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

The House at Old Vine by Norah Lofts 

  Published as: The House at Old Vine in June 1961

Publisher: Doubleday

Birth Name: Norah Robinson
Born: 27 August 1904 in Shipdham, Norfolk, England
Died: 10 September 1983 in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, England

Canonical Name: Norah Lofts
Pseudonyms: Juliet Astley and Peter Curtis

The House at Old Vine by Norah Lofts was the thirteenth book that I read in 2016. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since April 24, 2009 and it took me ten days to read. This book is definitely a keeper for me.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Anthony Izzo - Cruel Winter

15. Cruel Winter by Anthony Izzo (2005)
Length: 349 pages

Genre: Horror

Started: 25 February 2016

Finished: 29 February 2016

Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap 

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 22 February 2016

Why do I have it? I like horror and Anthony Izzo is a new author for me.

Brampton in the early 1980's is a picturesque little town where nothing extraordinary ever happens. When the new kid in town asks Jack Harding and his friends for help, they can hardly refuse the boy. After all, Ronnie Winter is a pleasantly plump kid, quiet, and well...weird. To Jack's way of thinking, Ronnie's strangeness just makes him the prime target for bullying. 

Jack and his friends actually feel rather sorry for Ronnie, so they agree to protect him. Jack is convinced it is the right thing to do, to protect those who can't protect themselves. And when the local bullies do try to beat up Ronnie, Jack and his friends step in to stop them - and make their first mistake...

Their first mistake was to underestimate Ronnie Winter, because he is apparently unlike any other kid they've ever known. He lives with his lovely mother Cassie over at the old Steadman place, in the eerie Gothic-style mansion that used to be a mental hospital. And his ethereally beautiful mother has the uncanny ability to make Jack promise to be Ronnie's best friend...forever.

As Brampton starts to experience the coldest winter in its history, the closer Jack and his friends get to Ronnie. A freakishly cold weather pattern sweeps through the town, bringing with it a series of brutal snowstorms which cause the temperature to plummet even lower. And as if the weather conditions weren't bad enough, someone seems to be using the weather to their advantage: the residents of Brampton are being plagued by a series of nightmarishly gruesome murders.

And as the grisly death toll continues to rise, Jack begins to realize something more disturbing about his odd new friend, Ronnie. Ronnie Winter is already protected; surrounded by something far more powerful than an overprotective mother's love. He is being guarded by something almost supernatural - an unspeakably malevolent force that will torture and destroy everything in its path...

I must say that the first thing I noticed about this book when I received it was the eeriness of the cover - Gothic mansions with giant stone lions guarding the door just scream spooky to me, I suppose. Not that I'm complaining in any way, but I just wasn't sure how scary a plot could get with a cast of primarily teenage boys as characters. As the debut novel of a new author for me, I found that the plot was well-developed and satisfyingly creepy. I give this book a B+!

As it turned out, the book was extremely well written and I'm very happy to have read it. In my opinion, this was an intriguing debut; I will definitely be putting this author's name on my Wish List.

B+! - (85-89%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

I Have Not Thought About Jigsaw Puzzles in Quite Some Time!

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've been doing crossword puzzles on and off for approximately two weeks - or at least since Monday night, February 15th! I have probably done about twelve or thirteen puzzles - mostly from the newspaper. As I have said before, the final season of 'Downton Abbey' on PBS' 'Masterpiece' started on Sunday night, January 3rd and tonight's episode was a recap of the entire sixth season followed by an hour long actor's retrospective show. The season finale is on Sunday night, March 6th!

As for my reading, I've finished two books in the space of four days. The House at Old Vine by Norah Lofts actually took a total of ten days for me to read - I finished it on Tuesday afternoon, February 23rd! I immediately chose Dearest by Peter Loughran to read next. Having started reading the book on Tuesday evening, February 23rd, I finished it in two days - on Thursday night, February 25th!

Next up on my TBR pile was Cruel Winter by Anthony Izzo. This was another horror book written by another new author for me. I started reading this book on Thursday night, February 25th! As of this morning - Sunday, February 28th - I'm on page 318 of 349, or approximately 91 percent. So far, the book is really, really good.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Peter Loughran - Dearest

14. Dearest by Peter Loughran (1983)

Length: 282 pages

Genre: Horror 

Started: 23 February 2016

Finished: 25 February 2016

Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap 

How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 19 February 2016

Why do I have it? I like horror and Peter Loughran is a new author for me.

He is a man with some fairly definitive ideas about women. The only problem is that the taxi driver's ideas about the perfect woman are entirely too unrealistic. You see, his main trouble is that no woman - no matter how much he might love her - could ever live up to such lofty expectations. 

