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Dreams from My Father
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance | Barack Obama
In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his fathera figure he knows more as a myth than as a manhas been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odysseyfirst to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mothers family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family, confronts the bitter truth of his fathers life, and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Pictured in lefthand photograph on cover: Habiba Akumu Hussein and Barack Obama, Sr. (President Obama's paternal grandmother and his father as a young boy). Pictured in righthand photograph on cover: Stanley Dunham and Ann Dunham (President Obama's maternal grandfather and his mother as a young girl).From the Trade Paperback edition.
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ICantImReading
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I picked up Obama‘s first memoir from an Audible sale a couple of years ago, where it has been patiently waiting in my library until just the right time. I‘m disappointed to realize that it was abridged - it looks like the unabridged audio was only released in 2021. I‘ll have to read the full book someday; I could listen to his gifted storytelling for hours. It abounds with beautiful writing, great insights, and refreshing candor. 🎧

44 likes1 stack add
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peanutnine
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Pickpick

I read this with my #bookclub this month. It was an interesting look into his family background and life growing up. Obama ponders the different facets of race that played a part in his upbringing and how it affected the way he sees the world and himself, with a mixed family background.

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TheKidUpstairs
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#OnThisDay in 1995 a little known law professor published his first memoir. One year later he was elected to the Illinois Senate. Twelve years after that, his message of hope led him to the Presidency. "You might be locked into a world not of your own making … but you still have a claim on how it is shaped." #HistoryGetsLIT

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jenniferw88
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Pickpick
Cinfhen Well played 🙌🏻 3y
squirrelbrain Good choice! 3y
BarbaraBB Very good choice! 3y
Librarybelle Nice! 3y
66 likes4 comments
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Bookgoil
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I finished Dreams from My Father today and then turned around and discussed the first half of Between the World and Me with one of my groups on Facebook. Definitely some moving moments in both books and really giving me some reflections on the state of the world. I love that one of Obama‘s speeches is included at the end of his memoir.

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GingerAntics
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Life is always more hopeful with the Obama‘s around. 😏 I‘ve read Becoming, but I am so happy to own my own copy (still thinking the audiobook is also necessary). I haven‘t read either of Barack‘s books yet, but what better time?
#TheObamas #MichelleObama #BarackObama #Becoming #DreamsFromMyFather #TheAudacityOfHope

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DieAReader
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Pickpick
Clwojick 🎉 Way to go #TeamSlaughter! 🎉 4y
Andrew65 👏👏👏🙌 4y
TheSpineView 🤩👍📚 4y
37 likes3 comments
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Varshaa
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1. I got my vote to right this year only so i didn't get the chance to vote but I feel it is everyone's responsibility to vote.
2. I'm thankful for being productive and completing my daily targets .

Thanks for the tag @Annie1215

Tagging: @Arvena @LitStephanie @eeclayton @I.be.Stef

LitStephanie @Varshaa did you just turn 18? You in the USA? 4y
Varshaa @LitStephanie Yes, I turned 18 recently and I live in India. 4y
LitStephanie @Varshaa congrats! Glad you intend to vote consistently. 😁 4y
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i.besteph Thanks for the tag! 💕 4y
Varshaa @I.be.Stef You're welcome 😊 4y
eeclayton Thanks for the tag! :) 4y
Varshaa @eeclayton You're welcome 😊 4y
37 likes8 comments
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JennyM
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What a writer! So loving this ❤️

Cosmos_Moon_River Such a good book! And an amazing leader. 4y
JennyM @Cosmos_Moon I am just in awe of his writing. Such a talent! Really enjoyed it 4y
47 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Butterfinger

My #Top6Reads so far this year -
Dreams From My Father - Barack Obama
Into Thin Air - Jon Krakauer
The Martian - Andy Weir
Anne of Green Gables - Lucy Maude Montgomery
Chain of Gold - Cassandra Clare
The Unwomanly Face of War - Svetlana Alexievich

Josee.lit.a.lu.et.lira Also 💚 The Martian & Into Thin Air. 4y
britt_brooke Loooove Into Thin Air. And Anne of Green Gables. 4y
sudi I loved Anne Of Green Gables too 😍 4y
47 likes3 comments
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Butterfinger
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I'm joining @Riveted_Reader_Melissa for #Recommendsday and sharing books of black authors which I love. #BLM #BLMReadingList.

This is helping. @Emilymdxn shared a link to an article this morning about UK. A black author is at the top of the bestsellers list and it hadn't happened since they started keeping data. She made some valid points. One point that stuck with me was that she doesn't want to profit every time a person has to die of race😢

Riveted_Reader_Melissa How is it possible it‘s never happened before! That is insane! Just crazy when you think about it. 4y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa And yes, that is a good point, read diverse authors ALWAYS! 4y
Butterfinger @Riveted_Reader_Melissa I felt the same way. You would think it would be easier in publishing. It just seems to me that readers are more empathetic. I was surprised. 4y
39 likes4 comments
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BookishMe
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Cosmos_Moon_River
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Pickpick

Beautifully written memoir. It is amazing that this man became our president after peeking into this bit of origin. He painted a colorful story of the people around him. Nice introduction of this second printing. He wrote that he should have been more succinct and talked more about his mother. I agree with his self analysis, there are times where there could be less words, but great book just the same! #doublespin #march @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Sounds like a great read!! 5y
6 likes1 comment
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JaVa
Mehso-so

I‘ve always been captivated by how graceful & connected Barack Obama comes across when he speaks..he writes the same way. The book is very interesting if you‘d like to know about his beginnings. However, that is not the reason I was interested in reading. More so to relate to the consequences of an absent father. I bailed after his time in Chicago ends. I began to lose interest and found myself bored so I chose to move on. I do recommend though!

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Cosmos_Moon_River
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“A few months after my twenty-first birthday, a stranger called to give me the news.” #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl

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Butterfinger
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1. Obama's Dreams From My Father.

2. I posted many quotes from this book. I can't pick a favorite.

#Two4Tuesday @TheSpineView

TheSpineView It's great to read a book with lots of good quotes.👍 5y
alisiakae I'm reading The Audacity of Hope right now! I'm waiting very impatiently for his post-presidency memoir to be published. 5y
47 likes2 comments
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Butterfinger
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Pickpick

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I enjoyed reading this so much. Every word was full of emotion. As much as I loved Michelle's Becoming, the President has her beat with storytelling.

Bingo #FancifulFebruary @4thhouseontheleft

alisiakae This has been on my TBR for ages! 5y
39 likes1 comment
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Butterfinger

What if the truth only disappointed, and my father's death meant nothing, and his leaving me behind meant nothing, and the only tie that bound me to him, or to Africa, was a name, a blood type, or white people's scorn?

😢

LoverOfLearning Wow. Deep. 😣😪 5y
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Butterfinger
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He is such a beautiful writer.

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Butterfinger

These boys have no margin for error; if they carry guns, those guns will offer them no protection from the truth. And it is that truth, a truth that they surely sense but can't admit and, in fact, must refuse if they are to wake up tomorrow, that has forced them, or others like them, eventually to shut off access to any empathy they may once have felt.

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Butterfinger

"When their eyes stop laughing. Their throats can still make the sound, but if you look at their eyes, you can see they've shut off something inside."

?

Books88 This is a painfully accurate quote 5y
34 likes1 comment
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Butterfinger

Question @4thhouseontheleft @cinfhen @barbarathebibliophage

What were your intentions on the parent/child memoir? I know you will probably say reader's choice, but I want to be certain. Should both parent and child be writers? Or will Obama's work on this prompt?

BarbaraTheBibliophage We always say it‘s your call. But I‘d definitely say the book you‘re considering would work. 5y
Butterfinger Thanks @BarbaraTheBibliophage I was looking at your goodreads post to see the options and many were the child writing about their childhood. Thanks for answering. 5y
26 likes2 comments
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Butterfinger
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I also have 2 Children's books I'm reading for #FancifulFebruary. Moloka'i is my #BookSpin for February. I may be ambitious, but this is what I have on my nightstand. Have a great week everyone.

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Butterfinger

Where were the fathers, the uncles and grandfathers, who could help explain this gash in our hearts? Where were the healers who might help us rescue meaning from defeat? They were gone, vanished, swallowed up by time. Only their cloudy images remained, and their once a year letters full of done store advice.

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Butterfinger

Don't you know who I am? I'm an INDIVIDUAL!

YEESSS!

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Butterfinger

Junkie. Pothead. That's where I'd been headed: the final, fatal role of the young would-be black man.. I got high..., something that could push questions of who I was out of my mind, something that could flatten out the landscape of my heart, blur the edges of my memory.

It is so hard to read of his pain, but it is so important for me to understand.

