My Cozy Book Corner: 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)

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds, Brendan Kiely

I cried a lot when reading this book...fair warning.

I read about Jason Reynolds in a review of his newest book Long Way Down. I knew this was an author I needed to introduce my son to and that I would need to read along with him. So for his birthday a week ago I got him this one. I just finished it and my face is still damp from the tears and I can still feel the sobs in my body as I type this. My son is a few pages behind me so he will finish today too. I will post a review by him when he can put together the words to do it, I expect he will be as wrecked as I am. But as painful as this is, we have had some amazing conversations. He is a true social justice champion and this is an area of social justice we as a family are passionate about. And only partly because I am the proud (white) mother of a proud young black man. My son is a proud young (white) man who loves and worries over his older brother, a brother he knows he could lose for no other reason than the color of his skin. My 12 year old is too aware of the fact that he has a different set of rules to live by when he walks out of our home should he ever be confronted by a police officer.
Ok...so my review of this book: Bottom line READ IT!!! NOW!!!

all american boys is told in two voices, Rashad and Quinn. Both are high school students. Both are on the school basketball team. Both are a little girl crazy. And that is where the similarities end. Because Quinn is White and Rashad is Black.

Rashad opens the story telling us who he is and how he ended up a statistic. Rashad is brutalized by a police officer for no reason...other than he is prejudged to have done something wrong.

Quinn tells us who he is and how he ended up seeing Rashad become a statistic. Quinn sees the officer beating up Rashad while Rashad is on the ground in handcuffs.

Quinn knows the officer. The officer is a family friend who has an important role in Quinn's life. Quinn is scared and angry and now woke.

Rashad is scared and angry and feels changed and helpless.

The story is powerful and well told. And an important read. The suggested age on the lower end of the books description is 12. But it depends on your child's age, reading ability, and the content being something they can deal with and talk about. There are some mentions of kissing, drinking, shoplifting, death of a parent, violence. Nothing is majorly descriptive other than Rashad's attack. While this is a "teen" read I think as an adult it was not too simple or young and everyone should be reading this and talking about this.

A quote that has stuck with me and I will share with you sums up perfectly why I will continue to say "BlackLivesMatter" and mot "all" and why it is more important than ever for White people to say this:
"Look, if there are people who are scared of the police every day of their lives, I am going to live in fear for them"

And let me also say, I know not every cop is doing this, and many are speaking out about it...but it happens too many times and it has to stop.

(Finished November 22, 2017)

Sunday, November 19, 2017

The Queen of Attolia (The Queen's Thief #2) by Megan Whalen Turner

As I ended Book 1 feeling, I love that this is a book I can share with my son. Also as was the case with Book 1 thing here aren't always what they seem.

I enjoyed spending time with Gen and Eddis again. It was nice to have Magus back too. I wish Sophos had made an appearance but I think he comes back next book.

Gen, who says and proves he can steal anything, really sets his sights on a huge take this time....amid a three way war involving Eddis, Attolia, and Sounis. Add in some intrigue and sneaky plans by the Mead ambassador and what you end up with a story of war and mystery and excitement.

There is some reference to love and romance, battles and death during war, and shady characters but never in a way that is too graphic. This is classified as children's literature but it is so smartly written and doesn't talk down to the reader so is enjoyable for adults even while being age appropriate to its target audience which starts at 12. The characters are interesting and the story is engaging.

(Finished November 19, 2017)

Monday, November 6, 2017

The Thief (The Queen's Thief #1) by Megan Whalen Turner

My sweet husband won an Amazon gift card and work and gave it to me and I had a nice book-shopping-spree that included this and Book2. After a couple of really heavy reads I picked this up to catch my breath before picking up my next memoir or social justice read. But...I am thinking I need to read book 2 right away since I have it.

I enjoyed the mystery, the adventure, and the story. It was clearly a set up for more books so there is a lot of back story, questions without answers, intrigue left unresolved, and room for new story lines. I liked the charter Gen/Eugenides and I hope he has more page time with Sophos in Book 2 because I enjoyed their budding friendship. I even grew to really like Magus. No one was what they first appeared to be and there was more to them as we got to know them...well except for Ambiades, he starts out a shit and stays a shit.

When Gen brags openly that he can step anything (being such a master thief and all) and then gets arrested for stealing the King's seal and showing it off to prove his masterfulness he sits in prison for months until Magus comes to get him and offers him his freedom for stealing something for him. Off on a journey they go to steal a mythical stone (Hamaithes's Gift) that will allow King Sounis to claim the country of Eddis. But things aren't as cut and dry as they seem, and the task is not as easy as just walking in and taking this stone.

Something else I am loving about this is that is the perfect read to share with my almost 12 year old adventure story loving kid!! Books we can both read are always a plus!!

(Finished November 6, 2017)

Friday, November 3, 2017

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates

When I read Between The World And Me I knew Coates was someone who I would read any and everything by.
We Were Eight Years In Power confirmed my feelings.

Over the 8 years of the Obama Administration in his job writing for The Atlantic Coates wrote the essays he includes in this book. Before each one he includes a note about where he is now, where he was then, what he thinks he did well and what he could have done better and his opinion on how each essay has held up. And then he gives us an incredible epilogue. You may not agree with his analysis on every point, I found myself seldom if at all disagreeing with him, but his work is well thought out, documented, and defended.

