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

The House of Lost Souls by F. G. Cottam

  Published as: The House of Lost Souls in November 2007

Publisher: Hodder and Staughton

Birth Name: Francis Cottam

Born: 1957 in Southport, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Canonical Name: Francis Cottam
Pseudonyms: F. G. Cottam

The House of Lost Souls by F. G. Cottam was the fifty-third book that I read in 2016. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since November 23, 2016 and it only took me three days to read. This book is definitely still a keeper for me. 

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

I'm a Little Behind With my Reading!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

I'm happy to say that I've not suffered from reader's block since maybe mid-April. Although having said that, I've noticed that I have been reading just the slightest bit less. I will say that I have been reading back-to-back chunksters - for a combined total of 1,086 pages - so I guess that's why I haven't read more.

Since I read one chunkster book as my last book in October and the second book was the first one that I read in November, I wasn't too worried about the actual number of books that I was reading. I'm enjoying the books that I've read and that is basically all that matters to me anyway. LOL!!!

Anyway, Mareena and I have been watching 'The Exorcist' since it came back on television on Friday, November 4th! I think the season finale of the show aired on Friday, November 18th, but I honestly don't know if it was actually the series finale or not. It was such an incredible cliffhanger, that I sincerely hope that the show comes back on television again soon.

I haven't been doing that many sumdoku puzzles from my collection of puzzles, but sudoku and crossword puzzles from the newspaper have been all the rage for me recently. So far, I have managed to finish about fifteen to twenty sudoku and crossword puzzles from the newspaper. I have also been dabbling a little bit more into my jigsaw puzzle and sumdoku puzzle collection - I've only managed to do two or three sumdoku puzzles from my books, and I finished the 750-piece jigsaw puzzle of the castle on Monday, November 21st!

So, as regards my own reading, I actually finished reading When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule on Wednesday, November 23rd! Then I immediately started reading The House of Lost Souls by F. G. Cottam - another book that had just arrived in the afternoon mail on Wednesday, November 23rd. I finished the book three days later on Saturday, November 26th!

After spending about a day and a half trying to choose another book to read, I think that I have settled on a book that has been on my bookshelf for almost eight years. Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel by David Guterson was Mareena's 'just because' gift for me from August of 2009. It looks like such a good book that I'm actually quite surprised that I haven't gotten to read it yet.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

F. G. Cottam - The House of Lost Souls

53. The House of Lost Souls by F. G. Cottam (2007)
Length: 343 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 23 November 2016
Finished: 26 November 2016
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 23 November 2016
Why do I have it? I like horror and have read and enjoyed The Magdalena Curse by the same author in the past.

In the 1920s - a decade known for its incredible decadence and opulence - Klaus Fischer built himself a residence that would soon come to rival all other homes of the period. Yet, such a magnificent house can still hide its own dark secrets. And, while many were certainly charmed by the Fischer House - and awed by its mysterious occupant - they would also come to realize that some doors are just too dangerous to open...

Seventy-five years later, the Fischer House has been reawakened to claim the innocent and unsuspecting souls who dare to unlock its door. In 1995, four university students and their professor cross the threshold of the derelict Fischer House. What starts out as a simple class field study and an in-depth discussion on the nature of true evil, soon turns into a waking nightmare for the participants.

Just weeks after the four philosophy students and their professor return home, one young woman has committed suicide and the other three are slowly descending into madness. Nicholas Mason's sister Sarah was one of the participants in that impromptu lecture-study at Fischer House. Determined to find a way to save her, Nick seeks help from Paul Seaton - the only person to have visited the house and to have survived. Yet Paul is also a deeply troubled man, haunted by otherworldly visions which even now threaten his sanity.

Although Paul is fearful of ever returning to Fischer House, Nick is desperate to protect his sister. He forces Paul to go back into his past - to try and recall his own dark memories of a time that Paul would much prefer remained buried. So in order to help Nick, Paul must return to Fischer House to fulfill an unfinished duty: he must find the secret journal of the tragically beautiful photographer Pandora Gibson-Hoare. Although not much is known of the young woman's life, Pandora's journal is rumored to have been kept during a particularly dark period in her life - when she became acquainted with Klaus Fischer.