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Butterfinger

To be black was to be the beneficiary of a great inheritance, a special destiny, glorious burdens that only we were strong enough to bear. 😢

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Butterfinger
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#weekendreads @rachelsbrittain

1. Dreams From My Father, Little Bee, and The Crying of Lot 49

2. Knitting

3. The Red Scrolls of Magic

Lcsmcat Little Bee is so good! 5y
Panic70 I like to knit too. ❤️ 5y
40 likes2 comments
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Butterfinger

According to her, the word racism wasn't even in their vocabulary back then. "Your grandfather and I just figured we should treat people decently, Bar. That's all."

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sarahs.thoughts.on.books
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Mehso-so

After listening to Michelle Obama read Becoming, was inspired to pick up Barack Obama's books again. Decided on the audio version this time around. Learned a lot about his dad. Thought that there would be more about how race/ being bi-racial played a role in his childhood. While it didn't skirt the issue, it seemed as though it wasn't much of one. Or I missed the subtleties in listening to the book instead of reading.

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kaysworld1
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Thank you to @RachelO #jbuk for your surprise package it made my day 😘
I am really looking forward to reading this book 📚
I truly hope you have a great Christmas and New year with your family the chaotic the better I always say 🎅☃️🥰🍾

#thankyou #litsyfriends #christmaskindness #jbuk

rockpools 😊 So glad it arrived safely, and hope you have a lovely Christmas (with lots of reading time) as well. 5y
32 likes1 comment
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Bookception
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This is my happy moment, the memory I will recall all week as a mandra in my head, once things get hard at work. #brealfast #book #coffee #greenagate #weekend #mandra #dreamsfrommyfather #barackobama 📚🐾🤓

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Cortg
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Pickpick

This started out a little slow but once it got moving, I found it interesting to hear about Obama‘s life and experiences before his presidency. I find this man so intriguing and inspiring.

Cosmos_Moon_River I am listening to Michelle Obama‘s Becoming (read by the author) right now and she talks about him writing this book. Adding to my TBR. I miss them so much 💚💙😔 5y
Cortg Cosmos_Moon Yes! I miss them, too! 5y
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Morr_Books
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Pickpick

Finished another book for the #24in48 readathon! Already surpassing my goals for this readathon and still have a good afternoon of reading ahead of me. @24in48

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ShananigansReads
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Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Petelord
Pickpick

Excellent biography but disappointing President 😢

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ShananigansReads
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I‘m calling it a night on #24B4Monday I finished one book, started two others and made a tiny bit of progress in the 4th. Despite barely being home all weekend I managed to eek out 12 hours of reading (twice my goal 🙌🏾) and had a great time. Can‘t wait to do it all again in a hopefully slower weekend.

Thank you @TheReadingMermaid @Andrew65 and @jb72 for hosting and encouraging me.

BeansPage You are more than welcome and I'm so proud of you for hitting twice your reading time that is amazing!!! 👏👏👏 5y
jb72 Congrats 🎈 so glad you joined and had fun too! 5y
Andrew65 A great time, 👏👏👏🙌, well done and thanks for taking part. 😊👍 5y
14 likes3 comments
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Cathythoughts
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#MayMovieMadness #HowFarIllGo Barack Obama ♥️ All the way...

Cinfhen Well played 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
RohitSawant 💜💜💜 6y
TrishB He went far 💜 6y
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Megabooks 👍🏻👍🏻💜💜 6y
batsy Nice 👍🏽 6y
merelybookish Could he come back? 😕 6y
Cathythoughts @merelybookish yes, In another form ♥️ (edited) 6y
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Gezemice
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Pickpick

Obama‘s early memoir covers his growing up, and looking for his identity as a young black man in America. He is the child of a love marriage between his all-American white mother and Kenyan father, raised in young boyhood in Indonesia, later in Hawaii by his mother and white grandparents. His unique perspective on race - both from inside and out - and opportunity - both in America and Kenya - give him unique insights and understanding. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Gezemice I listened to the audiobook, which Obama narrates himself. 6y
GingerAntics After reading Becoming and hearing her talk about the process it took for this book to even happen, this is on my reading list now. 6y
Lcsmcat @GingerAntics Same here. 6y
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Gezemice @GingerAntics @Lcsmcat It is much shorter than Becoming. And an easy listen with that great voice. 6y
GingerAntics When I read that part, I think I need to find the audiobook. I have the book on my Apple Books wish list, but I think the audiobook needs to go on there, too. 6y
GingerAntics I was about to wonder why the audiobook is cheaper than the book, but then I discovered why. The audiobook is adridged. (edited) 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics Oh I did not realize that. Well, at 7 hours, I do hope it covers what‘s important. 6y
GingerAntics Sheesh, the abridged version is 7 hours long. Wow. I would think it would. If he was reading it, you‘d think he‘d be going “yeah, but that thing you cut was really important.” 6y
Gezemice @GingerAntics It is 257 pages in print. I can‘t imagine they cut too much. 6y
GingerAntics Geez, unless he talked really slow, I don‘t think much could be cut out. That‘s interesting to consider. Hm. 6y
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Lyanneee
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Came across this from a secondhand bookstore today! Michelle Obama mentioned this in her book which made me interested in reading it, and now I have a copy ❤️

