Crisis of Character by Gary J. Byrne

   Will the truth ever get out of what went on during the Clinton presidency? As for legacy, time will tell what was left. But there will be lots of details for future biographers to glean the facts from. But one thing is sure, people don’t charge. The past is a true indicator of the future.

   Having been a Secret Service uniformed officer serving under the Clinton’s, Gary J. Byrne ought to be able to properly inform us of what Hillary would have been as a President -- if elected in 2016.

   The Hillary we saw during the election period is not the Hillary we would have in the White House, Byrne states. He observes she simply lacks the integrity and temperament to serve in the office.

   He saw her volcanic, impulsive, and treating her secret service detail as furniture. He saw her cold yet able to play warm when it came to acceptance by crowds. But she was able to switch when crowds and cameras depart.

   She was always able to, pardon the phrase, turn shit into gold.

   Why would Byrne write another book about the Clintons? Don’t we have enough?

   The reason is, we should know what we would have gotten in another Clinton Presidency. We need to be warned about what we would have had. We would have had someone who, like her husband, Bill, doesn’t play by the rules, making them up to suit the event.  By looking at Bill’s years and Hillary’s part in them we should see a good picture of what could be with her in power.

   You can know a person by what he or she does. Hillary has a record. We need to pay attention to her actions.

   Byrne worked close to both the Clintons. He observed them as he had to protect them.

Bill Clinton was pure Teflon when it came to scandals. Byrne says President Clinton could charm a rock. Yet at the same time he treated those who were protecting him as dirt.

   “He never apologized to us,” Byrne says about the Monica Lewinsky affair. “”He never apologized for putting us in that position….Not only did he never apologized for costing the taxpayers, the Justice Department, the Secret Service, his staff, his constituents, or anyone for putting them through the ringer.

   “He wanted us to believe he was sorry for embarrassing his family, Chelsea and Hillary.”   

   Hillary in her small way is carrying on the Clinton Tradition. Her style is to deny and push the blame on to others. An example is her phrasing her opposition as “the right wing conspiracy”, if there is such a group.

   Mostly this book is about how the Clinton’s operated during their years in the White House It is all here, the scandals, the denials. The pressure this put upon the staff around them.

    Hillary has, according to Byrne a “just get it done” leadership style. Which means that she doesn’t care how a thing works. She uses plausible deniability when faced with problems. Just remember her email and her statement that it was private email-- as if anything in cyberspace is private.

   It seems to run in the family.

   I feel this book should be placed alongside the other books covering the Clintons.

   It is published by Hachette Book Group, Inc and is eighteen chapters long with an afterword.  The price is around $27.00

The Great Good Thing by Andrew Klavan

    Andrew Klavan is a name known in the literary world in the realm of crime fiction. He is prolific and best known for True Crime among many other works. His work uses at least one character who is a Christian in a major role.

    He did not start out life with that viewpoint. In fact he was not even interested in that area.

His childhood was far from what we would see as religious. His parents were only Jewish in name and agnostic even atheist in practice.

    His early childhood was spent in his mind in stories he made up. No one really knew. Education wise he was able to bluff his way through school. He never read the required books assigned but was able to bluff his way to good grades.

    He had Christian influences as he grew from childhood to adolescence. He knew about the Bible but it was just a book to him that contained great plot ideas.

    But he was intellectual and had to read through the book for himself.  

    This is a memoir that starts at age sixty when he is being baptized than backtracks to carry the story forward from birth to the baptism. It has great fiction technique. You can see he has great command of language. It is an easy read.

    This book was sent to me free from booklookbloggers.com for the purpose of review. I recommend this as a book to be shared with seekers. It is a good evangelistic tool.

True Faith and Allegiance by Alberto R. Gonzales

Every once in a while a memoir is written that informs people about a time in history that needs to be remembered and understood correctly.

Such is a time Gonzales spent as the first Hispanic US Attorney General and counsel to President George W. Bush. This memoir covers the years 2000 to 2007.

The story, being autobiographical as well as apologetic forms a good piece of source material for a future author who will research the period of 9/11 and after.

It took a strong man to guide the President through the things history threw at him; such things as terrorism, Al Qaeda, government surveillance, and Supreme Court nominations.

All the players are here. All the senators, the officials, the bit players-they are brought on stage and play their part in the struggle Gonzales faced as a friend of Bush.

