i think i'll be signing books for you. [applause] >> every saturday evening book tv sends one - - takes the opportunity to binge watch with a well-known author. generator focuses different looking at books written by former first lady's. up next is former first lady barbara bush who served from 1989 to 1993 and the author of five books then was very well known for her children's book about her dog millie. for two memoirs published 1984 and 2003 here is the lady

barbara bush discussing reflections at the texas book festival in austin. >> i love writing my memoirs and the urge to write was still there. i saw my good friend mary higgins clark and told her that and she suggested that i write a novel and said it would be very easy and said pick up plot and narrow the ending and work back she told me when her characters talk to her she won't let her say something that she knows that she is on the right track and says if they tell her i wouldn't do that are say that it sounded easy so i set forth to write a mystery novel and made up a rather interesting plot centering around two female roommates a flight attendant and the secret service agent who never stayed

in town long enough to me any attractive eligible men. they decided to get in touch with an escort bureau, a dating service all of the men ended up dead i knew the killer and it worked my way back but why had one huge problem my characters never said one word to me. [laughter] i spent hours waiting. nothing and besides that my conversations were stiff and awkward and boring so i decided to leave the imagination for the real writers and stick to what i knew. after all life did not stop after the white house the last ten years are filled with travel and new experiences making new friends and the usual ups and downs of a large

close family and some very exciting moments i bet you did not know that outlaw biker magazine declared me first lady of the century. [laughter] this of course accompanied by a picture of my head superimposed on a curvaceous body draped over a harley davidson bike biker babe of the century was one headline. it was quite an honor and worthy of another book and there were two sons one who became governor in one became president so there were some things i could write about before research i did have to do anything and trying to remember what happened and who said what i didn't have to worry about that either i have

been a devoted diary keeper for years all i had to do was take my diary already in my computer send into readable prose take out an opinion or to some things are best left unpublished. usually in the early mornings sitting with my laptop in bed while george read the newspapers and while i read, he cursed. somehow it worked. [laughter] already people are asking me if there will be another sql. at age 78 i suspect not. but who knows just as life did not stop after the white house also 80 years of age and beyond especially if you are married to george bush. after all this is the man who

swears he is parachuting one more time on his 80th birthday. he jumped on his 75th and loved it and incidentally he raised $10 million for the cancer research hospital. on the 13th of june, the day after the gala he will make his last jump and friends around the country are raising $30 million to be shared with the points of light foundation and the george bush presidential library foundation. not only his last job but he swears the last time we ever ask anyone for many. [laughter] larry king has announced he will jump with george so far he has lined up texas university grandchild jeb

junior will jump with him. i have to share one little story from this past september during the trip to russia george and i were invited to spend the day with president putin on the black sea so the russian equivalent of camp david my george was wearing a suit and tie we were very flattered he came to the airport and while driving back to the guesthouse he suggested he would drop off then he and mrs. putin would go to meet them. and then we would have a press conference right after that. so george rushed in changing into very casual clothes.

would you believe sweatpants and a polo shirt? that's all he had. we walked up the hill to me to the puritans it soon became obvious that president putin also changed his close into a suit and tie. [laughter] anyway i'm writing in my diary that night this should go in the next book. i do know that writing this book reminded me of a couple of things i have always known. you shouldn't take yourself for life too seriously. i would like to read a very short passage to prove my point. regret, not my only one but one is i did not keep all of the pictures i have gotten from the barbara bush look-alikes. [laughter] i get at least four per month and have for years from ladies who have told they look exactly like me.

