5319. All things at Once, by Mika Brzezinski with Daniel Paisner (read 16 Oct 2015) While riding my stationary bike each morning I watch, for 30 minutes, Morning Joe. The author is co-host and since she is a Democrat I much prefer her comments to Joe's except when Joe criticizes Republicans--which he sometimes does. This book tells of Mika's life, including growing up in Washington while her father was National Security Director for President Carter--Mika played with Amy Carter at the White House at times. .Mika tells of her exciting times in TV news, including her reporting of the 2000 election debacle and her on the scene reporting on Sept 11. I found the book consistently interesting and at times dramatic,. ( )

Mika Brzezinski has written an honest, warm, easy to read memoir of her climb to fame. Although still quite young, she has had so many diverse experiences in her childhood and career that there is plenty to include in her story. Raised by a stern father and an artistic and creative, mother, she was nevertheless always in an atmosphere filled with love and acceptance. She was encouraged to be the best she could be and she aspired to that goal but also wanted to be the be-all to everyone, an impossible combination since some sacrifices always have to be made in one area or another in order to achieve success. Humans don’t have the time or the capacity to do it all well. Something will suffer in the effort and, many times she explains how something certainly did, often reducing her to tears. Frolicking in the White House as a youngster with the likes of Amy Carter certainly would not be considered a mainstream childhood but Mika seems to have taken it all in stride. Encouraged to be herself, often, “herself”, brought considerable embarrassment to the family. She was always appreciated and was expected to achieve while remaining true to herself. In her teens, she discovers a love for journalism and begins to pursue it. In her twenties, finding the love of her life, a soul mate, also pursuing the same career, she marries Jimmy Hoffer and begins to raise a family. Her life seems like “everymans”. Living on a shoestring they move from one small apartment to a fixer-upper of a home, from locale to locale, making the adjustments necessary to further their careers and maintain a home life. Equally supporting of each other, the marriage survives. For Mika, however, the pressure rises to a boiling point since being perfect in all ways, seems to be her compulsive aim. Until the time when a tragedy occurs, as she tumbles down the stairs with her infant, she does not really fully understand how her inability to place things in the proper perspective is hurting her. She is driven by ambition ,by a need to be the perfect everything, wife, mother, journalist. Although she claims that she has gotten ahead, in some respects, a leg up, because of who she is, though she has never curried those favors, one can’t help but notice that she kept her name, Brzezinksi, one that does not get lost in the shuffle of obscurity, rather than assuming her husband’s name, Hoffer. However, Mika, is very much interested in women’s issues and, in fairness to her, perhaps it was for that reason that she kept her own name, not for personal advantage. She certainly climbed up to the top, from the basement, and took the worst jobs at the worst times of day or night for reporting. One does have to give her enormous credit. The need for hard work and effort have never stopped her, in fact, they encourage her in her pursuit of her dream. She will not sign on to that behavior but, at times, she may have spoken once to often in order to impress someone, only to fall to earth quickly as a result. The description of life in the newsroom and television studios are right on and she exposes the cutthroat atmosphere that is its reputation, as quite real. Friends will "eat" friends in order to get ahead.
Today, she is a star. She works side by side with Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and is charming, witty and warm, exactly how she presents in her memoir. If I had to describe the book with adjectives I would say it is friendly, open and honest. You will feel as if you are her personal confidant as you read it and when you close the book you will think you know her. She has embraced you with her words and you will embrace her. She is very easy on the eyes and so is her book. ( )

I enjoy reading about others lives, even when I know very little about them. That was the case when I decided to read Mika Brzezinski's, "All Things At Once." I became a little worried when the marketing of the book was focused on career women. I have the wrong plumbing and I am perfectly satisfied working with my wife in her in-home childcare business. With that said, I went into this book wanting to provide insight relevant to anyone interested in Mika's book.

"All Things at Once," by Mika Brzezinkski reads much like how she describes her career. It starts out with the intention of doing great things. The focus of the book is pretty rough with signs of promise. There are parts that are good and others that fall short. By the last third of the book, the memoir comes into its own. It pulled me in and began to tug on me in an emotional way.

The beginning of the book takes a glimpse at Mika's childhood. It is interspersed with mentions of her career. Mika's father was the national security adviser during the Carter administration. Her family in all aspects were country folk that enjoyed hunting and had a lifestyle far removed from the Washington socialite scene they had become apart of. The memoir glances over this information, which if given more detail would have been excellent reading.

Mika goes on to highlight the start of her career. She discusses her choices that created a hectic and stressful life. All this leads to an accident that made Mika take a closer look at her decisions. This becomes a vital turning point in her life. Mika's family dynamic is different from the typical two working parent household. The demands put on Mika and her husband, because of their careers, creates an environment that may shock some reading the book.

As Mika details her first move to MSNBC, the focus of the book becomes clearer and the story begins to hold my interest better. Her experiences in the latter part of her career are detailed in a way that was very interesting and moving.

As described in the book, Mika stretches herself quite thin. With this in mind she put together a good memoir. If Mika had more time to dedicate to her book, it could have been great. Overall, I enjoyed the honest and telling look into her life. I would recommend it to anyone, not just career minded women.

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Meijer Bjorn, Reviewer for Bookpleasures.com ( )