If You Could Have Told Me by John Stamos

When John Stamos was on the soap opera "General Hospital" his dad still made him flip burgers and wait tables at the family's restaurant "The Yellow Jacket" in Orange County. It was only after throngs of teenage girls started stalking Stamos at the restaurant that his dad said he could stick to acting full time. This is how you raise a humble and hard working child. He had a dressing room with his name on it, and his dad made him flip burgers on his off time. Stamos is not only dedicated, but also does not take himself too seriously. When a reporter once asked how he stayed looking so young he said "I drank the blood of Rob Lowe." That's about the best answer on staying young in Hollywood that I have ever read. I would say that Stamos also stays so relevant because he spreads his parachute wide. In addition to the soap opera, he worked with the Olsen twins when they were babies on "Full House," starring as Uncle Jesse. He played Dr. Tony Gates on ER for 5 years, and co-starred with Jack Klugman in the series "You Again?" He has also been on Broadway and has been welcomed by the Beach Boy as an honorary member. He has had career highs and lows, and also suffered through a divorce. But married again with a young son, Stamos always seems to land on the right side of the street, with a smile on his face and a wink in his eye. This book is as likable as the man himself, and a super fun read.  To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Outer Chaos, Inner Calm by Anthony Abbagnano

I once took a trip to Israel where I road camel. It was my first camel ride, and I was quite nervous because it was shaped so differently than a horse. After I was on the camel for a few minutes, my friend’s husband Yehuda said, "Lori there is a big problem." And I called from my camel to his, "What’s the problem?" And he said, "You are not breathing. You need to breath to ride a camel." And he was absolutely correct. I do not breath correctly, and often I just hold my breath in fear, which is a really bad way to live. This book "Outer Chaos Inner Calm" by Anthony Abbagnano, I read with interest because it examines the theory that breath work can help you confront your fears, worries, childhood trauma, and feelings of powerlessness. He guides the readers on a series of exercises unlocking clues to the past and forging a new stronger path for the future. Be curious. Be present. Be committed. Surround yourself with people who will lift you up and not drag you down. It is easy? No. But Abbagnano believes that discomfort leads to growth, and growth is ongoing. So if you are feeling stuck and need a road out, follow the lead of Abbagnano and learn to breath better.  To buy this book on Amazon click here.

We Might Just Make It After All by Elyce Arons

I can remember coveting my first Kate Spade bag. It was the most gorgeous black on black messenger bag, and I saw it at Neiman Marcus. The year was 1993. It was around $200 and I actually squirreled away money so I would be able to pay for it in cash. In the 1990s if you carried a Kate Spade messenger bag, you were just downright cool. "We Might Make It After All" by Elyce Arons is the story about how that bag, and the Kate Spade company was formed. Elyce was Kate's best friend in college. Together with Kate's boyfriend Andy Spade, the three moved to New York after college where they came up with the idea to launch an affordable, yet chic, handbag company. The name was based on Kate Brosnahan's first name and Andy Spade's last name. He came up with the idea to put small name tag type labels on the front of the bags. Making the bags seemed to be easy, but the hard part was working trade shows and getting stores like Barney's and Neiman Marcus to carry them. Along with their other partners, Brosnahan and Arons hustled to get their bags into all the major stores. Eventually, years later, Neiman Marcus would buy 56 percent of the company and make Arons, Brosnahan and Spade millions. This is the story about how a small group of friends built an empire, and in the capable hands of Arons it is a fascinating read. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Care and Feeding: A Memoir by Laurie Woolever

I like restaurants. I like chefs. I like recipes and stories that involve behind the scenes peeks into how a restaurant kitchen is run. So, Laurie Woolever's new memoir, "Care and Feeding" ticked all of my foodie boxes. Woolever, a journalist and chef, worked for two of the culinary industry's most famous chefs: Mario Batali and Anthony "Tony" Bourdain. Woolever begins her career as a private chef for a wealthy New York City family. Those stories alone, of rich people and their absurd menu requests, could fill an entire book. But eventually she leaves the rich family to pursue a career in the restaurant business. It is there she meets first Batali, who was one of the most famous celebrity chefs of the time. Making his staff drink alcohol, go to strip clubs, and making passes at them, are eventually what brought Mario down in a scandalous fall from grace. But moving on from Batali, Woolever found a work home, and greater work satisfaction with Bourdain. He respected her as a television assistant and chef and paid her well for her dedication. However, Woolever soon realized that her own addiction to drugs and alcohol were getting the best of her. With a child and a husband, she then tries to forge a sober career for herself in the ever-changing food landscape. This is an excellent memoir that explores not only the restaurant industry but also the stress and toll this type of work can take on the body, mind and soul. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Lessons from My Teachers by Sarah Ruhl

