More Room in a Broken Heart..The True Adventures of Carly Simon by Stephen Davis

And adventures she certainly has had! The epitome of the adage Sex, Drugs and Rock N Roll, this wonderfully talented Singer/Songwriter has lived her life to the full with all its joys and heartbreaks.
Born into a wealthy and successful family with a heaping of dysfunction in the mix, like her siblings musical and artistic talent was a given, the pathway through life should have been smooth and easy but it was not, many helping hands had very mixed motives especially when it came to the stunning Carly and the nurturing versus exploitation of her talent and her sexuality, heatbreak and misfortune have been hers.
A hard worker, a perfectionist, a very troubled and anxious young lady, Carly hit the gate running and  has kept herself very busy and us mightily entertained since the 70`s. Married to the troubled and drug addicted James Taylor, it was a coupling that brought and shared many gifts far and wide but took a tremendous personal toll on each and left both depleted and enriched for the experience though neither may see it that way.It would be hard to think of another musical coupling in modern time that has contributed so much and continues to do so.
Very easy to read, if a little blowsy in the first few chapters, the authors insider status has not harmed the book and many of the stories he shares would be publicly related for the first time here, there is however a tendency to put a few too many unrelated facts in every now and again which does detract from the narrative and there were times where one paragraph about a subject would have sufficed, there were also some issues that were raised and we can only assume they were resolved as we aren`t actually told, the person just pops back up which was slightly disconcerting. However this is is likely to be the best recounting we get of Carly Simon`s life and it more than hits the mark, the photographs and illustrations are excellent and the cover is gorgeous.
This book does much to bring the life and the work of Carly Simon and her contemporaries back into the spotlight, it honours her life and her work, shows her influences and was a thought provoker in someways... Your So Vain but who are you? and a question answerer in others..Carly look, there`s clouds in your coffee.

Going Home to Glory by David Eisenhower with Julie Nixon Eisenhower

At this time every year I try to find something to read that fits in with the Presidential History of The United States, last year it was Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and this year its Dwight Eisenhower with a cameo by his wife Mamie. David Eisenhower is the Grandson of Dwight and Mamie and Julie is the daughter of Richard and Pat Nixon, so they know their Presidents.
This very well written and researched book is an easy read yet it is full of History and a cornucopia of what not about the man who lead America in War time and in Peace for two terms as President. Eisenhower was obviously a bit of a challenge as a person and not someone whom it was easy to know, one imagines he could be quite frightening to a child and probably to a grown up who got on his wrong side, he had a bit of a temper!
In their writing David and Julie go along way towards humanising Dwight Eisenhower and showing that his complexities did not stop him from being a loving Father and Grandfather as well as a devoted husband to the ever colourful Mamie, he certainly did his best for his Country and for his Family and for those that mattered to him. The book is centred on the time after Eisenhower leaves the White House and moves to Pennsylvania and travels from there back and forth to California. It was the first time in their 50 odd years of marriage that they had their own home and Eisenhower`s son and his family also lived on the property and spent a lot of time with Ike and Mamie. Simple tastes, simple pleasures, strong values and an unwillingness to comprise himself, a wee bit out of touch with the young and the new America that was evolving, he fought health battles that would have knocked a lesser man at first base.

A fair, open and honest rendering of this period of  time in Dwight Eisenhower's life it adds to our collective knowledge of what made up the whole of a General who gave us freedom.

A Singular Woman by Janny Scott

The story of Barack Obamas Mother was a very good read indeed although it did take a while for me to get into the book.
With help from both Stanley Anns (known as Ann) children Barack and Maya as well as numerous family members and friends plus professional associates this book is very well researched and very well written.  Ann Dunham followed her own path, was often unconventional and unique and didn't give much toss for society's rules, her choices were brave annd daring for the time and yet while often living on the edge and relying on considerable help from her own formidable parents, she foraged a live well worth living and raised two well rounded, talented children, one whom became the first African American President of the United States.  Never judgemental yet with a balance and a fairness to all Scott manages to bring this often overlooked parent into a limelight that she deserves.  In my opinion she certainly contributed more to Barack Obamas eventual destiny than did his often more publicized and rather disengaged and disconnected father, who appears to have been elevated to a rather unworthy pedestal.
Sadly neither Ann nor her parents lived to see the fruition of their efforts but in this empathetic book, balance is redressed and we get to have a much better understanding of what made Barack Obama into the man he became and the pivotal role that women played in shaping his destiny and that of his sister Maya. Rather fascinatining reading and probably as close as we will come to knowing this rather amazing woman who did her own thing, her own way and took no prisoners in doing so.