SHATTERED by Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes.

SHATTERED is an in-depth analysis of the stunning defeat of the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign. And how and why it went wrong. Jonathan Allen is one of the authors. He is an award-winning reporter and often appears as a political analyst on national TV News programs. Also, he has written at length about Congress and national politics. He lives on Capitol Hill. Amie Parnes is the co-author. She's a White House correspondent for THE HILL newspaper in Washington. She has covered the Obama administration. She has been in political journalism for ten years. She traveled with the Clinton, Obama, and McCain campaigns. She covered the 2008 presidential race for POLITICO. She appears on MSNBC, CNN, FOX News, and other networks. The two authors open SHATTERED with an Introduction. They spread their contents over 21 chapters. They follow this content with Notes of Sources they used, Acknowledgments, and an Index.

This is a lengthy, comprehensive book. I knew just what to expect because both authors had appeared on TV channels which I watch. They were sharing something of the premise of this book. The title says it all. The Presidential bid of Hillary Clinton and her dreams, were SHATTERED. Both authors express their opinion, is that Clinton bears the responsibility for her loss. I tried to read this book without any preconceived notions, as I had already seen the authors give their views on the Clinton campaign. SHATTERED is well-researched and informative. As promised, the authors take us behind the scenes in Clinton's campaign. I didn't see all the campaign infighting episodes which the authors have spoken about in TV interviews. I believe the authors miss one factor that has contributed to Clinton's loss. I believe that she no doubt lost the votes of many of the estimated 20 million pro-life Democrats who may have wanted to vote for her. Her abortion-on-demand stance cost her the White House. Many in the pro-life movement believe their abortion-on-demand stance keeps them from willing elections.

Whom do I recommend this book for? It is a specialized book for political junkies. And so I recommend this book for political junkies. And I recommend it for students in political science. Outside of this, I doubt that others would be interested. This I say with certainty because of the current toxic atmosphere.
I received a complimentary copy of this book via Blogging For Books, in exchange for my honest review. I wasn't required to give a positive review of this book.

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RECLAIMING HOPE by Michael Wear

This is a memoir by a a former Cabinet member of faith, whom former Pres. Obama had appointed to his administration. Michael Wear begins his book with a Prelude, telling the story of his first days in the White House. He follows this with an Introduction to this book and what to expect from it. He spreads his story over 12 chapters, which are well-researched. He includes many subheadings, to make his material more readable. Michael Wear includes a section of Acknowledgments of all those who have made this book possible, following it with his author bio. He wraps it all up with Notes of sources used for each chapter, and an Index. The author had founded Public Square Strategies, LLC. This is a consulting firm that businesses, nonprofits, foundations, and Christian organizations in matters involving faith, politics, and culture. WEar also directed faith outreach for former Pres. Obama's historic historic 2012 re-election campaign. Wear was one of the youngest White House staffers in modern American history. He lead evangelical outreach and helped manage the White House's involvement in faith-based and values issues. THese include adoption and anti-human trafficking issues. He serves on the Board for Bethany Christian Services

I was excited to read this book's content. I didn't know what to expect of a Christian person who would accept join Obama's Cabinet as a staffer. If he was pro-life, how could he reconcile his pro-life worldview with our former President's pro-abortion policies. This author made his case for why he chose to identify as a Democrat, though he also identified as a pro-life Christian. This book is a page turner and I finished it in a matter of days. I was disappointed to learn that our President had lied to us when he assured us that abortion funding would not be part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). I sense that many pro-lifers would accuse this author of not being "really pro-life" because he chose to align with a pro-abortion President, instead of "the pro-life party." This author wrote about his objections to the REpublican party and why he felt more at home in the DEmocratic Party. But he couldn't support them fully because of abortion. He describes adoption initiatives that he helped work with in his time in this administration. I was unclear about his stance on same-sex marriage, whether he is for or against it. I don't agree with him that if voters leave both major parties, that they have given up on politics. Identifying as Independent is an act of protesting against the political Establishment. WHat is wrong with that? Though he mentions Hillary Clinton and the 2016 election a couple of times, one thing is absent. I could find no mention of Donald TRump anywhere in this entire book. Nor of anything about his campaign. Was this a deliberate omission?

I recommend this book for Republicans, Democrats and anyone else regardless of religion or political ideology. You may not agree with all of this author's conclusions (I didn't) but he makes a lot of sense. Ahd you, like me, might learn something. Read this book with an open mind. This author shows us how to become better citizens without placing our hope in politics or politicians. Maybe a youth version of this book should be written. Pastors, whether conservative or progressive in theology, may benefit from reading this book.They may learn some things about our former President.

I received a complimentary copy of this book throughBookLook Bloggers, in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to give a positive review of this book.