Sunday, February 18, 2018

ReFoReMo 2018

ReFoReMo 2018 - Reading for Research Month 2018

Watch this space.

I will be participating in ReFoReMo this year, like I did last year. Last year, I posted reviews of many of the picture books that I read that were used as references for the daily postings of ReFoReMo. I will be doing the same again this year, only this year, I hope to do a daily posting as I go along, with short reviews of the books that are referenced each day of the challenge. Last year, I did things a bit differently by waiting until the end of the challenge, and then breaking each story down into category - fiction, non-fiction, rhyming, etc.

Watch this space.


Monday, February 12, 2018

FIRE AND FURY: Inside the Trump White House

I finished reading this much-hyped book. I must say I thought it was very well-written (I've heard other people say they didn't think so - - I disagree), and I also must say it was not as salacious as I thought it would be considering all the media hype when it came out. I guess that was to be expected. That's not to say I was disappointed in the book. On the contrary, I think author Michael Wolff hit the nail right on the head in his overall characterization of the Trump White House as being chaotic, undisciplined, uninformed and unprepared for the real world of politics.

Author Michael Wolff's insights into behind-the-scenes at the White House were equally enlightening and frightening. Although it has been said, by many news organizations and critics, that this book is not necessarily completely based on the truth, what I read echoes, in easy-to-understand terms and scenarios, what we have witnessed during the past year. To think that Trump didn't think he was going to win the election, to think that Trump didn't even really WANT to win the election, to think that Trump was in utter shock when he did win the election, explains so much of what happened during the campaign, during the transaction period between Obama and Trump, and during the past year plus that this buffoon has been in office.

The only thing that I am disappointed in in terms of this book is the quality of the print. By that I mean there were many pages that were difficult to read because the ink was very light. It appeared as those these pages came out of a printer that was low on ink. Also, I found numerous typos in the text. It would also appear that the unexpected interest in the book, which required the immediate printing of many more copies, may have contributed to the lack of quality in the finished product.


Overall, though, I think this book is well worth the read. As Wolff has said in numerous interviews, he has put the information forth in such a way as it offers the reader a chance to review the "evidence" and make up their own mind about the truth and veracity of the statements. But, based on what I've seen, heard and read about Trump and his administration thus far, this book seems to pretty much sum up the true nature of those in the White House - - most of them don't have a clue as to what they're doing and most of them are only in it to further their own careers and line their own pockets. There are a few exceptions to this, but not many.