key events on the campaign trail through Clinton’s perspective.
resilience and getting back up when you’re knocked down.”
“People always wonder, ‘What was it like standing on stage, debating your opponent? What was going through your head?’” Clinton said. “Now you can find out.” Writing the memoir has been something of a postelection recovery process for Clinton—but the story isn’t just about her. It also contains universal themes about weathering defeat and hardships.
In addition to discussing her own books, Clinton also shared some of her favorite novels and talked about her reading habits throughout her life. Growing up, she loved Nancy Drew stories (“She just seemed like such a go-getter. She was, dare I say it, a bit of a role model.”), and she has recently revived her love of children’s literature by reading to her grandchildren.
“The book, for me, is a really personal, deep experience… an emotional catharsis,” Clinton said. “But it’s not just about me and not just about an election—it’s about
A dash of Clinton’s signature post-election sarcasm came out when she spoke about her
campaign trail reading materials, but she regained seriousness when speaking about her post-election reading preferences. “I usually read every night before falling asleep [but] didn’t really have a lot of time to read [while campaigning]—other than reams of policy papers. I used to have the idea that the policies you proposed were important,” she said with a laugh. “After the election, I read a lot of mysteries. It was very comforting because it was somebody else’s problem.”
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