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Al Franken, Giant of the Senate Franken, Al

Contents: Why I’m a Democrat — How I became a comedian — Saturday Night Live (not the drug part) — Saturday Night Live (the drug part) — Saturday Night Live (the part where I leave) — Paul — A 99 percent improvement — Year of the bean feed — The DeHumorizer(TM) — I attempt to litigate comedy — Hermann the German and the pill-out couch — No joke — Harry and Chuck — Icarus soars — Twixt cup and lip — Public opprobrium — My first powwow — Tax-dodging, rape-joking pornographer for Senate — Franni saves the campaign — “Has it gotten that bad?!” — “It’s close, it’s very close” — The recount — Welcome to the NFL — I actually become a senator — My first big win* — What gets me out of bed in the morning — The case of Perry Mason’s lost case — The angel and the devil — Never give the staff credit — Letting my id run amok — I screw up — Operation curdle — Health care: now what? — I meet George W. Bush — The 64 percent rule — My Republican friends — Sophistry — Bulletproof — Cracks in my soul — The Koch brothers hate your grandchildren — No whining on the yacht — I win awards — We build a DeHumorizer(TM) — I get reelected — Lies and the lying liar who got himself elected President — I attend a presidential inauguration — Being as good as the people we serve.

Summary: The Harvard-educated comedian, talk-show host, and U.S. Senator chronicles the story of his unlikely senatorial campaign, detailing the ensuing months-long recount and what his service has taught him about America’s deeply polarized political culture.

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What Happened Hillary Rodham Clinton

Summary

“In the past, for reasons I try to explain, I’ve often felt I had to be careful in public, like I was up on a wire without a net. Now I’m letting my guard down.” –Hillary Rodham Clinton, from the introduction of What Happened

For the first time, Hillary Rodham Clinton reveals what she was thinking and feeling during one of the most controversial and unpredictable presidential elections in history. Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. This is her most personal memoir yet.

In these pages, she describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward. With humor and candor, she tells readers what it took to get back on her feet–the rituals, relationships, and reading that got her through, and what the experience has taught her about life. She speaks about the challenges of being a strong woman in the public eye, the criticism over her voice, age, and appearance, and the double standard confronting women in politics.

She lays out how the 2016 election was marked by an unprecedented assault on our democracy by a foreign adversary. By analyzing the evidence and connecting the dots, Hillary shows just how dangerous the forces are that shaped the outcome, and why Americans need to understand them to protect our values and our democracy in the future.

The election of 2016 was unprecedented and historic. What Happened is the story of that campaign and its aftermath–both a deeply intimate account and a cautionary tale for the nation.

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The Story of Arthur Trulov Elizabeth Berg

Summary: “Truluv is a moving novel about three people who have lost the person they love most, and must find their way back to happiness. Arthur, a widower, meets Maddy, an angry and friendless teenage girl, while visiting his late wife at the cemetary, where he goes every day for lunch. Against all odds, the two strike up a friendship that pulls them out of a serious rut. They band together with Arthur’s nosy neighbor Lucille, to create lives that are truly worth living. Proving that life’s most precious moments are sweeter when shared, they go from strangers, to friends, to an untraditional but loving family. Betrayal, loneliness, romance and family are at the heart of this honey of a book, a must-read for fans of Elizabeth Berg’s early work. This is a story about life being affirmed at all ages, old and young, and about finding hapiness when hope seems lost. Readers will laugh, cry, and love Truluv”– Provided by publisher.

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You’ll Never Know Dear Hallie Eprhon

Summary: “From the award-winning author of Night Night, Sleep Tight comes a novel about a little girl’s disappearance and the porcelain doll that may hold the key to her fate.” — Book jacket.
Lissie Woodham and her sister Janey were playing with their porcelain dolls in the front yard when a puppy scampered by. Lissie chased after the pup and returned to find Janey– and her precious doll gone. Forty years later Lis– now a mother with a college-age daughter of her own– still blames herself for what happened. Every year their mother places a classified ad in the local paper with a picture of the toy Janey had with her that day, offering a generous cash reward for its return. This year, the doll came home. But someone knows the truth about what happened all those years ago, and is desperate to keep it hidden.

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The Burning Girl Claire Messud

Summary

Julia and Cassie have been friends since nursery school. They have shared everything, including their desire to escape the stifling limitations of their birthplace, the quiet town of Royston, Massachusetts. But as the two girls enter adolescence, their paths diverge and Cassie sets out on a journey that will put her life in danger and shatter her oldest friendship. The Burning Girl is a complex examination of the stories we tell ourselves about youth and friendship, and straddles, expertly, childhood’s imaginary worlds and painful adult reality–crafting a true, immediate portrait of female adolescence.Claire Messud, one of our finest novelists, is as accomplished at weaving a compelling fictional world as she is at asking the big questions: To what extent can we know ourselves and others? What are the stories we create to comprehend our lives and relationships? Brilliantly mixing fable and coming-of-age tale, The Burning Girl gets to the heart of these matters in an absolutely irresistible way.

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Glass Houses Louise Penny

Summary: “When a mysterious figure appears in Three Pines one cold November day, Armand Gamache and the rest of the villagers are at first curious. Then wary. Through rain and sleet, the figure stands unmoving, staring ahead. From the moment its shadow falls over the village, Gamache, now Chief Superintendent of the Sûreté du Québec, suspects the creature has deep roots and a dark purpose. Yet he does nothing. What can he do? Only watch and wait. And hope his mounting fears are not realized. But when the figure vanishes overnight and a body is discovered, it falls to Gamache to discover if a debt has been paid or levied. Months later, on a steamy July day as the trial for the accused begins in Montréal, Chief Superintendent Gamache continues to struggle with actions he set in motion that bitter November, from which there is no going back. More than the accused is on trial. Gamache’s own conscience is standing in judgment” — provided by publisher.

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