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| Graphic courtesy of the Daily Beast. |
And most of these are not exactly bathroom reading material.
I think in the same amount of time I have only managed to get through twelve books myself. And I am embarrassed to say that most of the books I have read are not quite up to the same literary standards as those that President Obama has read.
Don't feel bad. Twenty four books in two and a half years is not a whole lot.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is that he is a speedreader. My daughter also has a law degree, and was an English major, and to get those all the required texts, she had to learn to read quickly and for facts. I'd guess all successful lawyers can do it. My hat is off to him! A President who reads is a great thing for this country.
ReplyDeleteWell I'm a very fast reader and have probably that many easily, but I don't read the heavy stuff anymore. I mostly read fiction by authors like John Sandford and Michael Connelly. Nice to see that our President reads stuff that gives him perspective, ideas, and information. Good on him.
ReplyDeleteAs Sally said, he's most liikely a speedreader.
ReplyDeleteAs for taking that many books on vacation -- I usually take triple the books in that it depends of my mood what books I do read. I usually come back with half unread.
Gryph - I read a bunch. There is a Palin book on the horizon that I will probably read but that doesn't take away from the fact that I believe you to be the holder of more truth about Sarah Palin than any authors who think they know her inside and out. Keep on doing what you do and don't take the bait - it's all about book sales. XXOO.
ReplyDeleteWell, remember W told Brian Williams that HE read "3 Shakespeares in one week" Too bad Williams did not ask "Which 3, and which was your favorite?" Supposedly, W and Rove were having a contest to see who read the most books. I think "My Pet Goat" was the extent of W's reading.
ReplyDeleteI should think Mister Obama was re-reading "The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" (see March 2010) a Pulitzer-winning re-issue I think required reading for all Progressive politicians (co-incidentally the book I have my nose in this month).
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of required reading, we need all be familiar with this speech from October 14, 1912 by the candidate (and former President):
"It Takes More Than That to Kill a Bull Moose":
The Leader and The Cause
http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/research/speech%20kill%20moose.htm
If you break it down, while it's still impressive considering the amount of briefs and other reading he does as President, it's not a *huge* amount of recreational reading. According to the timeline in the graph he read 24 books in 19 months, so about 1.25 books per month. If you say the average book is about 300 pages, that's 12.5 pages per day, or 1-2 chapters.
ReplyDeleteI read a lot in the evenings as a way to wind down from the day but i generally choose a lot of fiction as an "escape" from work and the news. So it's very impressive considering the intensity of his job and the depth of the books he's chosen to read for leisure. With so many of the books he's read being biographical and historical accounts of other presidents, it shows his commitment to the Presidency and the country as well as his intelligence.
The news has also covered the books he's brought on his vacation, another impressive list:
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2011/08/20/obama’s-vineyard-vacation-day-2-reading-list/
Reading 24 heavy tomes while managing the presidency is quite an accomplishment, as the typical trollish response at 5:34 proves. No doubt Sarah is busy putting together a list of impressive sounding books she never read.
ReplyDeleteDid you see what books he brought with him for his vacation? And the ones he bought at Bunch of Grapes bookstore? (some fiction :-) Good for him. I read "Team of Rivals" because I knew he did. Now I'm going to check out some of the books he is reading on vacation.
ReplyDeleteSummer Reading:
http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0811/vacation_booked_25f54bdb-dfa5-434c-b958-9c8ad8993407.html
He probably doesn't have to read with his lips moving so he can sound out every word, unlike "someone" we know.
ReplyDeleteThe criticism begins. If the president read 50 books in two years, the critics would say, "He should stop reading so much and fix the country." Because he "only" read 24, it's "not a whole lot."
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine candidates such as Bachmann, Perry, Palin, or any of the rest - including Romney - reading this many books in a decade, let alone just over two years.
ReplyDeleteAs a former English major and attorney, I agree with Sally in MI that people who take word-intensive degrees do learn to read faster.
His choices are a good mix - some fiction but mostly historical and political books. Makes me feel more secure knowing he is taking his job much more seriously than GWB ever did. President Obama can not only read widely, he can also comprehend what he reads.
That's impressive! I agree with Sally in MI, I once worked in a lawyer's office, and my boss was a great intellect, he took the Evelyn Woodhead Speedreading Method, but what was amazing, and I believe Obama also has this quality, was his capacity to retain and recall the most minute details.
ReplyDeleteThe President edited a law review, that takes an exceptional mind.
I used to read a lot more than I do now, at my height I went through six to eight books a month. Now I'm lucky if I get through two a month of leisure reading beside my part time school work and day job.
Woman with Sardine Can,
I'm absolutely Addicted to Sanford's "Prey" series, Someone in my book club recommended him about six years ago, and I find his writing absolutely mind blowing!
I wonder, if Katie Couric asked the President what he reads, if he'd still be sitting there listing book after book...... unlike you know who (wink)
Nice to see the President and I have similar taste in reading, the list of books I have read over the past couple of years has alot of overlap.
ReplyDeleteWhat disgusts me is that I'm sure this will be used by conserva-pundits as a way to insinuate he is too elite, and is not doing his job, pointing to Bush's statement that he doesn't read at all. Why anti-intellectualism has become a meme of choice for this crowd mystifies me.
As for how he can do it, he probably reads pretty fast (while not mouthing the words of what he s reading) and I bet he is not spending alot of time watching Real Housewives or Dancing with the Stars.
What a nice post. Gryphen, good morning. Happy Sunday. I just want to say something to you this morning : stay cool.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I need you. I need your blog posts in my life. So, keep the faith. Namaste.
Nice to hear Obama spends what spare time he has reading, then some (unnamed) biyach neglecting her supposed special needs son trolling the internet looking for attention
ReplyDeleteIn what without a doubt is the most astounding op-ed piece of the year, Karl Rove reveals that his friend and former boss, George W. Bush, has read probably hundreds of books over the course of his presidency. One of them was Albert Camus' "The Stranger," with its unforgettable opening lines: "Mother died today. Or perhaps it was yesterday, I don't know." After reading Rove's Wall Street Journal column, it's clear there's much we all don't know.
ReplyDeleteTake that Obama!
/snark
I'm sure the teabaggers will say that Bill Ayers read the books for him [eye roll].
ReplyDeleteHow many books did Sarah Palin read over the last 2.5 years? (magazines and blogs don't count).
She probably didn't even read the book she "wrote." After all, she gives such different accounts of her pregnancy and delivery of Trig.
And I'm sure she only skimmed Bristol's book, looking for her own name.
She'll be reading Joe's book, though...if her handler's let her.
Another reason to like our Prez :)
ReplyDeleteNice to know he is a fellow reader!
And even nicer to know that we have at least some in common.
I've read that JFK could/would finish a book a day.
ReplyDeleteI probably read 24 books a month and review them for Amazon.
ReplyDeleteBut, then again, I'm not the POTUS...
And, for the record, ad nausem, I think he's doing a damn good job in a lousy situation.
I hope all those "disaffected progressive Democrats" so terribly "disappointed" in our POTUS will get some brains and see how government really works! "Oh, he hasn't done enough...sob, sob, so I don't support him anymore...sob, sob".
Those losers bother me even more than the RWNJ!
Anon 7:03, if you love Sandford's Prey series, you will also love his Virgil Flowers series. Lots of action but less dark than the Prey series. Sandford has created a very charming character in "fuckin' Flowers." Originally just a cameo character in the Prey books, he is now a well developed character.
ReplyDeleteHugo Chavez, in Apr. '09 gifted Pres. Obama with a copy of "Open Veins of Latin America" by Eduardo Galeano. It details hundreds of years of resource pillage and human injustice forced upon that area of the world. He should of read it, for no other reason than to know where your "enemy" is coming from. This book list seems to be USA centered and pro-globalism. History is written by the winners, and historical perspective also re-written to fit the times. I would have liked to have seen Naomi Klein, Jared Diamond, or even John Perkins on this list for current historical perspective. Sorry, but Thomas L. Friedman is not a person I want to take my world view from.
ReplyDeleteFYI - Rachel Maddow is on Letterman on Tuesday. It doesn't indicate that it's a rerun.
ReplyDeleteThe Daily Show & Colbert schedule indicate reruns again this week.
If you're interested, here is a link which indicates who is appearing on a lot of the various talk shows for the full week or if they're in reruns. I've used it for about 2 years.
http://www.interbridge.com/lineupsdate.html#6/16/09
laprofesora ... hahahaha! Also too, I bet my President knows which side is up on a book.
ReplyDeleteGryphen, thanks for all you do and stay the course! Your humor and perspective keeps me sane and gives me hope.
Methinks that someone is being very selfish generating unproductive hot air during these record high temperatures. Now if he's practicing for Iowa's hot air balloon event in Sept, maybe he can just hold it in until then so he can bless them with his talent.
thanks, Gryphen, for taking time out of reading to keep this blog going, to allow this community of commenters to vent, inform and entertain, for not being afraid of the darkest corners of the stories we need to read. (And thanks from my daughter, who's in a bit of a tough transition, and was very impressed and comforted by what I told her of you and your daughter.) Keep the faith: One Love.
ReplyDeleteSome people have the ability to capture multiple lines of print in a single glance.
ReplyDeleteStudies show that the eye moves in jerks across a page, sort of photographing bits of the print each time it stops. The brain then ingests the letter and words and translates them into our own thoughts.
Some people when reading a book only stop their eyes in five places.
