Maeve Binchy - Whitethorn Woods

9. Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy (2006)
Length: 432 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 2 February 2010
Finished: 9 February 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 November 2009
Why do I have it? I like Maeve Binchy as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

A proposed highway through the quiet Irish town of Rossmore will mean the destruction of St. Ann's Well - a shrine supposed to deliver healing, husbands and other miracles - located in Whitethorn Woods. The shrine is located in Father Brian Flynn's parish, St Augustine's.

As a fracas erupts between the people who want the highway and believers who want the shrine preserved, Fr. Flynn finds himself in the middle of the issue not sure where he stands in an increasingly secular Ireland. He goes to the shrine to pray to God to show him what position is right. What follows are the stories of Neddy Nolan, a not so simple mentally challenged man, 60-something Vera who finds love on a trip meant for much younger people and James, whose wife of 26 years is dying.

Linked into these stories are stories of mental illness, alcoholism, incest, greed, the joys of being single and struggles of career women. The good and bad sides of people are shown. I really liked this book although it was a simple plot. It was sweet and endearing anyway. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rosie O'Donnell - Celebrity Detox: (The Fame Game)

8. Celebrity Detox: (The Fame Game) by Rosie O'Donnell (2007)
Length: 224 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 30 January 2010
Finished: 1 February 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 November 2009
Why do I have it? I've always been really curious about Rosie O'Donnell's life


This story is about Rosie O'Donnell's life. It covers everything from her mother's death to the feud on The View. I thought this book was a bit ho-hum for me. I didn't really like all the blogging breaks that she took in the story and she had quite a number of hang ups in the book. I give it a C!

C! - (70-75%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for January 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 January with 651 books lying around the house and ended the month with 644 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from Paperback Swap.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Blessings by Anna Quindlen
- The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber
- Moment of Truth by Lisa Scottoline
- The Sweet Taste of Burning: A Novel of the Occult by Paul Andreota
- Woman Vanishes by Caroline Crane
- The Stars Shine Down by Sidney Sheldon
- Blind Eye: How the Medical Establishment Let a Doctor Get Away With Murder by James B. Stewart

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- The Servant by Robin Maugham
- Doll's Eyes by Bari Wood

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
- The Fury by John Farris
- Small Sacrifices: A True Story of Passion and Murder by Ann Rule
- Flesh Wounds by Mick Cochrane
- No More Dying Then by Ruth Rendell
- The Widows of Broome by Arthur W. Upfield

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

Books Read: 7
Pages Read: 1,909
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

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

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:

The Stars Shine Down by Sidney Sheldon

Published as: The Stars Shine Down in October 1992

Publisher: William Morrow

Birth Name: Sidney Schechtel

Born: 11 February 1917 in Chicago, Illinois
Died: 30 January 2007 in Rancho Mirage, California

Canonical Name: Sidney Sheldon

Pseudonyms: Mark Rowane, Allan Devon and Christopher Golato

The Stars Shine Down by Sidney Sheldon was the second book that I read in 2010. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since November 20, 2009 although I didn't actually read it until January of 2010. This book took me one day to read and is currently on several swapping sites looking for another good home.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Anna Quindlen - Blessings

7. Blessings by Anna Quindlen (2002)
Length: 240 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 23 January 2010
Finished: 29 January 2010
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 November 2009
Why do I have it? I like Anna Quindlen as an author and have several other books by this author on my TBR pile.

When a young couple sneak onto an estate, they leave an abandoned baby in a cardboard box. It then falls to a recently released prisoner, the caretaker of the estate, to take care of the baby. What follows is a story about the owner of the estate, Lydia Blessing, and what happens when the caretaker tries to hide the baby from Lydia.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a very sweet and I give it an A+! I would definitely recommend this book to people who like books about family.

A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Debbie Macomber - The Shop on Blossom Street

6. The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (2003)
The Blossom Street Series Book 1
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 15 January 2010
Finished: 22 January 2010
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 14 December 2009
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and Debbie Macomber is a new author for me, although my sister Margaret in Australia actually recommended this book to me.

Lydia Hoffman decided to start a knitting shop on Blossom Street. She called it A Good Yarn and it represented her new life free from cancer. The shop offers knitting classes and the first one is "How to Knit a Baby Blanket".

Three people join the class: Jacqueline Donovan is estranged from her husband, doesn't like the woman married to her only son, but is determined to at least pretend she likes her pregnant daughter-in-law by knitting the baby blanket.

For Carol Girard, the baby blanket represents a message of hope as she and her husband make a final attempt at in vitro fertilization. And tough-looking Alix Townsend is knitting the blanket as part of a court-ordered community service project.

These four woman will learn about friendship, make unexpected discoveries - about themselves and each other - and experience love through the age-old craft of knitting. My sister in Australia recommended this book to me and I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Debbie Macomber - The Shop on Blossom Street

6. The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (2003)
The Blossom Street Series Book 1
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 15 January 2010
Finished: 22 January 2010
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 14 December 2009
Why do I have it? My sister Margaret in Australia recommended this book to me

Lydia Hoffman decided to start a knitting shop on Blossom Street. She called it A Good Yarn and it represented her new life free from cancer. The shop offers knitting classes and the first one is "How to Knit a Baby Blanket".

Three people join the class: Jacqueline Donovan is estranged from her husband, doesn't like the woman married to her only son, but is determined to at least pretend she likes her pregnant daughter-in-law by knitting the baby blanket.

For Carol Girard, the baby blanket represents a message of hope as she and her husband make a final attempt at in vitro fertilization. And tough-looking Alix Townsend is knitting the blanket as part of court-ordered community service project.

These four woman will learn about friendship, make unexpected discoveries - about themselves and each other - and experience love through the age-old craft of knitting. My sister in Australia recommended this book to me and I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight