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

An Isolated Incident by Susan R. Sloan

Published as: An Isolated Incident in February 1998

Publisher: Warner Books, Inc.

Birth Name: Susan R. Sloan

Born: in Washington

Canonical Name: Susan R. Sloan

Pseudonyms: None

An Isolated Incident by Susan R. Sloan was the first book that I read in 2013. I have had this book on my TBR bookshelf since July 25, 2008. I read this book for the first time in January of 2013 and it took me four days to read this book. This book is currently on several book swapping sites waiting to go to another good home.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rose Connors - Temporary Sanity: A Crime Novel

9. Temporary Sanity: A Crime Novel by Rose Connors (2003)
Marty Nickerson Series Book 2
Length: 308 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 29 January 2013
Finished: 31 January 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 May 2008
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and Rose Connors is a new author for me.

When devoted father Buck Hammond's seven-year-old son is abducted and murdered by convicted pedophile Hector Monteros, Buck takes justice into his own hands. Unfortunately, the television cameras were rolling as Buck aimed his hunting rifle at Hector's head and shot him dead. The only viable defense for a charge of murder one is insanity, but the grieving father refuses to say he was crazy when he pulled the trigger. 

Cape Cod defense attorney Marty Nickerson - until recently a Massachusetts prosecutor - must ask herself if homicidal insanity is ever a moral or legal justification for murder - when she takes on the defense of Buck Hammond. Along with her partner in law and love, Harry Madigan, Marty has to present a tough case. How can the jury possibly acquit Buck when the shooting is there on the screen for all to see?

Marty and Harry and their young assistant, Kevin Kydd, are already stretched to their limits when, on the very eve of the trial, a battered and bleeding woman stumbles into their office. She's in deep trouble - her attacker's body has just been found, viciously stabbed, and he's an officer of the court. Now Marty has two seemingly impossible battles to win against her former colleagues. But losing a verdict may be the least of Marty's worries, as her efforts soon lead to shocking revelations that strike fear in the residents of the Cape and bring devastating changes to Buck's trial.

I really enjoyed Temporary Sanity: A Crime Novel by Rose Connors. The plot was gripping and kept me guessing until the very end. There was a thread of comedy running through the story that I really appreciated, and I also could sense the tension that each character experienced throughout the story. I give this book an A+! and will certainly be adding Rose Connors to my Wish List.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Judith Michael - A Ruling Passion: Volume 1

8. A Ruling Passion: Volume 1 by Judith Michael (1990)
Length: 567 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 25 January 2013
Finished: 28 January 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 10 May 2008
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and despite having several books by Judith Michael on my bookshelf, I haven't read that many books by this author before.

Pampered socialite Valerie Sterling is shattered by her husband's death and the mysterious loss of her wealth. But she somehow finds within herself the will to build a new life, and rekindles a romance with television network head Nicholas Fielding - an old college flame. Valerie is totally unaware of the dangerous passions she is stirring up in Sybille Enderby, her childhood friend and the daughter of a seamstress on one of Valerie's estates. 

Clawing her way up in the television industry, Sybille has always coveted all that Valerie has. Yet success, marriage, and the glittering whirl of society cannot quench Sybille's envy of her friend...an envy that grows into one blinding obsession: to destroy Valerie Sterling.

I liked this book very much. The characters were sympathetically drawn - even though they were wealthy, and moved within elite social circles, they ultimately faced the exact same personal problems and struggles as everyone else in the world. I give this book an A+! and I am eagerly trying to locate A Ruling Passion: Volume 2 by Judith Michael to see how the rest of the story turns out.

A+! - (96-100%)   

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Gus Pelagatti - The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story

7. The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story by Gus Pelagatti (2011)
Length: 296 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 24 January 2013
Finished: 25 January 2013
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Gus for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 12 January 2013
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Gus Pelagatti is a new author for me. I also had never heard of the actual 1938 Philadelphia murder scandals that this book is based on.

The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story is a story set in Depression-Era Philadelphia and filled with murder, corruption, treachery, love and lust written about in vivid detail. 

Giorgio DiSipio - a local tailor known as the 'Don Juan of Passyunk Avenue' - preyed upon disenchanted and unfaithful wives - eventually convincing twelve of them to kill their spouses for the insurance money. The murder conspiracy is very successful, until one lone assistant District Attorney, Tom Rossi, uncovers the plot and brings the perpetrators to justice.

All in all, seventeen wives were arrested and charged with the murders of their husbands. First among them being Lillian Stoner, who murders her husband Reggie and depends on her lover Giorgio to feed her opium habit. There was Eva Bell Fitzpatrick, a risque redhead who loves sex and gambling, and whose gambling debts lead her in to the worst kind of trouble - murder. Rose Grady was known as the 'Kiss of Death Widow' - married four times, she was thrice a widow - looking for affection and support for herself and her two young daughters, she finds both in Giorgio DiSipio. Joanna Napoli was the full-figured gift shop owner - the only 'Wicked Wife' to be 'blinded by love' - and her obsession with Giorgio leads her to do the unthinkable.

Assigned to arrest and prosecute all the conspirators including the wives for the poison murders, assistant District Attorney Tom Rossi incurs the wrath of the corrupt Deputy Mayor Bill Evans after he refuses to protect Bill Evans' niece Lillan Stoner from murder charges. The Deputy Mayor sets the political machinery in motion to get Tom Rossi disbarred, using the only ammunition he is able to find, Tom's relationship with nurse Hope Daniels. Part Negro, Hope has successfully lived her life as a white woman, but Bill Evans uses the bigotry of Philadelphia voters to derail Tom Rossi's campaign to be elected District Attorney.

To be completely honest, while I enjoyed the underlying murder mystery, and appreciated how well-researched the book was, there were so many characters involved that I had trouble keeping them all straight in my mind. The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story by Gus Pelagatti was gritty, violent and incredibly realistic. I certainly don't recommend this book for 'faint-of-heart' or squeamish readers. I give The Wicked Wives: A Novel Based on a True Story by Gus Pelagatti an A!

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Sidney Sheldon - Tell me Your Dreams

6. Tell me Your Dreams by Sidney Sheldon (1998)
Length: 274 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 22 January 2013
Finished: 24 January 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 23 January 2008
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Ashley Patterson is a brainy and gorgeous "computer whiz" with a cushy job at a fast-growing start-up computer graphics company in Silicon Valley. She is lonely, shy, and lives a life that is unfulfilling to her. She is also absolutely convinced that someone is stalking her. Toni Prescott and Alette Peters are both co-workers of Ashley's, however the similarities end there. 

Toni is a saucy, British vixen with a penchant for Internet dating and dancing at discotheques. 'La bella Italiana' Alette is an aspiring artist who prefers quiet, dreamy weekends spent in the arms of handsome painters. Reminiscent of high school, Toni and Alette do their best to keep Ashley out of their cool clique, but find it extremely difficult after a string of murders irrevocably binds their lives together. Toni, Alette and Ashley know virtually nothing about each other until all three women are inexplicably linked into a murder investigation that will lead to one of the most bizarre trials of the century.

This book is a work of fiction, but is based on several actual cases. I really enjoyed this book and found it to be an interesting read. I was definitely hooked by the plot and wanted to discover what happened next. The book was laden with such realistic details that I learned plenty of information about certain subjects that I never knew. I give this book an A+! and am eager to read more books by Sidney Sheldon in the future.

A+! - (96-100%)
      
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Martin Cruz Smith - Rose

5. Rose by Martin Cruz Smith (1996)
Length: 364 pages
Genre: Historical Mystery
Started: 18 January 2013
Finished: 22 January 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 23 January 2008
Why do I have it? I like historical mysteries and Martin Cruz Smith is a new author for me.

The year is 1872. The place is Wigan, England - a nineteenth-century town in the coal-mining district of Lancashire. Into this dark, complicated world where wealthy mine owners live like royalty alongside miners who are treated no better than slaves, comes Jonathan Blair, a mining engineer who has accepted a commission to find a missing man. Recently returned from Africa's Gold Coast, Jonathan finds his native England utterly depressing and soon falls into melancholy and alcoholism.

Desperate to return to Africa, Jonathan agrees to investigate the disappearance of a local curate who was engaged to marry the daughter of Jonathan's patron. As he begins his search, every road leads back to one woman - a haughty, vixenish pit girl named Rose. With her fiery hair and skirts pinned up over trousers, she cares nothing for a society that call her unnatural, scandalous and a 'loose' woman.   

As Rose and Jonathan circle one another, first warily, then with the heat of mutual desire, Blair loses his balance. And the lull induced by Rose's sensual touch leaves Jonathan totally unprepared for the bizarre, soul-scorching truth. 

I found that this book was very interesting, although the ending was extremely convoluted. I had to find out what happened in the book, even though I couldn't really understand the mining practices of 19th-century England that were written about in such detail. I give this book an A!   

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Bob Larson - Shock Talk: The Exorcist Files

4. Shock Talk: The Exorcist Files by Bob Larson (2001)
Length: 241 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 10 January 2013
Finished: 14 January 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 July 2008
Why do I have it? I like horror and Bob Larson is a new author for me.

At her wits' end, Jenny Owens doesn't know where to turn. Her twenty-two-year-old daughter, Allison, has moved back home with a two-year-old daughter of her own. Jenny, who loves her daughter and granddaughter deeply, does her best to support, encourage, and help Allison in any way possible, but the situation is rapidly getting out of hand. Allison is acting more like a rebellious teenager than a responsible mom.

After numerous attempts to reach her daughter, Jenny makes one last desperate move to connect with her wayward daughter; she calls The Billy McBride Show - tabloid TV at its worst - hoping to reconnect with Allison somehow. The topic: "Families Out of Control". Billy McBride is a no-nonsense, no-holds-barred TV host - more interested in television ratings than counseling - however, Jenny believes that Billy can help her get through to Allison.

Billy McBride's engaging smile and easygoing manner masks a deep pain which he has carried since childhood - his father's abandonment of him. This pain has left him open and vulnerable to Allison's own harsh life experiences. Billy knows the basic routine of shock television: tease the topic, badger the guests, shock the viewing audience.

When Allison suddenly attempts suicide during the broadcast, Billy's ratings skyrocket. However, Allison's desperate act brings Billy no excitement for the ratings bump, only a deep sense of sadness for both Jenny and Allison. Despite himself, Billy finds that this desperate young woman and her mother's shared plight has touched something deep within his heart and he hopes that he will be able to help them somehow. However, nothing could have prepared Billy McBride for the evil that he would encounter.

I have to say that while this book started out rather well, it turned out not to be all that frightening to me. I found that the situations that the characters were placed in were perhaps not totally unbelievable, but certainly entirely improbable, in my opinion. I like many horror books that deal with possession and spiritual warfare, and have absolutely no problem with reading books that feature strong Christian themes. However, Bob Larson - who happens to be a well-known exorcist himself, apparently - might be able to write about the supernatural competently. However, in my opinion, the author doesn't integrate reality with the supernatural very successfully.

I give this book an B+! I have one other book by Bob Larson on my bookshelf called Dead Air which I would certainly like to read at some point. I am more than willing to give Bob Larson another try, so I am hopeful that Dead Air will capture my attention better than Shock Talk: The Exorcist Files did.    

B+! - (89-85%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Anne Rivers Siddons - Downtown

3. Downtown by Anne Rivers Siddons (1994)
Length: 500 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 2 January 2013
Finished: 10 January 2013
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 24 December 2012
Why do I have it? I like historical fiction and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

The year is 1966, a time of innocence, possibility, and freedom. And for the city of Atlanta, Georgia, the country, and one woman making her way in a changing world, nothing will ever be the same. 

After an airless childhood in Savannah, Maureen 'Smoky' O'Donnell arrives in Atlanta, a naive young woman, dazzled and chastened by this hectic young city on the rise. Even though Smoky has to literally earn her wings as a female reporter on the staff of the male-dominated magazine, she gains membership into an intimate family of dedicated staff members headed by Matt Comfort, a flamboyant and charismatic editor who is known everywhere in the city. Her new job as a writer with the city's Downtown magazine introduces her to many unforgettable people and propels her into the center of momentous events that will irrevocably alter her heart, her career, and her world.

More than any of her previous novels, Downtown mirrors the facts of Anne Rivers Siddons' own life. She got her start as a writer for Atlanta magazine - one of America's first city magazines. Atlanta magazine was founded by Jim Townsend - a revered mentor to an entire generation of writers. The magazine was just coming to life during the exciting decade of the '60s, when Atlanta was emerging as a political center for the civil rights movement and redefining itself as the metropolis of the future. Downtown captures the energy of the city at this amazing turning point in history.

While I did enjoy this book very much, I found that it started off sort of slow for me. Although, it picked up immensely about halfway through the story and I was really drawn into the plot. However, to be totally honest, I thought that the book was about 100 to 150 pages longer than it needed to be. Overall though, Downtown was really good and I give it an A!   

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Mary Higgins Clark - Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington

2. Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington by Mary Higgins Clark (2002)
(Originally Published as: Aspire to the Heavens) (1968)
Length: 254 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 1 January 2013
Finished: 2 January 2013
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 12 December 2012
Why do I have it? I like historical fiction and Mary Higgins Clark as an author.

As one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, not too much is known about the private life of George and Martha Washington. In Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington, Mary Higgins Clark relies on extensive biographical and historical research to bring George Washington and his life and marriage fully into focus for readers. Dispelling the widespread belief that although George Washington married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis, his one true love was his best friend's wife, Sally Carey Fairfax, Mary Higgins Clark describes the marriage between George and Martha as one full of tenderness and passion - a bond between two people who shared their lives - even the bitter hardship of a winter in Valley Forge - in every way.

For a debut novel, I really thought this book was excellent. I love reading people's biographies and become really immersed in the time periods that are portrayed. I think it was truly a harsh time for both George and Martha Washington as well as for the country as a whole. I give this book an A+! 

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Susan R. Sloan - An Isolated Incident

1. An Isolated Incident by Susan R. Sloan (1998)
Length: 354 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 29 December 2012
Finished: 1 January 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 July 2008
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and Susan R. Sloan is a new author for me.

The vicious murder of a 15-year-old girl shakes the residents of Seward Island, Washington to their very souls. The victim is wealthy, beautiful, and of the sweetest disposition imaginable, and absolutely no one in the tranquil community of Seward Island can imagine the lovely teenager has any enemies who would do her any harm. As the police begin the arduous search for suspects, the murder takes the people of Seward Island somewhere else: into the realm of their darkest prejudices and worst fears, to eventually reveal a very human evil living in their midst.

I absolutely loved this book! This is the first book that I have ever read by Susan R. Sloan, and I must say that the plot was filled with intricate twists and turns that kept me totally engrossed. I thought that the writing was absolutely brilliant and I give An Isolated Incident an A+! I will certainly be looking for more books by Susan R. Sloan to add to my Wish List.

A+! - (96-100%)
   
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Yearly Reading Wrap-up at Moonshine and Rosefire

Hello everyone out there and I hope that you all had a terrific reading year 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 January with about 650 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 744 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this year came from authors, Bookmooch, Paperback Swap and Library Book Sales. Quite a number of my books that I read this year left my house to go to new homes so that's something I guess. :)

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Re-reads
- True Crime by Andrew Klavan
- A Song For the Asking by Steve Gannon 
- Survivor by Christina Crawford
- Saving Face and Other Stories by Norah Lofts
- Bad Desire by Gary Devon
- The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
- The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere
- A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer
- The Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy
- Devil's Gate by Elizabeth Ergas 
- Life Wish by Jill Ireland
- Horror House by J. N. Williamson 
- Beyond Reason by Margaret Trudeau
- The Good Mother by Sue Miller
- The Manhood Ceremony by Ross Berliner
- Up Island by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Echoes by Maeve Binchy

