My Cozy Book Corner: January 2014

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

How to Love by Katie Cotugno

How to Love is a love story. But it isn't just a boy meets girls and "stuff" happens love story.

The jumping off point for the story is Reena getting pregnant at 16 and Sawyer taking off. The chapters in this book alternate between Before & After. The "before" is before Reena got pregnant at 16 and Sawyer leaves town. The "after" picks up in the present (two years after Sawyer left) with Sawyer's return.

Reena has known Sawyer pretty much forever and has had a crush on ever since she was old enough to start liking boys. She loves her best friend Allie, her parents and her brother very much. However Reena is not very open about her feelings and this makes for a lot of hurt and resentment she holds in for a very long time.

I enjoyed the way the story was fleshed out in pieces and the back and forth worked. None of the characters are perfect cookie cutter people and so come off the page flawed and human which is something I appreciate and find makes a story more enjoyable.

(finished January 20, 2014)

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Tip and the Gipper: When Politics Worked by Chris Matthews

As a staffer for Speaker of the House Tip O'Neil Chris Matthews had an inside view of the working of the House and the relationship between Tip and President Reagan during the six years their time in office overlapped.

There is mention of scandal and trouble (Iran/Contra) but not much deep detail. Instead the focus is on how two men with such different sets of convictions and from such different schools of political thought managed to work together, keep the government working without shutdowns, filibusters and dirty play.

Matthews talks of the respect each man had for the others office and position while still doing what they felt they needed to do to get what they felt was best for the country they both loved. They weren't always kind to each other in the press or face to face but they were never nasty or backbiting.

At the end of the day these were two men who served our country in ways they believed was for the best interest of us citizens and agree or not with their idea and ideals is not relevant to respecting their years of service.

This is really a love story about the days when politics was about getting things done. It's about a time when those in congress fought for their stance, said what needed saying and then voted. If you won you celebrated, if you lost you got up, dusted yourself off and moved on to tried to win the next fight. Governing was not about being proud of doing the most nothing.

(Finished January 19, 2014)

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

The Hunt (Predator Trilogy #2) by Allison Brennan

I more than liked this but less than really liked it, I would have given it 3.5 stars if I could have.

This was a well done who done it with a bit of psychological fallout from child abuse at the core of the crime. What we do to our children does a lot to form who they become and when the children are so badly damaged the fallout can be deadly. That is what happened in The Hunt. The result is the chase to stop a brutal kidnapper who rapes, tortures and then hunts to kill his victims.

As with The Prey there is a flip side to the story. There is a woman character who has been severely hurt and has to find her strength and courage to survive and help solve the crime. While that sounds like it could be cliche it works in Brennan's here. Not Shakespeare by any means but a decent read that doesn't give away the "who" in who dunnit too easily.

(Finished January 14, 2014)

Sunday, January 12, 2014

So Me by Graham Norton

I've read a few memories (some being Rob Lowe, Dawn French, Stephen Fry, Malala Yousafzai, Jim Gaffigan, Nujood Ali, Melissa Francis, John Barrowman) and have enjoyed reading them.

I love Graham Norton. I love his chat show and thought he was great hosting I'd Do Anything. I wish I LOVED his book. I almost did. I think the reason is that it is not very deep. There are moments it almost gets there but then he pulls back. The only time he really goes all in is when he shares about his father's death.

After reading So Me I get the impression that the Graham we see on TV is the real him and he isn't playing a part, he is who is and I like that.

Over all interesting and entertaining even if slightly sugar coated.

Oh, there is a lot of wanking in the pages of this book so be forewarned.

(Finished January 12, 2014)

Friday, January 10, 2014

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

A classmate was reading this for a class and I had never read it or seen the movie so she offered to loan it to me.

I started and finished this one day, I have read plays that weren't very readable and that I didn't enjoy (Top Girls) but this one was more along the line of A Raisin In The Sun as far as ease of reading what was on the pages and in following the story.

I started disliking Blanche but by the end, while I still didn't like her I felt quite bad for her. I spent most of the story liking Stella but thinking she was really not too smart to stay with a man like Stanley, but given it was a different time and it isn't easy to see things when you are inside I wasn't going to judge her too harshly. Until that is she says she couldn't believe Blanche and stay with Stanley. She did know he was a jerk and still chose him over her sister and over choosing neither of them and taking care of herself. From the start I found Stanley slimy and a bit creepy.

Overall I liked the story and the imperfect characters, imperfection makes a story more interesting. When no one is completely likable it makes it harder to know who if anyone to care about or sympathize with.

(finished January 10, 2014)

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Harry Potter #1) by J.K. Rowling

This was my fourth time reading this book, this time with Joshua. We did a read along together and took turns reading. It was magical to see it fresh through my 8 year-old's eyes and spending time with him talking about the story and comparing it to the movie. He had some profound moments of thought like when he said very seriously and thoughtfully that he really believed Dumbledore was lying about seeing socks in the mirror of erised.

Over the years we have listened to the entire series as audiobooks but this was the first time he actually had the book in his hands and read it.

I can't say enough wonderful things about Harry Potter. Considering the popularity and age of the series I don't really need to do a summary. I will just stress the wonder and excitement of Rowling's work bringing the wizarding world to life.

His reaction upon finishing was that this was much, much better than the movie, he loved it so much and is so excited to get onto book 2.

(Finished January 8, 2014)

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

2014 Book List

Doctor Who: Summer Falls and Other Stories by Amelia Williams, Melody Malone, Justin Richards

Three short stories (one by Amelia Williams, a Melody Malone mystery, and one featuring Madam Vastra, Jenny and Strax), an introduction by Amelia Williams and an excerpt of an interview with Amelia make this a treat for Whovians.

If you're not a Whovian the stories are still worth reading. Nothing heavy here, just a nice little bit of story telling.

The Angel's Kiss is worth a mention. It's set in NY in the 1930's and has the feel of an old fashioned pulp mystery.

This was really just a quick, light and fun read. Best part for me was that I enjoyed it and so will my 8 and 13 year old kids.

(Finished Jan. 1, 2014)