Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as her first; but still has some value
Review: I collect books about the Presidential Families of the U.S. I am especially interested in the period of 1900-Present. I enjoy reading trivia about the White House, the political process and what makes our Presidents, their advisors, and our Congress human.I am very impressed by the narratives our current first ladies have left us. As I write this I reflect on Jackie Kennedy's memorial (she died this day 10 years ago). Because of zelous secrecy on the part of her family -- the country does not have one good narrative by or about her. This is a shame. Our first ladies have all seen and done lots to help their husbands and their countries. Barbara Bush wrote an excellent book about her time as First Lady. It is refreshing, seemingly honest, and well written. This second book does not measure up to her first effort. I think I agree with the other reviewers that the book contains lots of trivia regarding her speeches and fundraising efforts. She also does come across as sarcastic and elitist, but at least she is honest. It is because of her honesty that I feel this book has a place in collections of first ladies. It does give the reader a feel for life on the speech-giving/spin-meistering/fund-raising circuit. I think she held back on lots of opinions and events because her son in now in office and was/is up for re-election at the time she wrote the book. Even though I didn't like all of her opinions, at least I got to know them, and that is very valuable. Mrs. Bush has the ability to write well. I hope that after her son's presidency is over, and God willing she is in good health; she will offer us another book. Perhaps the book she really wanted to write in the first place. I am hoping she keeps a journal with the intent that it be published; because of her age. None of us get to live forever, so journals are important as well as permiting her personal papers to be printed at her descretion. She is a lively, feisty lady. By all means by the book for it's historical place. There are gems between the lines.
Rating:
Summary: Not as great as the first one
Review: I confess I didn't enjoy this book as much as her first one, Barbara Bush: A Memoir. Reflections was mainly a detailed activity of Mrs. Bush's life after they left the White House, i.e, I was invited to speak at such-and-such engagement and met such-and-such people, or such-and-such person spent the summer with us at Walker's Point. It was not as lively and a bit exhausting because you sometimes had to plow through seemingly endless pages of dinners, engagements, speaking engagements, etc., without a single interesting paragraph to hold your attention. Some bright spots in the book are numerous witty stories sprinkled here and there and the chapter covering the events surrounding 9/11. She said loyalty is a treasured quality in her family and it's something that's evident in the book: She tried to steer clear of controversies involving a member of her family and never discussed issues that would put them in a bad light. Something else that's interesting is that she rarely says anything negative about anyone, even the Clintons. Not even with the books that she's read, and there were some you could tell that she didn't particularly enjoy, did she criticize the author, the writing or the storyline. It's perhaps her choice as she says in her book that this is her life as she sees it and it is very biased.
Rating:
Summary: This is an ok book
Review: I found this book to be slow reading. The best parts of the book is when Barbara Bush talks about the over seas trips they take. I usually read a book in a decent amount of time. This book took me at least a month to read. I would pick it up and read a few pages then put it down. If you give up easy on reading a book do not buy this one.
Rating: 
Summary: America's grandmother
Review: I have read only 100 pages and I love Mrs. Bush's frank and honest writing. She did not have a "ghost writer" and it is great to read her thoughts and motherly way of looking at the world.
Rating:
Summary: Love Barbara, Hate the Book
Review: I love Barbara Bush, but this book is difficult to read. It is a diary that hasn't been fleshed out. It consists of numerous entries that state that she went somewhere, met someone, her husband went somewhere, met someone, etc. Only rarely do we get a glimpse of her personal life. I enjoyed her recounting the time her grandchildren pelted the Secret Service agents with water balloons. It made the family seem more human, but these little gems are tucked away in the book amid detail after boring detail. I am an avid reader. I pick a book up and rarely, put it down before I have read it in its entirety. Currently, I am stuck on page 281. I am going to have to force myself to finish it.
Rating: 
Summary: terrible
Review: I love old Babs but this work shows her to be shallow and with a dim little view of the big world she's privileged to be on. I know she's smarter than this. But sarcasm, snottiness, and lots of terrible grammar and endless, useless petty lists of people (she should fund an effort to teach herself some literacy) make this a waste of time. C'mon Babs give us yoour best - like the first book.
Rating:
Summary: Breath of Fresh Air.
Review: I loved this book. With so much negativity out there in the political world it was a breath of fresh air for me. I learned a lot about the Bush Family. It also changed my mind to agreement, from reading this book on Gay spousal medical benefits....Pgs..235-236. Mrs. Bush is down to earth, and a very funny writer. She even had me liking The Clintons. We Americans think that politicians hate each other, when in reality they don't. At least most of them don't. It is a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Somewhat disappointing
Review: I read Mrs. Bush's first book and enjoyed it thoroughly, it was in more of a story format. This account consisted of anecdotes of many of the events in her recent life, and reads more like a diary (which is what she constructed the book from). The book doesn't flow very well as a result. According to an interview a lot of material (like Mrs. Bush's opinions) was removed by the editors because of fear of litigation, so this might explain why the book seems to lack some spice and a feeling of soul. As one of the other reviewers said, Mrs. Bush doesn't take this book as an opportunity to talk about difficult issues in the family, and she is not very introspective. As a result, for me the book was somewhat boring and I skipped over many parts of it. In it were recipes and somewhat predictable comments about how wonderful her husband and family are. I like the Bushes, and was hoping for better, but there was nothing about this book that distinguishes her life from any other, except for the famous people she knows.
Rating:
Summary: Boring Redundancies
Review: I thought this book would be interesting -- provide a different view of places Mrs. Bush has travelled and people she has met as a result of her husband's career. I was thinking of mentions of protocol in different countries, descriptions of life in different countries for high ranking politicians, etc. Instead, I read this book that seems simply silly to me...a list of countries visited with no interesting information about the countries or what happened while she was there, a very unsophisticated view of the few then current events about which there are comments, and loads of "George and my kids are so wonderful and so are all of our million friends" and lists of who slept at the Bush's. I am surprised someone who has been lucky enough to see what Mrs. Bush has seen could write such a boring book.
Rating:
Summary: Very disappointing.
Review: I wanted to love this book. I cut my political teeth volunteering at the Reagan/Bush '84 national headquarters. Like Mrs. Bush, I'm staying at home to raise our kids. I have always felt a connection to Mrs. Bush's public persona, so I was so excited when this book came out! What a letdown. It reads like a list. She treats the amputation of her own toes the same as why George Bush left the NRA which is treated the same as her bland chicken casserole recipe. The book is sprinkled with bland recipes and it's riddled with asterisks by names of famous people I should probably care about but don't. Perhaps Mrs. Bush has earned to right to look back on such a rich life and treat it with the depth and wisdom of a grocery list. Perhaps it's a tribute to all those people with asterisks next to their names. It does not make for good reading.
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