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: 

 Crescent City by Belva Plain

Published as: Crescent City in February 1984

Publisher: Doubleday

Birth Name: Belva Offenberg

Born: 9 October 1915 in New York City, New York

Died: 12 October 2010 in Short Hills. New Jersey

Canonical Name: Belva Plain

Pseudonyms: None

Crescent City by Belva Plain was the twenty-third book that I read in 2012. I have had this book on my TBR bookshelf since June 1, 2009 although I didn't actually read it until March of 2012. It took me four days to read this book and it is definitely a keeper for me.  

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Lawrence Sanders - The Case of Lucy Bending

26. The Case of Lucy Bending by Lawrence Sanders (1982)
Length: 440 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 23 March 2012
Finished: 31 March 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2009
Why do I have it? I do like contemporary mysteries and had read one of Lawrence Sanders' later books and enjoyed it.


Lucy is eight years old. She is an incredibly sweet and beautiful little girl with a precocious streak. Her worried parents send her to a psychiatrist when she begins to show signs of odd behavior. The psychiatrist searches for the reasons behind young Lucy's seductive and murderous intentions which seem incredibly practiced for an eight year old.


I really enjoyed this book. It delved into the effect that a parent's behavior has on a child's development. I give this book an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Sara Davidson - Loose Change: Three Women of the Sixties

25. Loose Change: Three Women of the Sixties by Sara Davidson (1977)
Length: 367 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 18 March 2012
Finished: 22 March 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2009
Why do I have it? I like quite a bit of non-fiction and Sara Davidson is a new author for me.

This book follows the lives and friendships of three young women from their first meeting with each other in 1962 at the University of California at Berkley through the events that "radicalized" them all after college. They all were living during the tumultuous decade known as the "Swinging Sixties" in the "birthplace" of many radical movements - Berkley. Susie is a young woman just becoming involved with the Free Speech Movement in Berkley and finds herself navigating through the early struggle for women's rights. Tasha enters the trendy art and society scene in New York. Sara, an idealistic journalist, travels the country reporting on the stories of the time.

I did enjoy this book very much and thought that it was very well-written. I grew up in the sixties in England; and although there was quite a radical culture that developed in parts of England during the sixties; I never really moved in those circles during college life myself, so never became "radicalized" the way others may have been during the sixties. I give this book an A!

A! - (90-95%)



Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Agatha Christie - Towards Zero

24. Towards Zero by Agatha Christie (1944)
(Originally Published as: Come and be Hanged) (1944)
Superintendent Battle Series Book 5
Length: 208 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 16 March 2012
Finished: 18 March 2012
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 14 March 2012
Why do I have it? Mareena's friend Katie gave me a whole list of Agatha Christie titles to read and this was one of the titles she had mentioned.


What is the connection between a failed suicide attempt, a wrongful accusation of theft against a schoolgirl and the romantic life of a famous tennis player? To the casual observer, perhaps nothing, but to Superintendent Battle of Scotland Yard, these are the only potential clues available to him when he's sent to investigate a murder that takes place during a house party being held at the seaside home of an elderly bedridden lady. I did really enjoy this book. It's actually the second Agatha Christie book that I've ever read and I give it an A!


A! - (90-95%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Facebook Graphics, St. Patrick's Day Graphics at WishAFriend.com

I hope that everyone; old and new friends, online and offline friends, and family from all over, have a wonderful and much blessed St. Patrick's Day. I am truly honored and blessed to have you all in my life! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Belva Plain - Crescent City

23. Crescent City by Belva Plain (1984)
Length: 429 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 12 March 2012
Finished: 16 March 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2009
Why do I have it? I like Belva Plain as an author and have read and enjoyed several  books by this author in the past.


She was the stunning daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant. From an idyllic childhood in opulent New Orleans, Miriam Raphael would be swept up into the turmoil of the Civil War. Forced to choose between her duties as a Southern wife and mother and her love for a forbidden man and a forbidden cause, Miriam is at the center of a whirlwind of divided loyalties and divided hearts.


