Friends and Books Does it Get Any Better


Photo by NordWood Themes on Unsplash

Here we are in 2019!  We braved frigid temperatures last night for our first book club this year. And what a book club it was! Twelve of us squeezed around an elongated table laughing, eating, drinking and catching up – our usual MO.

By the time we turned our attention to January’s book selection we were jazzed up and ready for discussion. Our pick was “Amanda Wakes Up,” by Alisyn Camerota, the CNN New Day cohost.

Although many news show hosts have written books, Camerota’s “Amanda Wakes Up,” is distinctly different from the pack. It’s a fictional story of a young idealistic journalist landing her dream job very early in her career.

Benji Diggs, the “master of mass media,” hires Amanda as a cohost for his new morning show Wake Up, USA, after she scoops a story by being the first on scene at a hostage situation (without pants).  Diggs’ FAIR News Network intends to “dissolve the left-right paradigm,” and present both sides of every story. Amanda loves the idea of being fair. After all it’s what the journalist’s creed is all about – clear thinking, clear statement, accuracy, fairness and truth.

As the story progresses and the stakes rise for Amanda, she is forced to take stock of what is important to her and what she believes in. The tension rises when pressure mounts from Diggs, her boyfriend, and her friends and family that she conform to their way of thinking. She does the best she can to adapt until…one person makes her look deep within. What path will she take – will her integrity bloom or will ambition win?

Camerota treads lightly on some harder-edged social issues.  But it fits in this novel. It’s not intended to teach or preach, but it gives the reader an opportunity to gain some insight into this world and have some fun along the way. There are no character assassinations or ambitions other than to tell a story. As readers we appreciate not being lectured to.

We agree with Camerota’s underlying theme that there’s more uniting us than dividing us.

Our book club thoroughly enjoyed discussing this book and feel that others will too. We talked about Charlie, Amanda’s boyfriend, and what he represented. As one member put it, “he was an asshole.” We discussed the polarization of our country.

“The country has gone mad.” Every day we are bombarded with angry soundbites and we watch in horror as one American lambasts another for a particular belief or idea. This current polarization reminds me of the Vietnam War era. Screaming, name calling, anger beget the same. Hence, Wake Up, USA.

We all agreed that we’d side with Amanda at the climax of the story! And we bet other book clubs would agree.

On a side note – our book club was honored to be asked to do a segment on CNN’s popular voter panels before the midterm elections. Three of our Republicans and three of our Democrats agreed to participate. We all had trepidation about appearing, none of us talk about politics within our book club. It was definitely an eye-opener for us, but Camerota and everyone from CNN were wonderful and in the end we were glad we participated.

Enjoy the read!

Rating: 8.5

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