Party of Two

Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory, 337 pages

Career-driven Olivia Monroe has just moved to L.A. when she meets a cute kinda familiar-looking guy at the hotel bar. They strike up a conversation about cake and pie (because that's the good dessert, not the fancy schmancy pastries that all the hotel restaurants put on their menus), and it's only later that Olivia realizes she's been chatting with the most eligible bachelor in the U.S. Senate, Max Powell. While he's immediately smitten with her drive and confidence, she's understandably hesitant to get involved with a senator.

A romance novel about a Black lawyer and a privileged white U.S. senator (from Beverly Hills, for crying out loud!) shouldn't be able to be adorable AND steamy AND a balanced criticism of racial disparity and the criminal justice system. But somehow, it is. It's fantastic, and Guillory proves once again that she has the Midas touch. Read this book, and everything else Guillory writes, because it's awesome.

Giant of the Senate

Giant of the Senate by Al Franken, 406 pages. Audio narrated by the author.
Franken recounts the story of his early life in Minnesota, his start in comedy with high-school classmate Tom Davis, and their rise to fame as writers and performers on Saturday Night Live, Franken tells many stories of his time on SNL, the stories behind some of the great skits he had a hand in, the stories behind some of the best known political skits, and some of the writing that later got him into trouble.
His time after SNL included work on Air America and his politically humorous books, Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations and Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balance Look at the Right.

As politics becomes more central in his life, Franken tells of his long relationship with the late Senator Paul Wellstone, of how much he admired him, and how much, because of the things that Coleman said and did to repudiate Wellstone and what he stood for, he despised Norm Coleman, the republican Senator who succeeded him

Franken’s own election to the Senate in 2008, with him finally winning by 225 votes over the incumbent Coleman, was one of the closest contests ever. Franken wasn't seated in the Senate until after the election results had gone to Minnesota's Supreme Court. Only after the state SC found in his favor was Senator Franken was able to begin serving, 246 days after the election. 
Fans of Franken's politics or his comedy will really enjoy this book. Franken has a smooth, easy, and of course, hilarious sense of style and the book is great on audio as it is capably narrated by the author.