Rating: 
Summary: It's NOT about the election!
Review: "Center of the Storm" is NOT a detailed account of the presidential election of 2000. It is as described in its subtitle: "Practicing Principled Leadership in Times of Crisis". Its chapter titles include the introduction followed by twelve leadership principles (i.e., "Know What You Believe", "Remember Your Raising", "Stick to Your Guns"...)If you're looking for the author's detailed account of the election, you will definitely be disappointed. On the other hand, if you can relate to the personal and professional stress Ms. Harris experienced, and you want to know how she was able to deal with it, I think you will find the book satisfying. The general layout of the chapters is as Ms. Harris states in her acknowledgements: "Each chapter includes a number of different elements: application and resource lists, practical explanations of common misconceptions, and dozens of quotations...Each chapter also includes a wide variety of historical examples, vignettes, profiles, and stories." (p.285). "Center of the Storm" is plentiful with accounts of many men and women who have overcome adversity its sundry forms. Included are Abraham Lincoln, Michelangelo, Martin Luther, Maya Angelou, Jim and Elisabeth Elliott (missionaries), C.S. Lewis, Theodore Roosevelt, Gloria Estefan and many more. The basic premise of the book is this: "If you do the right thing...then the future will take care of itself when you find yourself in the center of the storm." (p.281) My only wish is that sources for articles, laws, and reports (when mentioned) had been included. Fortunately, 'Google' makes locating them fairly easy. I've been doing a fast-paced read of "Center of the Storm" (20 pages to go) to get an overview of it. I like it and plan to donate it to a local community college library in order to share it with others. I'll buy another copy to keep in my personal library and to read more slowly.
Rating: 
Summary: I'd like to read the book
Review: but that picture of a sea hag on the cover jacket frightens me so.
Rating: 
Summary: Not enough Election 2000
Review: First off, although I did not like this book, it is in no way because I do not like Ms. Harris. I believe that she turned into the villan in the eyes of Dems during the post-election days because she was the co-chairwoman of the FL Bush Campaign. However, Dems forget that the state Attorney General was the Chair of the Gore campaign in the state so it was not just Bush that had his foot in the door. With that understanding, I do have to say that it was hard to stay interested in this book. Touted by the publisher when it came out as the true inside story, really only a small portion of the book is dedicated to Election 2000. Instead Ms. Harris gives us a list and discription of her favorite historical leaders and writers. So if it is an old history lesson you want, then buy the book but if you want election 2000, go some place else.
Rating:
Summary: Not enough Election 2000
Review: First off, although I did not like this book, it is in no way because I do not like Ms. Harris. I believe that she turned into the villan in the eyes of Dems during the post-election days because she was the co-chairwoman of the FL Bush Campaign. However, Dems forget that the state Attorney General was the Chair of the Gore campaign in the state so it was not just Bush that had his foot in the door. With that understanding, I do have to say that it was hard to stay interested in this book. Touted by the publisher when it came out as the true inside story, really only a small portion of the book is dedicated to Election 2000. Instead Ms. Harris gives us a list and discription of her favorite historical leaders and writers. So if it is an old history lesson you want, then buy the book but if you want election 2000, go some place else.
Rating:
Summary: Actually, Negative 50 Stars
Review: kathrine harris `s book "center of the storm" should be read by anyone looking for some new and wise leadership principles to help them in there job and in there private lifes.this wonderful book out lines some tried ,true, and tested rules that will help you make the best choices whean faced with hard times or the need to know were to go or what to do whean faced with a storm in your life.
after reading this book I really can see that kathrine harris is a very wise person with a strong faith.
