, but we learn nothing about either Ginsburg or Steinem for the inclusion of the introduction. There are two speeches that are actually her husband's, and he has the same opening joke in them. There is an entire cut-and-paste of the opera, Scalia/Ginsburg, which was just the worst. This book could have been really great, and it does have some great feminist writing in it, but you'll have to wade through a lot of poorly edited content to get to it.

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My Life by Bill Clinton

My Life by Bill Clinton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I feel like I should throw myself a party for finally reading this book- in its entirety- after owning it since July of 2004. Over 12 years!

This is a very in-depth autobiography/ memoir of Bill Clinton's life from birth to 2001. At first, I was frustrated that it appeared to mention everyone he ever met and every policy he ever implemented. As I gave in to the detailed nature of the book though I began to appreciate the opportunity of seeing a president's entire story. It was also a good opportunity to relive the important events of 1992-2000 when I was mostly too young to fully appreciate them.

I went to the book signing on July 7, 2004:



You had to go twice, the first time for a bracelet and the second time for the signing. This is me and my friend Julie in 2004 with our copy and our bracelets for the signing.



My copy :



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Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken

Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot by Al Franken
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Actually funny.

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