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The First Lady
The First Lady
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
It's four weeks until the election for the new President. Current President Tucker is enjoying himself at a hotel in Atlanta with his girlfriend, while his wife and first lady, Grace Tucker, is fulfilling the duties of her office. When the President leave the hotel with his mistress, all hell breaks loose. There are reporters everywhere, there to catch the scandal. It's all just too much for the First Lady to handle, so she retreats to one of her favorite places and then, she turns up missing. Sally Grissom is the Secret Service Agent in charge of the presidential detail and doesn't know how the First Lady going missing isn't something she is told. Until she is called into the President's office and is asked to look for her secretively. What is going on? Something isn't right. And Sally has her eye on the President's Chief of Staff and his strange request. But Sally doesn't work for him, she serves the Office of the President and she will find the First Lady, no matter what.

This is a book I really enjoyed. It captured my attention from the start and had some twists and turns, I didn't see coming. There was only one drawback from this audio version of the book, the narrator. She did a fine job of reading the story and the voices, but her pronunciation drove me crazy. If you're not from the Washington, DC area, you might not notice, but it is so obvious. Pronouncing Maryland like Merry-Land. Potomac like Pot A Mack, and Arapaho like Air a pay ho. I cringed every time.

Imagine in this day and time with smart phones everywhere if the First Lady went missing. It would be all over the news. Why doesn't the Chief of Staff want to share this with the world, to help find her? Why isn't the FBI involved? Something is going on in the White House and Sally doesn't know if the President is aware at all. Or is his mistress and the election much more important to him than finding his wife.

Sally is going to do all she can to do her job even when she is asked to stand down. Even when it seems like there is always an obstacle there to stop her. Will she find the First Lady before it's too late? You'll have to read the book to find out.
  
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Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking
Susan Cain | 2015 | Health & Fitness
9
7.6 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
2019.

One of the worst years of my professional working life.

In the early part of the year, I ended up getting dragged to the Doctor by my significant other, with the Doc then putting me off work with stress for just over a month. I returned, and then, roughly 6 months later, ended up putting myself off on unpaid leave for a year (which is ending soon, but that’s another matter).

Looking back on it, I believe a MASSIVE contributor to me feeling the way I did was the change in the office environment, and in my role: a move from being a key member of a small technical team (with its own side office) to being put in charge of a customer focused role I felt ill suited to, and slap-bang in the middle of a massive open plan office no less (which had the effect of leaving me completely and utterly drained each and every day, having to be always ‘on’).

Which is a long winded way of saying that I am, as I’ve always expected, a massive Introvert. (That could also probably be borne out by the fact that it’s now been more than 10 months since I last physically saw most of my friends due to Covid-19, and that I can count on the fingers of one hand the amount of times I’ve spoken to them in the same period (we more often text). Which I’m perfectly happy with.)

I’ve always felt exhausted by daily interactions, always felt happier in my own head than in the midst of a crowd. A music festival, or rock concert? My idea of hell. However, I’ve also always felt guilty for feeling the same, with society (seemingly) geared towards the go-getters, the ‘look at me!’ life and soul of the party (which I always leave early), to those who make the most noise. In short, to the Extroverts.

While it’s true that this book is American centric (I’m glad to say, in the UK at least, the large gatherings/conventions described in the chapter about ‘The Extrovert Ideal’ don’t seem to happen), I’m also glad I’m not alone, that – actually - there’s nothing wrong with me. There’s nothing wrong with being quiet, reserved, needing time alone to recharge. Just ask Mother Theresa. Steve Wozniak. Eleanor Roosevelt. Rosa Parks.

This should be required reading in our schools.