Pretties

What mood I'm in today: Reading
What I'm listening to right now: Avengers soundtrack

Hello Spring!
Well, up until it snowed today, anyway. It's not bad. We need it. And snow makes lovely reading weather. That, and a couple of warm chocolate chip cookies. Is it so bad that I've been making them every few days for, like, a month now? I'm totally addicted.
Not to mention lazy.
Scratch that. I'm a mom, I'm not lazy. I'm busy. And sometimes at the end of the day I'm totally exhausted. But you know what's nice? Reading while sitting in the waiting room. It's the one thing that probably saves me from the stress of doctor, dentist, and orthodontist visits. I get to read! Yay!

Pretties is the second in the "Uglies" series by Scott Westerfeld. Have I mentioned that I like his books? I do. A lot. Read my review of Pretties here on Goodreads. It's short but sweet, that's how I do it. Four stars overall - a really great read and lead up to Specials, which I'm just now trying to finish.
As always, Happy Reading!

The Uglies

What mood I'm in today: Reading
What I'm listening to right now: Lindsey Stirling, Transcendence

It snowed last night. Smiley! Also, a good reason to want to stay in bed all morning. I didn't, which kind of stinks. I didn't even make hot chocolate for breakfast, because it's been around sixty degrees for a couple weeks. Boo. It's a good day to curl up with a good book. Like this one. And maybe some afternoon cocoa.

 

Uglies, by Scott Westerfield (love this author), is a fantastic, well-written and exciting Dystopian YA novel about Tally Youngblood and the world of Pretties (what I'm reading right now). Read my review on Goodreads. If you like Dystopian or Sci-Fi or anything with a remotely good plot line, this is for you.

Happy Reading!

The Secret Hour

What I'm listening to right now: All Around Me, Flyleaf
What mood I'm in today: Reading

Going back in time today, I wanted to review the first book of one of my favorite series of one of my favorite authors. The Secret Hour, first book in the Midnighters series, is a window into just what the title says, the Secret Hour. Every day has 25 hours, not 24. One of them is just hidden, and only those born at exactly midnight can be awake in this time. Not only that, but the hour only opens up in the city of Bixby, Oklahoma.

This is exactly how I pictured these things!

When Jessica Day moves to Bixby, weird things start to happen - weird even for the other midnighters who've lived there much longer than she has. The darklings begin to creep back into town, risking exposing themselves again because of their need to kill Jessica. Rex, Melissa, Dess, and Jonathan, all get involved in trying to understand why the darklings want to kill Jessica in particular.
I loved this book. Not only do the five kids get to be awake in a secret hour, but they each have different abilities that the 25th hour gives them. Rex has a special sight that allows him to see things belonging to the midnight hour ultra-clearly. Melissa can read minds, or I guess a better word is taste them. Dess is a mathematical genius, which turns out to be very important in the secret hour. Jonathan is the Acrobat. His power is different, because he can only use it in the midnight hour. As they try to find out exactly what it is Jessica can do, they get closer to the reason the darklings want to kill her.
She can kill them.
I won't give away too much here, but Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series is intense fantastical realism that will keep you reading into the night. He captures the urgency of the situation, the personalities of every character and their importance to the story, and provides a little romance in the background (not that I would call this book romantic, but who doesn't want to see a great couple get together?). If you like books with a little bit of sci-fi/fantasy, set in the real world, this is your next read.
Until next time...keep reading. Let me know if you've read any good books! I'm always looking.