My husband and I took a cooking class in Rome recently and the whole experience made me so happy. I love being a student. I love learning new things, and I love being guided and taught by a skilled teacher. This is the premise of Sarah Ruhl's new book "Lessons from My Teachers: From Preschool to the Present." For Ruhl, an award-winning author and playwright, her teachers have taken many forms from a parent, a student, a mentor and even a child. This book is based on a class she teaches at Yale, and exemplifies her wit, charm, creativity and true talent as a writer and teacher. She combs through her own life and details how these teachers, inside and outside of the classroom, have shaped the course of her life, and her career. Ruhl even shares with the reader the lessons she has learned from her own health battles with Bell's Palsy and Lyme disease. She explores the concept that our body and mind can teach and guide us as well. This is a beautiful gift to give to your favorite teacher, or just to a friend who has helped pave the way for you in life, or your career. To buy this book in Amazon click here.

Mouth to Mouth by Antoine Wilson

The other day my friend, Noelle, told me to read this book, "Mouth to Mouth" by Antoine Wilson. When I asked her what it was about, she said, "I can't tell you. I don't want to give it away." I said "Can you tell me the genre? Is it fiction, non-fiction, a romance, or mystery?" And she said, "Just read it." A man meets another man in an airport and the story begins. I was intrigued, and hopeful this would turn into a special book, and she nailed it. "Mouth to Mouth" is definitely a fiction book, but one could imagine it happening in real life. Two old friends from college run into each other at the airport when their plane is delayed. Jeff Cook, our protagonist, then takes our narrator into the first-class lounge at JFK airport for drinks. As the narrator does not drink, he accepts a non-alcoholic beer. Jeff, however, does drink and after a glass or two he launches into the most intriguing of tales. He explains how years ago he found a man drowning at the beach, and saved his life by resuscitating him. However, after the rescue, Jeff needs to find out not only what became of the man, but also who he is. It turns out that the man he saved is named Francis Arsenault, a famous and wealthy art dealer in Beverly Hills. Jeff then sets about systematically ingratiating himself into the life of the man and his family, without really knowing if he recognizes his rescuer or not. Part mystery, and part dramatic fiction, "Mouth to Mouth" takes the reader down a rabbit hole with an unstable ending. Can we trust Jeff? Can we trust Francis? Who has the upper hand on who? Noelle was right not to tell me more about the book, so I will stop here as well. "Mouth to Mouth" is a page tuner, and perfect to read in an airport lounge or elsewhere. To buy this book on Amazon click here

Remember Me as Human by Lucy Walsh

I loved this book because it is the true-life story of a young woman who took the time to get to know her grandmother at the end of her life. This is not something you see every day, in a world where youth so often is valued more than age, wisdom and experience. However, in "Remember Me as Human," author Walsh takes a true interest in her grandmother Wanda, in an effort to share her story with the reader. It all started when Lucy was just 17 years old, and was given 63 love letters her Grandfather Dale wrote to her Grandmother Wanda while he was overseas fighting in World War II. Wanda's letters to Dale were lost overseas, and some even burned when he moved from town to town, but 63 of his letters to her survived. Years later, Lucy decides to go to Newman, Illinois, and spend a few days with Wanda at her assisted living, asking her questions and getting to see her life in a larger context. Wanda, 97 years old at the time, shares memories of her own youth, and later marriage to Dale. Walsh digests these stories and weaves them in with her own stories about her mother, and her two fathers. What makes this book so rich, is the genuine interest Lucy has in Wanda's history and the time she takes to collect so many stories from her grandmother's past. "Remember Me as Human," is the story of Lucy and Wanda and so many generations of granddaughters and grandmothers who are so lucky to get the chance to spend time together, even for a short time. Lucy was a friend of my dad's, and I'm so glad I got to meet her, too. She has written a beautiful book. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

