Double Down: Game Change 2012 by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

Summary:
In their runaway bestseller Game Change, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann captured the full drama of Barack Obama’s improbable, dazzling victory over the Clintons, John McCain, and Sarah Palin. With the same masterly reporting, unparalleled access, and narrative skill, Double Down picks up the story in the Oval Office, where the president is beset by crises both inherited and unforeseen—facing defiance from his political foes, disenchantment from the voters, disdain from the nation’s powerful money machers, and dysfunction within the West Wing. As 2012 looms, leaders of the Republican Party, salivating over Obama’s political fragility, see a chance to wrest back control of the White House—and the country. So how did the Republicans screw it up? How did Obama survive the onslaught of super PACs and defy the predictions of a one-term presidency? Double Down follows the gaudy carnival of GOP contenders—ambitious and flawed, famous and infamous, charismatic and cartoonish—as Mitt Romney, the straitlaced, can-do, gaffe-prone multimillionaire from Massachusetts, scraped and scratched his way to the nomination.

Double Down exposes blunders, scuffles, and machinations far beyond the klieg lights of the campaign trail: Obama storming out of a White House meeting with his high command after accusing them of betrayal. Romney’s mind-set as he made his controversial “47 percent” comments. The real reasons New Jersey governor Chris Christie was never going to be Mitt’s running mate. The intervention held by the president’s staff to rescue their boss from political self-destruction. The way the tense détente between Obama and Bill Clinton morphed into political gold. And the answer to one of the campaign’s great mysteries—how did Clint Eastwood end up performing Dada dinner theater at the Republican convention?

In Double Down, Mark Halperin and John Heilemann take the reader into back rooms and closed-door meetings, laying bare the secret history of the 2012 campaign for a panoramic account of an election that was as hard fought as it was lastingly consequential. (from GoodReads)

Review:
It's no secret that I love politics so a book that details a presidential election is right up my alley. Once I devoured the first Game Change (about the 2008 election) I knew I would have to get the one about the next election. Luckily for me I was not disappointed by this account.

What I love about these books is all the inside information the authors reveal about the campaigns. There are a lot of details shared that many people are not aware of. Since all the sources are anonymous, there's a chance some of this just might be rumors. But it's fascinating and entertaining all the same. What I also like is that I remember most of these events so it's interesting to see the author's take on them. That's why I wouldn't want to read a book about a presidential election that I didn't live through - part of the fun is remembering when Romney made the 47% comments or seeing Bill Clinton's speech at the Democratic National Convention and then reading about it.

The book is pretty long, and the authors use a lot of fancy words (The New York Times book review makes fun of this) but that didn't stop me from enjoying the book. If you're interested in politics then I definitely recommend this along with the first Game Change. Or you could check out the HBO movie which is just as good.

FTC: borrowed from my dad
Rating: 9 out of 10.

2013/Penguin Press/476 pages

Fangasm: Supernatural Fangirls by Katherine Larsen and Lynn Zubernis

Summary:
Once upon a time not long ago, two responsible college professors, Lynn the psychologist and Kathy the literary scholar, fell in love with the television show Supernatural and turned their oh-so-practical lives upside down. Plunging headlong into the hidden realms of fandom, they scoured the Internet for pictures of stars Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki and secretly penned racy fan fiction. And then they hit the road—crisscrossing the country, racking up frequent flyer miles with alarming ease, standing in convention lines at 4 A.M.

They had white-knuckled encounters with overly zealous security guards one year and smiling invitations to the Supernatural set the next. Actors stripping in their trailers, fangirls sneaking onto film sets; drunken confessions, squeals of joy, tears of despair; wallets emptied and responsibilities left behind; intrigue and ecstasy and crushing disappointment—it’s all here.

And yet even as they reveled in their fandom, the authors were asking themselves whether it’s okay to be a fan, especially for grown women with careers and kids. “Crazystalkerchicks”—that’s what they heard from Supernatural crew members, security guards, airport immigration officials, even sometimes their fellow fans. But what Kathy and Lynn found was that most fans were very much like themselves: smart, capable women looking for something of their own that engages their brains and their libidos.