I really enjoyed this book. This was the first time that I have read this book, even though I love Belva Plain as an author. This is actually the first book that I've read that takes place during the American Civil War and give it a strong A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

William Peter Blatty - The Exorcist

22. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (1971)
The Exorcist Series Book 1 
Length: 340 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 7 March 2012
Finished: 11 March 2012
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 6 March 2012
Why do I have it? I like horror and have actually read this book once before many years before and really enjoyed it. Both Mareena and I have seen both the original version and the remastered versions of the movie. Mareena read the book when she was in high school herself and got this book when she thought I gave away my paperback edition. She was kind enough to let me read this book first.

Regan MacNeil is a young girl who is living with her famous actress mother, Chris, when Regan becomes inexplicably ill and she becomes the target of poltergeist activity. As time goes on, Regan becomes fully demonically possessed and in desperation her mother takes her to a Catholic priest who deals with psychiatric issues. Father Damien Karras has recently lost his mother and starts out not truly believing that Regan is actually demonically possessed.

Suffering from a crisis of faith, it only takes a couple of visits with young Regan for Father Karras to begin to suspect possible possession. In trying to get the Catholic Church to perform an exorcism of Regan, Karras turns to a local bishop who initially refuses the exorcism unless Father Karras can contact Father Lankester Merrin to be primary exorcist of Regan.

The doubt-ridden Father Karras contacts Father Merrin, currently on an archaeological dig in Iraq but who has begun to feel that in time, he will face an immense spiritual battle. Father Merrin returns to the United States and both priests prepare themselves physically, mentally and spiritually for the upcoming battle with something that will drain them almost to the point of death. I really enjoyed reading this book again and give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Gary Devon - Bad Desire

21. Bad Desire by Gary Devon (1990)
Length: 326 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 1 March 2012
Finished: 7 March 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 April 2009
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and Gary Devon is a new author for me.

Mayor Henry Slater may have bitten off a little more than he can chew in his latest extramarital affair. He has promised 17-year-old Sheila that he'd protect her and that there are no impediments to their relationship. But there are - Henry's wife, Sheila's grandmother and a police officer. To fulfill his obsessive desire, Mayor Henry Slater will become a very resourceful and very dangerous man.

I really enjoyed this book. Gary Devon is a new author in my TBR pile and I give this book an A+! It really showed how desperate and dangerous people can become with their obsessions.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - Saving Face and Other Stories

20. Saving Face and Other Stories by Norah Lofts (1983)
Length: 229 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started: 29 February 2012
Finished: 1 March 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 April 2009
Why do I have it? I have not read many short stories, but I like Norah Lofts as an author and I have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Saving Face and Other Stories is actually a collection of nine short stories by Norah Lofts. The title story is actually the third story in the collection, although all nine stories are set in and around the same little village in the English countryside. Despite this being a normal, tightly-knit English village, each tale is unusual and provocative - and focuses on the lives of some fairly ordinary citizens who are suddenly confronted with some extraordinary situations.

I have always loved Norah Lofts as an author - and even though I haven't read that many short stories in the past - because Norah Lofts wrote them, I was sure that I would no doubt enjoy the book. I was absolutely right, this was a wonderful book and 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 643 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 634 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from Paperback Swap.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Re-reads
- The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere


Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Change Baby by June Spence
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case by Jack Kneece
- Malice by Danielle Steel
- Dear Doctor Lily by Monica Dickens
- Claudia's Shadow by Charlotte Vale Allen
- My Beloved Son by Catherine Cookson
- Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Miracle by Irving Wallace
- A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- The Mormon Murders by Gregory White Smith and Stephen Naifeh
- The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier
- Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
- The Covenant of the Flame by David Morrell
- The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin

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: 2,965
Grade Range: A+! to A!

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