Hilary's book blog experiment

I read too much and too fast. I write too little and too slowly. This might help both problems. Inspired by Sara Nelson's So Many Books, So Little Time: A Year of Passionate Reading and a longstanding desire to track what I read.

January 11, 2004

America's Mom: The Life, Lessons, and Legacy of Ann Landers by Rick Kogan, 2003.

I read a lot of stuff like this out of general curiosity & because they're typically quick & easy reads. Sometimes I discover ones I think are also great books (like Richard Preston's The Hot Zone), but this wasn't one. 1. Amazing how influential one person can be. 2. The Friedman twins (Eppie aka Ann Landers, and Popo aka Dear Abby) were born and lived in wealthy, influential circles, so it's not that much of a coincidence that they both became extremely successful. 3. "Friendly, uninhibited" Eppie would pepper everyone she met with questions, and her genuine interest led to being generally loved and confided in. Wish I could be like that! 4. Funniest bit: Eppie's dad did not believe that her future husband was Jewish. "Say something in Yiddish!" he demanded. "I vanna go for a valk" said the suitor.