Paul learns from Pandora's personal diary that Fischer House was a mansion created for debauchery - a decadent house that catered to every hedonistic desire. She describes a secretive gathering in the 1920s which was presided over by a malevolent figure. It was during this gathering of depravity where the dark legacy of Klaus Fischer was born - as the master of the unspeakable crime and diabolical proceedings that have haunted the mansion ever since. Now Fischer House is beckoning, and some old friends have gathered to welcome Paul back...

I must say that The House of Lost Souls was exactly the type of book that I have always enjoyed reading. The pacing of the story was just perfect - there was always something happening in the plot and to me, the horror never seemed forced. I thoroughly enjoy reading books about haunted houses and in my opinion, this book was actually quite brilliant. I give this book a definite A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

May you all have a Blessed Thanksgiving!

So, in honor of the day, I would like to wish all my wonderful followers the happiest of  Thanksgivings. May your holiday be filled with great food, wonderful friendship and all the family ties that you may wish for. :) I have to say that Mareena and I had the usual turkey and gravy - as well as pan fried potatoes, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. I had brussel sprouts, and Mareena had some wonderful stew meat and pears on the side.

After that, we will take a bit of a nap, then kick up our feet and read books for the rest of the day! :)

So once again, may all of you have a wonderfully safe and blessed Thanksgiving. Be sure to find some quiet time for yourselves and count your blessings today when and if you can. I know that I'm incredibly thankful for my continued health and happiness, Mareena continued health and happiness, that we are both comfortable and love each other as much as we do, and that our family is as well as they are. We are also incredibly thankful for our three kitties - Ruby, Leila and Lollipop.

I also hope that everyone who is away from their families at this time, will know that they are sorely missed, truly loved and deeply appreciated by all! God bless all of you, may you have a very happy and wonderful Thanksgiving! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Leslie Rule - When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt

52. When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule (2006)
Length: 222 pages

Genre: Non-Fiction

Started: 14 November 2016

Finished: 23 November 2016

Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 7 December 2015

Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Leslie Rule is a new author for me.

Leslie Rule's When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt explores the supernatural world and chronicles various personal accounts of paranormal activity. For so many people - both paranormal enthusiasts and skeptics alike - the word 'hauntings' immediately conjures up a certain feeling of insatiable curiosity. Paranormal author Leslie Rule explores a new twist on this strange phenomenon as she investigates the historical events, the brutal deaths - and the subsequent hauntings - that have left their own vivid impressions on various historic sites all around the United States. Through her extensive research and by interviewing credible witnesses and taking down their eyewitness testimonies, Ms. Rule reveals why and how the souls of those who suffered such violent deaths are prone to remain earthbound. 

From the hallowed halls of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois to the historic ghost towns of Garnet, Montana - and everywhere else in between - the author visits each location and delves into the history of the area. These spine-tingling true stories divulge the mysterious details of ghostly sightings and include numerous artistically shot black-and-white photographs of the haunted sites. Leslie Rule is the daughter of best-selling true-crime author Ann Rule - and she is a prolific author in her own right - whose lifelong fascination with the paranormal actually sprung up from living in a haunted house overlooking Puget Sound as a child.

I must admit that I really enjoyed reading this book. In my opinion, Ms. Rule certainly researched her subject very thoroughly and I was surprised by the number of personal stories of the paranormal that she has managed to collect. Although I perhaps would have enjoyed reading some longer stories, I would still give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Puzzles, Puzzles Everywhere!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

So, when Lisa came to take us to lunch on Wednesday afternoon, November 16th, we ended up going to Red Lobster. As soon as we arrived, we discovered that they were apparently freshening up the place - repainting the siding and reinforcing the front steps and the ramp. We still decided to have lunch there - but honestly, the temporary ramp was much steeper than we were expecting - so if they are still working on the place for much longer, we've decided to go somewhere else next time.

