Books I've Read - 2023
Books I've Read - 2023
Nonfiction
December
Oath and Honor, A Memoir and a Warning, Liz Cheney, 2023
Network of Lies: the Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy, Brian Stelter, 2023
Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party, Jonathan Karl, 2023
Where the Law Ends: Inside the Mueller Investigation, Andrew Weissmann, 2020
November
Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and the Washington Post, Martin Baron, 2023
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism, Rachel Maddow, 2023
Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country, Adam Kinzinger, 2023
Standing My Ground: A Capitol Police Officer's Fight for Accountability and Good Trouble After January 6th, Harry Dunn, 2023
October
Enough, Cassidy Hutchinson, 2023
Promise Me, Dad: A Year of Hope, Hardship, and Purpose, Joe Biden, 2017
Here, Right Matters: An American Story, Alexander Vidman, 2023
The Conspiracy to End America: Five Ways My Old Party is Driving ourDemocracy to Autocracy, Stuart Stevens, 2023
September
The Destructionists: The Twenty-Five-Year Crack-Up of the Republican Party, Dana Milbank, 2023
The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden's White House and the Struggle for America's Future, Franklin Foer, 2023
Joyful Defiance: Death Does Not Win the Day, Anna Madsen, 2022
Eat Cake for Breakfast and 99 Other Small Acts of Happiness, Viola Sutanto, 2021
Lucky: How Joe Biden Barely Won the Presidency, Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes, 2021
August
Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom, Ilyon Woo, 2023
Blowback, A Warning to Save Democracy from the Next Trump, Miles Taylor, 2023
Justice, Justice Thou Shalt Pursue: A Life's Work fighting for a More Perfect Union, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 2021
The Flag, The Cross, and The Station Wagon: A Graying American Looks Back at His Suburban Boyhood and Wonders What the Hell Happened, Bill McKibben, 2022
Homegrown: Timothy McVeigh and the Rise of Right-Wing Extremism, Jeffrey Toobin, 2023
July
Supermajority: How the Supreme Court Divided America, Michael Walman, 2023
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End, Atul Gawande, 2014
June
The Joy of Politics, Amy Klobuchar, 2023
Hold the Line, Michael Fanone, 2022
Look for Me There: Grieving My Father, Finding Myself, Luke Russert, 2023
Rough Draft, Katie Tur, 2022
May
Carry On: Reflections for a New Generation, John Lewis, 2021
April
Nine Black Robes: Inside the Supreme Court's Drive to the Right and Its Historic Consequences, Joan Biskupic, 2023
The Mindful Grandparent: The Art of Loving Our Children's Children, Marilyn McEntyre and Shirley Showalter, 2022
Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out and Finding the Courage to Lead, Cecile Richards, 2018
March
Why We Did It: A Travelogue from the Republican Road to Hell, Tim Miller, 2022
Trust the Plan: the Rise of QAnon and the Conspiracy That Unhinged America, Will Sommer, 2023
Soul Spa: 40 Days of Spiritual Renewal, Sharla Fritz, 2015
Dinner for One: How Cooking in Paris Saved Me, 2022
February
Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the US Department of Justice Against His Critics, Michael Cohen, 2022
Freed to Love and Live Again: My Journey through Grief to Wounded Healing, a Liberating Theology and Social Justice Ministry, Brian Erickson, 2022
When the Northern Lights Went Dark: My Journey through Loss and Grief to Healing and Hope, Brian Erickson, 2019
People vs Donald Trump: An Inside Account, Mark Pomerantz, 2023
January
Donald Trump v. the United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President, Michael Schmidt, 2023
That Time of Year: A Minnesota Life, Garrison Keillor, 2020
Courage Under Fire: Under Siege and Outnumbered 58 to 1 on January 6, Steven Sund, 2023
The Fight of His Life: Inside Joe Biden's White House, Chris Whipple, 2023
Fiction and Poetry
December
Poem a Day, Volume 2, Laurie Sheck, 2003.
November
Collateral Damage, J.A. Jance, 2023
October
Blessing of the Lost Girls, J.A. Jance, 2023
City of Dark Corners, Jon Talton, 2021
The Last Devil to Die, John Osman, 2023
The Exchange: After the Firm, John Grisham, 2023
September
Toast Mortem, Claudia Bishop, 2010
Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, 2023
August
The Maid, Nita Prose, 2022
The Songs of Willow Frost, Jamie Ford, 2013
July
Central Park West: A Crime Novel, James Comey, 2023
All the Demons are Here, Jake Tapper, 2023
Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, James McBride, 2023
June
Rogue Justice, Stacey Abrams, 2023
The Covenant of Water, Abraham Verghese, 2023
May
The Way of the Bear, Anne HIllerman, 2023
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus, 2022
The A List, J.A. Jance, 2019
The House in the Pines, Ana Reyes, 2023
Murder with Honey Ham Biscuits, A. L. Herbert, 2020
April
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins, 2020
Night Flight to Paris, Cara Black, 2023
March
Heartburn, Nora Ephron, 1983 (Forward by Stanley Tucci, 2023)
Three Hours in Paris, Cara Black, 2020
The Silver Star, Jeanette Walls, 2013
February
Code Name Blue Wren, Jim Popkin, 2023
Remarkably Bright Creatures, Shelby Van Pelt, 2022
January
The Diamond Eye, Kate Quinn, 2022
*Children's Book
Books I've Read - 2022
Books I've Read - 2022
Nonfiction
December
A Shot to Save the World: The Inside Story of the Life-or-Death Race for a COVID-19 Vaccine, Gregory Zuckerman, 2021
Uncontrolled Spread:Why COVID-19 Crushed Us and How we Can Defeat the Next Pandemic, Scott Gottlieb, 2021
About Your Father and Other Celebrities I Have Known, Peggy Rowe, 2020
When the Northern LIghts Went Dark: My Journey through Loss and Grief to Healing and Hope, Brian Erickson, 2019
November
Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, Maggie Haberman, 2022
Lifelines:A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health, Lena Wen, 2021
September
The Divider: Trump in the White House, Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, 2022
Holding the Line: Inside the Nation's Preeminent US Attorney's Office and Its Battle With The Trump Justice Department, 2022
Gunfight, Ryan Busse, 2021
Thank You for Your Servitude: Donald Trump's Washington and the Price of Submission, 2022
August
Broken News:Why the Media Rage Machine Divides America & How to Fight Back, Chris Stirewalt, 2022
The Big Lie: Election Chaos, Political Opportunism, and the State of American Politics After 2022, Jonathan Lemire
July
A Sacred Oath: Memoirs of a Secretary of Dense During Extraordinary Times, Mark T. Esper, 2022
Mar-A-Lago: Inside the Gates of Power at Donald Trump's Presidential Palace, Laurence Leamer, 2019
June
The Fourth Man: The Hunt for a KGB Spy at the Tip of the CIA and the Rise of Putin's Russia, Robert Baer, 2022
May
A Man Walks Into a Barn: Navigating Fatherhood in the Flawed and Fascinating world of Horses, Chad Oldfather, 2021
This Will Not Pass: Trump, Biden, and the Battle for America's Future, Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, 2022
Stepping Back from the Edge: A Daughter's Search for Truth and Renewal, Laura Trujillo, 2022
April
Every Day is a Gift, Tammy Duckworth, 2021
Places Along the Way: Meditations on the Journey of Faith, Martin Marty and Michah Marty, 1994
The Big Cheat: How Donald Trump Fleeced America and Enriched Himself and His Family, David Cay Johnson, 2021
Pandemic, Inc.: Chasing the Capitalists and Thieves Who Got Rich While We Got Sick, J. David McSwane, 2022
March
Putin's World: Russia Against the West and With the Rest, Angela Stent, 2019
Lessons from the Edge: A Memoir, Marie Yovanovitch, 2022
February
F**k Death: An Honest Guide to Getting through Grief Without the Condolences, Sympathy, and Other BS, Steve Case, 2020
January
The Myth of Closure: Ambiguous Loss in a time of Pandemic and Change, Pauline Boss, 2022
The Steal: The Attempt to Overturn the 2020 Election and the People Who Stopped it, Mark Bowden and Matthew Teague, 2022
Fiction and Poetry
December
100 Poets: A Little Anthology, John Carey, 2021
November
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver, 2022
October
The Rose Code, Kate Quinn, 2021
September
The Bomb Shelter (A David Mapstone Mystery), Jon Talton, 2018
The Bullet That Missed, Richard Osman, 2022