He writes so well and so powerfully, with lines like "To Trump whiteness is neither notional no symbolic but is the very core of his power. In this, Trump is not singular. But whereas his forebears carried whiteness like and ancestral talisman, Trump cracked the glowing amulet open, releasing its eldritch energies."
If for you like it does for me reading Coates brings to mind Baldwin I don't think he would mind the comparison.

P.S. Coates has also authored new Marvel Black Panther comics and they are really good too!!

(Finished November 3, 2017)

Thursday, October 19, 2017

Turtles All the Way Down by John Green

The fact that I didn't finish this book in one sitting has everything to do with having to adult and nothing to do with the book. IT WAS GREAT!!! I was moving and needed to be packing and since I just started my new job I had to work and I just had to hold off on reading time, and yes I know how sad that is!!!

Ok, the book....

Being me, with the life I have...as you know, or maybe not if you are new to my ramblings, I have a 16 year old who at 12 was diagnosed with a mental illness, Bipolar, and our lives, my entire family, we live a life where this is part of our daily existence. Some days are good, some are just ok, but some are really, really bad. So reading Aza's story felt very close to home. Her struggle, her mother just wanting to make it all better. Her best friend Daisy not being able to tell her how once sided their friendship is but how much she loves her anyway. Her not being able to be with the boy she really likes. It all felt so real. And that is a credit to John Green. He is incredibly talented. And this subject matter was close to his life too, he has talked about his OCD and mental health.

But even if it wasn't subject he was intimately familiar with, John Green does something rare in the world of YA, he writes books adults can read too because when he writes he respects his reader's intelligence and just because his books are YA he doesn't talk down to or assume stupidity or vapidness on the part of the teen age audience. His books are YA, his characters are young people, but his content is real and readable for adults too.

Read Turtles All The Way Down. Then talk about Mental Health because it is time to end the stigma and make it easier for those struggling to talk about their illness and the needs they have. You wouldn't ever judge or attach stigma to a teen with cancer so why would you judge and stigmatize a teen with a mental illness? No one can help having either one.

(Finished October 18, 2017)

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu: And Their Race to Save the World's Most Precious Manuscripts by Joshua Hammer

Part history lesson part adventure story The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu is the story of one man's quest to save the intellectual product of centuries of writers and theologians. I felt like I was reading an adventure novel except it sadly wasn't a novel. The brutality to people and the destruction or attempted destruction of the history of an area and its people happened.

When Al Qaeda jihadists begin their attempt to take over Mali and surrounding areas it becomes clear that the many years of work rescuing, resorting, and preserving centuries of written work, all these manuscripts held by different families and painstakingly gathered by Abdel Kader Haidara were in danger of being destroyed. So he and his associates got to work smuggling them to safety.

With this as the backdrop Hammer also tells the history of the area, of the manuscripts, and of the current rise of extremists in the Sahara.

Not at all a dry history text, but more like an Indiana Jones tale. And I love the title. Some of the most bad-ass people in the world are librarians, many who over the years fight back banning of books and who feed our minds.

(Finished September 13, 2017)

Thursday, August 24, 2017

Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Amy Ellis Nutt

While this is mostly the moving story of one family trying to find their way as they discover that one of their children is transgender it is also a little bit of the science of gender. It is totally moving and amazing.

I love this family. I want to hug them and tell them how much I was moved by their openness and what they went through to get where they are now. It was a journey for each of them and it was often painful.

Mom Kelly and Dad Wayne adopt identical twins Jonas and Wyatt and feel like they have finally become the family they had been dreaming of when they fell in love and got married.

Wayne is a conservative man who spent time in the military before he met Kelly. They are just what most people would consider a normal traditional values type family. Nothing shocking or over the top about them. Just pretty average. Well except for the twins, double the babies is a little over the top in the lack of sleep and diapers to change areas.

As soon as they could express themselves Wyatt was different from his identical twin. Wyatt wanted dolls and dresses. Wyatt wanted long hair and to be a princess. Wyatt hated his "boy parts" and knew they were wrong and not supposed to be on him. Wyatt was not a boy, Wyatt knew deep down and with out a shred of doubt that he was a she, Wyatt was a girl.

Wayne had a much, much longer road to getting to a place of acceptance. Kelly and Jonas were supportive right away and Kelly did everything she could to learn about what it means to be transgender and fight for Wyatt to be Nicole.

What unfolds is love, coming to terms with mourning the child you thought you had as you shift to the child you have in front of you, fighting bullies, fighting for right, advocating for your family, sacrifice for the ones you love, and coming to terms with life as it is and not what you thought it would be. The Maines family made me cry and cheer for them. They are so strong and brave.

Sprinkled in their personal story, which is so very important, is interesting information on the brain, biology, and what makes us physically male and female and what makes us a specific gender or fall somewhere between genders.

(Finished August 24, 2017)

Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Connection. To land. To time. To blood. To fire. To water. To history. To family. To love.