Lisa actually gave us the souvenirs that she bought for us from Paris: Mareena got a deep blue enamel clip for her hair, and I received a box of three fairy puzzles all in French. Each puzzle features a fantastic scene with a glittering little fairy sitting in glades, on toadstools, or hiding in trees. I don't know if the puzzles are actually meant for children or not, and I really don't mind if they are. Lisa said that she knows how much I like doing jigsaw puzzles, so she just couldn't pass up the chance to get me a jigsaw puzzle - or I suppose, three jigsaw puzzles - all the way from Paris, France.

Actually, I finished the 1,000-piece puzzle of the old-fashioned county fair on Sunday night, November 13th. Since I initially started doing this puzzle on Friday afternoon, November 4th, that means that I have spent nine days on this particular puzzle. I immediately started doing the 750-piece puzzle of the fairytale-style castle the next day - Monday morning, November 14th! I'm actually pretty close to finishing this puzzle today - exactly a week later.

So, as regards my own reading, I've found When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule again. I actually finished reading Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel by Nancy Thayer on Friday, November 18th and even though I had only spent two days reading this particular book and had already found the Leslie Rule book by Thursday, November 17th - I picked up with my reading of When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt again on Sunday, November 20th!

According to Goodreads - as of today, November 21st - I've actually read 86 pages out of 240 in the Leslie Rule book; or approximately 36 percent. Since my copy of When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule is actually 222 pages, reading 86 pages means that I have read approximately 39 percent of the story so far. Leslie Rule is the daughter of the crime author Ann Rule; but she seems to be a great writer in her own right.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Nancy Thayer - Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel

Reread. Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel by Nancy Thayer (1999)
Length: 241 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Originally Read: 16 September 2014
Reread Finished: 18 November 2016
Where did it come from? Originally from Paperback Swap, then from my "keeper" shelf.

So, having finished reading Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King on Monday, November 14th, I had originally started reading When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule on the same day. I was really enjoying the book, as it is written by the popular crime writer Ann Rule's daughter. It seems as if Ann Rule's books focus on crimes within the physical world - the victim, the perpetrator, the crime itself and the police investigation - and Leslie Rule's books focus more on the paranormal aspect of a crime. Leslie Rule's books are about the poor souls that seemingly can never rest peacefully.

It was actually two days later when I was trying to locate When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule and couldn't find it. I needed to find something else to read rather quickly and just grabbed the first book off the top of my bookshelf. It just so happened that the book that I grabbed was Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel by Nancy Thayer. By the time that I found When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule again, I was already immersed in Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel by Nancy Thayer and wanted to finish it.

So, after starting to read When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule on Monday, November 14th, I started reading Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel by Nancy Thayer for the third time on Wednesday, November 16th. I originally received this book in the mail as Mareena's 'just because' gift for September of 2014. I started reading it for the first time on the same day as it arrived on September 15th, 2014 and finished the book a day later - on September 16th, 2014.

The second time that I read this book was over two days in December of 2015 - from December 2nd, to December 4th, 2015. The third time that I read this book was over two days in November of 2016 - from November 16th, to November 18th, 2016. I'm planning to keep the book and read it again some time soon.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

So, we Are Going Out to Lunch With Lisa Today!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

So, after a few months hiatus, we are finally going to be able to get together with our friend Lisa for lunch today. While we were actually able to get together back in mid-August in order to celebrate my birthday, Lisa had said at the time that she had forgotten a couple of souvenirs that she bought back for us from her family's European vacation. Actually, Lisa and her husband and family took a six-week family reunion vacation to a small village in Germany and they went sightseeing around Paris, France as well - so, for the last week in June and all of July - Lisa's family were getting reacquainted with, and in some cases meeting for the first time, her husband's distant cousins and his cousins' families. Lisa's husband was born in Germany, although he and his family came to America when he was about twelve years old.

With all the recent trouble that Germany and France has been experiencing - especially over the summer - Mareena and I were extremely worried that Lisa would be in danger somehow during her travels. When she saw us again in mid-August, she told us that she had actually visited a secluded village in Germany, nowhere near the towns that were attacked - and had only spent one day sightseeing in Paris near the end of her vacation. Lisa also said that she had bought us each a little souvenir back from Paris.