Fangasm pulls back the curtain on the secret worlds of fans and famous alike, revealing Supernatural behind the scenes and discovering just how much the cast and crew know about what the fans are up to. Anyone who’s been tempted to throw off the constraints of respectability and indulge a secret passion—or hit the road with a best friend—will want to come along. (from GoodReads)

Review:
So I am a big fan of Supernatural and the fact that the authors decided to analyze what it means to be a fan in the context of this TV show is what really drew me into this book. I loved that the authors are self-proclaimed fangirls and it was cool to see two intelligent, professional women love a TV show as much as I do. I could really relate to their experiences of watching the show, encountering the huge online community and being captivated by the two leads, Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles.

What made this book such a fun read was that the story was divided between some psychological analysis and the authors' fan experience. They travelled to a ton of Supernatural conventions, got to visit the set and interview everyone from the creator of the show to the lead actors themselves. I was super jealous but I loved that I was living vicariously through them.

Some parts were repetitive; they told a few stories more than once. I wasn't always clear on what their findings were but it turns out that they published a more academic book on this topic. Now I'm compelled to check that out too!

Though this book is about fandoms in general, it might not make much sense if you haven't watched Supernatural and are unaware of the fandom lingo that's present online. So I probably would only recommend this book to fans of the show. I'm sure there are some of you out there!

Rating: 9 out of 10.
FTC: purchased

2013/University of Iowa Press/246 pages.

An Atheist in the FOXhole: A Liberal's Eight Year Odyssey Inside the Heart of the Right-Wing Media by Joe Muto

Summary:
The "Fox Mole" - whose dispatches for Gawker made headlines in Businessweek, The Hollywood Reporter, and even on The New York Times website—delivers a funny, opinionated memoir of his eight years at the Fox News Channel working as an associate producer for Bill O'Reilly.

Imagine needing to hide your true beliefs just to keep a job you hated. Now imagine your job was producing the biggest show on the biggest cable news channel in America, and you’ll get a sense of what life was like for Joe Muto. As a self-professed bleeding-heart, godless liberal, Joe’s viewpoints clearly didn’t mesh with his employer—especially his direct supervisor, Bill O’Reilly.

So he did what any ambitious, career-driven person would do. He destroyed his career, spectacularly. He became Gawker’s so-called Fox Mole.

Joe’s posts on Gawker garnered more than 2.5 million hits in one week. He released footage and information that Fox News never wanted exposed, including some extremely unflattering footage of Mitt Romney. The dragnet closed around him quickly—he was fired within thirty-six hours—so his best material never made it online. Unfortunate for his career as the Fox Mole, but a treasure trove for book readers.

An Atheist in the FOXhole has everything that liberals and Fox haters could desire: details about how Fox’s right-wing ideology is promoted throughout the channel; why specific angles and personalities are the only ones broadcasted; the bizarre stories Fox anchors actually believed (and passed on to the public); and tales of behind-the-scenes mayhem and mistakes, all part of reporting Fox’s version of the news. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I followed the Fox mole story on Gawker over a year ago and I've been waiting ever since for this book to be published. I always wondered what it would be like to work for an organization whose values are not your own - and now I get a firsthand account. I was surprised that much of the book isn't ideological, but rather stories on how a television empire is produced.

I firmly believe that anyone can enjoy An Atheist in a FOXhole, regardless of your political beliefs. The book is more about our intrepid storyteller's life mixed with anecdotes and explanations of how Fox works. I was fascinated by how a television channel is run and what makes Fox different. It's definitely a team effort and since TV is so fast-paced, the work is often done seconds before it's aired live. The most interesting thing was that Fox used videotapes for everything up until a few years ago. For an organization that makes so much money you'd think they would have top of the line equipment.

I still think it's so crazy that Joe Muto worked for Bill O'Reilly - whether you like him or not, The O'Reilly Factor is the number one cable news show. That's pretty cool that our author was one of the people who pitched ideas and stories to O'Reilly and directly influenced what was on his show each  night.