Homegoing is about connection and it is moving and brilliant. I LOVED THIS BOOK!!! Even in the hard places I loved it. This goes on my list of books I give as gifts and revisit from time to time.

It starts with two girls, Effia and Esi. They don't know each other and never meet. But they have the same mother, Effie is left behind and raised by her father and his wives in late 1700's Africa and her life is tied to the slave trade on the traders side of the story. Esi lives a different life as her story is tied to the slave trade but as slave. The closest they come to each other is when Esi spends time in the dungeon under where Effia lives with her white husband.

From there the story tells us the story of each woman's decedents by following one person for a chapter and alternates between Effia's and Esi's line. We go from Gold Coast Africa all the way to a more current time in the US and back to Africa.

Each person has their place in the world because of the person who came before them. It is tied forward and back, the things that happen to a person and the choices they make begin the story of the next generation who then get to make the best or worst of where they are and thus setting the stage for the next generation.

And Homegoing is also about race and the place a skin color gives, the opportunity given just because of the package one comes in and the harm that causes and how it lasts for many generations after....
I am painfully aware that I walk around with something my peers who are POC do not just because of the package I am wrapped in and I hate it. I know it is wrong. I want to change it for all, for my son Ryan who is a young black man. To do that one of the best pieces of advice I was given and can offer is to educate yourself. If you are wanting to be a true and proper ally in the fight for racial justice you must not assume you know, read books and articles, fiction and non-fiction that shed light on the stories, experiences, feelings, of those who live the life, the Black story. Listen. Listen. Listen. And share what you hear.

(Finished August 22, 2017)

Friday, August 18, 2017

Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America by Michael Eric Dyson

There is a lot in here to make you uncomfortable but if this is the case for you then it is important to push through and keep reading. The intent isn't to make you stop reading but to point out important concepts and hopefully change you. If you find yourself agreeing with the thoughts and you are at the stage where you wonder what you can do to be a productive and useful ally then there is a lot in here for you too including an incredible reading list.

I know of Dyson from seeing him on TV and finding myself always wanting to hear more. I knew he was smart and outspoken but this was an incredible read. He writes it as a sermon and you can hear it as such in your head and it is powerful.

I am a white Jewish woman. And while there are issues with being a woman and Jewish that don't grant me the full measure of equality, safety, and comfort as is afforded white men I am painfully aware that just walking around in "white" skin affords me a huge level of privilege. If I get pulled over by the police while driving I am scared that I will get a huge ticket I can't afford, my insurance will go up, worry about what I may have done, but I do not for even a second fear for my life. When I walk into a store I am not followed or looked at askance by the employees, and when I walk down the street or get into an elevator no one is frightened of me. And I am not ok with this.
It is partly because I am by my very nature and compassionate and empathetic person. But is also by what I was exposed to as a child and where I am in my life as a parent. I grew up in Brooklyn New York and lived in the projects and am a product of the beautifully diverse New York City Public School system.
Also, I have three children, two of which are sons. One is an 11 year old and he is a white young man. The other is 25 and is a young black man. I have had to have two sets of conversations with them.
I never have to tell my younger son that women may see him coming and hold their purses tighter, cross the street, or step off an elevator. I have had some version of that conversation with my older son.
I have never had to tell my younger son that he will get stopped by the police for no reason at all and on many occasions and that if he doesn't do it just so an encounter with a police officer could cost him his life or that even if done just right he could still end up paying for the encounter with his life. I have had some version of that conversation with my older son.

I needed this book to guide me in my quest to be the kind of ally my son needs, my friends need, and the many other members of the black and brown portion of the population need. Because until white people put down their "whiteness" and pick up their humanity people of color won't be able to step out of the terrible place of oppression and submission they have been forced into, sometimes in chains, and take their rightful place as full and equal members of society.

Please read this book. And then seek out and read as much of the suggested readings mentioned at the end of it.

(Finished August 17, 2017)

Sunday, August 13, 2017

The Windfall by Diksha Basu

This falls solidly in the liked it camp but doesn't quite fall over into really liked it...If Goodreads allowed half stars I would have made this a 3 1/2 instead of a 3.

When the Jha family becomes super wealthy everything changes for them.

The Windfall is a story about keeping up appearances and at times it is cringe worthy seeing the lengths Mr. Jha and Mr. Chopra go to trying to one-up each other. From bragging about the cost of trips and luggage and being able to support a son so he can be lazy and not work they stretch their tales to show the other just how wealthy they really are.

While this happening a friend from their old community, the one the Jhas raised their son in and were part of before moving to a fancy house in an upscale community of guards, drivers, and maids in uniforms the Jha's friend Mrs. Ray and Mr. Chopra's brother meet and explore getting to know each other without the pretense and it is a nice counter point.

It is an interesting glimpse into what people do to cover their own insecurity and impress others even while trying to prove themselves better.

This was the second July Book of The Month Club pick I mentioned in my review of Final Girls. It was not a bad read but I did enjoy Final Girls more.

(Finished August 13, 2017)

Monday, August 7, 2017

Behold the Dreamers: A Novel by Imbolo Mbue

Set with the collapse of Lehman Brothers as the backdrop is the story of Jende, his wife Neni and their children. They are from Cameroon but are now living in NYC. Neni is on a student visa and attends college and has aspirations of becoming a pharmacist. Jende is trying to get asylum approved so he can get his green card.