So, as regards my own reading, I'm actually reading two books - something that I have almost never done before. After I finished reading Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King on Monday, November 14th, I immediately started When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule the same day. Because I've temporarily misplaced the book that I'm currently reading, I started the book Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel by Nancy Thayer just today - Wednesday, November 16th!

According to Goodreads - as of today, November 16th - I've actually read 51 pages out of 240 in the Leslie Rule book; or approximately 21 percent. Since my copy of When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule is actually 222 pages, reading 51 pages means that I have read approximately 23 percent of the story so far. Leslie Rule is the daughter of the crime author Ann Rule; but she seems to be a great writer in her own right.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Stephen King - Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales

50. Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King (2002)

Length: 583 pages 

Genre: Short Story 

Started: 31 October 2016

Finished: 14 November 2016

Where did it come from? From Bookmooch

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 25 October 2016

Why do I have it? I like short stories and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

This particular anthology is actually the author's first collection of short stories to be published in almost a decade. According to the introduction, Stephen King is an extraordinarily prolific writer who understandably loves his craft. Apparently, he and his wife also own two radio stations in their hometown of Bangor, Maine - one station is entirely dedicated to sports, and the other one is dedicated to classic rock music. It was while trying to decide how best to boost ratings for the radio station that Stephen King had an epiphany about his own writing career - about just how much he enjoys 'pushing the envelope' with his own writing.

While his subsequent attempt at writing a radio play didn't quite work out the way he had expected, the experience served as an education of sorts - as much as a refresher course in the different styles of writing: writing for ebooks, magazines, journals and digests. In choosing which stories would actually be included in this particular anthology, Stephen King turned to a deck of playing cards to help him decide which stories would appear in the contents. He used the entire suit of spades plus a Joker card and shuffled them; the order in which he dealt the cards turned out to be where he would place a story in the contents. The contents features fourteen short stories that range from "the literary stories to the all-out screamers."

I must say that in my own opinion, this compilation of stories were all rather different from each other. The synopsis of the book claims that Stephen King takes the reader down a road less traveled - and for a very good reason - and I do have to agree with that particular claim. I found this book to be if not easy reading, certainly relatively fast reading. I would give this book an A!

To be perfectly honest, while there were some stories that were middle of the road for me, I also liked quite a few of the stories as well. I suppose that the two that would stand out the most for me would be: 'The Death of Jack Hamilton', which was about a subject that I don't usually like reading about: gangsters in the 1930s. The second story that I really enjoyed - I may even call it my favorite one of the anthology - was actually the twelfth story in collection: '1408'. I also have watched the 2007 movie that stars John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Since I Think I'm Nearly at the End of This Book...

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

Since I'm actually almost finished with the book I'm currently reading, I'm on the hunt for another book. I know that I have talked about my process of choosing which book I want to read next. At the moment, I have at least two books on my radar: When the Ghost Screams: True Stories of Victims Who Haunt by Leslie Rule and Between Husbands and Friends: A Novel by Nancy Thayer. The first book is actually written by the daughter of the crime writer Ann Rule. The second book is actually a reread for me from about a year ago.

I have also been doing a number of crossword puzzles and sudoku puzzles from the newspaper. Although I've only been able to finish a few puzzles, I've only been working through my accumulated puzzles for the past week or so. While I was out running errands on Thursday afternoon, November 10th, I also picked up another jigsaw puzzle - a 750-piece puzzle of a fairytale-style castle. I haven't started doing this puzzle just yet, but I figured that since I'm still working on the puzzle of the old-fashioned county fair, I may as well lay in some more supplies. Yes, I do realize that this is just my justification for buying more jigsaw puzzles, but honestly, this particular puzzle just caught my eye.

As regards my own reading, I actually finished reading Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King on Friday, October 28th! Although I enjoyed reading this particular book very much, I really wanted to start reading Mareena's second October 'just because' gift for me which arrived on Tuesday, October 25th. Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King arrived in the mail after I had requested that Mareena put a few Stephen King novels for me on our joint wishlist. Surprisingly, Lisey's Story: A Novel and Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales - both by Stephen King - basically arrived within a week of each other!