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler 
- Classic Mysteries: A Collection of Mind-Bending Masterpieces by Molly Cooper
- Kept in the Dark by Nina Bawden
- Julian's House: A Novel by Judith Hawkes
- My Soul to Keep by Judith Hawkes
- Low Country by Anne Rivers Siddons
- The Secret Hour by Luanne Rice
- Emma Hamilton by Norah Lofts
- Sliver by Ira Levin
- The Goodbye Summer by Patricia Gaffney
- Black Coffee by Agatha Christie and Charles Osborne
- Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by Jack Olsen
- Nothing Lasts Forever by Sidney Sheldon
- Scrolls of Darkness by Paul Henry Johnson
- Disobedience by Jane Hamilton
- Coroner by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona
- Spectre Nightmares and Visitations by Pamela K. Kinney
- Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Margaret Trudeau: The Prime Minister's Runaway Wife by Felicity Cochrane
- At Paradise Gate by Jane Smiley
- Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
- The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
- Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
- The President's Lady: A Novel About Rachel and Andrew Jackson by Irving Stone 
- Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
- Coroner at Large by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph Dimona
- Shades of Souls Passed: True Accounts of Ghostly Encounters in Madison County, New York by Teresa R. Andrews
- Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King
- 13 by Philip Loraine
- Henry and Clara by Thomas Mallon
- Scare Tactics by John Farris 
- To Die is Not Enough: A True Account of Murder and Retribution by Donald Delano Wright
- An American Love Story by Rona Jaffe
- All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
- A Village Affair by Joanna Trollope
- One Day at a Time by Danielle Steel
- While I Was Gone by Sue Miller 
- Dancehall by Bernard F. Conners 
- The Uncanny by Andrew Klavan
- Sea Glass by Anita Shreve
- Unsolved Mysteries...Stranger Than Fiction by Clifford L. Linedecker
- Minding Frankie by Maeve Binchy
- Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner
- The Devil's Hunt by P. C. Doherty
- The Carousel by Rosamunde Pilcher
- The Lives of Danielle Steel: The Unauthorized Biography of America's #1 Best-Selling Author by Vickie L. Bane and Lorenzo Benet
- Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Let the Magic Begin: Opening the Door to a Whole New World of Possibility by Cathy Lee Crosby
- Privileged Information by Stephen White 
- Summer of the Red Wolf  by Morris L. West
- Sunset in St. Tropez by Danielle Steel
- The Rector's Wife by Joanna Trollope
- Hollywood's Greatest Love Stories by Dick Kliener 
- The Hampton Sisters by Bernard F. Conners
- Wife Found Slain by Caroline Crane
- The Letters by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger
- The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe
- The Servant by Robin Maugham
- Lullaby and Good Night by Vincent Bugliosi and William Stadiem
- Anima by Marie Buchanan
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger 
- Sally: Unconventional Success by Sally Jessy Raphael and Pam Proctor
- The White Voyage by John Christopher
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- A Sight For Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell
- The Saints and Sinners of Okay County by Dayna Dunbar
- Looking For Peyton Place by Barbara Delinsky
- Crooked House by Agatha Christie
- Only You by Cynthia Victor
- Endless Night by Agatha Christie
- Dead Run by Erica Spindler
- Common Ground by Helen Stancey
- Outer Banks by Anne Rivers Siddons
- The Case of Lucy Bending by Lawrence Sanders
- Loose Change: Three Women of the Sixties by Sara Davidson
- Towards Zero by Agatha Christie
- Crescent City by Belva Plain
- Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell
- My Beloved Son by Catherine Cookson 
- Claudia's Shadow by Charlotte Vale Allen
- Dear Doctor Lily by Monica Dickens
- Malice by Danielle Steel
- Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case by Jack Kneece
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- Change Baby by June Spence
- Fortune's Hand by Belva Plain
- Crossroads by Belva Plain
- Hill Towns by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Trust by Kate Veitch
- The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers
- The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier 
- Winter Harvest by Norah Lofts
- To the Devil a Daughter by Dennis Wheatley

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
- Legacy of Silence by Belva Plain
- Daybreak by Belva Plain
- Impulse: Three Complete Novels by Barbara Delinsky, Tess Gerritsen and Linda Howard
- Lost by Gary Devon
- Rage by Elizabeth Ergas
- The Ice Bridge by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
- The Calling by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
- Evil Stalks the Night by Kathryn Meyer Griffith
- The Bait by Dorothy Uhnak
- Chill of Summer by Carol Brennan
- A Child's Garden of Death by Richard Forrest 
- Skyward by Mary Alice Monroe
- Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
- Girl in the Mirror by Mary Alice Monroe
- Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News by Gwenda Blair
- After This by Alice McDermott
- The Almost Moon by Alice Sebold
- Anne McKevitt's Style Solutions: 365 of the Freshest Looks, Smartest Tips and Best Advice For Your Home by Anne McKevitt
- Bargello Magic: How to Design Your Own by Pauline Fisher and Anabel Lasker
- Betty Crocker's Working Woman's Cookbook by Betty Crocker
- By the Lake by John McGahern
- Campbell's Quick Easy Recipes by Patricia Teberg
- Christmas Cross-Stitch by Better Homes and Gardens
- City of Bones by Michael Connelly
- The Climb: Tragic Ambition on Everest by G. Weston Dewalt and Antoli Boukreev
- Cold Mountain: A Novel by Charles Frazier
- Coming Home by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Commitments by Barbara Delinsky
- Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende
- Deadly Grace by Taylor Smith
- Dream Country by Luanne Rice
- God's Other Son by Don Imus
- A Good Woman by Danielle Steel
- The Hours by Michael Cunningham
- The House on Fortune Street: A Novel by Margot Livesey
- The House on Hope Street by Danielle Steel
- Jordan's Bend by Carolyn Williford
- McNally's Folly by Vincent Lardo
- One Day by David Nicholls
- The Orphan Game by Ann Darby
- Past Perfect by Susan Isaacs
- A Patchwork Planet: A Novel by Anne Tyler
- The Peppered Moth by Margaret Drabble
- Portrait in Sepia by Isabel Allende
- The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
- Right Next Door by Debbie Macomber
- Saul and Patsy: A Novel by Charles Baxter
- Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
- Shattered by Karen Robards
- The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate
- A Thread of Grace by Mary Doria Russell
- Trial by Fire by Terri Blackstock
- Two Women: A Novel of Friendship by Marianne Fredriksson
- The Unnatural Inquirer by Simon R. Green
- The Weight of Silence: A Novel by Heather Gudenkauf
- Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts
- Puppets by Daniel Hecht
- Like Water For Chocolate: A Novel in Monthly Installments, With Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies by Laura Esquivel
- The King's Speech: How One Man Saved the British Monarchy by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi
- The Animal Hour by Andrew Klavan
- Pyramid of Skulls: A Novel of Timur, Warrior and Emperor by Martin Fructman
- Haunted Richmond II by Pamela K. Kinney
- Haunted Virginia: Legends, Myths and True Tales by Pamela K. Kinney
- The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King by James Patterson and Martin Dugard
- The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
- The Political Trial of Benjamin Franklin: A Prelude to the American Revolution by Kenneth Lawing Penegar
- The Captains' Airline: Pushing Back From the Brink by Art Samson
- Heartbreak Hotel by Anne Rivers Siddons
- In the Shadow of the School: Memories of Growing up in Rural North Kerry in the 1950's by Dick Carmody
- Silver Wedding by Maeve Binchy
- Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington by Mary Higgins Clark
- Downtown by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Prey by Linda Howard
- Victims by Jonathan Kellerman
- 44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel
- Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
- An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor
- Darkness, my Old Friend by Lisa Unger