It may have been different if there wasn’t these struggles brought on by life, but Gonzales was victorious in the end. It was his faith in God and his loyalty to authority that helped him.

 I found this book to be truthful sharing successes and failures without apology. I would recommend this for all history classes.

I received this book gratis from Booklookbloggers.com for the purpose of review. At no time was I required to like it.

Story Genius by Lisa Cron

Writing Help

  Do you have an idea for a book but are stuck, on how to best tackle the story? By this I mean, do you know where you are going and how to get there?

   If it is true we all have a story to tell and the obstacle keeping us from starting the journey of putting the story on paper to completion is not knowing how to get from the beginning to the end, than this is the manual for you.

  We have to get past the feeling that we need either to pants it (or wing it) or have a complex outline worked out before hand. There is an easier way.

  We can use a method utilizing our inner sense of story code to craft the material. 

  You start with the story you have in your mind. You write a character study in the first person of every player in your book that will be featured in the plot. You are asking why they do what they do. You will be using cards that can be arranged and rearranged as you write. The end must be charted out before you begin.

  Writing is not for the fainthearted. But if done right you will have a blueprint set up.

   This book is not for everyone. Only for those who wish to be published. There are no shortcuts to being a writer who has readers. Cron presents her method in an easily understandable fashion.

   This book was sent to me gratis from bloggingforbooks.com for the purpose of reviewing. I was at no time required to present a favorable review in order to stay a reviewer. The options are my own and do not reflect the publisher, Ten Speed Press. The book costs $15.99 and can be found in your local bookseller.

Chase The Lion by Mark Batterson

   How big is your dream? Or another question is: how large is your courage?

   Books cross my desk from time to time that expand the region of concepts. This is one of them.

   The point is we need to consider our approach to life. Will we play it safe or venture out and stretch? Will we stop fearing failure and dream big dreams which may scare us?

   Our dreams should push our faith and provide an opportunity for God to show up and show His power.   Most of the time we just act as though all the Christian life is about if getting up each morning and on Sunday we go to service and sit and listen to the sermon.

   Batterson suggests it is best lived as a life of dreams.

   This is not a text book. Rather it is a dream casting. In the 218 pages plus notes we are urged to think big. A change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. The outcome isn’t the issue. It is the obeying that is important.

    This is the book for those who need the encouragement to try new things. It will give you the fuel for your tank and the assurance you need that someone has your back.

   This book was sent to me free from blogging for books.com(http://www.bloggingforbooks.com) for the purpose of a review. There was no requirement that I like it. But I do. You will like it also.

Two Cozies I Enjoyed

   Every once in a while a person needs to just read for the joy of reading--not having to read for a blog post
   You notice the different name on this posting? That is because I am going to step back from the web postings for Blogging for Books and the Book Look blogger for this one time-- there may be more in the future-- but for now it is not a web blog posting for either of the above two.
   This is rather a look at two cozies I have read that I feel you might enjoy.
    I check out books from my library also so I am always able to find a book to read.
    The first cozy I want to look at is by Sally Goldenbaum titled Murder at Lambswool Farm. It is part of the Seaside Knitters Mystery series. It has a large cast of characters since we are drawn into the village and the area of Sea Harbor, Massachusetts. The story is carried in the third person point of view.
      The murder doesn't happen until the second third of the book, but there is action to carry you up to and past the murder. It has been said by the people who lecture on the genre that the murder is the high point and everything else is downhill.
        Goldenbaum keeps the story moving.
         We have the suspects. And the corpse. Also the sleuth. Of course the law.
         It is a peaceful town we are introduced to. A stranger comes into town. His car is being repaired. But that is just a reason  for his staying even after the car is fixed.
         There is the doctor who is cares for the town folks. He is the one killed. Poisoned. Was it the meal he ate that night?  Who would want to poison him?
          Very little is mentioned about the knitters.
        The other cozy I wish to introduce to you is somewhat different. It is by Teresa LaRue and is called A Talent for Murder. . 
     It is a new series and therefore the first book in that series that will be known as A Flower Patch Mystery.

     It is unique in having a group of sleuths-- a threesome of daughter, mother, and niece. It is told in first person. The niece is the one who is the point of view. The detective is the love interest. It moves well. It will be a good series.
      The title comes from something the murderer says.
      I would recommend these for those readers out there who wish to read something that will exercise the mind, since reading is a form of exercise and mysteries are a type of game played between the reader and the writer.