August's Book of the Month

Hello Everyone! I chose the picture posted above because it reminds me of reading to my daughter Mareena when she was little. Every afternoon until she was about eight or nine years old, we would take one of her books that she wanted to read or that she was reading and we would curl up together on my big bed. 

We would spend an hour or so reading a chapter of her book, and then take a nap together. Her absolutely favorite author at that time was an English author named Enid Blyton. Ahh, nice memories...

My picks for 'Books of the Month' will be decidedly more adult these days, but they will be from almost any genre. August's Book of the Month is: 

The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve

Published as: The Weight of Water in January 1997

Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Birth Name: Anita Shreve

Born: 1946 in Dedham, Massachusetts

Canonical Name: Anita Shreve

Pseudonyms: None

The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve was the sixteenth book that I read in 2009. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since August 1, 2009 and it took me a day to read. This book is a definite keeper for me!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Tanya Tucker and Patsy Bale Cox - Nickel Dreams: My Life

18. Nickel Dreams: My Life by Tanya Tucker and Patsy Bale Cox (1997)
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 18 August 2009
Finished: 28 August 2009
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 August 2009
Why do I have it? I like autobiographies and didn't know all that much about Tanya Tucker's life.

I just finished reading Nickel Dreams: My Life by Tanya Tucker. Since the age of eleven, Tanya Tucker has been a successful country singer who has lived a hard life. This is her autobiography. I personally can't say much for this book since I had never heard of many of the record people she mentioned. I give it an F!

F! - (00-65%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - Crown of Aloes

17. Crown of Aloes by Norah Lofts (1974)
Length: 303 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 7 August 2009
Finished: 15 August 2009
Where did it come from? Borrowed from the library
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 August 2009
Why do I have it? I like Norah Lofts as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.


This is a novel of Queen Isabella of Spain. It is based on fact and detail, presented as a personal chronicle of her life. Isabella's fortunes were varied: she knew poverty and faced much anxiety and danger. I loved this story - it was very touching at the end. I give this story an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Anita Shreve - The Weight of Water

16. The Weight of Water by Anita Shreve (1997)
Length: 263 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 5 August 2009
Finished: 6 August 2009
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 August 2009
Why do I have it? I like Anita Shreve as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

For Jean Janes, a photographer with the local newspaper, a century-old crime has held her spellbound for the longest time. In 1895, a crime of passion caused the deaths of two women and the temporary disappearance of another. Jean plans to write an article for her newspaper about the murder case, complete with photographs of the island where the bodies of the women were eventually found, and where the survivor was discovered cowering in a cave along the shore.

Posing the question to her readers: "If you take a woman and push her to edge, how will she behave?", Jean sets out to write her article. In 1995, she arrives on Smuttynose Island, off the coast of Maine and immerses herself in the details of the case. Deciding that she will make a vacation of the time she spends researching the case; Jean, her husband Thomas and their five-year-old daughter Billie plan to go sailing with Thomas' younger brother Rich and Rich's new girlfriend Adaline.

So Jean immerses herself in Maine of the late nineteenth-century and in the grisly details of the most shocking crime of the century. Although for some strange reason, she just can't shake the feeling of history repeating itself. Jean herself is entering some truly precarious emotional territory: suspicion and jealousy. The niggling suspicion that her husband Thomas is having an affair quickly flares into jealousy and distrust, and ultimately propels Jean to the verge of actions she had not known herself capable of - actions with horrific consequences.

In this riveting and deeply moving story of irresistible emotions and irrevocable actions, Anita Shreve takes the reader on an unforgettable journey through the farthest extremes of emotion. I must say that I have always enjoyed Anita Shreve's writing, and The Weight of Water is no exception. Ms. Shreve writes detail driven and emotional storylines, and I found myself completely immersed in this story immediately. I loved this book and give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Barbara Delinsky - The Woman Next Door

15. The Woman Next Door by Barbara Delinsky (2001)
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 1 August 2009
Finished: 4 August 2009
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 August 2009
Why do I have it? I like Barbara Delinsky as an author and I have several books by this author on my bookshelf.

In Barbara Delinsky's The Woman Next Door, three women who live next door to a lovely, pregnant and reclusive widow have their lives turned upside down by their husbands' interest in her. These three wives are friends, but each can't help but wonder if her husband is the father of the baby. As a result, each woman reevaluates her life and finds out what's truly important to herself.

Amanda and Graham O'Leary have an ostensibly happy life, but infertility treatments have put a strain on their marriage. Russ Lange is a house husband while his wife travels the country to promote her juice company. Karen Cottar has dealt with her husband's infedelity before. When a crisis happens at the high school, it adds to each household's tension. I liked this story very much; the type of book women like to read. I give it an A!

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for July at Moonshine and Rosefire

 

Hello everyone out there and I hope that you all had a terrific reading month for yourselves. I am known as Rosefire around the Internet and this is my new personal reading blog. I originally posted my reviews over at my daughter's blog, Emeraldfire's Bookmark but am now in the process of transferring them all over to my own blog. My daughter makes blogging look like so much fun that I thought that I would try it out for myself! :)

Anyway, I started out July with 634 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 629 books unread. The only book that I actually acquired this month was one that Mareena was sent to review that she let me read first.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin
- A Paper Life by Tatum O'Neal
- A Circle of Souls by Preetham Grandhi
- An Accidental Woman by Barbara Delinsky
- Out of the Dark by Norah Lofts

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Medieval Castles of Ireland by David Sweetman
- Your Naturally Healthy Home: Stylish, Safe, Simple by Alan Berman
- The Painter's Composition Handbook by Jan Herring
- Billy Straight by Jonathan Kellerman

Well, there it is...the breakdown! All in all, a very good reading month for me. Here's a further breakdown:

Books Read: 5
Pages Read: 1,730
Grade Range: A+! to C+!

So, there you go! The reading month that was July. I hope that you all had an equally good reading month; if not a little better. :) See you all next month! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight