My Cozy Book Corner: December 2018

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Crown of Midnight (Throne of Glass #2) by Sarah J. Maas

After finishing Throne of Glass I had to jump right into book 2. While reading this there came a point that my husband chuckled and said "You haven't been this vocal reading a book in awhile." And he is right, there was a lot of "NOO!!!" "CRAP!!" and other expletives being hurled.

I am loving this series. Celaena is such an awesome baddass. Maas is in league with Martin, as in she doesn't shy away from killing and ripping apart people, figuratively and literally.

One of very best friends, Ann, has suggested I read in this order: Book 1- Throne of Glass, Book 2- this one, pause and read The Assassin's Blade - the five novellas written about Celaena's life leading up to Throne of Glass, Book 3- Heir of Fire, Book 4- Queen of Shadows, Book 6- Tower of Dawn, Book 5- Empire of Storms, Book 7- Kingdom of Ash. Her reasoning being that book 5 ends on a note that makes it lead better into 7 and 6 is better read before 5 so that I (and now you) can go right into the finale. So because I trust her I am going to follow this, but I have to admit it is hard to stop and read the novellas and not dive right into book 3!!!!

Anyway, by way of a review, without spoilers, some answers and even more questions, there is betrayal, pain, love, suffering, violence, magic, demons, and Mort, there is Mort, and I kind of love him....

(Finished December 30, 2018)

Thursday, December 27, 2018

Throne of Glass (Throne of Glass #1) by Sarah J. Maas

There is something delicious about a book that causes so much tension that you are torn between the need to pause and catch your breath and the need to read on and see what happens as soon as possible. Throne of Glass is one of those books.

I decided to give this series a try because it's just what I needed, ANOTHER series to obsess over...ok not really, it may very well be the last thing I need, but I jumped in anyway. I did because leading up to Christmas there was a half-price sale at Barnes and Noble (where I happen to work) on all works by 15 YA authors. Maas was one of them and I read the back and it sounded like a good read so I bought books 1 and 2. I was hooked by the bottom of page 1. And then I found out my new friend and coworker Rachel loves the series. And I found out some of my other friends also love it. I went back the next night when the sale began again and got books 3 and 4.

Celaena is an unlikely assassin. She has been trained since childhood to be a coldblooded killer. She has killed, and done it well, but she isn't what you would expect. She isn't heartless. She isn't dead inside. And that makes her so complex and human.

She has a reputation as the best at what she does. And she was. But at some point, by someone, she was betrayed, caught, and sent to the salt mines to be a slave/prisoner. When the Crown Prince shows up and offers her a chance at freedom she takes it and it changes her life, his life, and the life of the Captain of the Guard's too. What else and who else will it change? There are many more books ahead where I am sure I will learn the answer to that. I also hope to learn the answer to who betrayed her.

What I also hope:

Duke Perrington gets his in a lovely and gruesome way.
Same for the King.
Nehemia sticks around for a long time.
The Dorian-Chaol-Celaena friendship/relationship is treated in away that is done smartly and is respectful of the strength of all three characters.
Elena makes more appearances.

(Finished December 27, 2018)

2019 Book List

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson

This book was a gift to my son by a dear friend. I wanted to read it right away. I finally got to. And I recently found out that Michael B. Jordan *swoon* will be playing Bryan in a movie with Jamie Foxx in the role of Walter.

I spent much of the book anxious for Bryan to get to the point, WHAT HAPPENED TO WALTER!!??!! But at the same time I learned more about the justice (using the word justice lightly) system fails so often and so badly especially in southern states. This is yet another book that provides empirical evidence to the points made in Michelle Alexander's The New Jim Crow.

Bryan feels he is broken, much like many of the people he tries to help but that in recognizing one's brokenness is part of healing and helping others. And help others he does. Bryan puts his blood, sweat, and tears into his work and while he isn't able to help everyone, or even everyone he gets to try to help, his work and that of those who have joined him, has done so much good for so many. And they are still at it, as sad as it is that they still need to be.

At times Just Mercy reads like a novel at others times it's more like a history book and at others it is a political commentary on the prison and criminal justice system. But it is always informative and gipping.

(Finished December 20, 2018)

Friday, December 14, 2018

Pride by Ibi Zoboi

I first spent time with Ibi Zoboi when I read American Street, a book my son got me for my birthday. And I was blown away by the way her characters lived and loomed larger than the pages they inhabited. So when I saw Pride I had to have a copy. I got a signed copy from the special batch of signed edition books that came into work, hey I work at Barnes and Noble now, I never get tired of saying that!!

I love Pride and Prejudice so right away I had high hopes for this book. It was so much more than I hoped or imagined. The last book I (tried) to read that was a reboot of P&P was just awful and I gave up on it, Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld. He made his version of Elizabeth was just really unlikable and that should not be the case!!! As my friend and coworker Marissa pointed out, it was written by a man. But given how much I liked Ibi's writing I was sure she would not make the same mistake, and she didn't. From the first paragraph on the first page I loved Zuri!!!

Not only did Ibi stay true to the spirit of Jane Austen's work, she also made the story completely her own. I was born in raised in Brooklyn and she made my hometown come alive and it was as much a character and the Darcy boys and Benitez girls.

The moments of Zuri's poetry were so incredibly powerful. Watching her and Darius grown and learn and fall, it was worthy of Elizabeth and her Mr. Darcy!!!

Ripe with real talk on being true to yourself, an authentic voice, the beat of love and life in a family that isn't anything you think a "hood" family would be, and so much rich layering, this one will go on my short list of books I reread every so often!!

(Finished December 14, 2018)

Wednesday, December 12, 2018

Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom by Ariel Burger

This was my 100th book read in 2018. And what a great book for the milestone.

***Side note- if you don't feel like it's a milestone and are laughing at the use of the term, I'm sorry you don't get the joy the written word brings and you REALLY will benefit from reading this book!!!***

Ariel was so lucky to have landed where he did, in the classroom of Elie Wiesel, and to spend many years learning from and sharing with the man. And this book really does drive home that point, Elie wasn't a celebrity, he was a curious and sensitive man who survived something horrific and rather than crumble or become jaded and disconnected, he "preached," for lack of a better word, the value in always being willing, always seeking out, always letting yourself learn, right until your last day. And he placed such high value in the role of the witness, even if it is as the witness to the witness. It is how we never let history devour, change, and erase the events we need to learn from and to protect ourselves and each other from ever having to repeat.

What becomes clear from the beginning is how much Elie respected and honored each and every student who sat before him even as he pushed and challenged them. One of the things Ariel quotes Elie as saying most often is "I need more" after a student has responded to their in class discussions.

As a man who witnessed what was inarguably one of if not the worst human tragedies in the history of humanity he stayed so gentle and open to the world. He traveled and spoke and used what open doors he came across to bear witness to each later tragedy and atrocity in hopes of awakening people and spurring action.

He was a witness both to his own time and to the sufferings and hurt of others. And he SPOKE!!

(Finished December 12, 2018)

Thursday, December 6, 2018

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris

Did I mention I now work at Barnes & Noble? YEP!!

This one has been on my radar for some time, it has been popular at work and so I used my shiny new employee discount and grabbed a copy. I have read other great books about the Holocaust, both fiction and nonfiction (Sarah's Key, Schindler's List, Night, The Diary of Ann Frank, The Zookeeper's Wife, to name just a few). This joins that list.

Lale is taken to Aschwitz-Birkenau in April 1942. Earlier that month Gita is sent there. When he becomes the Tätowierer, the one who tattoo's the numbers on the arms of the Jews and later the other prisoners too. It comes with some measure of privilege and safety and he uses it to try and help others survive the horrible nightmare they find themselves living in. And he meets Gita.

During the three years they are captives they fall in love. Amid the blood and fear and cruelty these two people hold on to their humanity and find love and hope. A small circle of friends grows around them and it keeps them going. Late uses his position and access to villagers working in the camp to smuggle food and chocolate to those he can. It is amazing at how small bite of sausage or a nibble of chocolate can help a body hang on long after it wants to lay down and give up.

There is an afterward that tells you where Lale, Gita, and other main figures end up. I don't know that I agree with what happened to one person but it is good to know who went where and how they did.

This is a powerful and moving reminder of how easy it is to lose hope and humanity and the endurance of love and the human capacity for resilience.

(Finished December 6, 2018)

Monday, December 3, 2018

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

I have read a few other works by Baldwin and have been moved and angered and saddened by his writing. Recently while at the movies I saw a trailer for the movie telling of this one and wanted to read it before the movie is released.

As expected, Baldwin is making an observation, commenting on society, and revealing something that needs exposing. And as has been the case with everything else I have read by him, it is still too relevant today.

The backbone of this story is Fonny's being arrested and stuck in jail for a crime he didn't commit with no end in sight. He has a run in with a white officer with a history of abuse of power but to no consequence to him. When Fonny and the officer, Bell, run into each other Bell comes away feeling humiliated and disrespected and you can see it coming, that this officer will get even. So when a White officer is the driving force behind an accusation against a Black man it doesn't matter if it is 1974 or 2018, it isn't hard to see who is going to get fucked in the situation.

Tish is the narrator, our tour guide, and the love she and Fonny have for each other is beautiful and pure even in the awful separation they face, each being able to see the other from their side of the glass divide in the jail visiting area, a phone the conduit of their words. They and their families paint a picture in words on the injustice and race based punishment faced by generation of people of color. Their love and pain and even joy keep them going even when things are at their worst. The criminal justice system is the adversary they must face to be together and it is clear to them they are David facing Goliath.

Wish is so strong and I loved her from page one. Fonny is a man in every sense of the word and he is admirable and honorable even when it is so hard to be, in a world that tells him he is less. When my fellow White people ask how they can be better allies I give them the advice I first got from reading The New Jim Crow, start by educating yourself, read everything you can, fiction and nonfiction, that will teach you about the experiences of Black people in America, and Baldwin should be all over the list of writings you read, this included. And through all the self-education you do, always acknowledge the privilege you have just because of the luck of the draw that had you born in the skin you are in.

(Finished December 3, 2018)