I have no desire to bring politics into Another Year of Books. I promise not to preach to you if you promise not to preach to me. When I picked up my latest read, there were many reasons and very few were political. The most important one being I heard it was a really well written book.

Book Read: Promise Me, Dad
Author: Joe Biden
Number of Books Read: 24

We all know him. Whether it’s because he was a senator for so long, for the fact he was the 47th vice president of the US of A, or from those hilarious bro memes, Joe Biden is a name we’ve all heard of. In 2017, he added “author” to his resume.

Promise Me, Dad chronicles Biden and his family’s experiences in his son Beau’s last year. Beau, who passed away from terminal brain cancer in 2015, was predicted to be a future president.

Biden writes of family. From vacations, endless trips to a hospital in Houston to be with his son to his son’s funeral, he is open about it. But he also writes of policy, his weekly lunches with the President, and his ultimate decision not to run for president.

When Beau Biden was fighting terminal brain cancer, the Bidens kept as much private was they could. President Obama wasn’t even aware of how bad things were, the Secret Service kept the secret, and the Biden family stuck together, no questions asked.

Biden is completely open in this book, with descriptions on how his son’s fight was going, what the X-Ray said that day, who wanted him to run for president, his relationship with the president and prime minister of Turkey, how important is was his grandchildren learn from history, and what weekly lunch conversations with Obama were like.

As a man who has lived his life in the public eye (politicians sign up for that, right?), Biden is wide open about a very private part of his life.

It was refreshing to read a book that discussed family and politics. There was never a moment I felt Biden was pushing his opinion and policy on me. He just simply stated that he did what he thought was right and what he believed in. While we all know he is a Democrat, he is very open on why he leaned a certain way and very seldom does he point the finger at Republicans.

I also learned some fun facts from him along the way. I wasn’t aware he was involved in civil rights and did not hesitate to accept homosexuality at such a young age. I had no clue where the Vice President lived (wait, it’s not in a mini White House?!), and I didn’t realize how much vetting went into picking a VP.

Whether you agree with Biden and his policies, or spit at his name, pick up and give this book a shot. Yes, it’s about politics, but it is more about a family man who is just taking it one day at a time.

Next Read: The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst