Holiday Books, Bill Clinton's Picks

Someone should hire former President Bill Clinton to be a regular book reviewer. Regardless of politics, he has a brilliant mind, loves books and is excellent at reviewing them. And the fact that The Today Show, a news program, as opposed to, just another entertainment show, calls Clinton's selections "smarty pants" choices revels how often real news and issues are being dumbed down.  Too many interviews with celebrities and reality stars does that. Now I enjoy gossip just as much as the next person [Heck, yeah!], but when I read or watch the news from (what is supposed to be) the legitimate press, I want stories about important world issues ... and I want balance ... and the reporters to interview sources ... plus thoroughly do their homework. Hopefully, the folks who write, edit and produce the news, themselves, read compelling books.  By the way, Ann Curry was terrific this morning anchoring the segment.  It was the website -- probably a cyber editor trying to be cute -- that labeled Clinton's books a "smarty pants" list.

Listening to Bill Clinton review books on The Today Show this morning reminds me what critical thinking is.  There are many world issues and worthy ideas, which are bigger than politics and celebrity.  There are subjects and topics that say something about the human condition and help us understand who we are.

Clinton explains why books are important and make great gifts: Books "make you think" and "feel."  Reading "gives you time" [that's] "intensely personal, but you're completely involved. It's a wonderful way to get away from the helter-skelter of your life ..." [plus] "you can always be growing."  [It keeps] "your mind open and thriving." 

Here are Bill Clinton's book recommendations:

Penned: Back To Work

1. Jerusalem

By Simon Sebag Montefiore (Knopf)

2. Lincoln 

By David Herbert Donald (Simon & Schuster)

3. Meditations 

By Marcus Aurelius (Simon & Brown)

4. The Way of the World: From the Dawn of Civilizations to the Eve of the Twenty-First Century  

By David Fromkin (Knopf)

5. The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles' Philoctetes

By Seamus Heaney (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)

6. One Hundred Years of Solitude

 By Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Harper Perennial)

7. King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror and Heroism in Colonial Africa

By Adam Hochschild (Mariner Books)

8. Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny

By Robert Wright (Vintage)

So if you have any last minute holiday shopping, head over to the bookstore. 

You may also enjoy:

The Story Of English

Sidney Poitier: Actor, Author ... And More

What I Like About Mad Men And The 60s

Combine Gift Certificates With Seasonal Sales