What I Read Wednesday

Seconds Away (Book Two): A Mickey Bolitar Novel
Book 2 in the Mickey Bolitar series. A good continuation of the first book. I really think this would be a great middle level book for boys. Excitement, adventure, some violence and a male protagonist. I enjoyed it.
Found (A Mickey Bolitar Novel)
And the end of the trilogy. Still would definitely recommend this one for upper elementary and middle school boys.

Girl in the Blue Coat
YA Holocaust fiction is always a good read because I feel like it often skims the surface of the Holocaust without being too overwhelming for younger readers, but at the same time, it encourages them to look more into history. It is Amsterdam 1943. Hanneke spends her days running black market errands for her boss. Unlike many characters in Holocaust fiction, Hanneke is helping rich gentiles who are "put out" by all the war rationing. While delivering to one of her clients, Mrs. Jannsen, she asks Hanneke to help her find something outside of her usual--a person. Specifically, a Jewish girl named Mirjam who up and vanished out of the hiding space behind Mrs. Jannsen's pantry. Initially reluctant, Hanneke agrees and finds herself thrust into the heart of the resistance movement.
This was an easy, engaging read. It gave a good view of Holocaust history, how so few people realized the extent of German atrocities.

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy
I was torn between reading this book and not because I felt it would be difficult. It was. It definitely was, but I finished it in one day because I couldn't tear myself away from Sue's story of how the boy she loved grew up to commit one of the most notorious school shootings. I remember Columbine because I was a junior in high school at the time. I remember thinking, this could never happen here... but it could. It could happen anywhere.
I think it's important to try to put yourself in the shoes of the women who raise children who grow up to do evil acts. It's easy to blame the mothers. I know I blamed Nancy Lanza after Newtown, but she wasn't left alive to absorb the blame as Sue Klebold did and has. Some of the critiques for this book blame Sue Klebold for making too many excuses for her son, for blaming Eric, but what I saw was a mom confused and stunned by her son's actions even all these years later and to some extent, excuses might help her process. Who knows? I certainly don't and certainly hope I never have to know. I think it's a lot easier, too, to find red flags now in a post-Columbine world than it was at this time. I had never done a lockdown drill in my life until after Columbine, and it's important to remember that this, unfortunately, started a new world of schools not being as safe as one could imagine.

All Stories Are Love Stories: A Novel
I found this book a little slow to start, but once it picked up, I really enjoyed it. This book circulates around three main characters: Max, Vashti and Gene. Max and Vashti have a history and on February 14th, she goes to see him on his birthday. After they're together, a major earthquake hits San Francisco and Max and Vashti are trapped beneath the rubble of an auditorium, along with a group of others. Gene is a geologist who knows more about earthquakes than most, yet he is still left wandering the streets of the city trying to get home to his partner. As the story unfolds, the three become connected in ways they never could have imagined. What I loved about this book is that the earthquakes almost became a character themselves, setting so much into motion. I was definitely drawn in by this book once I got beyond the exposition, and I absolutely loved how the author brought it all together.


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What I Read Wednesday

As Close to Us as Breathing: A Novel
This book circles around the loss of Davy, with his sister Molly narrating the story. The reader knows that something happens to Davy at the family's beach house, but it's not immediately apparent what happened. In the midst of this, we are given the backstory between Davy's mother, Ada, and her two sisters, Vivie and Bec, and how their lives and loves and losses have intertwined and continued to intertwine as time moves forward. There were times when I struggled to follow along with the many different stories, but overall, I enjoyed this book and the way the story circled around Davy but was also about so much more.

Lost & Found: A Novel
Millie's mom abandons her in a department store, following the loss of Millie's dad. For awhile, Millie hides out beneath the clothes rack, then stays after the lights go out. Through a series of events, Millie ends up beneath the wings of two 80 year olds who set out to reunite Millie with her mom. Along the way, the two create quite an adventure for Millie. I loved this book. It made me smile and it made me cry. It was an unlikely story but still very enjoyable.

The Nest
The Plumb family is beyond dysfunctional. Melody, Beatrice, and Jack are faced with the loss of their trust fund, following their brother Leo's drunken accident in which he severely injures a 19 year old waitress. Melody has been living beyond her means for awhile, counting on the trust fund (the nest) to send her twin daughters to college. Jack is struggling financially, but doesn't want to let his husband know. Beatrice is a writer who just can't seem to finish her overdue novel. The perspective switches between family members as the story progresses. I loved this one. I definitely did not want to cut short my time with the Plumb family.

Amy & Roger's Epic Detour
This is a book that if I were in the intended age level, I really would have enjoyed it. As someone older than the intended age level, I still really liked the story, but I struggled to imagine leaving my child to finish out senior year of high school alone after losing her father in a tragic accident--an accident for which she blames herself. Regardless, this is the plot line, so following it, Amy's mom asks her to drive her car from California to Connecticutt, where Amy's mom now lives. However, Amy won't drive, so Amy's mom arranges for Roger--son of a former friend of the family--to drive back across the country with Amy. The two decide to, as the title suggests, take a detour along the way. I did enjoy this book for the story itself, and I can definitely see teen girls loving it.

What are you reading?

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.

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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.

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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?

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?