i am so common looking that when i went and spoke to the junior league in toledo they had to look-alikes. 5-foot 2 inches tall or six-foot. they could weigh 120, i would like that or 220. fifty-five or 95 years of age. they all have one thing in common, white hair. i have finally learned to say i wish i did look as pretty as you and in most cases it is true. you can imagine the mail brings funny surprises. one year shortly after giving the commencement address at texas a&m i received a letter from a lady who thought i might be amused by something that happened after my talk. she had taken her granddaughter with her to the

graduation when she returned the child the little girl said mom, you'll never guess what i did. i heard the mother of the president of the united states. i heard george washington's mother. [laughter] i might have been more amused if i didn't sort of look like george washington. [laughter] now another letter that thrilled and amused my family that said dear mrs. bush, great news i named my heifer after you. [laughter] this nice child fairly often sent me updates on barbara bush the heifer. [laughter] she competed in the houston livestock show one year and

came in eighth. i was sorry for my little friend but slightly relieved because i'm not sure i could stand the headlines barbara bush wins the fat stock show. which brings me to the next thing that i was reminded of while writing this book you cannot survive life without a sense of humor otherwise you will never recover from all the ups and downs and disappointments and wrong turns. but one of the reasons i married george bush is he made me laugh. her beloved dog millie the one who wrote the book about life in the white house and donated all proceeds to literacy in the book made over $1 million. george is to say you work all

your life, finally you obtain the highest job in our country and maybe the world, and your dog makes more money than you do. [laughter] we were very sad when millie died but thankfully the reactions to millie's death made us smile. i wrote in my book, the outpouring of letters, faxes, flowers, and telephone calls about millie was unbelievable. i love her and i will always remember her. at the first congregational church in kennebunkport they prayed for her on the sunday after her death. one lady wrote she knew the pain we were suffering. she said my husband died last year. [laughter] that may george very nervous.

[laughter] the barbara bush foundation for family literacy got a 500-dollar contribution in memory of milli millie. that was sweet. people wrote letters about their dog's death, sent pictures of their dogs or cats living or dead, my friend mildred after phil millie was named talk to an interviewer and the chief of staff was interviewed by people magazine. both ladies said they knew millie had written a book and had given her proceeds to charity but they wanted to know the personal side of millie and what she had done lately. millie was a dog. [laughter] thank god for a sense of humor. however the most important

thing i was reminded of is that i am the luckiest woman in the world a husband whom i adore, children that bring us great joy, friends that mean a tremendous amount to us, and we live in the great state of texas which is part of the freest nation in the nation or in the history of the world. [applause] it doesn't get much better than that. >> so life truly is perfect which brings me to one of my favorite topics, literacy. even after all these years is near and dear to my heart. i still believe we made great progress but there's more work to be done i read something

that made me very very sad. in a recent survey only 50 percent of adults said they had read books and say finish school. and only half of those people buy more than two books per year. and then benjamin franklin who when asked what condition of man replied alonso man on a rainy day who does not know how to read. and nothing harder to fix this problem than the texas book festival founded 1995 by then texas first lady laura bush.

there she is i'm so glad to see her. [applause] that jenna is a great example for all mothers and fathers she read to laura every single day and that's one of the many reasons we have this great and gentle and strong first lady. because of proceeds go to public libraries across texas you have raise more than 1,043,000's whatever it is millions, hundreds. why didn't they write that out for me? they know i'm not good at math. [laughter] [applause]

with 474 libraries. typical grant is $2500 for books and reading programs. in many cases that doubles the budget for the book purchases for these libraries. that is a terrific gift. so laura bush moved to washington and when she moved there and took the great idea with her and in september and in conjunction with the library of congress they held their third book festival on the mall which has attracted thousands of people each year. and just this year, i didn't read about it but i know what has happened and i wish i ha had, 75000 people came out on the mall to celebrate to celebrate our texas laura bush.

[applause] >> incidentally this is free and open to the public. laura and i joined forces on another literacy project on the barbara bush foundation for family literacy to establish the literacy initiative for texas of which laura is still the chair. since the beginning eight years ago we have given away nearly $2 million to 80 texas family literacy programs. i can't help but think thanks to these and other efforts of all the wonderful literacy volunteers across our state, that someday people everywhere in texas can count books as treasured friends and companions i want to congratulate you all for what you are doing. i am thrilled even though i

had to write a book to get it. thank you very much. god bless you. god bless texas. that's it. [laughter] [applause] >> there is some time left for questions that i am so old but i don't hear if i don't like the question. [laughter] >>.