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- The Defense Never Rests by F. Lee Bailey
- The Spanish Bridegroom by Jean Plaidy
- Insomnia by Stephen King
- To the Devil a Daughter by Dennis Wheatley
- The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers
- Easy Peasy by Lesley Glaister
- 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 Steven 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
- The Serpent's Mark by Robert L. Duncan
- Mistral's Daughter by Judith Krantz
- Tell me no Lies by Joy Fielding
-The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere
-The Doctor's Wife: A True Story of Marriage, Deception and Two Gruesome Deaths by John Glatt
- Goldilocks by Andrew Coburn
- The Haunting of Sara Lessingham by Margaret James
- Thinner by Stephen King
- Contents Under Pressure by Edna Buchanan
- Common Ground by Helen Stancey
- The Case of Lucy Bending by Lawrence Sanders
- Critical Judgment by Michael Palmer
- Thin Air by Robert B. Parker
- Crooked House by Agatha Christie
- False Witness by Dorothy Uhnak
- Six Great Modern Plays by Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller, Anton Chekhov, Henrik Ibsen, George Bernard Shaw and Sean O'Casey
- Charmed Life by Bernard Taylor
- The Funhouse by Owen West
- Perfect Victim: The True Story of the 'Girl in the Box' by Christine McGuire and Carla Norton
- The Story of Winston Churchill by Alida Sims Malkus
- The Prodigal Daughter by Jeffrey Archer
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- The Ugly Duckling by Iris Johansen
- Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
- Walking Shadow by Robert B. Parker
- The First Victim by Ridley Pearson
- Legion by William Peter Blatty
- Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
- The Servant by Robert Maugham
- Darkness Falls by Joyce Anne Schneider
- Just Tell me What You Want by Jay Presson Allen
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- A Sight For Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell
- All Heads Turn as the Hunt Goes By by John Farris
-The Great Fire by Monica Dickens
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
- Towards Zero by Agatha Christie
- Privileged Information by Stephen White
- Skull Session by Daniel Hecht
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- Harvest by Tess Gerritsen
- The Last Battle by Cornelius Ryan
- The Devil's Hunt by P. C. Doherty
- True Crime by Andrew Klavan
- The Shadow Guest by Hillary Waugh
- Still Waters by Tami Hoag
- Live to Tell by Lisa Gardner
- Horror House by J. N. Williamson
- Let the Magic Begin: Opening the Door to a Whole New World of Possibility by Cathy Lee Crosby
- The Letters by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger
- Servant of the Bones by Anne Rice
- Henry and Clara by Thomas Mallon
- A Whisper in the Attic by Gloria Murphy
- Scare Tactics by John Farris
- The Uncanny by Andrew Klavan
- 13 by Philip Loraine
- Shades of Souls Passed: True Accounts of Ghostly Encounters in Madison County, New York by Teresa R. Andrews
- Hawaii by James A. Michener
- Quentins by Maeve Binchy
- The Return Journey by Maeve Binchy
- My Beloved Son by Catherine Cookson
- The Saving Graces by Patricia Gaffney
- Sweet Everlasting by Patricia Gaffney
- Everlasting by Nancy Thayer
- The Secrets of Lake Success by Janet Quin-Harkin
- Inheritance by Judith Michael
- The President's Lady: A Novel About Rachel and Andrew Jackson by Irving Stone
- Where or When by Anita Shreve
- Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
- Master Builders of the Middle Ages by David Jacobs
- The Juror by George Dawes Green
- Blood Will Tell by Gary Cartwright
- Lullaby and Good Night by Vincent Bugliosi and William Stadiem
- Man With a Gun by Robert Daley
- Coroner by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona
- Hannibal by Thomas Harris
- The Manhood Ceremony by Ross Berliner
- Spectre Nightmares and Visitations by Pamela K. Kinney
- The Crucible by Arthur Miller
- Scrolls of Darkness by Paul Henry Johnson
- Practical Fish Dishes by P3 Publishing
- Blood Memories by Barb Hendee
- Where River Turns to Sky by Gregg Kleiner
- The Complete Rhyming Dictionary by Clement Wood

- The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell
- Loose Change: Three Women of the Sixties by Sara Davidson
- At Paradise Gate by Jane Smiley
- Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
- The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
- The Swarm by Arthur Herzog

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

Books Read: 110
Pages Read: 35,050
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

So, there you go! The reading year that was 2012! I hope that you all had an equally good reading year; if not a little better. :) See you all next year! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up For December 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 December with 636 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 630 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from authors, Paperback Swap, Christmas Tree Shops and Bookmooch.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Rereads
- Echoes by Maeve Binchy

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- My Soul to Keep by Judith Hawkes
- Julian's House by Judith Hawkes
- Kept in the Dark by Nina Bawden
- Classic Mysteries: A Collection of Mind-Bending Masterpieces by Molly Cooper
- Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- In the Shadow of the School: Memories of Growing up in Rural North Kerry in the 1950's by Dick Carmody
- Silver Wedding by Maeve Binchy
- Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington by Mary Higgins Clark
- Downtown by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Prey by Linda Howard
- Victims by Jonathan Kellerman
- 44 Charles Street by Danielle Steel
- Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan
- An Irish Country Christmas by Patrick Taylor
- Darkness, my Old Friend by Lisa Unger

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- The Complete Rhyming Dictionary by Clement Wood
- The Body Farm by Patricia Cornwell
- Loose Change: Three Women of the Sixties by Sara Davidson
- At Paradise Gate by Jane Smiley
- Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
- The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
- The Swarm by Arthur Herzog

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

Books Read: 6
Pages Read: 1,915
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

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