I actually started reading Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King on Monday, October 31st. According to Goodreads - as of Saturday, November 12th - I've read 497 pages out of 583; or approximately 85 percent of the story. I'm actually really enjoying reading this book very much!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

It Really Seems Like a Slow Month - or at Least it Does to Me!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

I'm doing fairly well, I suppose. To be perfectly honest, I haven't been doing any sum-doku puzzles from my stack of puzzle books. Since Saturday, November 5th, I have switched from doing various puzzle books to crossword puzzles and sum-doku puzzles straight from the newspaper. Granted, I haven't finished an actual sum-doku puzzle book since Monday, May 30th, but I'm also glad to say that I am almost done with a book of sum-doku puzzles that I started on Monday, June 20th!

Since this particular puzzle book is from the six-pack of sum-doku puzzles that I received back on Friday, March 4th, that means that I have finished approximately half of the six-pack so far. My goodness, I seem to really be eking out my collection of sum-doku puzzles. Although having said that, I still have a 24-pack of sum-doku puzzles that I received in October of 2013 which I don't think I have even opened yet. I actually just rediscovered the package hidden away in the wicker basket where I keep all my puzzle books together.

As regards my own reading, I actually finished reading Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King on Friday, October 28th! Although I enjoyed reading this particular book very much, I really wanted to start reading Mareena's second October 'just because' gift for me which arrived on Tuesday, October 25th. Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King arrived in the mail after I had requested that Mareena put a few Stephen King novels for me on our joint wishlist. Surprisingly, Lisey's Story: A Novel and Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales - both by Stephen King - basically arrived within a week of each other!

I actually started reading Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King on Monday, October 31st. According to Goodreads - as of Thursday, November 10th - I've read 420 pages out of 583; or approximately 72 percent of the story. I'm actually really enjoying reading this book very much!

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

So, Eight Days Into the Month, I Feel Like I've Not Been Reading as Much as I Want!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

Well, to be perfectly honest, it feels like I have been doing more puzzles than any actual reading. I suppose that this isn't necessarily true, however it just feels that way. I'm still doing the jigsaw puzzle of the old-fashioned county fair that I started on Friday, November 4th. Because this puzzle is so tricky to do, I've actually spent the first couple of days separating the puzzle pieces into color-coded piles according to the picture on the box.

I have been doing a fair number of crossword puzzles and sum-doku puzzles from the newspaper as well. While I still did a few more sum-doku puzzles from both puzzle books that I'm working through, I switched to puzzles from the newspaper on Saturday, November 5th! I suppose I haven't had that much success yet as I have only managed to finish two of the puzzles that I have accumulated over the past few weeks.

As regards my own reading, I actually finished reading Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King on Friday, October 28th! Although I enjoyed reading this particular book very much, I really wanted to start reading Mareena's second October 'just because' gift for me which arrived on Tuesday, October 25th. Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King arrived in the mail after I had requested that Mareena put a few Stephen King novels for me on our joint wishlist. Surprisingly, Lisey's Story: A Novel and Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales - both by Stephen King - basically arrived within a week of each other!

I actually started reading Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King on Monday, October 31st. According to Goodreads - as of Tuesday, November 8th - I've read 390 pages out of 583; or approximately 67 percent of the story. I actually just started reading the tenth story out of fourteen.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

I Guess Gunslingers Just Aren't my Thing!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

Having started the twelfth jigsaw puzzle out of the box of twelve that I bought on Thursday afternoon, October 6th on Monday October 31st, I'm happy to say that I finished it on Friday, November 4th. Five days to finish one jigsaw puzzle isn't all that bad, but I must say that I immediately started another jigsaw puzzle of an old-fashioned county fair that I had already done about two years ago. I actually haven't gotten through that much of this particular puzzle as yet, but then again it is a fairly tricky puzzle and should take some time for me to do.

