Decision Points by George W. Bush

481 pages
Published in 2010
By Crown Publishers
New York, NY

"The nature of the presidency is that sometimes you don't choose which challenges come to your desk. You do decide how to respond." - George W. Bush

Decision Points is not your typical memoir, that is not if you're expecting a chronological retelling of George W. Bush's life. Instead, President Bush chose to focus on key decision points within his lifetime and by doing so, he presents a thorough picture of his background and what has made him the man he is today. Of course, because this is a presidential memoir it should come as no surprise that the majority of the book focuses upon decisions made during the eight years he served as President of the United States.

My thoughts:
Over the years I have found that some of the most fascinating reads are those written by or about people who have had a direct impact on the world in which I live, particularly books about American history and the American people. So it was with great interest and curiosity that I picked up President Bush's memoir, Decision Points. And I am happy to report that I was not disappointed.

From start to finish I found Decision Points to be a fascinating read of current events and recent history. We're not talking nitty-gritty gossip, but the key info as to the why and how President Bush made decisions, both personal and public.

If you think you already have the whole story when it comes to George W. Bush because you read the newspapers or watched the evening news, think again; there are always two sides to every story.

When making any decision I believe it is valuable to hear the "objective" outside view, but I also believe it is extremely valuable to include the perspective of the person on the "inside", the one making the decisions. One can read any number of books on the American Revolution, but to truly understand what life was like and why the Founding Fathers made the decisions they did one must read the personal writings of the founders, as well as books that detail their life and beliefs. In essence, until you learn what made them tick you cannot truly understand why they acted as they did. The same can be said of any modern statesman. Whether you agree with the person or not, you won't stand a chance of ever understanding why they act a certain way or believe a certain thing if you don't take the time to hear their point of view.

As far as the writing style, Decision Points is a easy read. Although President Bush addresses some complicated issues and details he doesn't let the reader get bogged down. His writing is simple, but intelligent and to the point. He says it like it is and doesn't mince words; even when admitting his own mistakes. He comes across as a humble man of faith; not at all one who plays pious or lives a life of hypocrisy. (One may wish me to note there was a smattering of profanity in the book, but always when quoting a previous conversation usually between one politician and another.) President Bush is mostly unapologetic about the decisions he made throughout his political and legislative career stating in the epilogue, "I knew some of the decisions I had made were not popular with many of my fellow citizens. But I felt satisfied that I had been willing to make the hard decisions, and I had always done what I believed was right." (pg. 474)

And that is actually what I admire most about President Bush. Regardless of what others think of his presidency or of him as a person, I personally admire that he took in all the facts, discussed and considered the options, and in the end always made the decision based on what he truly believed was right and good, not for his reputation or career, but for the country as a whole. He was a true example of a politician, one who serves the public not themselves.

Being president of the United States is quite an honor. Only 44 men have held the position in the last 222 years. You don't get on that list just because you want the job. Nor do you get there because you're popular. You get there because you have the experience, the courage, and the leadership to hold the position and you have earned the trust of millions of Americans. I hope those who read President Bush's memoirs do not read it with the goal to nitpick the past, but instead read it with an open mind so as to better understand the man who led the free world for the first eight years of this new millennium, through some of the most difficult decision points of American history.

In the end as President Bush points out within his memoir, history will be the final judge. If historians and critics can still mull over and argue about decisions made by our first president, George Washington 200+ years after his presidency ended, it will be some time before anyone comes to a final conclusion about the presidency of George W. Bush.

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Related Links:

Random House Publishers: Decision Points

Kindle: Decision Points ($14.99)

George W. Bush Presidential Library

The White House: George W. Bush (#43)

Review: Spoken From the Heart by Laura Bush

Summer At Tiffany by Marjorie Hart

258 pages
First Edition published in 2007
HarperCollins Publishers
New York, NY

"Do you remember the best summer of your life?" For Marjorie Hart nee' Jacobson it was New York City and the year was 1945.

