Well, for those of us in the U.S.A., politics season is in full swing – with less than 75 days to go until the election, the onslaught of news coverage and candidate outreach has begun.  I’ve donated to a few different campaigns and requested my absentee ballot, so I’m on my way.  I’m also looking around for some volunteer opportunities that I can do safely.  With all this political activity, of course, comes waves and waves of nonsense on Facebook (and Twitter, I know, but I’ve deleted Twitter and couldn’t be happier about that).  I’m trying to steer clear of the vitriol, and if you are too, but you’re still looking for some engagement – or if you just loved that speech by President Obama at the Convention and want to wallow in memories – might I suggest an Obama staffer memoir?

First of all, the classic – Who Thought This Was a Good Idea? And Other Questions You Should Have Answers to When You Work in the White House, by Alyssa Mastromonaco, was the first Obama staffer memoir I read, and might still be my favorite.  Mastromonaco combines memories of her time as a senior advisor to President Obama with a manual on leadership for women, and it’s everything.  I listened to it on audio, read by the author herself, and that enhanced the reading experience.  (There is that kind of out-of-place chapter about her cats, but you know, Mastromonaco devoted a lot of her life to her White House job and if she wants to tell me about her cats, I’ll listen.)

Another serious one, and an especially good read for the foreign policy wonks among us, The World As It Is, by Ben Rhodes, is a great reminder that once upon a time, we had normal relations with other countries.  And maybe one day, we can have that again!  In the past few years, I’ve taken great comfort in one of Rhodes’ metaphors: he writes that U.S. foreign policy is like a massive cruise ship (or was it an aircraft carrier? in any event, a really big boat) – you can’t just turn it on a dime, the course is pretty much set and it’s mostly going to chug along.  When I think about how abnormal the past few years have been, I am reassured by that idea.

Whew.  Women and leadership, and foreign policy – two heavy subjects.  If you need something lighter after that, and somehow have not already read Thanks, Obama: My Hopey, Changey White House Years, by David Litt, you are in for a total delight.  Litt was a speechwriter on President Obama’s staff and quickly rose to become the funny guy in the room.  Meaning: when President Obama made a joke, it was probably Litt’s work.  Litt describes his rise to comedy speechwriting, explaining how some of his lines fell flat, but he eventually got a handle on President Obama’s sense of humor and was able to harness it for some spectacular zingers.  If a political memoir can be fun, this one is.

Of course, you may be overwhelmed with all the politics already, and just not into any of it: fair enough.  Living in the D.C. area, I’m both steeped in politics and out of it.  I’ve got relatives who often ask me to share all of my inside political information with them, and I am forever explaining that I don’t have any – I get my news from NPR and the Washington Post, like lots of people, and I don’t know any more than a reasonably informed citizen anywhere in the country; I’m not an insider.  While I’m often frustrated and made late for appointments because of motorcades, that’s really the extent of the D.C. experience.  But at the same time, living here is often like living in a churning stew of opinions – you can’t ever really forget what’s going on, because at any moment you might look up and see Marine One buzzing along overhead or see a recognizable face walking down M Street.  This is a weird place to live, for sure.  And I mostly just try to inform myself and then live my life.  But every now and again, it’s good to remember a normal time – and Obama staffer memoirs are just the balm for that.