Wide Awake

For Christmas this year I received a single cup coffee brewer.  I just love coffee, so I have been very happy to be able to make a cup by popping a pod in the machine and pushing a button.  I have also been very wide awake from the massive amounts of caffeine I have consumed.  The up side of all this is that I have plenty of time to read in the middle of the night.  At 2am, the house is quiet and that big pile of books looks friendly rather than daunting.

For middle of the night reading I recommend:

What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty (Fiction).  Imagine that you could not remember the last ten years of your life.  The main character in this novel comes to after a fall in an exercise class and thinks that she is 29, pregnant and newly married. In reality, she is 39, the mother of three and in the midst of a bitter divorce.  The story is funny and poignant and full of a few life lessons about what happens as we grow older and forget our younger selves.  Perfect late night reading.....

Taken by Robert Crais (Thriller).  For those of you who are Elvis Cole and Joe Pike fans, this book (released on January 24th) is a great addition to the series.  Crais has written it in an interesting style, going back and forth between time periods and points of view.  Elvis and Pike, as always, make a great team and there is just enough suspense to keep you awake, even without more caffeine.

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Young Adult).  Get out the tissue box.  This novel appears to be a fantasy tale about a young boy and a giant tree monster.  It is so much more.  Beautiful black and white illustrations accompany a tale that is both frightening and a little heartbreaking.  You can read this book in a few hours, but you will want to go back and re-read it.

I am going to try to get some sleep now.  Keep those pages turning!