The Third Gilmore Girl by Kelly Bishop

LLP #486 To say my niece is a fan of the television show "The Gilmore Girls" does not even begin to describe her devotion to the series. She has seen every episode at least three times,and continues to re-watch it weekly. She has "Gilmore Girls" wallpaper in her bedroom, which she put up herself. And, she has been to the Mayflower Inn & Spa in Washington, Connecticut, which is one of the towns which inspired the fictional Stars Hollow, where the TV Show takes place. In honor of Siena, I read this book "The Third Gilmore Girl" by Kelly Bishop. The actress is most well-known for playing the iconic Emily Gilmore, mother to Lorelai and grandmother to Rory. However, the irony about this role being her best known, is that she was in the original cast of "A Chorus Line" on Broadway, and won a Tony award for it. If you are a fan of theatre, you know that "A Chorus Line" is one of the most ground-breaking shows of all time, and those lucky enough to be in the original cast experienced something extraordinary. In addition, she did a memorable spin in the movie "Dirty Dancing" as Jennifer Grey's mother, as well as countless other movies and television shows. This memoir follows her six decades in show business, in which she began as a dancer in the chorus. Steadily working as a dancer brought her great joy, but making the transition to drama is what propelled her into a more lucrative and fulfilling career. She is a professional, a veteran of acting, and shares her words of wisdom on everything thing from movies to theatre and television, as well as the trials and tribulations of marriage, death and widowhood. Bishop's memoir is as charming and quaint as the town of Stars Hollow. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

The Tell by Amy Griffin

While I’m the first one to grab a summer read for the beach, I tend to favor a heavier books during the summer because I have more time to read while traveling on planes or riding in cars.  “The Tell” by Amy Griffin is a very heavy story about abuse and childhood trauma. What makes this memoir particularly different from other books in this genre, is that the author did not, for many years, remember her trauma. As a student athlete, she became a long-distance runner, thinking it had no relationship to trauma at all. She ran in her hometown of Amarillo, Texas, and later at the University of Virginia. Then she continued to run when she moved to New York to start her career, get married, and have children. She thought, initially, that she ran to stay fit and healthy, but she did not realize she was running, trying to flee, from something in her past she could not remember. The secret might have stayed buried forever had her husband not suggested she try MDMA psychedelic therapy. I have read about this kind of therapy, used sometimes to help provide support to cancer patients with anxiety and depression. But I had never heard of its use to help unlock a secret buried in the mind of an adult. After only one session with a trained MDMA therapist, Griffin remembers an extremely tragic and heartbreaking trauma that occurred when she was at school in Amarillo at the hands of a teacher. She bravely then travels down a road to not only heal herself, but help others who might have experienced the same abuse she had. The Tell is a difficult book to read, but by sharing her story, one believes Griffin is trying to help others unlock their own secrets, no matter how deeply they are buried. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Prolific storyteller Taylor Jenkins Reid has now turned her attention toward outer space in her new novel "Atmosphere." The U.S. space program has long been portrayed as a male-dominated world, both through its technicians and astronauts. The iconic male-movie-star space movies such as "The Right Stuff" and "Apollo 13" always come to mind when I think of space. My decades long love for Sam Shepard never wavers. "Atmosphere" explores, however, a different side of the space program, through the eyes of its female participants. Set in the 1980s, this novel explores the Space Shuttle program at a time in which Jeff's own dad Fred Morris was making spacesuit backpacks for NASA. The story's main character is Joan Goodwin, a physics and astronomy professor from Rice University, who dreams of the stars every night. She is happy in her life of academia until she sees a NASA advertisement recruiting women scientists. After being selected from thousands of applicants, Joan begins her training at Houston's Johnson Space Center, along side fellow scientists, pilots and mission specialists. As the candidates train to become astronauts, some become friends, and others become enemies. Life on the ground becomes more complicated than all the stars in outer space. "Atmosphere" was one of the most anticipated reads of the summer, and I enjoyed every page. Fast paced, with complex characters, it is a fresh look at the U.S. space program, full of triumphs, tragedies and heroes, both men and women. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Autism Out Loud by Kate Swenson, Carrie Cariello and Adrian Wood

