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.

Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

Goodreads Summary:

It all starts when Nick asks Norah to be his girlfriend for five minutes. He only needs five minutes to avoid his ex-girlfriend, who’s just walked in to his band’s show. With a new guy. And then, with one kiss, Nick and Norah are off on an adventure set against the backdrop of New York City – and smack in the middle of all the joy, anxiety, confusion, and excitement of a first date.

This he said/she said romance told by YA stars Rachel Cohn and David Levithan is a sexy, funny roller coaster of a story about one date over one very long night, with two teenagers, both recovering from broken hearts, who are just trying to figure out who they want to be – and where the next great band is playing.

Told in alternating chapters, teeming with music references, humor, angst, and endearing side characters, this is a love story you’ll wish were your very own. Working together for the first time, Rachel Cohn and David Levithan have combined forces to create a book that is sure to grab readers of all ages and never let them go.

My Thoughts:

Well I hated the movie of Nick and Nora so I wasn't expecting to like the book. As it turns out movies sometimes ruin everything! I actually really enjoyed this fast read. The characters were accurate teen characters without being overly annoying or cliched. I liked the flare that the writers brought to a pretty basic story.

There weren't any shocking parts to this read and frankly that is what I liked about it. Everyone could tell a story like this as it feels like a story I lived. I enjoyed the music references but didn't notice them that much. I had heard so much about how the music references would blow my mind, but honestly, they weren't that big of a deal to me.  

I would recommend this book to David Levithan fans, you won't be disappointed. I would also recommend this as a summer read, it was fast and light.

While writing this review I was listening to an episode of Hung.

Panic by Lauren Oliver

Goodreads Summary:

Panic began as so many things do in Carp, a dead-end town of 12,000 people in the middle of nowhere: because it was summer, and there was nothing else to do.

Heather never thought she would compete in Panic, a legendary game played by graduating seniors, where the stakes are high and the payoff is even higher. She’d never thought of herself as fearless, the kind of person who would fight to stand out. But when she finds something, and someone, to fight for, she will discover that she is braver than she ever thought.

Dodge has never been afraid of Panic. His secret will fuel him, and get him all the way through the game, he’s sure of it. But what he doesn't know is that he’s not the only one with a secret. Everyone has something to play for.

For Heather and Dodge, the game will bring new alliances, unexpected revelations, and the possibility of first love for each of them—and the knowledge that sometimes the very things we fear are those we need the most.

My Thoughts:

Just when I think I have figured out Lauren Oliver's writing style she mixes it up on me, and I couldn't love it more. Panic is another excellently written story that draws you in from the first page and spits you out at the end feeling like you have just been on the most amazing magical carpet ride and it didn't want it to end.

As you can tell I really enjoyed Panic. It was a fast read but it made me think which sometimes those two things don't go very well together. A big theme of this book is motivation, meaning what motivates us to do the crazy things that we do. Revenge and love, which oddly are so closely entwined are huge motivators in this book. At no point did I feel annoyed with any of the characters, even when they did predictable things. Lauren Oliver writes this story in such a way that it comes off as human behavior rather than a cliched book idea.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for an interesting good read. I think fans of Lauren Oliver will be pleased that she has created another snap shot world that will be looked at fondly over and over again.

While writing this review I was listening to the birds outside squabble over bits of bread in the grass.

Graze This Tastiness...

Recently I signed up for Graze.com snacks. The boxes are delivered right to my work. If I was more with it in the morning I would pack snacks and a lunch, but alas until I have been up for a couple of hours and have consumed at least two cups of coffee I barely remember how to blink.

So basically graze is perfect for someone like me. I forget to take food with me almost everyday and end up eating something crappy and fast or I skip eating all day until I get home. It only took two boxes for me to become a fan of graze. They are portion controlled for the perfect amount of snack. I have a tendency to not eat enough during the day and then eat too much at night. These snacks help a bit with that habit. They also use recycled material for their packaging and encourage further recycling. I am going to try a little planter box of herbs. I will let you all know how that works out for me.

When I signed up, I found a random coupon code to get a couple of boxes for free. In case you all want to to sign up feel free to use my friend code: MALIND43P

This is not an attempt to get money off of my own subscription. If anyone wants to use my friend code I will be donating the discount I get right back to Graze for their farming school in Uganda. You can read more about that here.

So far I am in love with the "hot cross yum" mix and the "wholegrain banana caramel dippers."

A Good Yarn by Debbie Macomber

Goodreads Summary:

Lydia Hoffman owns the shop on Blossom Street. In the year since it opened, A Good Yarn has thrived-and so has Lydia. A lot of that is due to Brad Goetz. But when Brad's ex-wife reappears, Lydia is suddenly afraid to trust her new found happiness.Three women join Lydia's newest class. Elise Beaumont, retired and bitterly divorced, learns that her onetime husband is reentering her life. Bethanne Hamlin is facing the fallout from a much more recent divorce. And Courtney Pulanski is a depressed and overweight teenager, whose grandmother's idea of helping her is to drag her to seniors' swim sessions-and to the knitting class at A Good Yarn.

My Thoughts:

I would say that I mostly enjoyed this book but it isn't anywhere near as good as The Friday Night Knitting Club which is in the same vein. The book was cheerful and sweet and a nice easy read that didn't demand anything from me.

But then, it didn't demand anything from me, including my full attention. I admit that I got distracted more than once while trying to get through this read. This isn't to say that the characters weren't likable but I just never got to the point of feeling fully invested in these people. 

I have not read the first book in this series so I think that has made a difference for me since I never grew an attachment to Lydia so I kind of didn't care what happened to her. Also, I am tired of cliched female characters and why does the fat one always loose weight in order to truly like herself? Can't fat girls love themselves? The answer is yes. I love myself and I am a fat girl. I just think it perpetuates this societal norm that fat is ugly and worthless. I just don't accept that idea.

I would recommend this book to those who enjoy chick lit. I would say there are better options out there but this is just fine for a rainy weekend.

While writing this review I was listening to my neighbor's pugs going wild running all over the place and barking at god knows what. How can such little dogs make so much noise? The husband and I call it the daily round of "Pug Wild." My bestie thinks I should call them Thunder Pugs are Go! Either way those little shits make a lot of weird noise.

Dog Gone, Back Soon by Nick Trout

***I received this book as an Advance Reader Copy, this in no way impacts the review I give this book***

Goodreads Summary:

When Dr. Cyrus Mills returned home after inheriting his estranged father's veterinary practice, The Bedside Manor for Sick Animals, the last thing he wanted was to stay in Eden Falls, Vermont, a moment longer than absolutely necessary. However, the previously reclusive veterinarian pathologist quickly found that he actually enjoyed treating animals and getting to know the eccentric residents of the tiny provincial town-especially an alluring waitress named Amy.

So Cyrus is now determined to make Bedside Manor thrive. Not an easy goal, given that Healthy Paws, the national veterinary chain across town, will stop at nothing to crush its mom-and-pop competitor. And the rival vet practice isn't Cyrus's only competition; a handsome stranger shows up out of nowhere who clearly has a mysterious past with Amy. To top it off, Cyrus finds himself both the guardian of a very unique orphaned dog and smack in the middle of serious small town drama.

This charming sequel to The Patron Saint of Lost Dogs is a wild and delightful ride through one jam- packed week, where Cyrus must figure out how to outsmart the evil veterinary conglomerate, win back Amy's heart, solve several tricky veterinary cases, find a home for an orphaned dog, and detangle himself from an absurd case of mistaken identity. DOG GONE, BACK SOON brims with Nick Trout's trademark humor, charm, and captivating animal stories, and is proof that all dogs, lost or not, on four feet or two, deserve a second chance.

My Thoughts:

I did not read the first book in this series. I will be looking for it from the library or amazon as soon as I finish this review. I did not feel at a disadvantage for not having read the first book about Dr. Cyrus Mills. I got enough background information throughout the read that I never felt left out of the story. Additionally, I wasn't hit over the head with it all at the beginning like normal series books.

I liked this read quite a bit. I loved the way the story naturally unfolded and I liked that it was told from the male perspective. Sometimes it seems like only female narratives can capture quirky and relate-able characters. I liked that this book referenced pop culture via movie quotes and each character had a distinct voice and personality within a cohesive story. Cyrus is likable even though he is a bit awkward and weird. From the first chapter you can relate with Cyrus and you want him to figure things out. Cyrus likes puzzles in his medical practice but it was nice that this book showed how hard it is for vets to figure out diagnoses and sometimes they are wrong.

Also, I love factoids about animals and when someone can accurately describe pets and their owners. I giggled more than once while reading this book, and as a bonus these giggles happened when Nick Trout intended with his writing. You can tell that Nick Trout is a vet, but we won't hold that against him in this case. He might be one of the rare vets that seems to like people and animals equally and therefore has figured out how to capture both on the page.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a light read that makes you feel good.

While writing this review I was listening to an episode of Castle and my husband making soup.