What I Read Wednesday

Sigh. I've been so tired and so busy and so everything that reading hasn't been a huge part of my life lately and that's sad.

Shelter (Book One): A Mickey Bolitar Novel
I found this on a list of good YA thrillers. I'm always looking for YA books that might appeal to boys and chose this one because of the male character. Mickey Bolitar is not having the best time lately. He witnesses his dad die in a car crash, his mom ends up in rehab, and he doesn't really like the uncle with whom he lives. He does, however, meet a great girl named Ashley, but shortly into the school year, Ashley disappears. Not only does Ashley disappear, but it's almost as if she never existed at all. Following the trail of her disappearance, Mickey encounters a shady strip club, an urban legend named Bat Lady, and some clues that his dad's death is more than what it seems. This is part of a trilogy, and I look forward to reading the rest because the mystery definitely hooked me.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

I've been pretty stagnant with books lately. I have a whole stack of non-fiction sitting on my nightstand and zero desire to read anything that isn't an escape from reality.

Innocents and Others: A Novel
Meadow and Carrie grow up together. The two are connected by their love of film-making and forays into documentaries. On the outside is a woman named Jelly, who cold calls men who are connected to celebrities and forges a relationship with them over the phone. The book goes back and forth between Meadow, Carrie, and Jelly. At times, it was disjointed and I had to remind myself of who was where, but I was overall interested in each of the women and how they eventually connected.

See Jane Run
This book came up on a list of ten best psychological thrillers. I love psychological thrillers and this was one of the few that I hadn't read. It did not disappoint. Jane snaps to suddenly on a Boston street, with no knowledge of who she is or what she's doing. She's wearing a trench coat that she quickly discovers is holding stacks of $100 bills and when she removes the trench coat, she realizes that her dress is soaked in blood--blood that isn't hers. After ending up at the hospital, she's diagnosed with hysterical amnesia thought to be brought on by trauma. Someone eventually recognizes her as the wife of renowned pediatric surgeon Dr. Michael Whittaker and Jane is brought home to begin reconstructing. Or so she thinks. What unfolds is a nightmare in which she is unsure what is reality and what is hysteria.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

The Passenger
The story opens with Tanya Dubois, a woman whose husband falls down the stairs and dies. Although she had nothing to do with his death, she flees knowing that the police will only bring more questions--as she is not really Tanya Dubois. Nor is she Amelia or Debra or any of the other personas she adopts. As the story unfolds, the reader learns she is fleeing from her past, though it's unclear as to who should be given blame for her past. This one kept me hooked! Great premise and the author did an excellent job of slowly revealing the pieces of the puzzle.

The Forgetting Time: A Novel
Janie is a single mom, after a wreckless night on the beach during vacation. She loves her son, Noah, with all her heart, but he is a very difficult four year old. He suffers nightmares, has an irrational fear of the water, and constantly asks when his other mom will come to get him. Jerome is a psychiatrist who specializes in past life research, believed to be a fraud by some, he strongly insists that some children are born with strong memories of the past life they led and reuniting children with that past life can help ease troubled minds. Janie and Jerome come together to search for Noah's past life, to return him to the mom he claims he had when he was a boy named Tommy. This was really a beautifully written book. I felt the struggles of both Janie and Jerome, but especially Janie as a mom desperately trying to find help for her boy.

What are you reading?

What I Read Wednesday

Perfect Days: A Novel
This was twisted. I went into the ending thinking, "Oh no, the author wouldn't..." and the author did. Teo is an isolated adult. He lives with his parapalegic mom and is medical school, where his only friend is his group's assigned cadaver. One day, his mom drags him to a party where he meets and becomes infatuated with Clarice. Teo obsessively begins calling and following her, until one night, one thing leads to another and he ends up kidnapping her. You get the sense that Teo didn't exactly intend to do this, but now that he's done it, he has no choice but to keep on with the charade and the hope that Clarice will return his affection. This was GOOD. Discomforting but so good.

Violent Ends
17 different stories tell parts of the story of Kirby Matheson, who on one fateful day walked into his school and shot 11 people, then killed himself. These stories, however, don't really tell you why Kirby did it. Not definitively. Written by 17 different YA authors, these stories tell the aftermath of Kirby's actions. They tell of Kirby's childhood. Of the days before the shooting. They tell the stories of the victims. They weave a beautiful tapestry of perspectives that won't easily be forgotten.


What are you reading?