The most recommended books about Trump

As a serious fan of Susan Glasser’s digital column on The New Yorker website, I had the bonus treat of listening to narrator Julia Whelan read the articles as a promotion for Audm back in the Days-of-Trump.

For this book, Glasser joins her husband Peter Baker, The New York Times’ chief White House correspondent, to co-author this impressive document, I loved this book. And it’s fat-free.

Full of stories on the brink of disaster during the Trump years are briskly told with a calm, reasoned voice – kind of like a walk down memory lane! Curious that reading about the events that had me bubbling up with anger at the time, is now replaced with understanding and acceptance of the man Trump as a phenomenon, and with this account I may have read enough about the man in the White House from 2017 to 2021.

Okay! I know this isn’t a romance. However, this book did keep me up at night. I couldn’t put it down.

The reason? Fear. It’s shocking to read about going through the last few years and seeing how things played out through another lens. Because, you know you saw the same thing. But Mr. Karl was right there. Up close and personal.

It’s chilling to read how perilous things were, and frankly, still are. This is a very good book.

This is an eye-opening exploration of the principles of persuasion and belief.

The book focuses on the intriguing story of Dr. J.R. Brinkley, who gained notoriety for selling goat testicle implants as a cure for erectile dysfunction. While this may seem outlandish, it serves as a powerful illustration of how people can be made to believe in something when specific techniques are employed.

Many of us are raised with a certain moral compass, which can sometimes hinder our understanding of how belief works.

Making Them Believe breaks down these principles and shows readers how to harness them in a business context. By suspending our disbelief and distaste for Dr. Brinkley's methods, we uncover a remarkable template for convincing customers to believe in and buy our products.

The key takeaway from this book is that, by following the principles outlined, you can effectively promote your reputable product or service, ultimately benefiting… show more.

Stark-McGinnis tackles Alzheimer’s of a parent, in this case, a mother. The disease is already well-progressed as we meet Cassie; her mother has already forgotten her name. Told in the present tense interspersed with a series of flashbacks to before Cassie’s Mom had the disease, we see all that has been lost. Linking memories to math, in that each can be broken down into more finite parts, Cassie draws “memory sketches” in the hopes that connecting all the dots in Mom’s life will make her remember. It doesn’t of course, but with her father, Cassie finds a path toward acceptance. 

Early on in this collection is an essay that encapsulated for me the often unseen internal struggle of attempting to assimilate into the United States. A young Porochista makes an excursion to the Los Angeles Zoo with her parents, and to her great horror she is taken on a camel ride that she fears will publicly expose her for who she is: an Iranian who has been masquerading as an American. Constructing the mask is only one part of the challenge, but keeping it on might be even harder, and this collection can be read as a primer on the impact on the individual of two nations that have been at odds for the last forty years. 

Full confession: the author is my son, Jake Jabbour. This is a memoir written in 2017 about the death of my father, his grandfather. They were close. My father died in October 2016, three weeks before the election of Donald Trump as POTUS. Subsequently, in the spring of 2017, we had a service for The Colonel. That's when this story begins.

After the service, Jake broke up with his girlfriend and embarked on a train trip across America. The reason was to teach and perform Improvisation Comedy. During that sixteen-day journey, Jake attempts to make sense of all that has happened. Moreover, to reflect on who he is. It's beautifully written, heartbreaking, and inspiring.

Jake identifies as an INFJ. Which stands for Introvert, Intuition, Feeling, Judging. It designates one of sixteen personality types per the Myers-Briggs Personality Type indicator test. My doctor doesn't give the MBTI much credence. However, a… show more.

U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin was not only inside the Capitol on January 6 when it was stormed, he had just tragically buried his 25-year-old son the previous day. His book, a cathartic exercise for himself and a shocked nation, drills down to the heart of what happened, showing in graphic detail how violent and terrifying that day was from an insider’s perspective. 

As a former constitutional law professor at American University who later became a Trump impeachment manager and member of the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the attack, Raskin eloquently explains the underlying events and issues that led to the violent breach. He argues forcefully why the former president himself must be held accountable before the country can begin a crucial, difficult healing process.

When Jo’s stepdaughter Chloe comes to stay, she’s excited to introduce her to baby Evie. Unfortunately, Chloe is the stepdaughter from hell. Don’t Let Her Stay is such a clever book, based on a simple premise but delivers so much, with secret after secret making me gasp out aloud.

I reckon it’s the realism in this book that makes it so compelling. The characters jump off the page, and just when you think you have it all figured out, bam, you don’t! As a veteran psychological thriller reader, it’s rare that I’m totally surprised.

This one got me and stayed in my mind long after I finished the book.

Actually, I called this book the "worst book of the year." However, it's my third favorite because it demonstrates a critically serious problem in our current culture.

That is the corruption of journalism and, more broadly, the media as a whole. With the internet and social media (big tech) having opened up 'news' and information - the competition for money, status, and power has overwhelmed human reason and sensibilities.

Haberman is a prime example of the destructive force of the new world we have created. It has infected all aspects of society, leading to the collapse of civil discourse. And perhaps even to civil war. Trust is gone, and primitive tribalism reigns. 

Believe it or not, this irreverently titled gem was recommended to me by a pastor.

Charlie LeDuff is no saint, but his sermons on racial unrest, politician-class hypocrisy, and the poisoned water of Flint, Michigan should evoke some Old Testament outrage in any red-blooded American.

LeDuff shrugs off the tired tropes and narratives for a God's-honest odyssey of the U.S. to document corrosions within our culture and society. I dig his style and, more critically, his clear-eyed examination of the problems average people are facing across the country.

Sh*tshow! is a fun and refreshing read, sure to help recharge the batteries of even our most cynical.