So between 'vegging out' by watching horror movies on Monday, October 31st, I was also doing the occasional sum-doku puzzle during the television ads. As of yesterday morning - Friday, November 4th - I haven't done any sum-doku puzzles in one book and 74 puzzles in the other book.

As regards my own reading, I actually finished reading Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King on Friday, October 28th! Although I enjoyed reading this particular book very much, I really wanted to start reading Mareena's second October 'just because' gift for me which arrived on Tuesday, October 25th. Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King arrived in the mail after I had requested that Mareena put a few Stephen King novels for me on our joint wishlist. Surprisingly, Lisey's Story: A Novel and Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales - both by Stephen King - basically arrived within a week of each other!

I started reading Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King on Monday, October 31st. According to Goodreads - as of Saturday, November 5th - I've read 285 pages out of 583; or approximately 49 percent of the story. Although I did skip one of the short stories, I'm actually about halfway through the seventh story out of fourteen.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

I Must Say That I Have Done Quite a Bit Over the Past Few Days!

Hello everyone! I hope that you're all just fine this morning - I certainly am! :) Anyway, I just wanted to give you an update on how I'm doing so far.

So, on Thursday afternoon, October 27th, I was running some errands and caught sight of what I thought was another box of twelve jigsaw puzzles. I had just started doing my eleventh puzzle of the twelve, and thought that another box of twelve would be wonderful for me to have. Yet, in the cold light of Friday morning, October 28th, I noticed my mistake: I had bought the exact same box of puzzles that I had gotten myself on Thursday afternoon, October 6th! I guess that means that I will have to return my newest box of puzzles during my errand day next week.

Anyway, by Friday, October 28th, I'm happy to say that I finished Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King. I say that not because this book was in any way boring - I enjoyed reading it very much - but because Mareena's second 'just because' gift for me arrived on Tuesday, October 25th and I was eager to start reading it as soon as I could! I finally got that chance on Monday, October 31st.

Well, on Monday afternoon, October 31st, Mareena and I didn't watch any of our horror movies that we have on DVD - although, we are still trying to track down our copies of The Exorcist and What Lies Beneath. We know that we still have both movies in our collection, but we just can't locate either of them right now. Is anyone else beginning to think that Mareena and my DVD collection is turning into both our personal libraries: we can never find something when we want to - but when we aren't actually looking for something - ta da, there it is! :)

Instead, we watched two horror movies on television: Silence of the Lambs and Thirteen Ghosts. We had seen both movies already, but they were both so good that we didn't mind watching them both again. In other words, we just 'vegged out' on watching movies for the day. LOL!!!

Between 'vegging out' by watching horror movies on Monday, October 31st, I also started the final jigsaw puzzle out of the big box of twelve. I was also doing the occasional sum-doku puzzle during the television ads. As of yesterday morning - Wednesday, November 2nd - I've finished approximately 93 sum-doku puzzles in one book and 72 puzzles in the other book.

As regards my own reading, I actually finished reading Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King on Friday, October 28th! Although I enjoyed reading this particular book very much, I really wanted to start reading Mareena's second October 'just because' gift for me which arrived on Tuesday, October 25th. Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King arrived in the mail after I had requested that Mareena put a few Stephen King novels for me on our joint wishlist. Surprisingly, Lisey's Story: A Novel and Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales - both by Stephen King - basically arrived within a week of each other!

I started reading Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King on Monday, October 31st. According to Goodreads - as of Thursday, November 3rd - I've read 81 pages out of 583; or approximately 14 percent of the story. I have actually just started the fourth story out of fourteen.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up For October 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 October with 1,062 books lying around the house and ended the month with 1,059 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from Paperback Swap and Bookmooch.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Changes to the TBR pile

Rereads
- A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Lying Awake: A Novel by Mark Salzman
- Lisey's Story: A Novel by Stephen King

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere Castle by Lady Fiona Carnarvon
- Everything's Eventual: 14 Dark Tales by Stephen King

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Report to the Commissioner by James Mills
- Lying Awake: A Novel by Mark Salzman 

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

Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 1,084
Grade Range: A+! to A!

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