You can tell that Joe Muto has some writing experience, especially since he's able to weave together the narration of the past and "present day," which is when he was caught at the mole. Some of his writing is a little over-the-top but I was still surprised that he was able to remember so many stories and encounters while working at Fox.

Honestly, if you're interested in tv or film and want to know how the inside is run, you should definitely check out this book. It's so fascinating and you get a pretty great story on top of it.

Rating: 8 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from the library

2013/Dutton/323 pages

America Again: Re-becoming the Greatness We Never Weren't by Stephen Colbert

Summary:
Book store nation, in the history of mankind there has never been a greater country than America. You could say we're the #1 nation at being the best at greatness.

But as perfect as America is in every single way, America is broken! And we can't exchange it because we're 236 years past the 30-day return window. Look around--we don't make anything anymore, we've mortgaged our future to China, and the Apologist-in-Chief goes on world tours just to bow before foreign leaders. Worse, the L.A. Four Seasons Hotel doesn't even have a dedicated phone button for the Spa. You have to dial an extension! Where did we lose our way?!

It's high time we restored America to the greatness it never lost!

Luckily, AMERICA AGAIN will singlebookedly pull this country back from the brink. It features everything from chapters, to page numbers, to fonts. Covering subject's ranging from healthcare ("I shudder to think where we'd be without the wide variety of prescription drugs to treat our maladies, such as think-shuddering") to the economy ("Life is giving us lemons, and we're shipping them to the Chinese to make our lemon-flavored leadonade") to food ("Feel free to deep fry this book-it's a rich source of fiber"), Stephen gives America the dose of truth it needs to get back on track. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I'm in love with Stephen Colbert. I watch his show all the time and even got to see a live taping of The Colbert Report last summer. I think he's hilarious and so smart. Obviously I had to read his latest book! America Again was like his show in book form; he still uses satire and irony to make his point. Any fans of Colbert will love this book!

There isn't a whole lot to say since there aren't any characters or plot in this book. It's mostly Stephen speaking as his character about different topics, such as health care, the economy and taxes. The book provides 3D glasses for the pictures in the beginning of each chapter. There are fun footnotes and little extras by "other people" (aka Stephen Colbert pretending to be someone else).

I enjoyed this book a lot and it gave me a lot to think about! If you like his show, I would definitely recommend America Again! Or you might like it if you're interested in humor and politics!

Rating: 9 out of 10.
FTC: Christmas gift.

2012/Grand Central Publishing/240 pages.

Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

Summary:
Psychiatrist Viktor Frankl's memoir has riveted generations of readers with its descriptions of life in Nazi death camps and its lessons for spiritual survival. Between 1942 and 1945 Frankl labored in four different camps, including Auschwitz, while his parents, brother, and pregnant wife perished. Based on his own experience and the experiences of others he treated later in his practice, Frankl argues that we cannot avoid suffering but we can choose how to cope with it, find meaning in it, and move forward with renewed purpose. Frankl's theory-known as logotherapy, from the Greek word logos ("meaning")-holds that our primary drive in life is not pleasure, as Freud maintained, but the discovery and pursuit of what we personally find meaningful.

At the time of Frankl's death in 1997, Man's Search for Meaning had sold more than 10 million copies in twenty-four languages. A 1991 reader survey for the Library of Congress that asked readers to name a "book that made a difference in your life" found Man's Search for Meaning among the ten most influential books in America. (from GoodReads)

Review:
I am required to read Man's Search for Meaning for my Counseling Psych class and I'm really glad I was forced to. A few months ago I read an NPR article on this book and the psychiatrist who wrote it, but never thought I would actually read this book. For those interested in the Holocaust and/or the meaning of life, then this is the book for you!

What's really nice about Man's Search for Meaning that it's very short and to the point. Most the book is Frankl's Holocaust memoirs and I thought that was the most interesting part. It just reinforced the horror I already feel when I think about that terrible time in human history. I was so impressed and frankly shocked at  how Frankl survived the concentration camps - and by how he kept his spirits up. He didn't get into it much in this book, but apparently he would counsel the other inmates and try to give them hope. What a hero.