Years ago, when my daughter was in elementary school, I used to sit in Individual Educational Plan (IEP) meetings with my husband, Bill, and discuss with public school officials the plans for our daughter's future. I always had a terrible time concentrating in those meetings, no matter how much I slept, or no matter how much coffee I drank that morning. These meeting were very important, and yet I could not focus. It was not until I read this book that I realized what was wrong with me: I didn't want to be in the meetings, so I was disassociating from them. It had nothing to do with how much I loved my daughter, or how proud I have always been of her. It the chalkboard, cringe-worthy drudgery of the IEP meetings that dragged me into a quicksand of depression, and made me lose all focus. For that reason alone, I loved this book, but there are about 100 other reasons, too. It centers around three women, from different parts of the country, each with a son, who have all been diagnosed on the autism spectrum. Their stories are similar enough to bond them together, but also different in the way the diagnosis presents itself in each boy. The women are all fierce advocates for their sons, but also carry the stress and worry about the future. What will happen to their sons when they pass? Where will they live? Who will take care of him? Will this be a responsibly too heavy to carry for their other typical children? Honest, articulate and extremely educational, I think this book is a must read for everyone. It gives true insight into not only the resilience of these three mothers, but also the strength and character of their  sons. There is so much that the world does not know about autism, and this book is a great start in learning more about how to support children with it, and other disabilities as well. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Brothers by Alex Van Halen

We were racing to catch a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Dubrovnik, and we literally had 10 minutes to spare. The fact that we made the flight was some kind of miracle, perhaps only thanks to the German efficiency of the Frankfurt airport terminal. As I buckled into my seat, I put my headphones on, and began listening to this book, "Brothers" by Alex Van Halen. Suddenly another man strolled onto the plane holding this same book. I said "That book, I just started it. How is it?" "Great," he said, and smiled. "But I just like bands." Van Halen, the iconic American Rock band, was the group that defined hard rock and heavy metal in the 1970s and 1980s. "Brothers" is the memoir written by drummer Alex about his relationship with his brother and fellow band mate, the lead guitarist Ed Van Halen. Alex always refers to his brother as "Ed" or "Edward," rarely "Eddie." The brothers grew up in the Netherlands with a Dutch dad and a mother from Indonesia. When the boys were young, the family moved to Pasadena, California. Encouraged by their father's own love of music, they formed a band while in high school. They would play at high school parties and graduations, and drew big crowds even then. The more they played, the more they were able to build a reputation for themselves for their music, and Ed's legendary guitar solos. As their fame grew, so did their circle of famous friends which would include Ed's wife, the actress Valerie Bertinelli, and their lead singer, David Lee Roth. Their concert contracts introduced a famous clause that stipulated "no brown M&Ms" in the green room. Despite the fame and fortune, Alex and Ed were brothers who not only respected and admired each other, but who also took care of each other. With Ed's passing in 2020 at 65 from tongue and mouth cancer, Alex's world was left with a heavy sadness. This is an attempt to celebrate and mourn his little brother. This is a beautifully written book, suitable for fans of bands or those who just like a peek into a very special bond between brothers. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Mattie, Milo, and Me by Anne Abel

I am obsessed by this 71-year-old on Tik Tok named Anne Abel. She has something like 288,000 followers, and her mundane content is downright riveting. At first glance, people call her the "rich Manhattan grandma," but she has so much more going for her. She has anxiety, health issues, a good-as-gold-loyal husband named Andy, and a complicate relationship with her three sons and their wives. She is currently in France with Andy making content, including views of her gigantic room at the Peninsula Paris Hotel. The other day she posted a video from the infamous Cafe De Flore along the Boulevard Saint-Germain. She was drinking a hot chocolate, and Andy was eating a salmon club sandwich, and I hung on their every movement and word. She is not only an influencer but also an author. Her first book "Mattie, Milo and Me" is about how one day a UPS driver killed her beloved dog Mattie. Bereft, she did what everyone tells you not to do: She got another rescue dog right away. Milo, the new dog, proved to be nothing like Mattie. Milo was difficult, erratic and downright scary for Anne to manage. Despite toying with the idea of giving Milo back to the shelter, she sticks with him, and he sticks with her. You feel their growth on every page. Anne is an excellent storyteller but also a quirky person with enough anxiety for everyone who has it to identify with. One of the ways she keeps herself calm is through exercising daily, and another is through writing. I found this book charming, and a true insight in the way Anne's mind works. Her next book promises to be just as exciting. "High Hopes" will be released in September 2025 and chronicles the year she followed Bruce Springsteen's tour to Australia to battle depression, in lieu of entering a psychiatric hospital. Follow Anne on Instagram @annesimaabel  To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Three Days in June by Anne Tyler

