Friday, February 17, 2012

ARE YOU LISTENING? THE OBAMAS - AN AUDIO BOOK REVIEW AND GIVEAWAY

WELCOME TO BOOKIN' WITH BINGO'S" 
ARE YOU LISTENING? DAY" 
I AM EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE TODAY'S
AUDIO BOOK CHOICE.....
GIVEAWAY ENDED 
THE OBAMAS
BY JODI KANTOR
READ BY ROBIN MILES

ABOUT THE BOOK:
When Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, he also won a long-running debate with his wife Michelle. Contrary to her fears, politics now seemed like a worthwhile, even noble pursuit. Together they planned a White House life that would be as normal and sane as possible.

Then they moved in.

In the Obamas, Jodi Kantor takes us deep inside the White House as they try to grapple with their new roles, change the country, raise children, maintain friendships, and figure out what it means to be the first black President and First Lady. Filled with riveting detail and insight into their partnership, emotions and personalities, and written with a keen eye for the ironies of public life, THE OBAMAS is an intimate portrait that will surprise even readers who thought they knew the President and First Lady
.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jodi Kantor began her journalism career by dropping out of Harvard Law School to join Slate.com in 1998. Four years later, she became the Arts & Leisure editor of the New York Times. She has been covering the Obamas since 2007, and though she is a Washington correspondent for the newspaper, she lives in Brooklyn with her family. To read more about Jodi Canter, visit her website HERE. She can be followed at twitter.com/jodikantor.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK: 
"Kantor... has earned the voice of authority. A meticulous reporter, Ms. Kantor is attuned to the nuance of small gestures, the import of unspoken truths... Kantor retires wooden stereotypes of the political wife as a prop or a problem and instead explores what it means to be a modern first lady, one with her own opinions and an expectation that she will be heard."
— Connie Schultz, New York Times
MY THOUGHT/REVIEW:
New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor‘s new book, THE OBAMAS, was making news even before it was for sale. Of course, in an election year people are looking everywhere and anywhere for information- positive or negative- about the President and the First Lady. After listening to THE OBAMAS, I am afraid that all the fuss was for naught. I found that it was a typical book describing the first term of President Obama and detailing his personal relationship with his wife, and their marriage. President Obama seems to be a perfect match for First Lady Michelle Obama as they compliment each other nicely. She is depicted as a strong woman who keeps her family including the children grounded. It seems it was her wish to have things like this way before they even set foot over the White House threshold.

That isn’t to say that Kantor didn’t put in a few things to provoke readers’ interest. Parties that might have been a bit over the top or bickering within the staff members, for example, were described. Michelle Obama was made out to be somewhat of a fashionista with designer clothes who also plays an important role in the political lives of the Obamas. I thought to myself this would only be natural, would it not? But then people put a spin on even the slightest thing to form their opinions, whether pro or con.

I did find it interesting when Kantor described how security makes it so hard for the Obamas to carry on normally. I have always been fascinated on how that works. The Obamas have personal friends outside their political lives, as well as their children, so having a “normal” life, really is something they both, but especially Michelle Obama, work toward.

Kantor does a good job in making the book interesting and as long as people understand that unless the President and Mrs. Obama have written the book, we will never know for sure how much of this is the truth. We can only count on Kantor‘s resources and professionalism to try and write a fair depiction of these fascinating people. I think the best thing this book does is to show people some of the ways that their relationship has played a part in the President‘s Administration. With Kantor’s easy to read (or listen to) book, THE OBAMAS is interesting and worth the time spent on it.

GIVEAWAY
 THANKS TO MITCH AND THE FOLKS AT
HACHETTE BOOK GROUP, I HAVE TWO COPIES
OF THIS BEST SELLING AUDIO BOOK
 TO GIVE AWAY TO 2 LUCKY WINNERS!
 
--U.S. AND CANADIAN RESIDENTS ONLY
--NO P. O. BOXES, PLEASE
--INCLUDE EMAIL ADDRESS IN COMMENT
--ALL ENTRIES/COMMENTS MUST BE
SEPARATE IN ORDER TO COUNT
AS MORE THAN ONE ENTRY
HOW TO ENTER:

+1 ENTRY: READ ABOUT THE AUDIO BOOK ABOVE AND COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FOUND INTERESTING ABOUT THE OBAMAS THAT WOULD MAKE YOU WANT TO WIN THIS AUDIO BOOK

+1 MORE ENTRY: BLOG OR TWEET ABOUT THIS GIVEAWAY AND LEAVE A LINK I CAN FOLLOW IN THE ENTRY

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON SOMETHING YOU FIND INTERESTING AT JODI KANTOR'S WEBSITE HERE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE CURRENT GIVEAWAY OF MINE YOU HAVE ENTERED. IF YOU ENTERED MORE THAN ONE, COMMENT SEPARATELY FOR EACH AND YOU WILL GET AN ENTRY FOR EACH ONE

+1 MORE ENTRY: COMMENT ON ONE WAY YOU FOLLOW MY BLOG. IF YOU FOLLOW MORE THAN ONE WAY, YOU CAN COMMENT SEPARATELY AND EACH WILL COUNT AS AN ENTRY
 
GIVEAWAY ENDS AT
6 PM, EST, MARCH 6
GOOD LUCK!

70 comments:

lag123 said...

I would like to hear more about the parties that might have been a bit over the top.

lag110 at mchsi dot com

debbie said...

I think that as a family, the Obamas are truly a good one. You can tell how much they love their kids. I would like to hear more about what goes on behind the scences with other things.
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rubynreba said...

I would really enjoy listening to this and finding out more about their family life.
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Carol N Wong said...

I enjoyed listening to the trailer for the book. I really love how they protect their girls and emphasize family. It is so easy to see how important family is to them. They have an advantage over the other candidates for next term in that they have already experienced what it is like to be under the microscope.

CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com

Carol N Wong said...

I tweeted as Carolee88:


Enter to win an audio version to "The Obamas".http://bookinwithbingo.blogspot.com

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Carol N Wong said...

I listened to the video playlist of the interview between the author and New York Times columnist which was on Book TV.

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I entered the giveaway for "The Summer Garden".


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Anonymous said...

I'd love more of a personal, behind the scenes look at their lives!

Carol N Wong said...

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Anonymous said...

I learned she also appears regularly on TV

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Sue Farrell said...

I think it's interesting that you thought that a lot of "flap" about the book was a little over the top. I would like to listen to the book just to see a little insight into how they can have any semblance of normal family life.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

Sue Farrell said...

I see from the author's website that she has written a lot of articles about the Obamas in addition to the book---but I don't see where she has written on other topics.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

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Patricia said...

I'm very interested in how Mrs. Obama and the children can have a "normal" life in the White House fish bowl.

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Patricia said...

I found it very interesting that the author edited the Arts and Leisure section of the Sunday NY Times.

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Patricia said...

Tweeted:

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