When Jende gets a job driving for the Edwards family their lives become easier but oh so much harder. Clark Edwards, his wife Cindy, their two sons are what appears from the outside the perfect wealthy white family. Clark is a high paid big wig at Lehman Brothers and Cindy is a socialite housewife. But as is usually the case, not all is as it seems. Clark has a conscious and sees the trouble Lehman is heading into which isn't paying well with the higher ups. Cindy is trying to get over a damaged past and her fears about her husband's fidelity. Their oldest son Vince wants to "find himself" and their young son Mighty just wants his parents to be happy and love each other.

The story of Jende and Neni is one of struggle to fit in, what it means to be home in a country that isn't yours but you wish was and knowing when it is time to stop fighting and start living. It is also a reminder that we shouldn't assume anything based on appearances, there is always more beneath the surface and when we don't take the time to learn a person's story we are missing a rich and interesting and lesson filled experience.

(Finished August 7, 2017)

Saturday, August 5, 2017

My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman

By the same author who wrote the incredibly wonderful A Man Called Ove, and just as incredibly wonderful.
Elsa is almost-eight. She has a halfie on the way thanks to her mother and her mother's new husband. Her father lives with his wife and her children and Elsa spends every other weekend with them. Her Granny is her best and only friend. At school she has learn to run, because it is how she avoids being beaten up by her schoolmates. And Elsa is different.

Most of all Elsa believes in fairytales and magic, Harry Potter is her gospel and her Granny has nicked some of Harry in the tales she spins for Elsa about the Land-Of-Almost-Awake because it is so good it needs nicking.

But then her Granny dies and sends Elsa on an adventure that brings Elsa danger but also friends, family, and forgiveness. Elsa learns so much and she also teachers those around her as well. My heart was broken and then mended along with Elsa's and this is a book that will stay with me forever.

"Because life is both complicated and simple. Which is why there are cookies."

(Finished August, 5, 2017)

Sunday, July 30, 2017

The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

I was inspired to begin to seek out James Baldwin's writing after seeing I Am Not Your Negro.

The Fire Next Time is made up of two letters, one of which is to his nephew and namesake James but really both are to all people, black and white, written on the 100th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. Baldwin writes from his personal observations and experiences growing up in Harlem and his words are often sharp and biting, but they need to be as he is calling on people to see the root of racism and rip it out once and for all.

The Fire Next Time is as relevant and needed today in 2017 as it was when it was first published in 1963 during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement. Until we can stop listing the names of young Black men and women killed for the color of their skin Baldwin will have something to teach us; his words instructions and warnings rather than a window into a bygone era.

One stark example he gives (remember now that this wasn't so far in the past for him when written in 1963) is how Black military members were treated during WWII. He says that German prisoners were treated with human dignity by their American captors than Black GIs were treated by their fellow men in uniform. It was for many at the time an eye opening revelation, it was proof of how little had changed since people stopped owning other people. And yet at the same time though American Black men were freer in Europe than they were at home in the United States.

Baldwin writes that it isn't wickedness in people that allows this demoralizing of part of the population based solely on skin color but it is spinelessness. The unwillingness of those who don't harbor the delusion that Black men and women are less than White men and women need to but more often than not don't speak out and intervene, work towards change. He gives an example of a time he and a couple of other Black men in their upper 30's he was traveling with ordered a drink at the bar in O'Hare and were refused service because they looked too young. The exchange was loud enough for those around them to hear. The manager made the excuse for his bartender that he was new and had not yet learned to tell by looking between a Black "boy" in his 20's and a Black "boy" nearing 40. Not one person in the bar spoke up for them.

I say to you, without knowing the color of your skin because it is irrelevant to my saying this, you should get your hands on a copy of this and more of Baldwin's writing. It needs to be read.

(Finished July 30, 2017)

If you love to read I highly suggest that if you are not already a member you join the Book of the Month Club.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Final Girls by Riley Sager

I belong to the Book of the Month Club, which if you aren't a member already you really should join, just CLICK HERE, and this was one of the July selections. I was torn between two, this one and The Windfall by Diksha Basu which I will read soon and review when I am done.

I had been reading a bit of heavy stuff and non-fiction political stuff so went for a thriller to cleanse my mental palette with a little blood and mystery. I was not disappointed. Final Girls was one of those try to figure it out thrillers that begins to lay clues, some real, some red herrings, others so subtle they are missed until the reveal and then the aha moment happens.

Final Girls is the term given in this story to young women who are the only survivors of a mass killing and there are three involved here. Separated by years and circumstances but bound by tragedies only they walked away from are Lisa, Samantha, and Quincy. Lisa embraces her final girl role and becomes a child psychologist, Samantha goes off the grid to avoid the spotlight, and Quincy, well she is just fine and normal thank you very much. That is until Lisa dies and Samantha shows up at Quincy's home.

Then her world begins to rock and spin and fall apart. The mystery of what it is Quincy can't remember from the night of the massacre she survived begins to unravel. Who did it? I didn't see the reveal coming, well at first I thought I did then I dismissed my guess because it seemed to far fetched, but it wasn't, though I was way of on the details. I began to believe it was someone else and I really thought I had it figured out and fully abandoned by first suspect....but nope.

And that is all I can say about that...except to add that you should read Final Girls, it is a tensely told wild ride of a thriller.

(Finished July 29, 2017)

Thursday, July 27, 2017

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

I was amazed and unnerved by this book. Having grown up in an abusive family it was difficult to read Jeannette's story. But she tells it with such open honesty and yet in such a matter of fact way that it makes for a must read. Must read because her strength and survival is amazing and inspiring. I am not sure how she had the strength to keep her parents in her life even in the limited way she did once she moved away from living with them but she does and it is nothing short of amazing on her part. I think what makes this story beautiful is the way she writes about it and how much you can feel how torn she is by her love for the parents who did not really take care of her the way a child needs to be cared for. Even with all the different parenting styles out there, I think we can all agree that children being fed and safe should be a parental priority. Reading about how Walls and her siblings often went hungry and at times she resorted to foraging in the garbage for food is heartbreaking.

But in the end I would say there is something uplifting about The Glass Castle because it is an example of the resilience of the human spirit and coming out whole on the others side of an extremely adverse situation and a broken place.

The stark and matter of fact writing is at once jarring and beautiful. It isn't that she isn't emotional, she just seems to write in an it is what is voice and her anger and hurt is there but it isn't drippy and overwrought, though no one would have been able to blame her if it had been.

The abused child in me wanted to scream and yell and beg her to run or fight back or at least not be so calm. The adult mother in the much better place that I am today felt appreciation for the strength and courage of the Jeannette and the other Walls children.

(Finished July 27, 2017)

Sunday, July 23, 2017

I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin, Raoul Peck (Editor)

If you have not watched the film I Am Not Your Negro you must!!!

This is I guess what I would call a companion to the film. The opening pages are about why and how and some of the challenges of putting together the film using the written and spoken words of James Baldwin. The remainder is a transcript of sorts. It is bits of Baldwin's writing and his words from interviews and speaking engagements.

His words are as powerful on the page as they are on the screen and the film and this thin volume are a one-two punch to the gut that everyone needs. Probably more than once.

Two quotes that stick with me and that I felt the need to share:
"I'm saying that a journey is called that because you cannot know what you will discover on the journey, what you will do with what you find or what you find will do to you."

"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced."

(Finished July 23, 2017)

Sunday, July 9, 2017

The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel

The bargain book table at Barnes and Noble is a place I have stumbled across hidden gems many times. This was one. I had never heard of the author but the cover and title caught my eye so I picked it up and read the back cover. It sounded like a story I would enjoy and with a 2 for $8 special I grabbed it. The last time I stumbled across a book this way was Brooklyn which was also a hit with me.

The Sweetness of Forgetting is a romance, a family drama, a Holocaust story, and a redemption story. Told in the present as Hope and her daughter Annie deal with the pain of Hope's divorce and watching Hope's grandmother Rose slip further away from them as her Alzheimer's progresses and from Rose's point of view in flashbacks as the present slips away and the past is coming back to Rose. Along the way Hope learns what it means to love, who her family is, how to help her daughter, and what it is she wants to do with her life. And none of it is what she thought it would be.

Hope runs the bakery Rose started 60 years ago in Cape Cod but the economy has caused her to be in a bind with the bank and she is close to losing it. In the midst of this, Rose in a moment of startling clarity, sends Hope on a mission to Paris to find out what became of a list of people without telling Hope who they are. What Hope finds is so much more than she imagined. The heartbreak of the rounding up of French Jews and what was happening to Jewish people in the camps is something Hope learns about through the people she meets trying to find out who the list of people are to Rose. And Hope finds so much more, she finds family, love, hope, and faith.

A sweet and sad story, well written as it crosses from what could have been a Harlequin type romance into really so much more. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

(Finished July 9, 2017)

Saturday, July 8, 2017

In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri

This book took me a few hours to read. I would have been done sooner but days of little sleep caught up and I needed a short rest from the words on the page for my very tired eyes.
This book has both the English and Italian inside. On the right hand pages is the English translation, not done by Jhumpa by the way and she explains why in the book. On the left hand pages are her words in Italian.

As in her novels, here Jhumpa writes about identity, finding ones self, alienation, and belonging.

At a certain point in her life she realized she didn't belong to any place, she called herself and exile. She didn't feel like she fit in with India, the home country of her parents, and the language spoken by them, Bengali. Her physical appearance kept her at arms distance from the country she grew up in, America. And the same physicality made her an outsider in Italy. She writes about how much better her Italian is than her husband's but that she is always treated as if she shouldn't be speaking it. It was an emotional thing to go through. Yet writing in, reading in, and speaking Italian was what she set out to do. And so she and her family moved for a time to Italy.

This book is born of that and what it really ends up being is a love letter to words, to language, to seeing yourself in the words. Words have power, I truly believe that and try to be mindful go how I wield that power. Jhumpa I think from having read this and her fiction works as well, she seems to agree and understand that. I was moved by her openness and sharing. And she just writes so darn beautifully.

My dear, dear friend Beth, who introduced me to Jhumpa Lahiri's writing, handed me Interpreter of Maladies and said to me, I never wanted to eat words until I read this book. I was hooked. And today when I told Beth about this book she said "I have never fallen in love with someone I didn't know" until Jhumpa. I agree. It is hard not to love Jhumpa!!!

This is a quote from the book and really captures the feelings and ideas within:

"What does a word mean? And a life? In the end, it seems to me, the same thing. Just as a word can have many dimensions, many nuances, great complexity, so, too, can a person, a life. Language is the mirror, the principal metaphor. Because ultimately the meaning of a word, like that of a person, is boundless, ineffable."

(Finished July 8, 2017)

Her other works:
The Namesake
Unaccustomed Earth
interpreter of maladies
The Lowland

The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende

Love comes in many different ways. Friends, family, lovers, and even to and from our pets. All of these loves are explored in The Japanese Lover.

Alma lives at Lark House. A home for the elderly in San Fransisco where Irina works. The older woman sees something in the younger and a bond begins to form, and it changes things for them both. As she reveals her story to her grandson Seth and to Irina Alma faces the shame of choices she made in her youth that cost her dearly and continue to do so.

As their love and bond grow Irina learns from Alma what true love means and looks like. And she learns to open up and share her story in order to begin to heal from it.

I enjoyed this story. I will say that I would have loved it more if I had read it before A Man Called Ove instead of directly after it because Ove was so wonderful a read and tough act to follow. It really is a wonderful tale of the price we pay when we make choices and they way these choices continue to play out in our lives long after. It is also about, as I said, the many ways we love.

I was moved by Irina and Seth in the present as they were learning about Ichi and Alma in the past. Alma and her many ways of loving and the depths she loves are beautiful, even as she thinks herself to be not a very nice person and is aware of her flaws, unflinchingly aware.

Not the perfect book but an enjoyable read filled with love and heart.

(Finished July 8, 2017)

Sunday, July 2, 2017

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

The Buy 2 Get 1 Free table at Barnes & Noble will be by downfall. It is for me like putting an ice cream shoppe next to a weight loss center...temptation too hard to resist.

That is where I picked up A Man Called Ove. And it was love from the first sentence. I will now be seeking out more of Backman's writing, the style is just so darn readable. It is snarky, and funny, and heartwarming, and heartbreaking. It is easy to get lost in the pages and feel like you have truly entered the lives of the people in the tale.

And then there is the story itself. Ove shouldn't be someone you like but you will love him. The way the story unfolded reminded me of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, in that the story of the main character's past, how they got where they are now, unfolds as part of the present story and is told in little bits through out, slowly and wonderfully revealing important details and shedding understanding on who this character really is. I really enjoy this method of story telling.

The story of Ove and his neighbors will break your heart at time, it will make you angry, it will make you laugh, and you will miss them when you close the book for the last time. Theirs is a story of love and loss, of redemption and healing, of life with all its bumps and bruises. Ove learns the value of hard work and honesty at an early age and who he is as shaped by his childhood colors how he lives as an adult, but love can make that softer, but so can loss and those who come to fill our voids. He learns from the people he least expects or wants to learn from that living is hard but worth it.

(Finished July 2, 2017)

Monday, June 26, 2017

Rivals Unto Death: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr by Rick Beyer

This is a rather short read, 183 pages from start to end of epilogue, but it is packed with details of what it can be determined explains what landed Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr on July 11, 1804 to the stand on the waterfront in Weehawken N.J. with guns pointed at each other.

There appears, even to Hamilton if you read his last writings as sincere, to be blame on both sides. It is sad to think about what more these very smart and capable men could have done had their paths not ended that fateful day. Death does have a way of redeeming people and at the time of his death it did appear Hamilton needed redeeming (not that he hadn't made errors that more time could have allowed him to remedy). But he really didn't. He truly had left his mark on this young country he helped start. The financial system still in place today, the Coast Guard branch of our military service, The New York Post (ok, trash today but important for bird owners across NYC for cage liner), and of course his story on Broadway. I say that last bit with a wink but also sincerity because it has sparked a renewed interest in the revolutionary period of U.S. history in young and old alike.

(Finished June 26, 2017)

Sunday, June 18, 2017

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I won't lie, this was rough, I read it mostly in one sitting, I started it last night (6/17/17) and it was late and I fell asleep 50 pages in and then finished it today (6/18/17). I ugly cried at least twice, was angry often, laughed a bit, and had tears running down my face for pretty much the entire book.

Shit got real on the last page, and before I tell you what I think of the book please take a minute to read the list of names and remember them, because they died, no, they were MURDERED, but they lived too, THEY LIVED!!!

What Angie Thomas did here with The Hate U Give was write in very real voice a character that is one of the bravest most relevant characters I have ever had the honor of meeting. EVER! Starr finds her voice and learns something I have been teaching my kids forever, that brave isn't the lack of fear, it is what you do in the face of fear, it is when you do the thing that scares you.

In what is sadly a ripped from real life story Starr is witness to the shooting of her best friend, an unarmed young black man by a police officer without provocation. What follows is her story, of living in her gang infested neighborhood and yet attending a predominantly white school well away from where she lives. She is two different people in each place...until Khalil's murder and her worlds collide.

What we can all learn from this is that we all have an extremely powerful weapon and can, if we care enough to use it, we can stop these senseless killings, we can make things better, we can heal and not hurt...the weapon? Our voices!!

Thank you Angie Thomas for this incredible story. I hope someday it is past and not present.

(Finished June 18, 2017)

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

The Love Interest by Cale Dietrich

Yes I am a little bit past being a YA. But I love a good YA book. Often it is only the characters that are YA but the stories are amazing and ageless.

We all know the usual or typical story device of girl meets two boys, one is a "good" guy the other more a "bad"boy. She begins to have feelings for them both, they both do their best to win her heart, and in the end she picks one and they all live happily ever after.

Well this story takes that trope and twists and turns and bends and snarks it.

Imagine if you will that the two boys trying to woo the girl aren't exactly what they seem. What if they were the assets of a super secret agency that trains young people to be Love Interests. There are goods and bads and they must compete to make their target fall in love with and choose them. The chosen gets to spend their life spying on and giving the target's secrets to the agency which then sells the secrets to the highest bidder. And the one that isn't chosen, the loser? Well let's just say unrequited love is deadly.

Now imagine if you will that even knowing this you learn that they still aren't what they seem, these boys. And they begin to learn about themselves and life and choice....That is just scratching the surface of The Love Interest.

I thoroughly enjoyed Dietrich's style and flair for snark, his poking fun at the typical teen coming of age romance trope even as he spins a tale of love and coming of age. Was a fun and interesting, well spun story!! I look forward to more from Cale Dietrich.

(Finished June 13, 2017)

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

Maddy and Olly. 18 and in love. Only Maddy can't go outside. Ever. If she does she will surely die. She's allergic to the world (as in like the boy in the plastic bubble).
But thanks to meeting Olly Maddy wants to live...really live...even if it means she will die.

Her mother has taken care of her for her whole life, they are very close. Maddy's house keeps her alive and her mother doesn't want to risk losing her daughter so she has done everything she can to keep Maddy safe.

But Maddy wants more and runs away taking Olly with her.

What happens when a girl allergic to the world tries to find her place in it?

I had to read this before the movie comes out and I saw the trailer recently so I knew my time was running short. I am so glad I did, but now, as usual I am worried how it will be translated for the screen.

I really liked the story, the connection between Olly and Maddy felt so important for them both and I liked how innocent and true it reads. When time is limited there is a lot of cutting to the heart of the matter and that is how Olly and Maddy approach their budding feelings. At the same time there is the "typical" teenage trait of jumping in and ignoring other things when a relationship is new. For example Maddy wants to spend less time with her mom and her studies so she can IM with Olly.

Life can be so messy and complicated even when it is good...falling in love shouldn't feel like falling off the world but it does...and your heart can try and kill you when it breaks....but life is so worth living and love is so worth the fall...that's what I take away from this story

(Finished June 11, 2017)

Saturday, June 10, 2017

A Colony in a Nation by Chris Hayes

There are two classes of citizens in the US, those with full rights and who are part of the Nation and those who are given less in the way of rights and are treated differently thus are part of the Colony.

There is a parallel to be made between colonization and current issues around race. Hayes uses the Revolutionary period of US history to lay out the argument. But the prevailing argument of this well written and well laid out book is that it isn't as much the laws or taxes in the case of the revolutionary cries for independence but the nature of enforcement used, then and now.

In colonial New England the actions of customs officials and others acting for the Crown conducted searches at will on residents who were British subjects treated differently than their fellow subjects residing over seas. The goal was to collect taxes on items to help replenish the King's coffers after war depleted them. Revenue.

In Ferguson it wasn't really just the shooting of Michael Brown, it was the way policing, the way enforcement was handled. For example the order for police to write tickets not with the goal of public safety but to raise Revenue.

From the war on drugs to the end of "Stop and Frisk" Hayes talks about the law and the order aspect of policing, the rise of crimes and the decline. And he confronts the truth of where he ends up sitting as a white male with money in it all and how he reacted as a young man, a college student, and an adult with children working in the news industry.

So well written.

And an extra kudos to Hayes for using the term "survivor" rather than victim when he talks about sexual assault.

(Finished June 10, 2017)

Sunday, April 30, 2017

The Impossible Fortress by Jason Rekulak

The Impossible Fortress brought to mind Ready Player One in that it was chock full of the 80's. At one point the two main characters, Will and Mary, go see Some Kind of Wonderful in the local movie theater. Will is a fan of Van Halen, and they are working on a Commodore 64 computer and hoping to win a new IBM PS/2. Email is not instant or cheap, they have to use dial up and CompuServe. It was a blast from the past.

But it was also a coming of age story that could have happened in any year. It isn't easy to be a teenager, an unpopular teenager with only a couple of real friends, and then have to face pressure from your friends to do something you don't want to but feel like you have to. But sometimes you learn that your friends are just as lost and confused as you are and come through in the end. Oh and naked Vanna White.