The Plot:
"Marjorie Jacobson and her best friend, Marty Garrett, arrive fresh from the Kappa house at the University of Iowa hoping to find summer positions as shopgirls. Turned away from the top department stores, they miraculously find jobs as pages at Tiffany & Co., becoming the first women to ever work on the sales floor -- a diamond-filled day job replete with Tiffany blue shirtwaist dresses from Bonwit Teller's -- and the envy of all their friends. Hart takes us back to the magical time when she and Marty rubbed elbows with the rich and famous; pinched pennies to eat at the Automat; experienced nightlife at La Martinique; and danced away their weekends with dashing midshipmen. Between being dazzled by Judy Garland's honeymoon visit to Tiffany, celebrating VJ Day in Times Square, and mingling with Café society, she fell in love, learned unforgettable lessons, made important decisions that would change her future, and created the remarkable memories she now shares with all of us." (Summary courtesy of HarperCollins)

My Thoughts:
Once again I have Carrie at Reading To Know to thank for my learning of this book. Interestingly enough I don't remember seeing it although it's only been out for three years. It was through Carrie's review at 5MinutesforBooks that I discovered this delightful little read and first decided to add it to my own reading list. I call it a "little read" because it is physically small measuring roughly 7" x 5" and running just over 250 pages. (It is the perfect size for a summer read or a on-the-go-stick-it-in-your-purse read, but I digress.) It also feels little because it reads more like a light-hearted short story than it does a memoir.

Honestly I haven't read a more delightful memoir in some time, not to say the ones I've read haven't been good, they have -- it's just this one had something extra special about it. For starters, I've always been partial to stories about life during the early to mid 20th century, so it isn't surprising that I was quickly swept up into the story. At one point about a quarter of the way into the book I found myself holding my breath. I realized that I was waiting for that proverbial "other shoe to drop" at which point something bad would happen to the protagonist in the story. After all, isn't that what happens in most novels? Oh, but wait. I'd then remember that this is not a novel. This was real life. This was "the best summer" of her life and I started breathing again and relax.

I really enjoyed the sweetness to the story, Mrs. Hart is a wonderful story teller. I also enjoyed the fascinating knowledge one reaps from reading about life in a time and place foreign to oneself. Examples reach beyond the celebrity sightings of Judy Garland and Marlene Dietrich, yes those were fascinating, but I also loved learning what life was like living in the Big Apple at a time when lunch could be bought for less $0.15 at the Automat; when ladies wore gloves and hats as part of their daily attire; and when the tallest building was the Empire State Building where it was rumored on a clear day you could see five states at once. (I should note that the Empire State Building held this status until 1972 when construction on the World Trade Center was finished. It has since gained back the status after the collapse on 9/11/01).

Another aspect that I loved so much about this book was how music played its own part in the story. Yes, there was dancing, there was singing, but there was also Marjorie's love for music and more specifically the cello. Leading up to her summer in New York City, Marjorie had been studying music at the University of Iowa with a focus on the cello, but during that busy summer of 1945 she wasn't able to give much time to practicing. Still the cello was a big part of her personality and it eventually found its way into her busy life and this story. I was excited to find that Mrs. Hart was a cellist as I love the cello. Beginning when I was 13 I played the cello all through Jr. High and High School and for a couple years after college. I never made a career of it like Mrs. Hart, who eventually became a professional and played in the San Diego Symphony, but reading Summer At Tiffany brought back some pleasant memories of my own.

Summer At Tiffany is definitely worth adding to your reading list. Copies are definitely a bargain online if you purchase through Amazon (new copies run just under $6 and used are less than $4 for hardcover copies). I was very surprised to find none of my local libraries had a copy, so I was left with the option to buy or request through Inter Library Loan. I have to say for the price they are online, if you cannot find a copy through your library it's worth the few dollars for this gem of a read.

Thank you Carrie for telling me about this book. I wish I had found it three years ago!