The top middle,where the spine is, left center of a two page fold, bottom center, right center and back to top center. And then the turn the page and do it again. So they can read almost as fast as they can turn the page.
I really hate those people.
How does he have time? Well, for one thing, he probably knows how to read. It doesn't take long if you know how to do it. And, it helps to be fairly broadly informed about a lot of stuff. That will absolutely expand the amount of information one can take in at a sitting.
ReplyDeleteLaw school training makes you not only a reader but a critical reader.
ReplyDeleteIn elementary school I read 50+ books a year, in high school 200+ a year. I'm now only reading about 75 books a year. I'm not a speed reader by any means.
The secret is you don't clean your house particularly well so there's time to read, you don't own a TV, you don't play video games, you associate with other readers, you haunt used book sales, you keep books around (one in the car, one in the bedside table, one in the kitchen drawer, etc), you keep the next delicious book in view so you finish the one your on.
Books are the cheapest, easiest trip to another world.
As the above comments show, people vary a lot in how/when/what they read.
ReplyDeleteBut even reading this blog once a day is an attempt to reach out to learn other peoples ideas to either confirm or change your opinions, or to marvel at the beauty in others' ideas.
The Obama children have superb models in their parents. Would that all the children in this country were so lucky.
Well, if he's a reasonably fast reader and grabs a chapter here and a chapter there, it adds up. I read at least a chapter a night, depending on the length of the chapters.
ReplyDeleteM. from MD
The contrast between the reading lists of Obama, Bacmann (Dominionist religious books, and wannabe Confederates) and Palin ("any of them and all of them") is remarkable. Now I'm curious about what Mitt, Rick and the other POTUS candidates are reading.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Woman with Sardine Can for the suggestion with Virgil Flowers. I just got through Brett Ellis Easton's books and need something less intense while waiting for Joe's book.
ReplyDeleteAccording to an article in the WSJ on December 2008 written by Karl Rove, W and Rove had a contest to see how many books each read.
ReplyDelete"At year's end, I defeated the president, 110 books to 95. My trophy looks suspiciously like those given out at junior bowling finals. The president lamely insisted he'd lost because he'd been busy as Leader of the Free World.
Mr. Bush's 2006 reading list shows his literary tastes. The nonfiction ran from biographies of Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, Babe Ruth, King Leopold, William Jennings Bryan, Huey Long, LBJ and Genghis Khan to Andrew Roberts's "A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900," James L. Swanson's "Manhunt," and Nathaniel Philbrick's "Mayflower." Besides eight Travis McGee novels by John D. MacDonald, Mr. Bush tackled Michael Crichton's "Next," Vince Flynn's "Executive Power," Stephen Hunter's "Point of Impact," and Albert Camus's "The Stranger," among others.
Fifty-eight of the books he read that year were nonfiction. Nearly half of his 2006 reading was history and biography, with another eight volumes on current events (mostly the Mideast) and six on sports.
To my surprise, the president demanded a rematch in 2007. Though the overall pace slowed, he once more came in second in our two-man race, reading 51 books to my 76. His list was particularly wide-ranging that year, from history ("The Great Upheaval" and "Khrushchev's Cold War"), biographical (Dean Acheson and Andrew Mellon), and current affairs (including "Rogue Regime" and "The Shia Revival"). He read one book meant for young adults, his daughter Jenna's excellent "Ana's Story."
A glutton for punishment, Mr. Bush insisted on another rematch in 2008. But it will be a three-peat for me: as of today, his total is 40 volumes to my 64. His reading this year included a heavy dose of history -- including David Halberstam's "The Coldest Winter," Rick Atkinson's "Day of Battle," Hugh Thomas's "Spanish Civil War," Stephen W. Sears's "Gettysburg" and David King's "Vienna 1814." There's also plenty of biography -- including U.S. Grant's "Personal Memoirs"; Jon Meacham's "American Lion"; James M. McPherson's "Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief" and Jacobo Timerman's "Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number.""
I think you might want to do some research before you post how wonderful 24 books in 2-1/2 years are. Personally, I average about 250 books a year. About half fiction and the other half non-fiction. Of course, I do not have to run a country or anything, but I do tend to be an extremely fast reader also. I have been known to read three or four books a day when I have nothing else to do.
Anonymous @ 5:34 AM
ReplyDelete"Don't feel bad. Twenty four books in two and a half years is not a whole lot".
Having problems with acknowledging that the guy is smart, are we?
Can't give him credit where credit is due, are we?
Reading five books along with everything else that is going on is certainly more than you will ever do in your life.
Get help for the hate. Hate gives you wrinkles.
Wonder how many books Scara Palin has read in the past two and one-half years?
ReplyDeleteHow many in her life time?
Wonder if she even owns any books?
I don't believe for a singkle second that George Bush won a reading contest with Karl Rove.
ReplyDeleteNor do I believe that either of them read as many books, or any, as claimed by Rove.