Barbara Mikulski

Well done theatically organized memoirs of nine women Senators. Brief biographies are included at the back of the book. The memoirs are organized around such ideas as "Don't Get Mad - Get Elected," which discusses the turning point in all these women's careers when they decided to run for office. Another section is entitled "Balancing Acts," which discusses how these female politicians have managed to handle the conflicting demands of politics and family. In Barbara Mikulski's case, she had to make time to care for an aging parent - with some of the other women it was children. OTher themes include "Different but Important," "Consuming Passions," and "Out on a Limb."… (més)

5600. Nine and Counting, written with Catherine Whitney (read 30 Nov 2018) This is a 2000 book which is old and so not very current. But I have for many years had much interest in United States Senators--hey, when I was a kid I collected pictures of senators found in newspapers and when I went to Washington, D.C., in 1950 and went to the Capitol I often recognized Senators since I had succeeded in collecting newspaper pictures of nearly all of them. This book is a kind of a fluff book, written in part by the nine women who were in the U. S. Senate in 2000: Barbara Mikulski, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Diann Feinstein, Barbara Boxer, Patty Murray, Olympia Snowe, Susan Collins, Mary Landrieu, and Blanche Lincoln. Now, 18 years later, Feinstein, Murray, and Collins are still in the Senate. In 2000 only 27 women had been U.S. Senators in all the years up to then. At the present time there are 20 women in the Senate.… (més)

This book was sent to me out of the blue. I have no idea why.

I tired to investigate to see why and could not figure it out, but I read it, and it was a fairly quick read.

There are good things, and things that require work to elevate this. But without that work and as the book is over 16 years old, it is a few hours of entertainment.

The main character is conflicted. She is appointed to the US Senate when the previous senator dies. Pennsylvania of 16 years ago apparently required that such appointments be temporary and at the next election, there be an election open to all for the vacated seat.

So our Heroine waffles between should she run for the seat or not.

The book is the same. Is it a story about the US Senate and women there, or is it a mystery. It can not make up its mind. Hence a middle of the road rating. If it had given itself over to the full mystery with more red herrings, more suspicious characters, and suspicion on our heroine, it might have elevated itself.

Or if it had delved further into the wheeling and dealing, the party politics, the backroom side of the senate, it would have elevated. Instead we have a 50 something heroine, who dabbles a bit here and there, and then has the MIA vietnam issue, which has greatly faded now, try to become a focus.

Three hours of passive enjoyment for characters that you can't connect with as it is all in first person rendition. But if you want to see the Senate from a women's POV, this may it.… (més)