August
The Alice Network, Kate Quinn, 2017
July
The Spy and the Traitor, Ben Macintyre, 2019
The Man Who Died Twice, Richard Osman, 2021
June
The Future Library, Peng Shepherd, 2022
Foreign Eclairs, Julie Hyzy, 2016
May
The Cartographers, Peng Shepherd, 2022
The Sacred Bridge, Anne Hillerman, 2022
Markings, Dag Hammarskjold, 1964
April
The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman, 2021
The Unlikely Yard of the Dragon Lady, Sharon Mondragon, 2021
March
Run Rose Run, Dolly Parton and James Patterson, 2022
Tea Time for the Traditionally Built, Alexander McCall Smith, 2010
Death at la Fenice, Donna Leon, 1992
February
Call Us What We Carry, Amanda Gorman, 2021
The Lincoln Highway, Amor Towles, 2021
January
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir, Jennifer Ryan, 2017
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith, 2003
*Children's Book
Books I've Read - 2021
Books I've Read - 2021
Nonfiction
December
The Plague Year by Lawrence Wright, 2021
The Premonition by Michael Lewis, 2021
The Way Out by Alan Gordon 2021
Good Anxiety by Wendy Suzuki, 2021
November
The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery by Ross Douthat, 2021
Too Famous: The Rich, The Powerful, The Wishful, The Notorious, The Damned by Michael Wolff, 2021
Betrayal: The Final Act of the Trump Show by Jonathan Karl, 2021
October
I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House by Stephanie Grisham, 2021
You Can Talk to God Like That: the Surprising Power of Lament to Save Your Faith by Abby Norman, 2021
World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One by Sanjay Gupta, 2021
September
Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life's Greatest Challenges, Second Edition, Steven M. Southwick and Dennis S. Charney, 2018
The Reckoning: Our Nation's Trauma and Finding a Way to Health by Mary Trump, 2021
Ordinary Heroes: A Memoir if 9/11 by Joseph Pfeiffer, 2021
Hatchet Man: How Bill Barr Broke the Prosecutor's Code and Corrupted the Justice Department, 2021
Peril by Bob Woodward and Robert Costa, 2021
August
I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year by Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, 2021
Preventable by Andy Slavitt, 2021
Frankly, We Did Win This Election by Michael C. Bender, 2021
Hope Happens by Catherine DeVrye, 2004
July
Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency by Michael Wolf, 2021
June
Nightmare Scenario: Inside the Trump Administration's Response to the Pandemic That Changed History. by Yasmeen Abutalaeb and Damian Paletta, 2021
This Too Will Pass by Helen Exley, 2020
May
On Location: A Theology of Place by Kenneth Larkin, 2003
Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2021
April
The Hope of Glory: Reflections on the. Last Words of Jesus from the Cross by Jon Meacham, 2020
Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times by Katherine May, 2020
Authoritarian Nightmare: Trump and His Followers by John Dean and Bob Altemeyer, 2020
Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess by Rachael Hoffman, 2017
March
Bagman by Rachel Maddow, 2020
The Promise of Winter: Quickening the Spirit on Ordinary Days and in Fallow Seasons by Martin Marty and Micah Marty, 1997
February
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker, 2020
January
Living Faith by Jimmy Carter, 1996
Hate in the Homeland: The New Global Far Right by Cynthia Miller-Idriss, 2020
Fiction and Poetry
December
Judge's List by John Grisham, 2021
Muse of Fire: Approaches to Fire by H. Edward Richards and Frederick Shroyer, 1971
November
State of Terror by Hillary Rodham Clinton and Louise Penney, 2021
October
Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson, 2018
Death in a Strange Country by Donna Leon, 1991
September
Ronia, The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren, 1981
Change Sings: A Children's Anthem by Amanda Gorman, 2021*
August
Unfinished Business by J.A. Jance, 2021
July
Kindest Regards: New and Selected Poems by Ted Kooser, 2018.
Credible Threat by J.A. Jance, 2020.
The President's Daughter: A Thriller by James Patterson and Bill Clinton, 2021.
The Devil May Dance: A Novel by Jake Tapper, 2021
June
The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper, 2018.
While Justice Sleeps: A Novel by Stacey Abrams, 2021.
