December'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. December's Book of the Month is: 

 False Witness by Dorothy Uhnak

Published as: False Witness in August 1981

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Birth Name: Dorothy Goldstein

Born: 24 April 1930 in New York City, New York
Died: 8 July 2006 in Greenport, New York

Canonical Name: Dorothy Uhnak

Pseudonyms: None

False Witness by Dorothy Uhnak was the sixty-third book that I read in 2010. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since November 20, 2009 and it took me four days to read. I sent this book off to another good home on May 16, 2012.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Daphne du Maurier - Mary Anne

66. Mary Anne by Daphne du Maurier (1954)
Length: 351 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 29 December 2010
Finished: 30 December 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 November 2009
Why do I have it? I like Daphne du Maurier as an author.


Mary Anne was Daphne du Maurier's great-great-grandmother. This is a novel about Mary Anne's life. She married a ne'er do well and later became mistress to a royal duke. She became part of a scandal that shocked England's staid Victorian society. I truly enjoyed this book although it became very legal towards the end. I give this story an A!


A! - (90-95%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Lee Mather - The Green Man

65. The Green Man by Lee Mather (2010)
Length: 27 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started/Finished: 28 December 2010
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Lee for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 December 2010
Why do I have it? I like horror and Lee Mather is a new author for me.

Peter is going on a plane trip when he receives a frantic phone call from his mother begging him not to go. She has seen a vision of the 'Green Man' and is worried about him. Peter's relationship with his mother has become strained since his father's death and he categorically doesn't believe in the 'Green Man'. What follows is a journey in faith, love and forgiveness. I enjoyed this story because I grew up in Manchester and it reminded me of several things. This story was a little hard to follow in areas but I enjoyed it for the most part. I give it a B+!

B+! - (89-85%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

David Lavender - Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party

64. Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party by David Lavender (1948)
Length: 96 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 25 December 2010
Finished: 27 December 2010
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 30 November 2010
Why do I have it? Mareena gave me this book as a Christmas present.


This is a children's book of the story of the Donner Party - a party of settlers who were traveling to California and got trapped in a snowstorm. It is a story of greed, heroics and tragedy. I love history and trivia books, and my daughter knows that the history that I like to read is usually contained in children's books. I found this story was heartrending and give it an A!

A! - (90-95%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Dorothy Uhnak - False Witness

63. False Witness by Dorothy Uhnak (1981)
Length: 314 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 10 December 2010
Finished: 14 December 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 November 2009
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and I had read and enjoyed The Ryer Avenue Story by the same author many years ago.


A beautiful talk show host is brutally attacked and injured in her apartment. This book is about the shocking accusation of who did it. I enjoyed the twists and turns of a very interesting plot and that justice was meted out in an unusual way. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Judith Henry Wall - Blood Sisters

62. Blood Sisters by Judith Henry Wall (1992)
Length: 336 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 1 December 2010
Finished: 5 December 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 November 2009
Why do I have it? I like historical fiction and Judith Henry Wall is a new author for me.


Made blood sisters in the 1950's, when they were school girls, Jen, Helen, Bonnie and Libby take many different paths toward love, success, tragedy and heartbreak as they grow toward womanhood. I really enjoyed this book and will be looking for more by this author. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for November 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 November with about 648 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 647 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from Bookmooch and Paperback Swap.

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 :))
- One True Thing by Anna Quindlen

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers
- Snowbound: The Tragic Story of the Donner Party by David Lavender
- The Summit Sojourners by William Ridley
- Cities of the Dead by Linda Barnes
- Neighbors by Maureen S. Pusti
- Great Irish Tales of Horror: A Treasury of Fear by Peter Haining
- Prime Evil: New Stories by the Masters of Modern Horror by Douglas E. Winter 
- Dancers in Mourning by Margery Allingham
- Erica Wilson's Children's World by Janet Wilson

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- The Ruins by Scott Smith
- Rabbit Redux by John Updike
- The Uninvited by John Farris
- How to Save Your Own Life by Erica Jong
- The Way Through the Woods by Colin Dexter
- Perry Mason Solves the Case of the Lucky Loser by Erle Stanley Gardner
- Sudden Mischief by Robert B. Parker
- Plague Ship by Frank G. Slaughter
- Small Vices by Robert B. Parker
- Mr. Murder by Dean R. Koontz

Well, there it is...the breakdown! All in all, not a very good reading month for me. Here's a further breakdown:

Books Read: 1
Pages Read: 289
Grade Range: A+!

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