Patricia Gaffney - The Goodbye Summer

99. The Goodbye Summer by Patricia Gaffney (2004)
Length: 389 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 8 November 2012
Finished: 12 November 2012
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 5 November 2012
Why do I have it? I like Patricia Gaffney as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

How much can one summer change a person's life? For thirty-two year old Caddie Winger, one summer can make the whole world look different. A piano teacher who gives lessons to the neighborhood children, Caddie still lives with her grandmother and is extremely happy with her present life. 

Caddie's mother died when she was nine, and she was raised by her grandmother. Now, their roles are reversed, and it's Caddie who cares for her Nana. When her grandmother breaks her leg and insists on going into a convalescent home, Caddie finds herself being pulled out of her comfy, self-made nest. Living on her own for the first time since college, she uncovers some startling truths from her past.

Jolted, she looks at the world through new eyes and begins to take charge of her future. As she makes a new best friend, takes risks she never dreamed she could, and navigates the depths and shallows of true love and devastating heartbreak, Caddie learns how to trust other people and, ultimately, how to trust herself.

This is the third book by Patricia Gaffney that I've ever read, and I have truly enjoyed all three books that I've read. I loved the portrayal of the characters in The Goodbye Summer and have to say that this book was lovely to read. The Goodbye Summer by Patricia Gaffney is a definite five star read for me, and I'm certainly going to put it on my keeper bookshelf. Definitely an A+! book for me and I look forward to reading more from Patricia Gaffney very soon! :)

A+! - (96-100%)

   Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Agatha Christie and Charles Osborne - Black Coffee

98. Black Coffee by Agatha Christie (1930) and Charles Osborne (1997)
(Adapted from Agatha Christie's play of the same name)
The Hercule Poirot Series Book 6.5 
Length: 221 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 7 November 2012
Finished: 8 November 2012
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 5 November 2012
Why do I have it? Mareena's friend Katie called me up some time in February of this year and we got to talking about Agatha Christie. Katie had me write down a whole long list of Agatha Christie books that she had read and enjoyed. Black Coffee was one title that Katie mentioned during our conversation. :) 

Belgian private detective Hercule Poirot and his friend and detecting partner Captain Arthur Hastings receive an urgent call for help from renowned physicist Sir Claud Amory. Sir Claud is absolutely convinced that a member of his own household is attempting to steal a secret formula created by Sir Claud, and destined for use by the Ministry of Defense. Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings travel to Sir Claud's sprawling mansion,  only to discover that the famed physicist has been poisoned by his after-dinner coffee. The formula is also missing.

Now, the renowned private detective must discover who among the mansion's occupants has become desperate enough to kill Sir Claud. Hercule Poirot uncovers a potent brew of despair, treachery, and deception as he tries to identify the murderer and locate the missing formula. Black Coffee by Agatha Christie was very good and I give it an A+! However, for the first time in reading an Agatha Christie mystery, I knew who the murderer was before I had finished reading the book. :)

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Jack Olsen - Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love

97. Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by Jack Olsen (1987)
Length: 391 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 4 November 2012
Finished: 7 November 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 5 November 2007
Why do I have it? I like true crime but had never heard of the Cindy Campbell Ray and David West murder case.

In June of 1982, wealthy Houston attorney, James Campbell, and his wife Virginia were shot to death in their bed while their grandsons, ages seven and eight, camped out in sleeping bags at the foot of the Campbells' bed. The frustrated police shelve the case after about 30 months of investigation, claiming the case has gone cold. The murder victims' daughter and her husband hire a private investigator to continue the investigation.

Kim Paris, a young, free-spirited private investigator on her first major case, opens up a whole new area of investigation into the formerly cold case - turning up the heat on the prime suspect, Cindy Campbell Ray, James and Virginia's younger daughter. Close to two years after the murders, Kim locates and befriends David West, an ex-Marine and Cindy Campbell Ray's lover. He confesses to shooting Cindy's parents at her behest, mistakenly believing that James Campbell had been sexually molesting Cindy throughout her childhood, and that Virginia Campbell was physically abusing Cindy as well.

Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by Jack Olsen is a somewhat unusual true-crime study, not because the case is ultimately solved by a private detective rather than the police, and not because the final disposition of the case is not included, but, rather, because of its searching psychological depiction of the killers. I also have Daddy's Girl: The Campbell Murder Case by Clifford Irving, which is another book about this case which covers the murder trial. However, I give Cold Kill: The True Story of a Murderous Love by Jack Olsen an A+!

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

Sidney Sheldon - Nothing Lasts Forever

96. Nothing Lasts Forever by Sidney Sheldon (1994)
Length: 398 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 3 November 2012
Finished: 4 November 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 July 2012
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Three female doctors begin five years in training at Embarcadero County Hospital in San Francisco. The story, set against hospital and courtroom, chronicles their lives together and their struggle against those who are determined to see that they don't succeed.

