Hillary Rodham ClintonBesprekingen

[The author writes] about her upbringing in suburban, middle-class America in the 1950s and her transformation from Goldwater Girl to student activist to controversial First Lady. [This book] is her revealing memoir of life through the White House years. It is also her chronicle of living history with Bill Clinton. -Dust jacket.

Reminded me of the TV show "Madam Secretary"

While looking into three bomb blasts across Europe, the Secretary of State Ellen Adams gets on the trail of someone within her own government who is acting to destabilise the US. She and the president dislike each other but must come together to uncover the truth.

It was a fast-paced interesting story.

I was surprised to find typos and editing issues in a print book though. I thought that those happened only with Kindle freebies.

Terrorists

A colaboration on a political thriller that takes place in our current time. A bus has been blown up in Frankfurt, Paris and London. All bombs killing all the passengers and numerous people and property surrounding each sight. The key characters are the Secretary of State, her chief counselor and best friend, the Secretary of State?s children, the head of the armed forces and the president. An interesting and terrifying premise of discovering that the buses that were blown up were a precursor to three nuclear bombs planted in the USA.Kirkus: An award-winning author teams up with a former secretary of state to pen a thriller about�a fictional secretary of state.There are two types of people likely to pick up this book: those who enjoy thrillers and those looking for fresh insight into one of the most powerful political figures of the last 30 years. Neither is likely to be entirely pleased by this slow-moving tale. The setup is solid enough: Ellen Adams has just joined the new president?s administration when three Pakistani nuclear physicists are targeted by deadly explosions in London, Paris, and Frankfurt¥an event that raises alarms about terrorists gaining possession of nuclear weapons. The first issue with this novel is that a secretary of state engages in a lot more talking than doing. The action, such as it is, occurs in scenes dominated by Adams? adult children, and this presents readers with another problem. Her son, Gil, gets off the bus one of the physicists is riding seconds before it blows up. He escapes because his mom gets a tip from a staffer and gives him a call, but the ultimate source of the tip is anonymous and Gil?s reasons for being on that bus are unclear¥and these unknowns are complicated by the fact that he?s a convert to Islam and Islamic extremists are implicated in the attacks. Katherine, the secretary's media-executive daughter, not only travels with her mother as she jets around the world, but also helps out with a little light espionage. The authors are asking readers to believe that Adams? colleagues, her peers, and her boss¥the president of the United States¥are comfortable with her directing the American response to terrorist attacks in which her son was involved, nor do they stop her from treating a high-stakes global manhunt as Take Our Daughters to Work Day. This is all to say that sticking with the narrative means accepting that this is fantasy, not a revealing glimpse behind the curtain from Clinton. Indeed, it?s not hard to read many scenes as wish fulfillment. As the story progresses, Adams dispenses entirely with subtlety and discretion to dish out some no-holds-barred diplomacy. Adams also has a schoolteacher-turned-counselor named Betsy Jameson, a character based on Clinton?s real-life best friend, Betsy Ebeling. Betsy does some sleuthing, and her scenes will, perhaps, feel more familiar to Penny?s fans than the rest of the book. This cozy mystery element is just as fanciful as the rest, but there?s something satisfying about watching two middle-aged women save the world.More of a novelty for political nerds than a compelling thriller.

(2021) Even though Clinton gets top billing on the dust jacket, this is Penny's book. Her fingerpirnts are all over it and that is a good thing. She is the word crafter and this Clinton made an excellent choice as the ?co-author? unlike her husband who picked the hack James Patterson. Very readable and a standard pot-boiler thriller. Penny even works in her Gamache series characters and expressions to enhance the book.Kirkus:n award-winning author teams up with a former secretary of state to pen a thriller about�a fictional secretary of state.There are two types of people likely to pick up this book: those who enjoy thrillers and those looking for fresh insight into one of the most powerful political figures of the last 30 years. Neither is likely to be entirely pleased by this slow-moving tale. The setup is solid enough: Ellen Adams has just joined the new president's administration when three Pakistani nuclear physicists are targeted by deadly explosions in London, Paris, and Frankfurt¥an event that raises alarms about terrorists gaining possession of nuclear weapons. The first issue with this novel is that a secretary of state engages in a lot more talking than doing. The action, such as it is, occurs in scenes dominated by Adams' adult children, and this presents readers with another problem. Her son, Gil, gets off the bus one of the physicists is riding seconds before it blows up. He escapes because his mom gets a tip from a staffer and gives him a call, but the ultimate source of the tip is anonymous and Gil's reasons for being on that bus are unclear¥and these unknowns are complicated by the fact that he's a convert to Islam and Islamic extremists are implicated in the attacks. Katherine, the secretary's media-executive daughter, not only travels with her mother as she jets around the world, but also helps out with a little light espionage. The authors are asking readers to believe that Adams' colleagues, her peers, and her boss¥the president of the United States¥are comfortable with her directing the American response to terrorist attacks in which her son was involved, nor do they stop her from treating a high-stakes global manhunt as Take Our Daughters to Work Day. This is all to say that sticking with the narrative means accepting that this is fantasy, not a revealing glimpse behind the curtain from Clinton. Indeed, it's not hard to read many scenes as wish fulfillment. As the story progresses, Adams dispenses entirely with subtlety and discretion to dish out some no-holds-barred diplomacy. Adams also has a schoolteacher-turned-counselor named Betsy Jameson, a character based on Clinton's real-life best friend, Betsy Ebeling. Betsy does some sleuthing, and her scenes will, perhaps, feel more familiar to Penny's fans than the rest of the book. This cozy mystery element is just as fanciful as the rest, but there's something satisfying about watching two middle-aged women save the world.More of a novelty for political nerds than a compelling thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2021ISBN: 978-1-982173-67-8Page Count: 320Publisher: Simon & Schuster/St. Martin's PressReview Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021