a mother who has alot to do or a person who works hard at there office or someone who has alot on there mind and might be looking for alittle extra encouragment and wisdom this is the book for you
Rating: 
Summary: Leadership secrets of a mid-level party functionary
Review: Like several other reviewers, I was expecting this to be yet another of the many, many books cranked out about the 2000 presidential election in Florida. Instead, it turned out to be one of the many, many books cranked out to serve as inspirational or "leadership" guides to standing by your principles in times of crisis. It's also one of the latest examples of the trend of political candidates publishing autobiographies or books on weighty topics in order to prove they're serious thinkers (Ms Harris is now the Representative-elect from Florida's 13th Congressional district). This isn't meant to disparage Ms Harris. This book proves her to be thoughtful, intelligent, articulate, and well-read. And apart from the fact that those four qualities are rare enough in our politicians, she's also, frankly, pretty unremarkable. Her lists of books that have influenced her are exactly the sorts of things one would expect to find: Noonan on Reagan, Manchester on Churchill, McCullough on Adams (Raimondo on Rothbard? Now *that* would have been a refreshing surprise!). Her twelve key principles, while undoubtedly good ideas by which to live a life, are again nothing particularly new or visionary (though I appreciated Principle 6: Feed Your Mind, which puts more emphasis on reading and intellectual development, and especially on reading old as well as, or in place of, new books, than many similar titles seem to). Woven throughout all this is Ms Harris' narrative of the Florida election "crisis." I imagine that this book might be very popular among certain audiences. I'm just not sure which audiences those would be. On the whole, it's not a difficult or exasperating read. The passions it seems to arouse have more to do with the author's celebrity (or notoriety) than with the principles or ideas it contains. It's not a bad book. It's just ... unremarkable.
Rating: 
Summary: Be broken, be bitter, or be better
Review: That is one of the 12 erudite credos that Katherine Harris delineates in Center of the Storm. Harris incessantly endured countless malicious personal attacks, disparaging caricatures of her persona, specious accusations of impropriety, erroneous insinuations of her being a lackey of the Bush team - all of which, indubitably, turned out to be fallacious lies. Through this trying experience of being a human pinata engulfed in the "center of the storm," Harris admirably exhibited principled leadership, unwavering tenacity, mental fortitude, & irreproachable integrity. While the book's title is somewhat of a misnomer considering it is, for all intents and purposes, a leadership book, Harris nonetheless does reveal some intriguing information about the 2000 election. Not the least of which is Al Gore personally instructing his staff to initiate a vicious smear campaign to impugn the integrity of Katherine Harris during the arduous recount process. Instead of being broken or bitter, Mrs. Harris, to her credit, chose to be better. Among the more salient leadership qualities discussed in the book are: To know what you believe, Stick to your guns, Do what is right-and the future will take care of itself, Resist the tyranny of the urgent, Feed your mind, Finish what you start, Act & risk enmity; To remain popular do nothing. By knowing what she believed in from the beginning, sticking to her guns, and doing what was right, Mrs. Harris not only performed admirably, but also set the stage for a bright political future. The formidable leadership values(each chapter discusses a new leadership value), combined with a wonderful bevy of quotations, make this a leadership book that you will find both enjoyable and edifying.
Rating:
Summary: Be broken, be bitter, or be better
Review: That is one of the 12 erudite credos that Katherine Harris delineates in Center of the Storm. Harris incessantly endured countless malicious personal attacks, disparaging caricatures of her persona, specious accusations of impropriety, erroneous insinuations of her being a lackey of the Bush team - all of which, indubitably, turned out to be fallacious lies. Through this trying experience of being a human pinata engulfed in the "center of the storm," Harris admirably exhibited principled leadership, unwavering tenacity, mental fortitude, & irreproachable integrity. While the book's title is somewhat of a misnomer considering it is, for all intents and purposes, a leadership book, Harris nonetheless does reveal some intriguing information about the 2000 election. Not the least of which is Al Gore personally instructing his staff to initiate a vicious smear campaign to impugn the integrity of Katherine Harris during the arduous recount process. Instead of being broken or bitter, Mrs. Harris, to her credit, chose to be better. Among the more salient leadership qualities discussed in the book are: To know what you believe, Stick to your guns, Do what is right-and the future will take care of itself, Resist the tyranny of the urgent, Feed your mind, Finish what you start, Act & risk enmity; To remain popular do nothing. By knowing what she believed in from the beginning, sticking to her guns, and doing what was right, Mrs. Harris not only performed admirably, but also set the stage for a bright political future. The formidable leadership values(each chapter discusses a new leadership value), combined with a wonderful bevy of quotations, make this a leadership book that you will find both enjoyable and edifying.
Rating:
Summary: Not my America
Review: The road to hell is paved with Right Wing Republicans!
Rating:
Summary: Avoids discussing her political views
Review: This book is mainly about leadership, and the leaders that Ms. Harris admires. She is obviously well read and highly principled, but her writing on leadership is not very original. As a fellow native Floridian about the same age, I was much more interested in her biography and her views of the 2000 election, but there is precious little of that information. Most disappointing, there is almost nothing of her political views. As she is now a Member of Congress on the national scene, I would like to know her views on national issues such as defense, taxation, abortion, the role of government, etc., but, except for a little on election reform, it's not in this book.
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