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  1. #1
    A Cockless Wonder
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    The Trump Library

    Rattling through the Trump books before November 3rd as it won't be so much fun to read after that if he is ousted.

    The Room Where it Happened

    This was a fascinating and very authentic feeling 1st hand account of dealing with Trump by former NSA John Bolton, and the book that got me started. 9/10

    Fire and Fury

    This came across to me as a melodramatic and comic style soap opera, written in a sensationalist style more for entertainment than information. 6/10

    A Very Stable Genius

    This had a more serious style than F+F but was plagued by a whiny grumbling tone that made it seem like it was written with a specific anti-Trump audience in mind. 6/10

    Fear

    The first Trump book by the renowned journalist Bob Woodward. This is far better than the previous 2 books mentioned so far (only half way through). Very focussed and fact filled. And thankfully none of the ubiquitous whining, fainting couch, melodramatic bias that plagues much commentary about the capricious incumbent president that I could pick up. 10/10 so far

    If Woodward's 2nd Trump book (recently released Rage) is as good as the 1st half of Fear then I am looking forward to it.

    What Trump Presidency books have you read and what did you think of them?

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Looper View Post
    What Trump Presidency books have you read and what did you think of them?
    Just
    Quote Originally Posted by Looper View Post
    The Room Where it Happened
    It was well-written, easy to read about a topic which is on the news 24/7

  3. #3
    Thailand Expat Saint Willy's Avatar
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    The title describes something that does not exist.


    perhaps you mean the Library of Trump?

  4. #4
    A Cockless Wonder
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    Bob Woodward's Fear was well written and compelling.

    I am halfway through his follow up Rage now and it is equally well written so far.

    It is developing an increasingly critical tone of Trump as it proceeds although the evidence offered often does not seem to back up the criticism entirely or else the indictments are for sometimes more trivial matters of style rather than substantive presidential malpractice.

    Looking forward to seeing how it finishes.

    The most chilling takeaway for me so far is the strong implication of Machiavellian scheming on the part of the Chinese when it came to strategically concealing the seriousness of the coronavirus during the crucial early stages. Taking extreme measures at home while simultaneously concealing as much information as possible about the havoc that the virus was about to unleash on the world.
    Last edited by Looper; 30-09-2020 at 11:12 PM.

  5. #5
    A Cockless Wonder
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    Just finished Rage. It concludes with a condemnation of Trump as 'the wrong man for the job' but gives him an occasionally modestly positive review from certain angles.

    It is better than Fear since Trump takes part in 17 interviews with Bob Woodward many of which are relayed verbatim at least in sections.

    It is an odd book in that it goes back over territory covered in Rage (Mattis and Tillerson) but manages to examine completely different facets of these subjects.

    This is probably the pick of the Trump books so far.

    His analysis of China's motives and behaviour in their handling of the virus is the most disturbing feature of the book for me.

  6. #6
    A Cockless Wonder
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    Reading Too Much and Never Enough now, the unflattering psychological analysis of Trump from a family perspective from his niece including a detailed family history.

    I did not know that his grandad died of the Spanish Flu in the last big pandemic 100 years ago.

    ...although I guess quite a few people turned up their boots when that one swept the globe.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by Looper View Post
    The Room Where it Happened

    This was a fascinating and very authentic feeling 1st hand account of dealing with Trump by former NSA John Bolton, and the book that got me started. 9/10
    I read this one month ago. Trump was pilloried throughout as ignorant on foreign affairs, and naive in his dealings with Dictators.
    The downside for me was that Bolton came across as a real right wing hawkIsh war monger and just as dangerous in his own way as Trump.

  8. #8
    A Cockless Wonder
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    Just finished

    Quote Originally Posted by Looper View Post
    Reading Too Much and Never Enough
    The Trump Library-51dsxqw25ol-_sl500_-jpg


    Interesting to get the family background story on the crazy presidente, with lots of family anecdotes.

    The niece obviously has an axe to grind and it shows, so her contrived explanations for why she is writing the book are the least convincing aspect of the work.

    But they don't intrude much so you can mostly enjoy a prurient peek behind the gold curtains of the first family.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Iceman123 View Post
    The downside for me was that Bolton came across as a real right wing hawkIsh war monger
    To be fair, that is exactly what he is, so he is either a thin-skinned whiner or an ego-driven recalcitrant to have written the book.

  10. #10
    A Cockless Wonder
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    The James Comey book A Higher Loyalty was good.

    The Trump Library-comey-jpg


    Similar to the Bolton book in being a first person account but he only gets to Trump late in the book as it is more of a memoir.

    He writes in an inspiring way about leadership qualities. A bit like Colin Powell in It Worked For Me

    He also reads the audio book himself which I really like. I prefer an author's voice over a generic book reader.

    He builds it well comparing his experiences with the 3 presidents he served under.

    The portrait he does paint of Trump is a creepily unpleasant mafia boss type president.

    He loved Obama and writes in a convincing way about Obama's better qualities.

    He wrote the book a couple of years ago so he did not know that his disparaging comments about Biden as Obama's off-sider would be about the next president.

  11. #11
    Excommunicated baldrick's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Looper View Post
    He loved Obama and writes in a convincing way about Obama's better qualities.
    A Promised Land is worth the read - he has a very high opinion of Biden

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