DNF
I was disappointed with this one. Some of the characters seemed a bit silly for such a heavy subject and there was a bit too much repetition for me. (e.g. a character who looked liked the Beaver's mom was referred to that way more than once). I couldn't get through it. Disappointing because I have enjoyed the Gamache series. I guess this wasn't my cup of tea.

Slow getting started but once the characters are established, there is no putting this book down. Reminded me of the best of Homeland.

Boilerplate. Exciting fare, but….because it was Hillary Clinton I spent a lot of time trying to figure out who she was really talking about. Not that it wasn’t completely obvious: Trump, far right extremists. It was fine, but very predictable.

“For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’ ” - John Greenleaf Whittier

Onward.

So much fun - and excitement! You can definitely see the influence of both writers' skillsets and experience in this book. Would read more about Ellen and family if they did a 2nd book!

EXCELLENT!! So well written - gripping storyline½

Very good. A bit long. Fiction but felt like it was based on things that could have happened in the Trump office.

This is such a easy book to pick up and read a few pages without having to commit to a whole book. It reminds me of women I have known and admired for a long time like Maya Angelou, Jane Goodall and Edie Winsor, but also introduced me to amazing women I never knew about like Frances Perkins. An American workers-rights advocate who served as the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945. She also made history as the first woman and first LGBT person to serve in the U.S. Cabinet.

I feel this book is important. Full of pioneering women. I also feel strongly that it should have been about four books that went into deeper detail about the women. I will be buying this book someday as i find that even this soon after finishing it I already can't remember things from it.

I'm not a writer but I hope I can post a proper review of this book. I knew it would be a good book simply because of the two powerful authors who collaborated on it. I wasn't prepared for the extraordinary quality and depth of the story. The women characters were placed front and center and carried the action throughout the book. The depth of the relationships was mesmerizing and satisfying. I savored every page and every twist and turn. It's in my top ten favorite books. I think everyone would enjoy this book. I especially loved the connections to another character at the end.

I read this after a strong recommendation from my Dad. It is not a genre I frequent, and I must admit seeing Clinton as a co-author raised flags... but if Dad in his advanced age can try new things then I sure as heck can too. So I read it all the way through just so we can talk about it. There is more to life than enjoying the books you read.

State of Terror reads like a YA novel. A fast-paced page-turner, no one can accuse it of being dull. Clinton having lived this life certainly lends a degree of insider info and authenticity to a lot of the details, which is cool. The messaging about the previous administration (not even thinly disguised) adds a sense of timeliness to the story.

There are downsides: some plot holes and unlikely confluences of characters and events, but it's fair to overlook some of that if it keeps the story compelling. Also, I admit I am predisposed to negative feelings here due to my frustration and and disappointment with Clinton's failed 2016 campaign, and struggle to untangle that from the narrative here. The protagonist comes across as sassy, but a version of sassy defined by a stereotypical boomer girlboss, where the greatest compliment you can give someone is wanting to enjoy a bottle of Chardonnay with them. So much Chardonnay... The personality of the book is just too darn close to the one that failed to sufficiently motivate progressive voters. This is the eviscerated high-brow continuing to insist that the pen is mightier than the sword.

Great to see women as important characters. Enjoyable.

I think if you loved Clinton, you will love the book. If you hated her, you'll hate it. I'm on the fence all around. I appreciate that she tries to have well-reasoned thoughts, plans, and debates. She certainly doesn't mince words about her feelings toward Trump and everything he stands for. She did lose me a bit in the chapter on her emails, but to be fair, she warned the reader: if you're sick and tired of this topic, skip this chapter!