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Related Links:
Official Website for: Summer At Tiffany
Summer At Tiffany (Audio Book, unabridged)

Marjorie Hart's Author Page - HarperCollins Publishers
Smith Magazine's May 2007 Interview with Marjorie Hart
Marjorie Hart's Essay: Kappa Days

Tiffany & Co.

Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books by Azar Nafisi

I must admit that before last month's book club meeting I'd never heard of Reading Lolita in Tehran, even though it has remained on the New York Times bestseller list since it was first published in 2003. At the last book club meeting the group decided to pick three books to read before our next meeting (in April). Although widely different in their subject matter all three of the books involve the Middle East or Islamic and Muslim cultures. It was decided that members of the book club could read all three books, any two of the books, or even just one depending on their tastes and how many time allowed. The three books chosen were: Now They Call Me Infidel, Three Cups of Tea, and Reading Lolita in Tehran. I selected Reading Lolita in Tehran for two reasons, first because it was easily accessible at my local library and second, because the idea of women in another culture studying Western literature and discussing it in a classroom or book club setting sounded interesting. And it was...

From the Publisher:
We all have dreams—things we fantasize about doing and generally never get around to. This is the story of Azar Nafisi’s dream and of the nightmare that made it come true.

For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven young women at her house every Thursday morning to read and discuss forbidden works of Western literature. They were all former students whom she had taught at university. Some came from conservative and religious families, others were progressive and secular; several had spent time in jail. They were shy and uncomfortable at first, unaccustomed to being asked to speak their minds, but soon they began to open up and to speak more freely, not only about the novels they were reading but also about themselves, their dreams and disappointments. Their stories intertwined with those they were reading—Pride and Prejudice, Washington Square, Daisy Miller and Lolita—their Lolita, as they imagined her in Tehran.

Nafisi’s account flashes back to the early days of the revolution, when she first started teaching at the University of Tehran amid the swirl of protests and demonstrations. In those frenetic days, the students took control of the university, expelled faculty members and purged the curriculum. When a radical Islamist in Nafisi’s class questioned her decision to teach The Great Gatsby, which he saw as an immoral work that preached falsehoods of “the Great Satan,” she decided to let him put Gatsby on trial and stood as the sole witness for the defense.

Azar Nafisi’s luminous tale offers a fascinating portrait of the Iran-Iraq war viewed from Tehran and gives us a rare glimpse, from the inside, of women’s lives in revolutionary Iran. It is a work of great passion and poetic beauty, written with a startlingly original voice.

My thoughts
For the most part I enjoyed Reading Lolita in Tehran, but it was a difficult book to read. Even though it was only 347 pages it took me over two weeks to finish it.

When I began Reading Lolita in Tehran I expected a book that would teach me more about 19th and 20th century classics as seen through the eyes of women from another culture, but I was in for a surprise. Yes, I did learn more about the classics discussed (incidentally all of which, with the one exclusion of Pride and Prejudice, I've never read). Through her memoir Nafisi and her students do a great job of dissecting the novels and getting inside the characters and authors minds, not that I always agreed with them, but what I didn't expect was to come away knowing so much more about Iran as a country and the Islamic culture during the late 1970s through the mid 1990s.

But as I mentioned the book was a difficult read. For starters, this is no fictional work. It is a memoir and reads like a memoir. At times I found myself bored, but I pushed on and was rewarded as the boring parts are limited. The Islamic culture itself was difficult to read about because it is a depressing world where morals are upside down, where women are suppressed and punished for being women, and where citizens are forbidden their God-given unalienable rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Last, and because I knew nothing about so many of the books discussed, the information contained in Reading Lolita in Tehran was a lot to take in. I think it might have been easier had I read the works before reading a memoir where the works are discussed in such detail and in contrast to a culture that is so different from my own.

That said, Reading Lolita in Tehran remains an interesting book and I'm glad I read it, but I'm also glad I'm done reading it. I am looking forward to discussing it with the other women in my book club. On a scale of 1-5, 1 being horrible and 5 being excellent I would rate it a 3. It was ok, but not one I plan to re-read or purchase for my library. I'd advise interested readers to borrow a copy from their local library.