HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton By Jonathan Allen

Goodreads Summary:

The mesmerizing story of Hillary Clinton's political rebirth, based on eyewitness accounts from deep inside her inner circle.

Hillary Clinton’s surprising defeat in the 2008 Democratic primary brought her to the nadir of her political career, vanquished by a much younger opponent whose message of change and cutting-edge tech team ran circles around her stodgy campaign. And yet, six years later, she has reemerged as an even more powerful and influential figure, a formidable stateswoman and the presumed front-runner for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, marking one of the great political comebacks in history.

The story of Hillary’s phoenixlike rise is at the heart of HRC, a riveting political biography that journeys into the heart of “Hillaryland” to discover a brilliant strategist at work. Masterfully unfolded by Politico’s Jonathan Allen and The Hill’s Amie Parnes from more than two hundred top-access interviews with Hillary’s intimates, colleagues, supporters, and enemies,HRC portrays a seasoned operator who negotiates political and diplomatic worlds with equal savvy. Loathed by the Obama team in the wake of the primary, Hillary worked to become the president’s greatest ally, their fates intertwined in the work of reestablishing America on the world stage. HRCputs readers in the room with Hillary during the most intense and pivotal moments of this era, as she mulls the president-elect’s offer to join the administration, pulls the strings to build a coalition for his war against Libya, and scrambles to deal with the fallout from the terrible events in Benghazi—all while keeping one eye focused on 2016.

HRC offers a rare look inside the merciless Clinton political machine, as Bill Clinton handled the messy business of avenging Hillary’s primary loss while she tried to remain above the partisan fray. Exploring her friendships and alliances with Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Leon Panetta, Joe Biden, and the president himself, Allen and Parnes show how Hillary fundamentally transformed the State Department through the force of her celebrity and her unparalleled knowledge of how power works in Washington. Filled with deep reporting and immersive storytelling, this remarkable portrait of the most important female politician in American history is an essential inside look at the woman who may be our next president.

My Thoughts:
I have always liked Hillary and Bill Clinton. I wondered what kind of strength it took to keep your identity when your husband is president. I have always admired the way that she handled the problems of life, as privately as possible with as much strength as possible. I mention this only as a way of knowing my upfront bias about Hilary Clinton. I won't pretend that I have no such bias.

This book gave us the clear image of a strong woman dealing with unique circumstances. Through the accounts of those closest to Hillary we start to understand the drive, ambition, and personal dedication of Hillary.

Hillary has shown us time and again that she can not be knocked down for long. She shows true integrity and intelligence by always learning from her mistakes. Failed Presidential campaigns have withered lesser people. Hillary has set the stage for her next campaign if she chooses to run. This book shows us her education on how to improve and win next time.

Above all, I think this book humanizes Hillary in a way that not many other books have. Meaning, this book shows that Hillary is a fighter, and sometimes you have to fight hard and dirty. This is human nature, often it is something that is looked down on but honestly I don't think that it should be. Play the game but don't get lost in it is the lens of this book.

I would recommend this book to fans of Hillary and those who don't know much about her. I don't think overly conservative people would love this book, but independent voters could at least get a better picture of Hillary.

While writing this review I was listening to this song.

The Execution By Dick Wolf

Goodreads Summary:

NYPD Detective Jeremy Fisk must make an uneasy ally - the disturbingly beautiful and assertive Mexican Intelligence Agency Detective Cecilia Garza. She recognizes the signature of assassin Chuparosa - a hummingbird carved on a corpse. After years of pursuit, she knows only that he is heading to Manhattan - with the rest of the world for UN Week.

Ten days after the Mexican presidential election, 23 bodies were found beheaded on the US border, each carved by Chuparosa. Near New York, Rockaway has a mass murder. There is more to this threat than meets the eye — and justice is not always blind.

My Thoughts:

This is the second book in the Jeremy Fisk Series and like the first I enjoyed the read. This book had more blood and intense moments than the first so that is just a heads up, there are A LOT of really bloody scenes in this book.

I didn't have a problem with all the blood, it really did help set up what was happening and why. I liked the Garza character even though she was a bit clichéd. I think sometimes clichés exist for a reason and actually work for a story. She has to be the bitch to get respect from her peers in the Mexican Intelligence Agency. 

We do see snap shots of her softer side, just as we see the softer vulnerable side of Jeremy Fisk as he tries to heal from what happened to him in the first Fisk book. These characters are really human but have enough originality to them that they can and do surprise you at the end.

I would recommend this book to fans of Tom Clancy and similar writers. These books has a distinctive male voice, but not overly macho so they are not off putting to female readers. As I previously mentioned there is a lot of blood in this book while exploring the Chuparosa character so if you can't handle stories with cold blooded killers I would suggest skipping this one.

While writing this review I was listening to CBS This Morning, I totally have a crush on Charlie Rose.

Book Club? Totally going to give it a go. Stitch and bitch too? Possibly

For the last six months or more my amazing friend and fellow book blogger has been trying to get me to start a book club with her. Now that I am finally graduated from college and living a life that doesn't revolve around text books I am ready to read and be social about non text books with people that aren't fellow students! This is super exciting for me on several levels but mostly I get to keep intelligent conversation in my life but it doesn't always have to be about Political Science!

We are just putting feelers out there to see who would be into the idea? The when and where (though the where I am thinking is the Work Coffeebar in Midvale Utah as it has enough seating and isn't super packed with people in the evenings so we would all be able to hear one another and support a local business at the same time) haven't been decided yet. Let me know if you are in the Salt Lake City area and would be interested in joining a book club. I think for the most part we would be open to reading any genre. I am a big fan of variety so personally I am open to anything. Really the only thing I would say is a big deal is you actually read the book even if you don't love the selection.

We have also talked about starting a stitch and bitch so if knitting and or crochet is more your speed than reading books also let me know. I have been doing crochet for years and I know a few knitters so it would be fun to get together and share yarn info and project ideas while working on current projects.

I Remember Nothing: and other Reflections by Nora Ephron

Goodreads Summary:

Nora Ephron returns with her first book since the astounding success of I Feel Bad About My Neck, taking a cool, hard, hilarious look at the past, the present, and the future, bemoaning the vicissitudes of modern life, and recalling with her signature clarity and wisdom everything she hasn’t (yet) forgotten.

Ephron writes about falling hard for a way of life (“Journalism: A Love Story”) and about breaking up even harder with the men in her life (“The D Word”); lists “Twenty-five Things People Have a Shocking Capacity to Be Surprised by Over and Over Again” (“There is no explaining the stock market but people try”; “You can never know the truth of anyone’s marriage, including your own”; “Cary Grant was Jewish”; “Men cheat”); reveals the alarming evolution, a decade after she wrote and directedYou’ve Got Mail, of her relationship with her in-box (“The Six Stages of E-Mail”); and asks the age-old question, which came first, the chicken soup or the cold? All the while, she gives candid, edgy voice to everything women who have reached a certain age have been thinking . . . but rarely acknowledging.

Filled with insights and observations that instantly ring true—and could have come only from Nora Ephron—I Remember Nothing is pure joy.

My Thoughts:

I can't read Nora Ephron's writing all night but I love reading her work in small doses. That is mostly because her style is lot like my own thinking and one can only take so much of the same or similar voice.

I laughed a lot and thought a lot about the stories. It was interesting to get her account of what it was like to graduate college and end up as a mail girl because they weren't allowed to write like the men.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes an honest book with a bit of edge in tone.

While writing this review I was listening to Dust in the Wind by Kansas.

Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer by Maya Angelou

Goodreads Summary:

Grace, dignity, and eloquence have long been hallmarks of Maya Angelou’s poetry. Her measured verses have stirred our souls, energized our minds, and healed our hearts. Whether offering hope in the darkest of nights or expressing sincere joy at the extraordinariness of the everyday, Maya Angelou has served as our common voice.

Celebrations is a collection of timely and timeless poems that are an integral part of the global fabric. Several works have become nearly as iconic as Angelou herself: the inspiring “On the Pulse of Morning,” read at President William Jefferson Clinton’s 1993 inauguration; the heartening “Amazing Peace,” presented at the 2005 lighting of the National Christmas Tree at the White House; “A Brave and Startling Truth,” which marked the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations; and “Mother,” which beautifully honors the first woman in our lives. Angelou writes of celebrations public and private, a bar mitzvah wish to her nephew, a birthday greeting to Oprah Winfrey, and a memorial tribute to the late Luther Vandross and Barry White.

More than a writer, Angelou is a chronicler of history, an advocate for peace, and a champion for the planet, as well as a patriot, a mentor, and a friend. To be shared and cherished, the wisdom and poetry of Maya Angelou proves there is always cause for celebration.

My Thoughts:

As most people know Maya Angelou recently passed away. I read her work a lot when I first started writing poetry and I wanted to relive her words to say goodbye to her. The very poem that inspired me to start writing was in this collection. She read it at the inauguration of President Clinton. The greatest gift Maya Angelou gave to me was her voice. She was my first poetry role model and I will always love her work. She taught me that I could be honest about my life and my dreams. 

I would recommend reading Maya Angelou to anyone but in particular I would recommend her to women.