Frankl's counseling theory, logotherapy, is very interesting and easy to understand, even for laypeople. Basically it's a form of therapy that encourages the client to find meaning in their life and in their suffering. It emphasizes the importance of attitude and the way in which you view a situation can change everything. In addition, he discusses the technique of "paradoxical intention" in which a client faces his or her fears in order to get rid of anxiety. A simple example would be if you have insomnia, you should try to stay awake, then you will fall asleep. If you try to sleep, then it will never happen. I'm sure everyone can relate to this!

Overall, I'm very pleased my professor assigned this book! As a psychology major, I find this to be extremely enlightening. I can relate a lot to Frankl's theory and it would definitely be something I could see myself using in my own life. For those interested in psych or the Holocaust or the human condition, I whole-heartedly recommend Man's Search for Meaning.

Rating: 8 out of 10.
FTC: bought.

1946/Washington Square Press/214 pages.

35 Dumb Things Well-Intended People Say by Dr. Maura Cullen

Summary:
Even well-intended people can cause harm.

Have you ever heard yourself or someone else say: "Some of my best friends are... (Black, White, Asian, etc.)"? "I don't think of you as... (Gay, Disabled, Jewish, etc.)"? "I don't see color, I'm colorblind"? These statements and dozens like them can build a divide between us and the people we interact with. Though well-intended, they often widen the diversity gap sometimes causing irreparable harm personally and professionally. If you've ever wanted to be more effective in your communication with others, or have been afraid of saying the wrong thing, then this concise guide is essential to becoming more inclusive and diversity-smart.

A powerful diversity training too from one of the most respected diversity trainers. (from GoodReads)

Review:I'm an RA and we had a diversity training session based on this book, so I was very glad to receive of copy of 35 Dumb Things. I'm definitely one of the well-intended people the book talks about because I'm very conscious of what I say and how I say it. Luckily for me, I don't really say any of the things on the list, but it was still interesting to see the reasons why you shouldn't say them.

A lot of the things on the list I hear all the time. I really liked how Dr. Cullen made the distinction between intent and impact. Many of the statements are meant to be nice or a way to connect with a person of diverse background. However, when a person says it it comes across as condescending or ignorant. I think it's important to recognize the fact that while you can say whatever you want, everyone will be happier if you don't say it in an offensive way.

Dr. Cullen gave many tips about being a conscious speaker and also gave some explanations as to why something you say may not seem like a big deal, but the person reacts strongly. It's called the "pile-on principle" and it means that all day a person might hear racist/sexist/homophobic comments so when you make a slightly offensive jibe, the person may be more upset than if your comment was the only one they heard all day.

The only thing I didn't like and that made me roll my eyes a lot was that the author had blank pages throughout the book each with one of her own quotes on it. Usually this page would come in the middle of a section and it would throw me off when the section continued after it. Also the quotes were ones that could already be found in the text so they were unnecessary.

Overall, I think this is a book that should be required reading for every person because it has a lot of good information. A lot of people may not care about what they are saying but there are probably people that would learn a lot from it.

Rating: 7 out of 10.
FTC: a gift

2008/Morgan James Publising/141 pages.

The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University by Kevin Roose

Summary:
As a sophomore at Brown University, Kevin Roose didn't have much contact with the Religious Right. Raised in a secular home by staunchly liberal parents, he fit right in with Brown's sweatshop-protesting, fair-trade coffee-drinking, God-ambivalent student body. So when he had a chance encounter with a group of students from Liberty University, a conservative Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia, he found himself staring across a massive culture gap. But rather than brush the Liberty students off, Roose decided to do something much bolder: he became one of them.

Liberty University is the late Rev. Jerry Falwell's proudest accomplishment - a 10,000-student conservative Christian training ground. At Liberty, students (who call themselves "Champions for Christ") take classes like Introduction to Youth Ministry and Evangelism 101. They hear from guest speakers like Mike Huckabee and Karl Rove, they pray before every class, and they follow a 46-page code of conduct called "The Liberty Way" that prohibits drinking, smoking, R-rated movies, contact with the opposite sex, and witchcraft. Armed with an open mind and a reporter's notebook, Roose dives into life at Bible Boot Camp with the goal of connecting with his evangelical peers by experiencing their world first-hand.

