The Cuban Affair

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The Cuban Affair is the latest offering from Nelson DeMille. If you're a fan of DeMille's John Corey books, you'll almost certainly like this novel - the hero, Mac, is basically John Corey with a  different background. Honestly, the two characters are so similar in speech and personality that I found myself distracted throughout the entire book wondering why DeMille even created Mac when he could have just as easily had John retire to Key West and buy a boat.

At any rate, it's a solid story. Mac is a charter boat captain with a mortgaged boat he can't afford. Along comes Sarah, a Cuban-American beauty who offers him a few million dollars to help her out with a top secret fortune recovery mission in Cuba.

There's a lot of information about Cuba in this book but it never comes off as travelogue-y, which it might have in less experienced, less skilled hands. It's a slow build to the action, but once it gets going, you won't be able to put it down. I've got a hunch this is just the first installment in a new franchise from DeMille and, if I'm right, I'm definitely looking forward to the next in the series.

We Were 8 Years In Power

I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ta-Nehisi Coates first hit my radar a few years ago when his book, Between the World and Me was blowing up the bestseller lists. When I saw he had this new book coming out I immediately requested a copy from the publisher and crossed my fingers. Happily, my request was approved and I dove right in the same weekend the city of Charlotteville in my home state of Virginia was overrun by white supremacists.

We Were 8 Years in Power: An American Tragedy, takes its name from a speech given in 1895 by South Carolina congressman Thomas Miller. He stated,

"We were eight years in power. We had built schoolhouses, established charitable institutions, built and maintained the penitentiary system, provided for the education of the deaf and dumb, rebuilt the ferries. In short, we had reconstructed the State and place it upon the road to prosperity."

Coates takes this quote and ties his collection of essays together around it. The format is simple - a re-printing of 8 of his pieces from The Atlantic, one for each year of the Obama presidency, along with a reflective introduction to each. Coates is hard on himself when it comes to his earlier work and is unflinchingly honest about why he believes he's been a success. At times he gives himself too little credit and forgets (or is too humble to admit) that at least part of his success is due to his great talent for writing. There is a progression in skill to be seen here, but the raw talent for the written word shines through from even the earliest piece.  

I could actually write about this book for days. I loved it. I think everyone should read it with an open mind. I think it's going to be polarizing though because a lot of white people are going to hate it. Coates is unafraid of peeling back the mask and showing the ugly supremacist foundation our country has been built on and refuses to acknowledge. He tackles racism head on and doesn't sugar-coat his feelings in deference to white fragility. Some will find that hard to swallow. Sadly, those are the ones who need to absorb his message the most. 

I read that Coates is now working on an historical fiction novel. I can't wait to add it to my to-read stack as soon as the title and pre-order date are released.

We Were 8 Years In Power will be available at all booksellers on October 3, 2017.

Public Relations

                                        

Public Relations by Katie Heaney and Arianna Rebolini tells the story of  Rose Reed, an up and coming publicist at the fast paced fictional PR firm of Weaver-Girard. Desperate to impress her hard-to-read boss Joanna, Rose is an anxiety riddled mess who happens to be a bit of a genius when it comes to music PR. She gets the chance to sit in on a meeting with Archie Fox, an obvious Harry Styles stand-in, who is in serious need of a career boost and manages to impress him with her idea - a staged romance between Archie and too-cool-for-life new artist Raya. As time goes on though, Rose starts to feel like maybe a real romance is in order with her as the leading lady..

Public Relations is one of those books that needs to be a movie. It's a fast-paced, ridiculously over the top, full of cliches, romantic comedy that somehow just works. There are parts that I hated (for the love of god, don't base your hero on such an easily identifiable real-life guy!!!) but mostly I loved it.

I did have a few issues (of course). I would have been so much more impressed if Rose's issues had been dealt with more. Why is she so anxious? Why does she have so little self-confidence when she's clearly very gifted at what she does? As is too common in these sorts of books (spoiler alert!) the focus is mainly on the heroine getting her man by the end and less on the heroine becoming a complete, healthy, independent, successful human being. This book, like so many others out there, sends that tired old message that says you can't be complete unless you've landed yourself a man.

Also: Harry Styles? Really? The obviousness of the real-life counterpart took me out of the story a lot. A lot a lot. That aspect of the book made it less like a "real" novel and more like fanfic. And don't get me wrong - I like fanfic. Well-written fanfic has its place. Just not in a book you pay money for. At times I felt like I was intruding on the authors' private fantasies and it felt kind of squicky.

The writing is strong enough to overcome the books flaws in the end and I highly recommend this one. And I seriously do hope it gets picked up and becomes a movie. It would be an excellent addition to the genre of rom-coms that everyone loves to bitch about but also secretly watches every time they're on tv (I'm looking at you 27 Dresses).