May
Death at La Fenice by Donna Leon, 2004
The Bell in the Bridge by Ted Kooser, 2016*
House Held up by Trees by Ted Kooser, 2012*
The Blizzard Voices by Ted Kooser, 2006
Wherever You Are, My Love Will Find You by Nancy Tillman, 2010*
While Justice Sleeps: A Novel by Stacey Abrams, 2021
Stargazer by Anne Hillerman, 2021
April
The Hill We Climb: An Inaugural Poem for the Country by Amanda Gorman, 2021
March
The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson (pages 3-136), 1960
Missing and Endangered by J.A. Jance, 2021
February
Poems of Robert Frost (Mountain Interval pages 105-156, In the Clearing, pages 411-428)
Truly Like Lightening by David Duchovny, 2021
January
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson, 2019
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett, 2020
The Whispering Town by Jennifer Elvgren, 2014*
The Poems of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (Miscellaneous, pages 667-728, Paul Revere's Ride, page 275-279)
*Children's Book
What I am doing in retirement ...
What I am doing in retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
Retired for Six Months ...
Retired for Six Months ...
February 8, 2021
It is hard to believe that I have been retired for six months! Of course, the Pandemic continues to make this time unlike any other as Bert and I stay strictly isolated.
Here are the goals I set six months ago and an update on how I am doing:
- Plan to read more books - Read 34 books. Check out my "Books I've Read" lists.
- Spend more time in my kitchen trying new recipes - Have tried LOTS of new recipes. One of the bright spots of the Pandemic is that we continue to enjoy a wide array of colorful and delicious foods.
- Connect (virtually, for now) more often with friends and family - Enjoyed a monthly get-together with my Barnes Intern friends, holiday celebrations with family, and virtual coffee dates with friends.
- Twirl my batons - Have twirled in the backyard but not as often as I might in the coming year. Play "Stars and Stripes Forever" while I twirl.
- Write more letters and send more cards - Have done well with this one and keep the postal carrier busy almost every day picking up the mail we send.
- Learn new things - Watched a You Tube video and learned to cut Bert's hair. Went to the virtual FNCE. Participated in a number of webinars from AND DPGs, AARP, and the Arizona Historical Society.
- Organize my cookbooks - Have all my new cookbooks in one place and received two boxes of my Mom's cookbooks. Still have work to do on this goal.
- Play my flute/Practice on my piccolo - Located both my flute and piccolo but will need to have them checked to see if they need new pads once I can go to a music store.
- Go to my virtual yoga class - Only went once!
- Pick one of my cookbooks each week and make something new - Have used more than 15 different cookbooks but find I go back to ones with my tried and true favorite recipes.
- Use my juicer - Only did this once!
- Take naps - Don't do this often but have enjoyed a few naps.
- Go swimming - Was able to go swimming often in August and until the end of September because our weather stayed hot.
- Create my own website - Done.
- Sit on my patio to drink coffee and read my morning papers - Still need to do.
- Learn to use my library card to get books for my Kindle - Still need to do.
- Take more time to reflect on all I am grateful for as I retire - Do every day.
All in all, I think I've done pretty well and look forward to making more progress and picking new goals in the coming year.
Books I've Read - 2020
Books I've Read - 2020
Nonfiction
December 2020
Running Against the Devil by Rick Wilson, 2020
Inspired: Slaying giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans, 2018
Everything is Beautiful in Its time: Seasons of Love and Loss by Jenna Bush Hager, 2020
Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth by Brian Stelter, 2020
Daily Gratitude: 365 Days of Reflection, Photos and Wisdom to Enrich Your Spirit by National Geographic, 2014
November 2020
Crazy Christians: A Call to Follow Jesus by Michael B. Curry, 2013
The Alphabet of Grace by Frederick Buechner, 1989
The Plot to Betray America by Malcom Nance, 2019
October 2020
Rage by Bob Woodward, 2020
Disloyal by Michael Cohen, 2020
Our Hope for Years to Come: The Search for Spiritual Sanctuary by Martin Marty and Micah Marty, 1995
September 2020
Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump, 2020
Melania and Me by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, 2020
August 2020
The Mourner's Dance: What We Do When People Die by Katherine Ashenburg, 2002
The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton, 2020
Fiction and Poetry
December 2020
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson, 2006
Poem a Day, Volume 1 edited by Karen McCosker and Nicholas Albery, 1994
November 2020
Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd, 2020
October 2020
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi, 2020
They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell, 1937
A Time for Mercy by John Grisham, 2020
September 2020
Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy, 2018
The Lake Wobegon Virus by Garrison. Keillor, 2020
Anxious People: A Novel by Fredrik Backman, 2020
August 2020
The Lager Queen of Minnesota: A Novel by J. Ryan Stradal, 2020
The Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert, 2015
What I am doing in retirement ...