While this wasn't perfect, it was impossible to not care about Will, Mary, Alf, and Clark.

And the trip to my teen years was fun. The reminder of how far technology has come was striking as well. I remember my first computer, it was a Vic 20 and a Commodore 64 was what we got to upgrade from it. We had floppy disks but before that we used a cassette to save the silly and very basic programs we used to write. Take the trip, it is worth it.

(Finished April 30, 2017)

Sunday, April 9, 2017

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

Henrietta Lacks.
daughter, sister, cousin, wife, mother, cancer patient, immortal
HeLa

The story of Henrietta, her family, and her cells, is to put it mildly, incredible.
There is so much here to take in. The evolution of medical research ethics, the way people of color have been treated specifically by the medical community and the scientists doing medical research. Poverty. Education. Trust. Love. Faith.
These are all part of the story that Rebecca Skloot is telling. It sounds like it could be a science fiction novel, a woman has cervical cancer, her cells are taken, and they start the biggest, longest chain of scientific research into treatments for cancer and other diseases, polio vaccines, AIDS research, and other types of medical advancements. The cells lead to cloning experiments and test tube babies. Her consent to use her cells after she dies was never asked for or given. Her family is not aware for a long time about this and when they find out they feel abused and are actually abused.
But it isn't fiction, this is a true story, a story told in all its raw honesty. Skloot makes Henrietta's story and family come to life and their pain becomes palpable. The anger, resentments, and heartbreak are shared but it is clear it isn't easy and they have suffered much.
Skloot tells the story with love, respect, and finally for this family, some dignity.

HBO is going to be airing a movie based on this book later this month starring Oprah.

(Finished April 9, 2017)

Morning Star (Red Rising #3) by Pierce Brown

The third and (was supposed to be) final installment of (what was supposed to be) the Red Rising trilogy ends with....well now, I can't tell you that, SPOILERS!!!

I can tell you that you will have your heart shredded, mended, shredded again, and maybe mended again. I can tell you that you might chuckle when you least expect a chuckle to be appropriate.
And you will think. When power corrupts and is then overthrown, what steps in to fill the void? Someone has to lead. But what kind of leadership? Not everyone will like the new leadership, that's a given, but how does someone or a group of someones step in and create a new order without becoming the tyrants overthrown but still bring along those who don't want to come? It is a puzzle for sure. It is a world torn apart and needing rebuilding.

A color system that is clearly out of wack with the idea of freedom no matter what those at the top try to sell to those at the bottom....is one color more able than the others? Do we become who are because we are told it is who we are or do we makes choices that make us who we are and learn to carve out a place for ourselves in the place we best fit because of those choices? These are the questions, or at least some of them, that the Red Rising story asks and attempts to answer.

But now I am all uptight because I read this trilogy because someone, I am looking at you Danielle, told me that she loved it and if I did too all three books were already published so I wouldn't have to wait to find out what happens, only to get to the last page of this book and see that Mr. Brown has changed the paradigm once again...and his trilogy is now a quartet and there will be new book in the near future. Well played Mr. Brown, well played.

(finished April 9, 2017)
PS in fairness to Mr. Brown, if you read these now and have to wait for book 4, you won't be left all in a tangle, it does wrap up as if this was meant to be the ending.

My thoughts on
Red Rising
Golden Son

Thursday, April 6, 2017

Golden Son (Red Rising #2) by Pierce Brown

I. Just. Can't. With. The. Feelings!!!
Ok, I can. But wow. It is hard to write a review for books you don't want to spoil for anyone but I will do my best.
This is book 2 in a trilogy, and as soon as I am done posting this I am diving into the finale, Morning Star.
Golden Son picks up 2 years after the ending of Red Rising. So much happens here that you would think it is slow moving, but then when it was over I couldn't believe it was done so quickly.
Darrow learns some hard lessons and some weighty questions are raised. What is the real cost of war is a central thread through the story so far. But there is so much more. What makes a family? How much can a relationship bend before it stops holding together and breaks? How does who we are at a given moment shape how we love? Darrow deals with betrayal, forgiveness, growing up, learning it isn't weak to depend on others, facing the timeless question about going home, and death, he faces death head on numerous time.

I'm finding the main theme of the story to be what makes us human, what makes some people lead and others follow, is it better to follow because it is how you are your best self or because you are forced to or trained to? Or does it matter, someone has to lead and someone has to follow and survival of the fittest and all that? It is the commonality in all of these types of stories, someone takes over and oppresses others until someone sparks a rebellion or revolution and a new cycle begins, until hopefully someday an equitable system is built.

There is also the obvious thread of race relations. I don't say that as criticism. It would be wrong to say we live in a post racial world, and so it feels relevant to have the hierarchy be based on a color system, Gold at the top and Red at the bottom.

Darrow is an interesting character because of his duality. Is he who is, how he is wired or is he a product of his environment? Nurture vs Nature. If you could walk a mile in another's skin would it change how you view them? Or yourself?
I know this all sounds so deep, and it is a thought provoking story, but it is also well written and gripping, even entertaining.

Ok, I have rambled on enough. I must go and begin the next book...

(Finished April 6, 2017)

My thoughts on Red Rising