Read for book club.

This was a quick read, and I thought it did a good job of explaining international politics and alliances. There were some excellent instances of misdirection, and it was a page-turner. On the other hand, the repeated references to 'the previous administration' (i.e. Trump) were fairly heavy-handed, the heroines Ellen and Betsy were extraordinarily clever and the only ones capable of reading between the lines and working out what was going on, Ellen spent the entire book flying round the world in Air Force (some number, I can't remember) - when did she sleep? or change her clothes? Why did she take her daughter with her?

Fun, but a bit unlikely.

A captivating political thriller. A bit long at nearly 500 pages. Of interest: many of the main characters are women.

My book club decided to read this for March 2023. Otherwise I might not have picked it up even though one of the writers is Louise Penny. I get enough exposure to American politics through the Canadian news media that I read that a book about the US Secretary of State isn't high on my priority to read list. Having said that this was a quick read and it kept me engaged.

The new US President and his Cabinet hasn't been in office for very long. They took over from a Trump-like President and there are still people who worked for the old President in power in Washington. The Secretary of State is Ellen Adams, formerly the head of a media empire and a political enemy of the President, Doug Williams. It's a mystery why he tapped Ms Adams to be the international face of his presidency.but she is determined to do a good job. She handed the control of her media empire over to her daughter and divested herself of all shares. She asked her best friend, Betsy Jameson, a former teacher to be her counsellor. And she has a number of other staff to provide support and security whether she is in Washington or elsewhere in the world. Shortly into the term three bombs go off in buses in European cities. Secretary Adams' son, Gil, was on one of the buses but got a warning from a former girlfriend who figured out that a cryptic message she received at her desk in the Foreign Service Office in Washington gave the bus numbers and times of explosion. Anahita Dahir had wondered when she first received the message if it was from Gil so she knew he was following a Pakistani nuclear scientist on a bus. When Gil got the warning he tried to get the bus driver to get everyone off the bus, including the scientist but all that happened was he got thrown off the bus seconds before it exploded. When it was discovered that nuclear scientists wer on the other buses it became clear that someone was planning the detonation of a nuclear bomb and that some others were trying to stop it. Secretary Adams suspects that the person behind the bomb was notorious arms dealer Bashir Shah. He had been under house arrest in Pakistan but the previous US administration had asked Pakistan to let him go so he's been free to go where he likes for some time. Secretary Adams, her counsellor Betsy, her daughter Katherine, Anahita and the rest of the Secretary's contingent get on Air Force Three to fly to Frankfurt to see Gill first of all and then ascertain what they can about the bigger plot. From Germany they fly to other places including Iran, Pakistan, Russia and the US creating green house gases by the truckloads in an effort to use diplomacy to stop the final plot. Meanwhile it has become obvious that someone within the administration is leaking information to Shah and they also have to try to figure out who that is. Like any good mystery there are lots of red herrings before the final unveiling.

I will miss my book club discussion of this book but I can imagine that there will be those who don't really care for the book and others who find it suspenseful and intriguing. Put me somewhere between the two.½

I don't have time to waste, so here are the bullet points. The former administration screwed up everything it touched. It poisoned the well, poisoned our relationships. We're the leader of the free world in name only. That effective intelligence network you're so proud of no longer exists. Our allies distrust us. Those who'd do us harm are circling. And we let it happen. We let them in. Russia. The Chinese. That madman in North Korea. And here, in the administration, in positions of influence? And even the lower-level workers? Can we really trust that they're doing a good job? It's everywhere. Four years of hiring, of promoting, of rewarding people who'd say and do anything to prop up a deranged President has left us vulnerable.

An inspiring and educational audiobook that touches on stories of 100 gutsy women from around the world who broke barriers, challenged the status quo and set records. Although all the women featured in the book have have different ethnicities, socioeconomic backgrounds, education levels and abilities - they all overcame challenges in their respective field of arts, science, politics, technology, etc. in their own gutsy way.
The book was a great learning experience because it included stories of women we all know and admire like Harriett Tubman and Hellen Keller, but also many women that I had not previously known about.

The audiobook is narrated by Hilary Clinton & her daughter Chelsea. They make great narrators as their passion on the topic is clearly evident and they are able to add in their personal experiences and anecdotes.

At 14 hours, it's definitely a commitment but in my opinion, worth every minute. I would recommend to all women and men wanting to learn about courageous, smart and talented women from around the world.

Such an excellent book in every way!

anxiety producing. Perhaps because it's the first book of Penny's I read.