Welcome to Litsy!

Another month, another handful of (mostly) fantastic reads. Ten was a bit of a letdown, but Aurora was an unexpected treat!

Aurora ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Middle of the Night ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The Teacher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
...Rachel Price ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ten ⭐️⭐️⭐️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5. This was a lot more about relationships than I expected, while also being pretty fast paced. It‘s the kind of thriller that I enjoy and can really sink my teeth into because there‘s substance. The characters are real with real flaws and problems. Highly recommend!

I was hesitant to read this because as I read the blurb I thought it was going to be more sci-fi heavy. It wasn‘t! It was very much based on the reactions of people and the relationships and communities. I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Lots of people behaving badly as you might expect after a solar storm wipes out electricity across the globe but that‘s not the focus of the story which is really about a neighborhood that comes together not only to survive but even thrive as best they can & the family that has a chance at healing an old wound. You can tell it‘s written by a screenwriter, some scenes/relationships written with more of a film pace. Still, an entertaining read.

Starting this one tonight—it‘s about a solar storm that knocks out power across the world and what happens after. Certainly is an interesting premise.

The premise of this book is a scary one, and I was totally there for that. But the characters didn‘t stir up any real emotion for me; therefore, I was never really invested in the outcome. I still wanted to know what would happen overall from a scientific/educational standpoint but even that was a bit of a disappointment. It should‘ve had additional narrators...maybe then I could've liked this more...especially since it has a prominent female POV.

I really enjoyed Cold Storage by this author, and when I started this one I was loving it. A blackout just as the world is recovering from COVID sends things spiraling again into chaos. The story starts strong and I thought it was building to an epic conclusion, but the second half was like a bad made for TV movie.

It's good for a quick read, but don't go in expecting too much other than mild entertainment.

This one has gotten a few negative reviews on Litsy, but I actually enjoyed it a lot. It wasn't the post-apocalyptic fight for survival that I thought it would be. The worldwide blackout serves more as the backdrop to the story, and I think that actually served the book quite well. It's not perfect of course. There were parts of the story that were probably unnecessary, but overall it was an enjoyable read.

A solar event knocks out the electric grid across much of the world. This follows a small group of people as they each react a bit differently to their new reality. Overall, I enjoyed listening to this, but I felt it needed to be a little more fleshed out plus the ending is abrupt and a bit unsatisfying.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
This started out as a solid pick for me. The first half was fantastic, four stars at least. But the second half devolved into something entirely different. Apparently this is being turned into a series - I want to say Netflix? - but unless they change the concept a good bit, I think I'll pass.

When I heard about this book, I knew I just had to read it. I was the Program Manager for the Department of Defense‘s network of solar observatories. That made this book a quick read for me. I really enjoyed it, especially the scientific portions dealing with the Coronal Mass Eruptions (CME).