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Mr.hawkins_29
Pickpick

Dreams From My Father have a detailed account of President Obama‘s upbringing, and of his connection to his father.

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StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego
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I have tickets to see Barack Obama speak in a week or so (!!!), so I thought I better read up a little. It was quite interesting to learn about his early life, especially his childhood. I liked that this book was written well before he had presidential aspirations, as I found it to be rather candid. I think this would be a better audiobook pick though, listening to his iconic voice.

#BlackHistoryMonth #ReadBlackAuthors #Blitsy

BookishMarginalia I‘m jealous! Enjoy! 6y
wordzie Barack doesn't stop! 6y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego @wordzie @BookishMarginalia I'm so excited. I have no idea why he's here (Canada) or what he's going to talk about, I just want to be in the same room as him!! (A stadium is just a big room right?) 6y
See All 8 Comments
darklydreaming Very cool! Enjoy!! 6y
squirrelbrain How exciting! I‘m sure you‘ll have a fab time! 6y
Jee_HookedOnBookz I'm soooo jealous!! Oh you know what! I dreamt of him and Michelle Obama two nights ago! I have no idea why! Lol Have fun! 6y
121 likes3 stack adds8 comments
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KtheBookwyrm
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Started listening to this at work and nearly fell asleep. His voice is so relaxing. Also teared up during the preface when he talks about his mother, who died shortly after this book was originally published

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Birdsong28
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Cathythoughts ♥️👍🏻 6y
Birdsong28 Sorry @Cathythoughts I think I must have been half asleep when I did my original post as I just realised that I haven't tagged anyone!! 🤦😂📚📖 6y
Cathythoughts You are very good ♥️👍🏻Thankyou X 6y
Andrew65 Thanks 😊 6y
43 likes4 comments
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Emilymdxn
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Pickpick

This was wonderful, not totally what I was expecting but I really enjoyed it. I was expecting it to be more about America, less about him personally. I feel like I understand him better now, and he‘s a more captivating writer than i was prepared for. I definitely want to read the audacity of Hope now.

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Emilymdxn
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This felt like a natural thing to read after my Becoming book hangover!

Djspens I'm reading Becoming right now. I didn't realize he'd written a book. I, too, will be reading this one! I love and miss this couple!! 6y
Emilymdxn @Djspens yeah he wrote two before he became president! Tagging the other one, but personally I thought this one was much better, and Michelle‘s was better than both! No offence to Barack but I think Michelle‘s the better writer, they‘re all good books tho 6y
47 likes2 comments
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LindseyJo
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On to the next. Presidend Obama will always be MY President.

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inthegreensandblues
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1. Clue
2. Friends' vow renewal in South Queensferry, Scotland; meeting the groom's Scottish family and friends, pulling a muscle doing some wild ceilidh dancing! 😂 💃
3. History
4. 💚
5. Who is your favorite reading role model?
Mine is my dad, who ensured that I grew up in a house full of books and passed a love of reading to me. The genres and stories we like overlap a lot, so he's still the person I most often swap books with.

#friyayintro

Avanders I love clue!!! 💜 6y
AmandaEve My grandpa! He taught me how to love words and writing and despite him being in his 80s he‘s working on a short story, he inspires me to keep going 😊 6y
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inthegreensandblues @AmandaEve That's great! It's so important to keep the mind active when you get to that age. 6y
AmandaEve @inthegreensandblues absolutely! He‘s sharp as a tack! 6y
LittleBug Roald Dahl‘s Matilda🤣🤣 I never had anyone around who read as much as I did. 6y
inthegreensandblues @LittleBug She's a great inspiration! 6y
22 likes7 comments
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timthemute
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Pickpick

Published in 1995, the president (of the Harvard law review) wrote a book about his life up to that point. An interesting look into the personal struggles and triumphs of an important historical figure and a passionate and caring person. Well deserving of “classic” status.