Deep down, the cab driver understands that some people may claim that he has some unreasonably high standards. And yes, he might possibly even agree with those people - on some level. But he also realizes that he will never lower his expectations just to suit another person's opinion of him. After all, it's only a matter of time until he finds the right woman; he's sure of it.

Then he met Jacqui. She was a truly beautiful woman. Positively drop-dead gorgeous, actually. He could really see himself spending the rest of his life with such a beauty. 

And after she began carrying his unborn child, he gave her a ring in contemplation of their marriage. He knew he had to take such steps to ensure that his love was preserved and that their relationship status became permanent. After all, marriage was meant to be 'until death do us part' and he took such a vow to heart.

I actually thought that this story was told from a rather unique perspective, and I don't believe that I have read anything else quite like it before. The character of the taxi driver wasn't ever meant to be a sympathetic character - or even particularly likeable - so using him as a narrator for this story was something that I found seriously disturbing. This perspective was definitely warped, but was also chillingly effective - at least in my opinion. I give this book an A!

This was the debut novel from a new author for me. While this book was published in the early 1980s - and the horror was definitely dated because of it - I still thoroughly enjoyed reading the book. Actually, I have always enjoyed reading older horror novels. As a matter of fact, I generally think of horror novels published before 1960 as 'Classic Horror', and horror novels published after 1990 as 'Modern Horror'.

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - The House at Old Vine

13. The House at Old Vine by Norah Lofts (1961)

The Suffolk House Trilogy Book 2
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 13 February 2016
Finished: 23 February 2016
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 24 April 2009
Why do I have it? I like historical fiction and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

In a trilogy that spans five centuries - beginning in the fourteenth century and concluding during the middle of the twentieth century - this is the second volume of the Suffolk House Trilogy. This is the continuing story of a town house and the various people who live there. The trilogy follows the story of Martin Reed and his descendants, men and women who found their place in the fascinating years of England's early history.

Starting in the late fifteenth century, and concluding during the time of the Restoration - The House at Old Vine follows the story of Josiana Greenwood - an illegitimate descendant of Martin Reed. For generations while the Reed family endured, England faced what was perhaps its most turbulent and troubled period. Josiana lived through this period of great upheaval - and it is through her that the family of the House will continue.

In a time when the Tudors fought for the throne and the violence of Oliver Cromwell's war threatened the safety of the nation, Josiana faced a tremendously difficult task. She was young, beautiful and very much in love. Yet the man to whom she had pledged her heart was a man whose fate was sealed. And, although her heart belonged to only one man, she was promised to another...

As with everything that I have previously read by Norah Lofts, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. In my opinion, Ms. Lofts is a tremendous writer whose stories are always well-detailed and historically accurate - she really knows her history. I really appreciate her writing style - and even though the story was slightly longer than I was expecting - it still was an intriguing plot. I give this book a definite A+!

I must say that although I have read almost every one of Norah Lofts' books, I'm not quite sure if I've ever read this one in particular. While I certainly remember reading the first book of the trilogy, as well as the third, I can't really remember reading this book. When I initially started reading it, I had thought that it was a reread for me from at least twelve years ago. However, the further I got into the story, the more I realized that I had absolutely no idea how the story would progress.

I suppose that doesn't necessarily mean that I haven't read this book before, but I just thought that I would have some inkling of the plot or perhaps a vague memory of the characters. However, I really couldn't recall anything about the story, so it was entirely new to me. I'm completely amazed, and will definitely be keeping this book on my bookshelf to read again some time soon.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

I'm Still Working Through my Crossword Puzzle Addiction!

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've been doing crossword puzzles on and off for the past week or so - or at least since Monday night, February 15th! I have probably done about six puzzles - one and a half to two puzzles every three days. As I have said before, the final season of 'Downton Abbey' on PBS' 'Masterpiece' started on Sunday night, January 3rd and tonight's episode will be the penultimate episode.

As for my reading, I've been reading The House at Old Vine by Norah Lofts since Saturday morning, February 13th! I'm really loving this book, as I always love Norah Lofts as an author. That being said, as of today - Sunday, February 21st - I'm on page 188 of 384, or approximately 49 percent. I'm so close to being halfway done with this book after eight days of reading.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

I'm Back to Doing Crossword Puzzles and Word Jumbles From the Newspaper!

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.

Actually, not too much has happened lately. I have been doing mostly crossword puzzles for the past few days. Yesterday, Mareena and I spent the day catching up on some emails and sending snail mail letters to our friends. We also spent some time planning the program for next Sunday. I suppose Wednesday was an 'office work day' for both of us.

As for my reading, I've been reading The House at Old Vine by Norah Lofts since Saturday morning, February 13th! I'm really loving this book, but it certainly isn't as much of a fast-paced plot as I was expecting it to be when I first picked it up. As of today - Thursday, February 18th - I'm on page 90 of 384, or approximately 23 percent.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight