Wednesday, February 24, 2016

What I Read Wednesday

I wanted to finish the book I was reading and took advantage of the snow day to do so before posting this.

Burning Midnight
One day, brightly colored spheres showed up on earth. Much like the Gold Rush, at first they were just there for the taking, but after awhile, they became sparse. At first, no one knew what they did, until it was discovered that burning (placing them at your temples) a colored pair would have certain outcomes depending on the color. Some make you smarter. More attractive. Faster. Give you the ability to function on little sleep. Like most things, the rarer the sphere, the more amazing the outcome, the more that sphere is worth.
Sully is a teen who makes his living dealing spheres at a flea market. He's notorious for finding the cherry red spheres that triggered a second wave of spheres. As the second wave is running out, Sully and his friend Hunter intensify a search for more rare spheres.
This book was entertaining and unique. I loved the idea of something like this just happening, as well as the way different people reacted. It was definitely not without a sci-fi twist to it, too.

The Sky Is Everywhere
This is by the same author of I'll Give You the Sun and was so very good. Bailey's sister dies suddenly while rehearsing for Romeo & Juliet. In the wake of her death, Bailey is left reeling and unsure of how to move forward. Lennie attaches herself first to her sister's boyfriend, then to Joe, the new boy at her school. She struggles to connect with her grandma and uncle in the way that she did before Bailey's death and she feels that no one quite understands her pain.
I really enjoyed this book. It was realistic and messy.

All the Birds in the Sky
This book was okay. I felt like it was trying to be dystopian, fantasy, coming of age and sci-fi all at once and that didn't really work for me. However, it has good reviews on Amazon, so it could work for you! It begins with Patricia and Laurence, children who are both misunderstood. Patricia wishes to talk to animals and can't figure out how to handle her abusive older sister. Laurence is scientific minded and resents his parents trying to make him like nature. It then moves onto their teenage years, where Patricia ends up at a school for children with magical powers and Laurence ends up at boot camp, following an assassin turned guidance counselor plotting to get rid of him. It finishes with Patricia and Laurence as adults where maybe the world is possibly ending. It just didn't mesh for me. I was hooked at first, but it started to drag after awhile.

What are you reading?

5 comments:

InTheFastLane said...

I just finished the third Comoran Strike book, with a bit cliff hanger ending so there better be a book four. Now off to start Orphan X. Yay snow days!

Lyndsay W said...

Just finished "In the Language of Miracles". Didn't love it. Wasn't in the mood to read about sad and angry people maybe?

Barb Ruess said...

Lyndsay - In the Language of Miracles isn't an easy read and I definitely think it's one of those books that you have to be in the right mindset for.

This week I read The Book of Speculation. It was a very entertaining story about a book that shows up mysteriously one day and the "curse" that it holds over generations of this family. I really liked it.

And now I wish I could curl up on the couch to read The Martian because I started it last night and it's so good!

Theresa Mahoney said...

You got a snow day today? Lucky! Our snow hasn't really kicked in yet, but I'm sure we'll get cancelled tomorrow. I took a break from the Lady of Ashes series I am reading and dove into some craft books. I just picked up the 4th one yesterday, so I am back to trying to finish up the series. Not my favorite, but I feel like I'm already too investing in the characters to give up on them now.

Theresa Mahoney said...

*invested*