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I had no intention of reading "Dreams From My Father" by Barack Obama. I expected it to be boring — maybe a typical memoir that spoke of the guidance of his father and how that shaped his life. I read one page of it in a bookstore and realized that it was something very different. Mr. Obama talks about the absence of his father. He met his father a few times, but never knew him well. As an adult, he searched for answers about who his father was and some of those answers were disappointing. Its subtitle is "A Story of Race and Inheritance," and that discussion is what makes it such a captivating and enlightening read. It was hard to put down.

Meri Santos, Richfield

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