It’s still summertime and summertime means summer reading lists. Historically, sitting presidents enjoy being asked about what they are reading because whether or not they are reading anything on their own time, it’s a way to humbly brag about one’s intellect. President Barack Obama posted his to Facebook.
One of my favorite parts of summer is deciding what to read when things slow down just a bit, whether it’s on a vacation with family or just a quiet afternoon. This summer I've been absorbed by new novels, revisited an old classic, and reaffirmed my faith in our ability to move forward together when we seek the truth. Here’s what I’ve been reading:
Tara Westover’s Educated is a remarkable memoir of a young woman raised in a survivalist family in Idaho who strives for education while still showing great understanding and love for the world she leaves behind.
Set after WWII, Warlight by Michael Ondaatje is a meditation on the lingering effects of war on family.
With the recent passing of V.S. Naipaul, I reread A House for Mr Biswas, the Nobel Prize winner's first great novel about growing up in Trinidad and the challenge of post-colonial identity.
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones is a moving portrayal of the effects of a wrongful conviction on a young African-American couple.
Factfulness by Hans Rosling, an outstanding international public health expert, is a hopeful book about the potential for human progress when we work off facts rather than our inherent biases.
Donald Trump hasn’t released such a list, but CNN went through his Twitter feed to see what he’s mentioned in between semi-coherent rants about “witch hunts.” Here’s what they found:
- "The Russia Hoax: The Illicit Scheme to Clear Hillary Clinton and Frame Donald Trump," by Gregg Jarrett. Trump lauded this book as "hard work" from Jarrett, a Fox News legal analyst who Trump called "a brilliant guy.”
- "The Briefing: Politics, the Press and the President," by Sean Spicer. "A friend of mine and a man who has truly seen politics and life as few others ever will, Sean Spicer, has written a great new book," Trump wrote, adding that the account from his former White House press secretary is a "story told with both heart and knowledge."
- "9 Rules of Engagement," by Harris Faulkner. Trump praised this memoir by Fox News anchor Faulkner as a "terrific new book."
- "The Capitalist Comeback: The Trump Boom and the Left's Plot to Stop It," by Andy Puzder. Trump gave a nod to his former labor secretary nominee Puzder's new book, predicting that it will be a "big hit."
That author list is like a who’s who of “people you should not speak or listen to about anything—including directions." I think we all realize that if Trump has read more than five pages, collectively, from all four of these "Pulitzer”-worthy tomes, it would be remarkable.