Roose's semester at Liberty takes him to church, class, and choir practice at Rev. Falwell's Thomas Road Baptist Church. He visits a support group for recovering masturbation addicts, goes to an evangelical hip-hop concert, and participates in a spring break mission trip to Daytona Beach, where he learns how to convert bar-hopping co-eds to Christianity. Roose struggles with his own faith throughout, and in a twist that could only have been engineered by a higher power, he conducts what would turn out to be the last in-depth interview of Rev. Falwell's life. Hilarious and heartwarming, respectful and thought-provoking, Kevin Roose's embedded report from the front lines of the culture war will inspire and entertain believers and non-believers alike. (from GoodReads)

Review:
When I first stumbled upon this book on Amazon, I was extremely intrigued. Just by reading the synopsis, I felt a connection with the author right away. We're both sophomores in college and we were raised very similarly and have similar beliefs. Since I'm not very religious, religion fascinates me so I knew I would like The Unlikely Disciple.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction, but The Unlikely Disciple read just like a fictional story or novel. I could not put this book down. It was extremely engaging and I wanted to know what happened next. I also thought it was very thought-provoking and I loved that Kevin was able to remain open-minded and respectful of religion during his entire semester at Liberty. I hope that I could be as open-minded as he was if I was ever put in a different culture, so to speak.

I liked that Kevin tried to bridge the gap between the two cultures of Evangelical Christians and non-Evangelical Christians. He was able to show that you can still get along with and still like people that have different beliefs and opinion. A lot of the people met at Liberty were extremely nice and friendly, a lot friendlier than the people at my school it seems.

Kevin was able to go to Liberty without sacrificing his own beliefs as well. He didn't like the overt homophobia that could be found there and never justified other people's prejudiced opinions. Liberty seems like a nice university, but I could never go to a school where everyone is expected to believe the same things and classes are taught with one set of beliefts in mind.

Overall, The Unlikely Disciple was interesting, funny, thought-provoking, introspective, and engaging. I would suggest that everyone read it because it really is a great book.

Rating: 10 out of 10.
FTC: borrowed from library.

2009/Grand Central Publishing/324 pages.

Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin

In 2008, the presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Everyone was watching as the race for the White House unfolded like something from the realm of fiction. The meteoric rise and historic triumph of Barack Obama. The shocking fall of the House of Clinton—and the improbable resurrection of Hillary as Obama's partner and America's face to the world. The mercurial performance of John McCain and the mesmerizing emergence of Sarah Palin.

Based on hundreds of interviews with the people who lived the story, Game Change is a reportorial tour de force that reads like a fast-paced novel. Character driven and dialogue rich, replete with extravagantly detailed scenes, this is the occasionally shocking, often hilarious, ultimately definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime. (Taken fron BarnesandNoble.com)

Game Change probably sounds extremely boring to some people. It's non-fiction, which ends up being a turn-off to some people and then it's about politics, which ends up being a turn-off to a lot of people. But not for me. Well, at least regarding the politics part because I love politics. Political science is a major for college that is floating around in the back of my head. So if you like politics you will love Game Change. It was the best non-fiction book I've ever read (which isn't saying much, unfortunately, because I usually go for fiction). Anyway, it was about the 2008 presidential election which was such a soap opera it might as well have been fiction. The book focuses a lot of content on the Democratic primary and mostly about the race between Obama and Hillary Clinton. But it was all extremely interesting. There are so many insider tidbits and information that I felt like I was delving into the intimacies of each campaign. What goes on behind closed doors is crazy. The book was extremely enlightening about the candidates, the campaign, and just presidential campaigns in general. I learned a lot from Game Change. Another plus to Game Change is that it's recent history and history I actually remember. Come on, we all know a book about the 1884 election would probably end up being a little boring, but the fact that we saw all these people on TV, saw their ads, their speeches, maybe even voted in the election, made it much more interesting. I recommend Game Change to anyone interested in politics or anyone who wants to learn more about presidential elections.

9 out of 10.

FTC: I borrowed this book from my dad.