Dr. Paige Taylor - After she inherited a million dollars from a patient whom she 'helped to die' at their request, the District Attorney charged her with murder.

Dr. Kat Hunter - She vowed never to allow a man to get too close to her again...until she accepted the challenge of a deadly bet.

Dr. Honey Taft - To make it in medicine, she knew that she'd need something more then the brains God gave her.

From the life-and-death decisions faced in the operating room to the tension-packed fireworks of a murder trial, Nothing Lasts Forever by Sidney Sheldon lays bare the ambitions and fears of healers and killers, lovers and betrayers.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a wonderful page-turner that I couldn't put down! I do so enjoy Sidney Sheldon as an author, even though I have just recently got back into reading his books after an hiatus of several years. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Paul Henry Johnson - Scrolls of Darkness

95. Scrolls of Darkness by Paul Henry Johnson (2012)
Sons of Darkness Series Book 1
Length: 207 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 1 November 2012
Finished: 3 November 2012
Where did it come from? Many thanks to Paul for sending me a copy of this book to read.
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 17 October 2012
Why do I have it? I like horror and Paul Henry Johnson is a new author for me.

Corporate attorney Brent Michaels has a good life in Century City - he's successful, good-looking, and well-respected. But he is also getting a little bored with the same old routine, and after a recent breakup, his personal life is in transition. Little does he know how drastically his life will change when he receives a letter from David Baumann, an old friend and former colleague of Brent's deceased - and estranged - father, who had been engaged in a mysterious and urgent archaeological search at the time of his death. From David, Brent learns about the Scrolls of Darkness - ancient satanic scripts written many millenniums ago, and now sought by the Sons of Darkness, an organization controlled by Evil itself.

Along with the beautiful Melauni Sherwood, an archaeologist familiar with the area where the scrolls are hidden, Brent is drawn into a deadly game that takes him from the streets of Paris to the beaches of New Zealand and Rio de Janeiro, and finally to the desert of the Middle East, where Brent and his companions will have a final showdown to determine who will get the ancient texts.

Mareena told me about this book and I was totally intrigued by the plot as she read it to me. When the book arrived in the mail, I was unable to start reading right away, but am so happy that I was able to read it in the rather short period of time that I did. I have to say that I probably wouldn't have chosen to read Scrolls of Darkness by Paul Henry Johnson for myself. Usually, I don't enjoy reading books that seem to be of the espionage-thriller type genre (as I had falsely assumed that this book fell into that genre), but Mareena chose well - as she usually does! :)

I really enjoyed Scrolls of Darkness by Paul Henry Johnson. It was a totally gripping plot and I was drawn into the book right from the first page. I believe that this book is the first in a series, and I am incredibly interested to find out where the story will go in future books. I give Scrolls of Darkness by Paul Henry Johnson an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Ross Berliner - The Manhood Ceremony

94. The Manhood Ceremony by Ross Berliner (1978)
Length: 282 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 31 October 2012
Finished: 1 November 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 15 December 2007
Why do I have it? I like horror and Ross Berliner is a new author for me.

Ricky Stern is a sweet, bright, happy, Jewish, handsomely blond 12-year-old when he is lured into the woods, abducted and raped by Arvis Moore, an homicidal, bearded, psychotic pervert  As the kidnapper and his victim travel from Virginia to Philadelphia, something changes inside Ricky - he begins to enjoy Arvis Moore's continuous molestation of him and passes up every chance of escape that comes his way. Because Ricky has become too pliant in his molestation, Arvis must kidnap another boy. 

Ricky turns from innocent victim to active participant, by acting as the lure in the kidnapping of another little boy. As the police close in on Arvis Moore, Ricky has turned into the person with all the power in this twisted relationship. He has become incredibly devious, manipulating Arvis and others around him in such a way, that it becomes increasingly more difficult to tell who is the victim and who is the perpetrator.

I have to say that while I enjoyed reading this book, I found The Manhood Ceremony by Ross Berliner to be incredibly devastating and disturbing to read because of the reality of the plot. This is a situation that could, and does happen to millions of children throughout America each year. I thought that the story was perhaps extremely dated in terms of the writing, however the plot was incredibly current in my opinion. This was a reread for me from many years ago, and I gave this book an A+! 

A+! - (96-100%)

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 647 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 637 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from authors, Paperback Swap and Bookmooch.

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 :))
- The President's Lady: A Novel About Rachel and Andrew Jackson by Irving Stone
- Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley
- The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright
- Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination That Changed America Forever by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard
- At Paradise Gate by Jane Smiley
- Margaret Trudeau: The Prime Minister's Runaway Wife by Felicity Cochrane
- Islands by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Spectre Nightmares and Visitations by Pamela K. Kinney
- Coroner by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona
- Disobedience by Jane Hamilton

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- My Soul to Keep by Judith Hawkes
- Scrolls of Darkness by Paul Henry Johnson
- 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
- Low Country by Anne Rivers Siddons

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- 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

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

Books Read: 10
Pages Read: 2,684
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