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

Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba

Published as: Sink or Swim in December 2010

Publisher: Mainly Murder Press

Birth Name: Stacy Drumtra

Born: in New England

Canonical Name: Stacy Juba

Pseudonyms: Stacy Drumtra-Juba

Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba was the twelfth book that I read in 2011. I have had this book on my virtual TBR bookshelf since February of 2011 and I read it in February of 2011 as well. It took me six days to read this book and I purged the ebook after I finished reading it on March 5, 2011.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

John Heilemann and Mark Halperin - Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime

18. Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (2010)
Length: 464 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 24 March 2011
Finished: 28 March 2011
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 11 March 2011
Why do I have it? I'm normally not that interested in politics, but I was really interested in the 2008 election.

This was a book that I've been wanting to read ever since it came out. I must admit that I am not that into American politics, but I was particularly interested in the 2008 election because deep at heart, Mareena and I are enormous news junkies - current events are our lifeblood. We are definitely not political, but I loved the background gossip of the campaigns in this book.

I'm not sure if I'll want to watch the movie when it comes out. I find that the book is immeasurably better than the movie most of the time. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Robin Cook - Godplayer

17. Godplayer by Robin Cook (1983)
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 22 March 2011
Finished: 23 March 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 11 March 2011
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and Robin Cook is a new author for me.

When Cassandra Cassidy meets Thomas Kingsley, it's love at first sight for both of them. Deeply in love, the two gifted doctors are soon married. As Cassandra's degenerative eye disease forces her to switch from her chosen field to psychiatry she tries to make the best of her situation.

Around other people he is wonderful, but as he begins a meteoric rise in the hospital, alone with her, Thomas is hostile and full of rage. Soon, the fairytale begins to crumble. Desperate to save her marriage, Cassandra spends more time around the hospital, which is being menaced itself. There is an 'Angel of Death' stalking and killing the terminal patients. Against her husband's furious objections, Cassandra takes it upon herself to catch a killer; the discovery of whom opens the floodgates of unimaginable horror.

I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. I give it an A!



A! - (90-95%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - The Little Wax Doll

16. The Little Wax Doll by Norah Lofts (1970)
(Originally Published as: The Devil's Own and The Witches) (1960)
Length: 256 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 19 March 2011
Finished: 21 March 2011
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 19 March 2011
Why do I have it? I love Norah Lofts as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.


You know what they say about things being too good? When Canon Thorby offers Deborah Mayfield a position as headmistress at a prestigious London school, a little cottage and a cat, she can hardly believe her good fortune. After twenty years as an African missionary and several years at a poor public London school, Miss Mayfield had really found her niche; or had she? I really enjoyed this story. Everything appears perfect but you get the feeling that sinister things could or will happen. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Mary Ellen Chase - Windswept

15. Windswept by Mary Ellen Chase (1941)
Length: 440 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 11 March 2011
Finished: 17 March 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long was it on my TBR pile? Since 11 March 2011
Why do I have it? I like historical fiction and Mary Ellen Chase is a new author for me. 


Philip Marsten - a sailor - buys a majestic plot of land while sailing around Maine in the 1880s. He builds a beautiful house he names Windswept that becomes the ancestral seat of the very prominent Maine family. This is the story of the Marsten family, covering from the 1880s to the beginning of World War II. I enjoyed this story although it was a little longwinded. I generally like books about houses and family relationships. I give it an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)
  

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Velda Johnston - The People From the Sea

14. The People From the Sea by Velda Johnston (1981)
Length: 180 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 11 March 2011
Finished: 12 March 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 11 March 2011
Why do I have it? I like horror and Velda Johnston is a new author for me.

Diana Garson was instantly drawn to the charming old beach house in the Hamptons. Life in Manhattan was so stressful for her that she was on the verge of a nervous or emotional breakdown of some kind. So here she was, in the Hamptons, wandering through a lovely old house - seeking a place to recuperate and refresh - basking in the peaceful aura that the house radiated.

Sleeping alone in the house one night, Diana is startled awake by soft laughter, voices and eerie piano music. Soon the Woodhull family appears - mother Grace, daughter Sheila, and son Derek, so handsome in his army uniform. A photograph album had sparked Diana's interest in finding out who had previously lived in the house, and now, Grace, Sheila and Derek had returned because she was so intrigued. And because the boating accident that had claimed their lives so long ago was not accidental at all - but murder.

I really enjoyed reading The People From The Sea. It had just the right amount of eeriness and intrigue in it that I devoured it in one day. I may have several books by Velda Johnston on my bookshelf, but this is the first one that I've read. I give The People From the Sea by Velda Johnston an A+! and am looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Stephen B. Seager, M. D. - Emergency!

13. Emergency! by Stephen B. Seager, M. D. (1983)
Length: 304 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 6 March 2011
Finished: 9 March 2011
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 March 2011
Why do I have it? I have read and enjoyed Psychward by the same author.

This is the second book that I've read by Stephen B. Seager, M. D. It a fiction that takes place in the emergency room of a hospital in the southwest United States on the edge of the desert. I loved this book! I know that I've said it before about Psychward but it's so true about this book as well. The characters were brilliantly written and really showed the range of the human condition.

I waited quite a long time for this book to come through Bookmooch, but it was well worth the wait for me. I would give it an A++! if I could. Highly recommended!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Stacy Juba - Sink or Swim

12. Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba (2010)
Length: 248 pages 
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 28 February 2011
Finished: 5 March 2011
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Stacy for sending me a copy of this book to read. 
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 5 February 2011
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and Stacy Juba is a new author for me.


Personal Trainer Cassidy Novak returns home after failing on a hit reality television show. Not only has she gained fame from appearing on the show, she also discovers that she has acquired a stalker. Now, as Cassidy's former contestants are being killed off, she refuses to play by the stalker's bizarre rules. As she is being shadowed by photographer Zach Gallagher, assigned to capture her private moments for the local newspaper, she wants to confide in him but is afraid he's not as nice as he seems. When the stalker forces a showdown with her, Cassidy must "walk the plank" - this time for her life.

I really enjoyed this story. I must admit that I am not really into the reality show craze, but this held my attention throughout. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for February 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 February with 656 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 651 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from Bookmooch and Paperback Swap; and a Library Book Sale that we went to on the 11th.

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 :))
- Valediction by Robert B. Parker
- The House of Conflict by Iris Bromige
- If Morning Ever Comes by Anne Tyler
- The Fourth Deadly Sin by Lawrence Sanders
- Looking Back by Belva Plain

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Sink or Swim by Stacy Juba
- A First Book For Understanding Diabetes by H. Peter Chase
- The Sisters by Cynthia Victor
- What Matters Most by Cynthia Victor
- The Three of Us by Cynthia Victor
- Thin Air by Robert B. Parker

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Perfect Murder, Perfect Town: The Uncensored Story of the Jonbenet Murder and the Grand Jury's Search For the Final Truth by Lawrence Schiller
- Dreamcatcher by Stephen King
- Death Wears a Red Hat by William Kienzle
- Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood
- How to Sell Anything to Anybody by Joe Girard
- Illustrated World War II Encyclopedia by Eddy Bauer
- Neighbors by Maureen S. Pusti
- The Greatest Miracle in the World by Og Mandino

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: 1,587
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

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