Like my dad, I have never met a wedding I didn't like. The drama, the rules, the complex family dynamics never fail to fascinate me. I don't even need to know the participants personally, I am just a fan of a good wedding story. So, when I found out Anne Tyler's latest novella was about a wedding, I could not wait to read it. "Three Days in June" follows the story of Gail Baines as she navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding. Like author Elizabeth Strout of "Olive Kitteridge" fame, Tyler creates socially awkward characters doing mundane things, and turns you into their biggest fans. During the course of the novella, Gail loses her job at a school, is forced to deal with her ex-husband and his tag-a-long cat, and is inexplicably not invited to her daughter’s bridal spa day. "Three Days in June" pairs the joy and anticipation of a wedding, with a group of people who are nervous and uneasy around each other. This book demonstrates that weddings are not just about the bride and the groom, but about the celebrants as well who come together to witness the nuptials, for better and for worse. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Zagreb Noir: A short story collection edited by Evan Srsen

If you are reading this on Thursday June 5, then I am in Croatia. I have wanted to go to Croatia for a long time, but other countries such as Thailand, Brazil and Argentina seemed more pressing. Now finally is the time for Jeff and I to see what so many of our friends have been talking about. We will be going to Dubrovnik, Hvar and Split, by way of Frankfurt. As I was packing before the trip, this book arrived from Amazon. I was surprised because there was no gift note, and I had not told that many people where Jeff and I were going on vacation. I could not stand the suspense. I logged into my Amazon account, and began a lengthy chat to uncover the identity of the sender. Finally, when the bot said, “The sender was Kathleen Marshall.” I now had my answer. My sister knows that I like to read a book set in the destination where I am traveling. This was a perfect gift. “Zagreb Noir” is a dark collection of short stories set in Zagreb, which is the capital of Croatia. The collection incorporates the Eastern European history of the county along with a modern perspective on what the city feels like today. Hopefully I am reading this book on the island of Hvar with a Rakija, or fruit brandy, in my hand under a blue umbrella. Zivjeli! To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Memorial Days by Geraldine Brooks

Recently a beloved nurse at my hospice passed away unexpectedly. It was shocking, even for a group of people who deal with death every single day. He loved theatre and travel, and was one of the best nurses I have ever worked with. He was only 60 years old. We had so much more to talk about. The same week he died, this book popped up in my Libby library app. "Memorial Days" by Geraldine Brooks is the story of how she learned of the unexpected death of her husband on the streets of Washington D.C. He was just 60 years old, too. These unexpected deaths almost seem like some cruel magic trick, which coincidentally collided in my life the same week. How was I to make sense of this? One minute the person is laughing, eating, working and planning for a future, and the next minute he is not. Sadly, there is no way to prepare for death, unexpected or anticipated due to illness. In the face of her grief, Brooks was not able to mourn in comfortable, safe and traditional way. Instead, she was faced with the nuts and bolts of death, which for her looked like frozen credit cards, cancelled insurance policies, and mountains of things to figure out as a fresh widow. The idea of actually going back to work, and writing for a living, paralyzed her. She was haunted by the life she had with her husband, which was robbed from her in a single phone call from a terse hospital employee. "Memorial Days" is her meditation on how she found a way to mourn her husband's death, and move forward with her own life. The grief will never go away but she finds a way to make it easier to hold. “Memorial Days” is a tribute to her late husband, as well as a testament to her own strength as a woman and a writer. As for my nurse, Patrick, we will miss you and you will never be forgotten. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Brooke Shields Is Not Allowed To Get Old by Brooke Shields

I think this is one of the greatest titles ever of a memoir. It says so much in such a sassy, ironic yet accurate way. How can we as a society, who treasures youth and fitness above all, allow an iconic child model and actress, and now super star, to age gracefully. That is the point of the memoir, growing old is difficult for everyone, especially someone who is in the public eye. The book provides not only humor, but also some realness into the life of Shields as an actress, mother, wife, businesswoman, and public figure. We see her fighting with her daughter over designer clothing, discussing sex as a 50-something-year-old, and even waking up to Bradley Cooper's face in an ambulance after she had a seizure. She is one of the most recognizable faces in Hollywood, but you get the sense, after reading this book, that she does not take herself as seriously as everyone else does. "Brooke Shields is Not Allowed To Get Old" is a fast-paced fun read that not only gives us a glimpse into her life, but the life of so many mothers juggling careers, with kids at college, and a decades-long-and-successful marriage. She is now 59 years old and I would say, "Bravo, Brooke. Keep up the good work." To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Show Don't Tell by Curtis Sittenfeld

In high school and college, we are routinely assigned short story collections to read. However, adulthood does not come with similar assignments. Far too may short story collections go unread in favor of soapier romances or more complicated historical fiction books with a movie deal. So here is a shout out to a new short story collection from novelist Curtis Sittenfeld. "Show Don't Tell" centers around the themes of marriage, family, relationships and all of the messiness associated with middle age. Take the cast of "Thirtysomething" and age them 25 years, and this cast will come to life. The characters are extremely relatable, and yes many went to prep school. If you don't know the person directly, you probably met her or him at your last college reunion. These people are either us right now, us yesterday, or us tomorrow. In the capable hands of writer Sittenfeld, we want to follow them anywhere just to see where they will end up. Smart, funny, well-educated and complicated is how the stories in "Show Don't Tell" paint portraits of our aging selves. We try to raise our children, take care of our parents and strive for love, sex and happiness in the middle of it all. This is a highly entertaining collection of short stories written by one of the best and the brightest of her generation. Here's to reading more shorty story collections this summer on the beach. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed, and Lost Idealism

Oh my goodness. This is everything I want in a memoir. Money. Drama. Secrets. Lies. Weirdness on private jets and more! Lawyer Sarah Wynn-Williams, originally from New Zealand, lands her dream job in 2011 when she is hired to work in global policy and government relations at the rising social media company Facebook (now Meta). In the beginning, she believed Facebook was going to change the world for the better, socially and politically. Almost immediately Wynn-Williams begins working closely with Mark Zuckerberg, and later, Sheryl Sandberg. While working for Facebook she also gave birth to two children, but the stresses of her job and parenting seemed to mix like oil and water. The culture at Facebook demanded she have no outside life at all. She worked for the company until she was terminated in 2017 after a series of cringe-worthy misogynistic experiences and personal humiliations. In one of her lowest moments in the company, she is scolded during a performance review for not being fully available to the staff when she was not only on maternity leave, but also literally in a coma. From meeting with world leaders to gifts of sexy lingerie from her boss, Careless People is an insider's sneak peek into how a social media platform became one of the most powerful empires in the world. To buy this book on Amazon click here.

A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety by Jimmy Carter

My friend Bob from Northwestern told me to read this book, and I do not take recommendations from friends lightly. I see them as marching orders. He said this was riveting and he couldn’t put it down, and I found it the same way. “A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety” was written by our 39th president as he looked back on a life well lived. Jimmy Carter died in December of last year at the age of 100, passing after his beloved wife, Rosalynn, who died at 96 in 2023. His four short years in The White House from 1977 to 1981 were significant but truly just a small portion of what his life was all about. This book explores his second and third acts, as well as his young life in the Navy and as a peanut farmer. Who knew about his career in the Navy as a submarine lieutenant who nearly lost his life twice? He writes about the influence his parents had on his life in rural Georgia, and how his marriage to Rosalynn became a true partnership that included incredible humanitarian efforts. After those four years in the White House, Carter was just 43 years old when he walked out having been defeated by Ronald Reagan. Carter had 57 years left to live, and that marks the longest retirement of any U.S. presidents to date. He did not spend those years watching television or playing golf. He dedicated his life to public service, and the establishment of the Carter Center in Atlanta which promotes human rights. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002, and traveled around the world advocating for peace, the eradication of disease, as well as affordable housing with Habitat for Humanity. He is the only president who has ever lived to be 100 years old, and by all accounts he used his time wisely working long hours to help others. “A Full Life” describes a wonderful and admirable life indeed. Thank you, Mr. President for your service. To buy this book on Amazon click here.