April'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. April's Book of the Month is:

Voices in Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher

Published as: Voices in Summer in 1984

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Birth Name: Rosamunde Scott

Born: 22 September 1924 in Lelant, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Canonical Name: Rosamunde Pilcher

Pseudonyms: Jane Fraser

Voices in Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher was the twenty-seventh book that I read in 2010. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since April 11, 2010 and this book took me three days to read. This book was sent off to another good home on June 12, 2010.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rosamunde Pilcher - Another View

29. Another View by Rosamunde Pilcher (1969)
Length: 272 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 24 April 2010
Finished: 27 April 2010
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 23 April 2010
Why do I have it? I like Rosamunde Pilcher as an author and had read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.


Emma knew only two men in her life - her absentee father, an artist who had left her in a boarding school and only visited her every few years and Christo - her stepbrother of a few months who now wanted to get to know her better. Emma needs to know where she stands with these two men before love can bloom. I gave this story an A!

A! - (90-95%)
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Caroline Upcher - Down by the Water

28. Down by the Water by Caroline Upcher (2001)
Length: 400 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 20 April 2010
Finished: 24 April 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 March 2009
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and Caroline Upcher is a new author for me.


Hope Collins-Calder has a stressful job as a realtor in the Hamptons, an ex she can't shake, a husband she's regretting having married and a serious child-care crisis. To solve her child care problem, she hires a British nanny. What she gets is Annabel Quick - elegant, sheltered, unmarried and sad. Annabel is no Mary Poppins, but as she sets Hope's house to rights she finds that her heart mends and she finds romance and a family she never would have believed possible. I thought this book was quick and easy reading and enjoyed it very much. I give this book a B+!


B+! - (89-85%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rosamunde Pilcher - Voices in Summer

27. Voices in Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher (1984)
Length: 215 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 16 April 2010
Finished: 19 April 2010
Where did it come from? My friend Noeleen is getting married soon and needs to purge some of her books before she moves in with her new husband.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 11 April 2010
Why do I have it? I like Rosamunde Pilcher as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Laura Haverstock was a shy newlywed recovering from an illness on the coast of Cornwall. She was apart from her husband and facing the wants of her heart for the first time all alone. She will make intimate discoveries about herself, her family and her friends. I loved this story and give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Nina Burleigh - A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer

26. A Very Private Woman: The Life and Unsolved Murder of Presidential Mistress Mary Meyer by Nina Burleigh (1998)
Length: 368 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 8 April 2010
Finished: 16 April 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 March 2009
Why do I have it? I like true crime and have never actually heard of the Mary Meyer case.

This is the story of Mary Meyer - President Kennedy's mistress. I read this and it was very good, if a little over-involved in the writing. I liked this story very much and give it a B+!

B+! - (89-85%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Michael Crichton - A Case of Need

25. A Case of Need by Michael Crichton (1968)
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 6 April 2010
Finished: 8 April 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 March 2009
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and Michael Crichton is a new author for me.

When a young woman dies mysteriously on the operating table and her physician is charged with murder, his colleague is drawn into a world of sex and drugs in order to clear his name. I liked this story although the ending was a little hard to follow. I give it a B+!

B+! - (89-85%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Anne Rivers Siddons - Nora, Nora

24. Nora, Nora by Anne Rivers Siddons (2000)
Length: 263 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 1 April 2010
Finished: 6 April 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 March 2009
Why do I have it? I like Anne Rivers Siddons as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.


When twelve-year-old Peyton's mother and older brother die, she and her father are trapped in their grief. Then along comes Peyton's mother's cousin, Nora for a visit that changes Peyton's life forever. I liked this story and give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for March 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 March with 647 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 638 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from Bookmooch and Paperback Swap and Augustine Funnell Books in Canada.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Re-reads
- The Shadow Guest by Hillary Waugh
- Life Lines by Jill Ireland


Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- The Desert Crop by Catherine Cookson
- Colony by Anne Rivers Siddons 
- Nothing But the Best by Diane Masters
- A Lady in the Lake: A True Account of Death and Discovery in Lake Placid by George Christian Ortloff
- Blessings by Belva Plain
- Julia by Peter Straub
- Ruin Creek by David Payne

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Sleep Long, my Love by Hillary Waugh
- The Glenna Powers Case by Hillary Waugh
- Summer of Night by Dan Simmons
- The Covenant by Michael Falconer Anderson
- Heart and Soul by Maeve Binchy
- Ordinary People by Judith Guest
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy
- London: The Novel by Edward Rutherfurd
- The Princes of Ireland: The Dublin Saga by Edward Rutherfurd
- Victim of Love by Dyan Sheldon
- The Banquet by Carolyn Slaughter
- The Obedient Wife by Julia O'Faolain
- One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Five For Sorrow, Ten For Joy by Rumer Godden
- The Thanatos Syndrome by Walker Percy
- Pay it Forward by Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Song of Kali by Dan Simmons
- The Man Who Loved His Wife by Vera Caspary
- Come Winter by Evan Hunter
- The Rosewood Casket by Sharyn McCrumb
- Life of the Party: The Biography of Pamela Digby Churchill Hayward Harriman by Christopher Ogden
- QB VII by Leon Uris
- Arson and Old Lace by Sylvia Angus
- Death Row Women: Shocking Stories of America's Most Vicious Females by Tom Kuncl
- The Fixer by Bernard Malamud
- Holy Pictures by Clare Boylan
- The Genesis Code by John Case
- One Pair of Feet by Monica Dickens
- The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub
- She Walks These Hills by Sharyn McCrumb
- Cutthroat by Michael Slade
- The Centurions by Damion Hunter
- Dragon Tears by Dean Koontz
- Ghosts by Ed McBain
- Light on Snow by Anita Shreve
- Celebrity Detox: (The Fame Game) by Rosie O'Donnell

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

Books Read: 9
Pages Read: 3,037
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

So, there you go! The reading month that was March. 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