>> [inaudible] >> are you kidding? [laughter] >> the question is will i jump with him? know. i will catch him. [applause] [laughter] >> i don't have a question. i did read your book and i loved it. i'm a teacher in high school and i wear one red and one blue. >> thank you. [applause] >>. >> [inaudible]

>> do i still give my son advice? >> george bush claims that he doesn't but i feel free to and i do because neither one of them take it. [laughter] i have to tell you that all of our children are very nice because they call and see how we feel and one day one called is that i just talked to george and said he took a long walk i thought he was going to say good girl mom. i don't give much advice. >> [applause]

[inaudible] >> that's very nice. thank you. >> [inaudible] [applause] >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> you really have to read my book. but let's see. [laughter] i try not to give names in the book. but we did have one time george and i were sitting on the deck of our house in kennebunkport called the main coaster the children are allowed to use. george loves it when he sees the girls and boys go rushing out in the boat. one day one of the grandsons was racing around the point we

were sitting on the deck and george said dan, that's the biggest treat in my life to see those children use the main coaster. it's a wonderful. then the about way way out stops and then george says oh i may have to go rescue them. because he's dying to go out in his boat. so then he got out his binoculars and the little grandson and got up and went to the back of the tiny boat urinated over the side. [laughter] and the boat took off again. [laughter] and i don't think the little kid ever knew. that we had him on the binoculars. [laughter]

>> [inaudible] >> the last book i read was sent to me called im mad imax - - madam x. i saw the paintings and they came to boston i thought it was a beautiful painting that by the time i got to the book i didn't think it was so beautiful. i really didn't think i thought the arm looked weird. [laughter] but i enjoy the book. i'm looking for a good book. i read to relax. i worry about my children all the time. particularly our mutual children. because i worry about the world. i don't think any president ever had a worse time to be president. lincoln had brother fighting

against brother which was terrible. but there is something about the unknown enemy which is what we're going through now. i think that's very very hard. we worry much more than i think we should. so i tried to read novels or something that will help me not remember or think about the problem. >> [inaudible] >> truthfully lots of them. i love jane austen and listening a book on tape the life and times of jane austen. there are quite a few that every book they write i read. elizabeth george. david baldacci. james patterson. not the scary ones but the one that was like a letter. i have forgotten i cannot

remember the names but i do read his books. there are a lot. mary higgins clark. some i have to read the minute they come out. i am a danger in a bookstore. [laughter] >> [inaudible] [laughter] >> yes. >> [inaudible] >> i wonder why. thank you yes i have played golf george left me this morning at college station where he is rushing to go play golf. if luck will have it maybe i'll make a little tour up there myself. >>

[inaudible] >> my favorite children's book? >> it depends on the age but when i go to schools i read two young children 11 book called amazing grace. the trouble is when you read to children, if it's a book you love they have read it 400 times so you have to try to find a book that is new and has some kind of messages. i love make way for ducklings and since it is 60 years old and has a very good message, i think. that the policemen are there to make life easier and compassionate and caring. i like that. i think children should be taught to respect people who are in public service.firemen,p. i believe that serving is a noble occupation.

i like make way for ducklings maybe the soul they have not read it. [laughter] >> [inaudible] >> let me tell you about harry potter place to go to school speaking to fifth-graders. and i would say how many of you like to read. not know how. all of the girls would raise their hand. most of them. after harry potter came into our life i would ask how many of you have read a book lately? every hand, every boy and they would yell out i read it five times for their father and mother would tell me i was at the store at 2:00 a.m. to buy it. i try to read harry potter. i read the first one. i did not like alice in wonderland i am ashamed to tell you so i am not that kind of leader but i am grateful

ms. rowling or whatever her name is because she has opened reading to not only girls but boys. but i didn't really like it myself. >> [inaudible] >> yes. that's very easy because i can recommend books you can read. keys into more things. his father is into john becomes book about winston and roosevel roosevelt. that is interesting to george w. there is a lot of great books that have come out about statesmen lately. not just john adams but a lot of them. george reads those.

>> [inaudible] >> that's nice. [applause] an answer to that people say you will not live in texas are you? of course we will. that summer home. we chose texas. we love texas. is very nice we love midland very much when we lived there. [applause] >> [inaudible] >> i am almost 79. [laughter] and it depends on what age i guess. with four boys and a husband running for office, i just not as good of a memory as i have on that.

i think truthfully they read sports illustrated or books about athletes and god willing we finally got a girl. [laughter] >> in your opinion what your favorite book that you wrote? >> that i wrote? i only have four choices. of course my favorite book is reflections. [laughter] thank you for asking. i think millie's book certainly was great because it

told people about the white house. >> [inaudible] >> i do. i have a speechwriter. and she takes it from my material because every day i go out and something unbelievable happens. i managed to trip over the funniest things but i do have a speechwriter. she says we make a great team that she rights and i erased. [laughter] >> tell us about the night of the election in your house and what went on. >> yes and then was unelected? i could hardly tell this crowd you are probably on either side you are suffering. but

i'm sure other people have written about this but it was a very moving night. we were added dinner and we were there when florida was called on the al gore side which was wrong because they hadn't close the polls so that set the tide because we had to win florida. so we went back to the governor's mansion and it moved to me a lot because our two oldest sons were very affectionate and emotional and janet and laura was there. george, jeb and a lot of staff in and out. my george. the two men sat and looked to precinct by precinct as it came in. and it became clear that florida was going to be jobs or george's and it turned out to be georges. i don't know if any of you notice this but in the democratic primary 2002

precincts had troubles with chad again. the one the democrats ran the same with jeb and bush and gore and since i am outspoken and frank and tart i feel perfectly free to say no question in my mind that george one florida. [applause] i don't think i put this in my book but in my heart, when the dnc chairman and you can all throw stuff at me if you want, announced in 2002 there was one goal to beat jeb bush come i think he won by 14 percent. [applause] i will say goodbye. [applause] i'm not supposed to be politica political. i just want you to know what i think. >> [inaudible] >> i don't like that if it is revisionist. but i'm worried very much about the internet because i can put something on internet and act like it's the truth and people will then go in as research. for instance there is a big article about me recently in newsweek because they bought

the rights to do that from my book publisher and i spent a lovely day with a really nice girl and about the fourth page of my book she has my mother, her mother mildred pierce my mother's name was pauline robinson peers. mildred was joan crawford in the movie. [laughter] that is sloppy. i'm worried about things on internet that are not true. we all go to internet to find the truth now i feel shabby about that because i don't think they are necessarily true. we have to be very careful that our editors do the research. mildred pierce? didn't she use clothes hangers on her children? why are ones? maybe that was joan crawford.

[laughter] i will say goodbye. i will go home and see my husband. thank you very much. i appreciate you having me. [applause] >> that concludes our session. thank you. go enjoy the book festival. [inaudible conversations] >> we are spending the evening with former first ladies who are also authors. up next is hillary clinton first lady 1983 through 2001.

the author of eight books, several bestsellers. not only did she write as first lady but as senator from new york, secretary of state , and as a presidential candidate. here she is when she was first lady 1996 on book notes program talking about her best-selling book, it takes a village. >> hillary rodham clinton author of it takes a village what did your mother teach you? >> she gave me such a good example. my mother as i write in the boo book, did not have a traditional upbringing born to a 15 your mother 17 -year-old father whose marriage did not last and was sent off to live with her grandparents that was a very harsh atmosphere. but somehow through her own personal will and strength