There’s nothing like combining two things that you love, and for me the opportunity came with the Italy in Book reading challenge.  I love to read.  I love Italy.  Hey, this is a no-brainer!

The challenge is to read 12 book that are set in Italy during the year.  They don’t need to be entirely set in Italy, just that Italy needs to figure prominently in the plot.  The book can be fiction or nonfiction, and can be about any topic.  Now doesn’t that sound like fun?  And, as an extra bonus, there will be prizes for participants!

Everyone can participate – you don’t need to have a blog – so check out the details about signing up and joining the challenge.  After you’ve read the book, you can write a review on your blog if you have one.  If you don’t have a blog, you can click on a link and add your review of the book in an alternate method.  You won’t have to worry about running out of ideas on what to read – you’ll get lots of ideas from reviews written by others.

My first review was on the book Beyond the Pasta, a combination cookbook-travel book-food memoir, about spending a month living with an Italian family and learning the language and cuisine.  Talk about fun!  It’s a bit zany, full of life, with some great recipes as well.  You can read my review of Beyond the Pasta on Traveling with MJ.

If the book interests you, it is available from Amazon for $32.95.  It is not currently available for Kindle.

C’mon – don’t you want to participate too?  Who will join with me?

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I was driving on my way to an appointment, when an interview with Ronald Kessler came on the radio.  Kessler, a prolific author and former columnist for the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, has a new book out, In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect . Although a bit too much of the interview was whinging about the Secret Service needing more money (I’m neither agreeing nor disagreeing with that premise), some of the gossipy presidential tidbits grabbed my attention.

I fired up my trusty Kindle, downloaded it, and settled in for a read.

The book was based on interviews that Kessler conducted with over 100 current and former Secret Service agents, including at the management level.  In most cases, he names names and provides sources.  The absences of sources is missing in some of the more over-the-top anecdotes, making them a little more difficult to attach credence to.

The book traces the birth and evolution of the Secret Service, and how its missions has been honed, and changed, over the years.  It’s very clear that Kessler resents the shifting of the Service away from the Treasury Department and over to Homeland Security.  Equally clear is his dissatisfaction with the budget allocation that came with that shift.  He cites countless examples of weakness and gaps in the protection protocol, and continues the whinging for more money.

What struck me as the difficult question in all of this, is that protectees are looking for less (or perhaps less obtrusive) protection, allowing them to be closer to the people who elect them, at the same time that the Service insists on higher levels of protection and risks at an all time.  Until those disparate interests find some middle ground, I don’t see the budget and structural issues of the department getting resolved.

I enjoyed the book, which was a very quick read, for it’s tabloid-like anecdotes about the foibles, misadventures, and lives of Presidents, Vice Presidents, public officials, and their families.  It felt a bit voyeuristic at times, but that didn’t stop me from plowing ahead.

I liked the tidbits about how the Service felt about the people who they protected, which in large part seems to be based on how willing the protectee was in complying with their requests.  A brief overview below:

• Kennedy – No surprises here as they talk about his infidelities.
• Johnson – A picture of LBJ as a sexual conqueror, and Lady Bird’s turning away and choosing not to see or acknowledge
• Nixon – Despised him, felt pathetic toward Pat and her alcohol issues
• Ford – Not the bumbler that was portrayed in the press, he was actually quite athletically gifted – but very cheap.
• Carter – Hypocrite about using alcohol and carrying his own bags, and examples of brattiness on the part of first daughter Amy.
• Reagan – Loved him, thought him jovial and engaging, but Nancy called the shots.
• Bush I – Both he and Barbara were thought to be charming and caring people.
• Clinton – Loved him as well, and though his caring about people and their situation was honest and real.  Always late.  Not fond of Hillary at all.
• Bush II – Loved him, and absolutely adored Laura.  Many examples of kindness and thoughtfulness expressed toward the service.  Always prompt.  Also plenty of stories about the first twins.
• Obama – A little too early for complete feedback, but the initial word is that what you see is what you get, except that he hasn’t quit smoking.  They appear to love Michelle, citing examples of her kindness toward them.  And as for the girls, well, they have to do their homework.

There’s lots of other dirt on public officials, from cabinet members to aides, who’ve made less than stellar choices in their personal life.  While it’s mean spirited to say, we love reading this stuff!  It’s a little like reading the supermarket tabloids, only in book form.

Interested in buying the book?

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I’m currently reading Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time, the story of Greg Mortenson’s unsuccessful attempt to climb K2, the world’s second tallest mountain.

Mortenson’s story reinforces my belief that out of every failure can come a success, and is part travel book and part inspirational story.

As he was finishing his unsuccessful attempt at K2, Mortenson fell quite ill, and was sheltered and cared for in Korphe, a small and rather primitive village in Pakistan.  After he recovered, he promised to return and build a school for the village.  The story of the struggles to make the school a reality is a fascinating story of life, politics, culture, and the personal stories of the people in rural Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The title of the book is based on a Baltistan proverb:

The first time you share tea with a Balti, you are a stranger.  The second time, you are an honored guest.  The third time you become family.

The school project has evolved into a foundation called the Central Asia Institute, responsible for 50 additional schools in the area. I’m only about half way through the book, and the first school hasn’t yet been built, so I’m looking forward to seeing how the story goes from here to there.

It’s a great read, and you can find it on Amazon in hardback, paperback, and in a Kindle edition.

Image credit:  Amazon

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I am reading quite the amazing book right now – ‘ target=_blank>Outliers:  The Story of Success.

It’s written by Malcolm Gladwell, and I loves his previous books, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference’ target=_blank>The Tipping Point and Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking’ target=_blank>Blink, so I was eager to read what he had to say once again.  I’m only about half way through the book, but already I can tell that this will be my new favorite!

Have you read Outliers?  Has it changed the way you feel about education, intelligence, hard work, and opportunity?

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