First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies

 Title: “First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First

              Ladies”

Author:  Kate Anderson Brower

Genre: Nonfiction

Summary: Brower offers new insights into this privileged group of remarkable women, including Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Bird Johnson, Patricia Nixon, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, and Michelle Obama. The stories she shares range from the heartwarming to the shocking and tragic, exploring everything from the first ladies’ political crusades to their rivalries with Washington figures; from their friendships with other first ladies to their public and private relationships with their husbands. She also offers a detailed and insightful new portrait of one of the most-watched first ladies of all time, Hillary Clinton, asking what her tumultuous years in the White House may tell us about her own historic presidential run . . . and what life could be like with the nation’s first First Husband.

Rating: Very good.

Why I Like It:  It was very easy and interesting to listen to.  I learned a lot.

Other:  Listened to it on audio.

Reviewer: Nancy Bucher

Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales

 

Title: Beatrix Potter's Gardening Life: The Plants and Places That Inspired the Classic Children's Tales

Author: Marta McDowell

Genre: gardening, nonfiction, biography memoir,  nature, British literature, history, books about books, animals, Patsy, audio

Summary: (Goodreads) A New York Times Bestseller
There aren’t many books more beloved than The Tale of Peter Rabbit and even fewer authors as iconic as Beatrix Potter. Her characters—Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddle Duck, and all the rest—exist in a charmed world filled with flowers and gardens. In Beatrix Potter’s Gardening Life , bestselling author Marta McDowell explores the origins of Beatrix Potter’s love of gardening and plants and shows how this passion came to be reflected in her work.

The book begins with a gardener’s biography, highlighting the key moments and places throughout her life that helped define her. Next, follow Beatrix Potter through a year in her garden, with a season-by-season overview of what is blooming that truly brings her gardens alive. The book culminates in a traveler’s guide, with information on how and where to visit Potter’s gardens today.

Rating: Excellent!

Why I Like It: So well done & interesting,

Other: I did audio & also got the book out of the library so I could follow along with the beautiful pictures. Both were excellent & so easy to follow!

Reviewer: Patsy

The Boys A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

 Title:  The Boys A Memoir of Hollywood and Family

Author:  Ron Howard and Clint Howard

Genre: Nonfiction

Summary: “What was it like to grow up on TV?” Ron Howard has been asked this question throughout his adult life. In The Boys, he and his younger brother, Clint, examine their childhoods in detail for the first time. For Ron, playing Opie on The Andy Griffith Show and Richie Cunningham on Happy Days offered fame, joy, and opportunity—but also invited stress and bullying. For Clint, a fast start on such programs as Gentle Ben and Star Trek petered out in adolescence, with some tough consequences and lessons.

With the perspective of time and success—Ron as a filmmaker, producer, and Hollywood A-lister, Clint as a busy character actor—the Howard brothers delve deep into an upbringing that seemed normal to them yet was anything but. Their Midwestern parents, Rance and Jean, moved to California to pursue their own showbiz dreams. But it was their young sons who found steady employment as actors. Rance put aside his ego and ambition to become Ron and Clint’s teacher, sage, and moral compass. Jean became their loving protector—sometimes over-protector—from the snares and traps of Hollywood.

By turns confessional, nostalgic, heartwarming, and harrowing, The Boys is a dual narrative that lifts the lid on the Howard brothers’ closely held lives. It’s the journey of a tight four-person family unit that held fast in an unforgiving business and of two brothers who survived “child-actor syndrome” to become fulfilled adults.

Rating: Very good.

Why I Like It:  It was very easy and interesting to listen to.  Especially since I grew up with their tv shows and movies.

Other: Kathy read the book and recommended to me and I listened to the audio version.

Reviewer: Nancy