My Cozy Book Corner: December 2017

Saturday, December 30, 2017

Unbelievable: My Front-Row Seat to the Craziest Campaign in American History by Katy Tur

I followed the primaries and general election very closely. I freely and proudly admit that from day 1 I was a Clinton supporter. I also freely and willingly admit she was a flawed candidate but people are notoriously flawed. I believed then and believe just as much now she was the best candidate for the job and would be very good at it.

I think tRump is off his nut, unqualified, unfit, and doing a terrible job. He has done something dangerous. All the people in this country whop held ideas filled with hate and violence that used to manage to hide it, he has given them license to openly air their vitriol. He has made this country a laughing stock and he has made us less safe not more.

But how did he get to the Oval Office? Katy Tur, one of my favorite MSNBC reporters was on the beat of his campaign from the beginning. This book is her behind the scenes account of that cray ride.

She writes well, very conversationally and it is a style that pulls the reader in. It isn't surprising since she presents that way in her on-air reporting, making it feel like she is talking directly to you.

While I didn't enjoy reliving election night and the disgust tRump's entire campaign caused in the pit of my stomach, I did enjoy Katy and her inside perspective.

Good luck on your engagement and marriage and career Katy Tur, look forward to more from you!

(Finished December 30, 2017)

Friday, December 29, 2017

Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard

With a gift card from my mother-in-law I returned to status of e-reader owner and put it towards a Nook GlowLight 3. I used to own a Nook MANY MANY moons ago and gave up on it and went back to being a purest. However, with space being at a premium and some books being just too HEAVY to make walking and reading comfortable I decided that while I am really a purest at heart there are times when ebooks will serve me better. So I am giving it a go again.

The first book I purchased and read was this one. I have a lot of heavy (topic not weight) in my pile of physical books so I wanted to have a quick read that wouldn't be too much emotionally or intellectually but wouldn't feel like a waste of time. I wanted to be pulled in and entertained. And the Red Queen book 1 did that. Downside? I am anxious to read book 2.

Mare is a Red in a wold where to have rights, freedom power, is reserved for Silvers. But she is more. She finds out that she is stronger and more powerful than she thinks. And it makes her a threat but also an instrument of hope. She also learns a valuable and painful lesson about trust and betrayal and the things people will do to get what they want.

Cal is the boy prince who would be king, if the world was what he thought it was and people where who they appeared to be.

I wont say more for fear of spoiling someone who is also new to this series. I truly enjoyed it and will read the rest. Hopefully book 2 is as good or better. I hate when a first book is good and then a series falls apart like my experience with the Dorthy series that I couldn't finish.

(Finished December 29, 2017)

2018 Book List

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

I truly don't know how to describe this book. It is a beautifully worded story, that is for sure, even has it has moments of pure heartbreaking despair.

Jojo is a young boy, only 13, and he has seen more pain than any child should but too many do. He lives with his grandparents and his drug addicted and abusive mother comes in and out of the home. His grandpa, Pop, is a strong Black man who tries to counter his daughter's mistreatment of her children. His grandma, Mam, is loving and tries to care for her grandchildren and love them enough for her and her daughter. Their daughter, Jojo's mom, Leonie, is broken and hiding in her drug addles mind and lashes out at her children. In moments of clarity she knows she loves them but can't love them enough. Michael, Jojo's father, is a white man in jail and about to come home. A trip to go get him is the backdrop for the tale Ward tells.

This story doesn't really delve into the addict's mind and go into why or why not Leonie isn't doing more to get clean or why she is an addict in the first place. It doesn't blame anyone. It isn't really her story. This is Jojo's story. It is about how he tries to figure out who he is and where he is going, what it means to be a man. He is two very different examples, his Pop, who is a responsible, silent, strong, Black man. Not a man of many words, he leaves no doubt that he loves Jojo and his little sister Kayla. Then there is his father Michael and Michael's father Joseph. No love or comfort comes from them. This grandfather is a racist and uses the N word when speaking about his grandchildren and their mother. Michael appears to want to love and care for his children but he is as lost as Leonie and never really is able to follow through.

Using ghosts and crossing over or being stuck here on earth after death as a major catalyst Ward explores how the actions of others can wound so deeply nothing can touch the hurt, except sometimes, when love is there and strong enough and constant, then it can. But it doesn't end the hurt, it just mitigates it.

I'm left feeling conflicted. I really found this a beautifully written book but it isn't easily described and so I am not sure how to tell you about it. I tried. I hope you will read it yourself. Maybe after you do you can come back and tell me what you thought.

(Finished December 26, 2017)

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware

I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the tension and the buildup. The ending however fell very flat to me, it felt anticlimactic, and left me wishing for more of a bang.

The Woman in Cabin 10 is a pretty typical escapist who-dun-it. That isn't a criticism, there is a place in any healthy reading diet for that kind of read. And for the most part I enjoyed this one. I fell for some of the red herrings and others didn't fool me. I started to unravel the mystery and it is was a little formulaic, but not too much so that it made the story bad.

I can't say much because I don't want to give it away. But I will come back to my feeling about the lackluster ending. Once the "who" in the who-dun-it is revealed it kind of just ends. There was room for a big "wow" or "yes!!" moment and it never happens, it is hinted or teased but not fleshed out and I was disappointed.

I would not tell you not to read this but I would caution not to get too invested, it is a pretty quick and painless bit of escapism and I can see promise in this author. But don't go out of your way to read this...

(Finished December 20, 2017)

Friday, December 8, 2017

Bonfire by Krysten Ritter

You know the saying you cant go home again, maybe it should be you shouldn't go home again.

At least for Abby that is the case.

When she left her hometown of Barren she thought for sure she was done forever with it. But when she comes back to prove the company that is the towns biggest employer and benefactor is making people sick from chemicals it has been improperly been dumping she gets so much more than she bargained for, and it could cost her everything.....

Memories flood back and Abby isn't sure what they mean or if they are even real. Everything she thought she knew turns out to be so much more...a dead dog, a lying best friend turned enemy, bullies, corrupt politics, blackmail, murder, it is all here in the sleepy little town of Barren Indiana and Abby has to unravel it to move on with her life...

Bonfire is written by Krysten Ritter of Breaking Bad and Jessica Jones. It is not a bad debut. It wasn't obvious or in your face what the out come would be, as a matter of fact, while I was on the right track I didn't quite get it and was glad I hadn't fully seen coming what came.

(Finished December 8, 2017)