What I am doing in retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
Getting ready for FNCE ...
Getting ready for FNCE ...
October 10, 2020
Being retired is great! This week I am getting ready for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE). It is a virtual meeting this year and the rate for retirees was just $89! A true bargain.
While working, I was only able to attend FNCE one time as the opportunity generally went to the Bureau Chief or leaders for programs like WIC. The year I was able to attend, the meeting was in Hawaii! I was serving as Nominating Chair for the Public Health and Community Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group and they paid my way. I was able to visit Nicole Dragisics at Hawaii Pacific University during the conference. My son, Chris Sass, joined her at HPU a few months after the conference.
This year's meeting offers many opportunities to learn more about topics like nutrition and wound healing, food insecurity, and more. I have "built" my agenda on the online FNCE platform and already started earning "badges". For those of you that know me, you know I am a huge proponent of "gamification" to promote behavior change.
What I am doing in retirement ...
What I am doing in retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
Retirement Gifts ...
Retirement Gifts ...
September 26, 2020
My colleagues from the Dairy Council of Arizona, Inc., gave me a wonderful array of retirement gifts. Cookbooks, a great red cooler, dairy-themed kitchen utensils. and more were included. Perhaps, best of all, were the WIC cookbook and the DASH diet materials that we worked on together as special projects.
Thank you, Terri Verason, Tammy Baker, and Pat Johnson for these amazing and thoughtful gifts.
What I am doing in retirement ...
What I am doing in retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
Labor Day ...
Labor Day ...
September 6, 2020
Loving retirement. My first Labor Day since 1977 without a paid holiday. My thanks to the workers who went before me to make paid holidays and pensions possible. Hats off to all the essential workers making life easier for us during these Pandemic times. Thank you to my sister, Sandra Johnson, for this wonderful coffee cup. I drink from it every Monday morning!
My "learn something new" this week was how to post a video to my website. Check out the link on my Homepage to see the amazing retirement gift that I received from Chris Sass and Nicole Dragisics!
What I am doing in retirement ...
What I am doing in retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
Retirement So Far ...
Retirement So Far ...
August 15, 2020
So far in retirement, I have read more books, spent more time in my kitchen trying new recipes, connected (virtually, for now) more often with friends and family, twirled my batons, wrote more letters, sent more cards, went swimming, and took two naps.
For something new to learn, I ordered hair clippers and "professional" scissors, watched a YouTube video, and learned to cut Bert's hair! I thought I did an okay job and so did he!
Also, with Chris's help, I learned to create this website!
What I am doing in retirement ...
What I am doing in retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
An ongoing series about my retirement ...
My Plans for Retirement
My Plans for Retirement
August 8, 2020
In retirement, I plan to read more books, spend more time in my kitchen trying new recipes, connect (virtually, for now) more often with friends and family, twirl my batons, write more letters and send more cards, learn new things, organize my cookbooks, play my flute, go to my virtual yoga class, pick one of my cookbooks each week and make something new, use my juicer, take naps, go swimming, create my own website, practice on my piccolo, sit on my patio to drink coffee and read my morning papers, learn to use my library card to get books for my Kindle, and take more time to reflect on all I am grateful for as I retire.
When the Pandemic is further behind us, I look forward to spending time in Hawaii with Chris and Nicole, walking to the park, going hiking, seeing friends and neighbors in person, traveling to Nebraska to be with family and friends, going out to eat, taking day trips all around Arizona, go walking at the Zoo, getting my hair cut at the salon, visiting the Heard Museum and Phoenix Art Museum as well as having lunch at each place, enjoying a long weekend with my friends from my Barnes Hospital Dietetic Internship, and having a margarita while enjoying Mexican food at a restaurant.