My all-time favorite book is the one I learned the most from: JFK: Reckless Youth. It takes our future president from birth to the Senate. He was born with many gifts -- charm, wit, looks, intelligence, wealth. He was also lonely, sickly, and pegged from birth as the lesser son to his older brother. Within the Kennedy clan, Jack was isolated, a brainy, bookish boy in a family that valued action over intellect. Plus, he and his mother never "clicked." There are reasons: Rose Kennedy's complicated marriage, the demands of raising a special needs child (Rosemary) at a time when little was known on the subject, and the basic differences in their personalities. But those reasons are hard for a little boy to grasp. He just knew his mother was remote and this was the beginning of his lifelong difficulty connecting with women on a real level.
You're keenly aware that when the book ends, he's 35, with just 11 years left to live.
So while the world saw a war hero, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and the youngest man ever elected to the Presidency, his personal reality was very different. From Reckless Youth I learned that, no matter how a life may look from the outside, you don't know how it feels on the inside.
2. When looking for a book what things do you look for?
Something different from what I just read. After I finish something involving or complicated, I'll reach for something light. Kinda like sorbet to cleanse the palette.
3. Does the cover of a book make a difference or help you choose?
Depends on how I come upon the book. If a book is recommended to me (Kwizgiver is a good source), then I'm already convinced I want it, regardless of the cover.
But so many books that I read come from our neighborhood used book sale. This event is a major fundraiser for the public library, and I help out by sorting the books. We volunteers are rewarded after the sale by being allowed to have as many remaining books as we can carry. I admit that when I go in to the high school gym on that Sunday morning, I am attracted by covers and titles.
4. What is your favorite genre of book? That is, is it science fiction, romance, mystery, true story, or biography?
I have three reading "food groups" -- biography, chick-lit, and mysteries. I bounce comfortably from genre to genre.
