It's Okay to Laugh (Crying is Cool Too)

This book is one of the best and funniest books I've read in a very long time. It's a memoir with such depth in small phrases. She marries the love of her life only for him to die young of brain cancer. They had a baby together while Aaron was on chemo.

Nora tells about the complication and simplicity of life in such a beautiful way. I read the book shortly after my Emmaline had recovered from cancer so hearing about the emotions and fear was spot on and very cathartic for me. She is honest with the trauma but also laughs at the darkness (anyone who has gone through chemo on their one or with a loved one learns to have some pretty dark humor).

I highly recommend this book!

The Woman in Cabin 10

This book was a very quick read and had some twists that were interesting. Lo went on a luxury cruise to see the Northern Lights and accidentally sees a body being thrown overboard but doesn't see who did it. The book is the classic who done it with a few twists that the well read will see coming.

The narration was inconsistent, which is a pet peeve of mine. The plot was okay. The characters were too one dimensional and static. Not really worth the time to read it.

Blood in the Water

I knew nothing about the Attica Prison riots of 1971 before I started this book. The first half is amazing. I learned so much about the political atmosphere and why it played a role in the uprising. I learned more about civil rights from the perspective of prisoners. I learned by heart could get absolutely broken over a past I was never apart of. And most important, I learned why the black communities and the police are still in power struggles, leaving young black males fighting for their lives.

I would highly recommend reading the first half of the book. When I got to the second half, I had to put down. So. Much. Politics. Too many names. It just got tedious. I wanted to learned about the aftermath of the uprising, but there were too many details and not enough arching history.

However, if you have a lot of brain cells and can pay close attention to names, committees, etc I'm guessing the second half is just as good as the first.

When Hitler Took Cocaine and Lenin Lost His Brain

This book is mostly good. It's very short history rants, but most of them are left unanswered - a little maddening and not what I thought the book would be. It gets very morbid and gross at the end, so fair warning. But, it's a short read and I would recommend it for a laugh or to just learn a little more about the quirky and weird historical facts no one really has heard about.

In Twenty Years

This book is about a group of friends from collage who grow up and you guessed it, have a reunion after 20 years. Only one of the friends is dead and everyone in the group is a different person than they were in college. Basically, I read the book because it was more like a mystery, but I didn't really like the book. 2 stars at best.

Chickenizing Farms and Food

I couldn't get in to this book for the life of me, and I deeply care about where my food comes from and the health and treatment of the workers and animals. So boring and pretentious that I put it down.

Moloka'i

This book came as a recommendation from someone who knows her books well. This book is a fantastic read. It's a little long and tedious at times, but even in the boredom, I wanted to keep reading. It's just that the author stuffed so much in theses pages that several major events can happen in the span of two pages. But, well written and very interesting subject. The book is historical fiction about a forced colony of lepers on an island in Hawaii. It follows the life of one girl from early childhood until her death. It took me a long time to read, but am thankful I did.