Reading Wrap-up for July 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 July with 651 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 645 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from a library book sale we went to on the 15th; I have bought books though the library book sale this month (50 cents for paperbacks, $1.00 for hardcovers. The money goes to help our library's upkeep and stocking some latest releases.) We generally try to go to the library once a month if we can. Quite a number of my books that I read this month left my house to go to new homes so that's something I guess. :)

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 :))
- Bed and Breakfast by Lois Battle
- The Lonely Furrow by Norah Lofts
- Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin
- Breathe, Little Boy, Breathe!: An Emergency Room Doctor's Story by Stephen B. Seager, M. D.
- Harvest by Belva Plain
- The Miracle at St. Bruno's by Philippa Carr
- Crosswordoku by Patrick Blindauer and Frank Longo

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- Beach Roses by Jean Stone
- Lightning by Danielle Steel
- Ordinary Love and Good Will by Jane Smiley
- Preacher's Girl: The Life and Crimes of Blanche Taylor Moore by Jim Schutze

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Love me Not by Deanie Francis Mills
- Faithless by Karin Slaughter
- Grave Matters by Margaret Yorke
- Ruin Creek by David Payne
- Marie: A True Story by Peter Maas
- Sanctuary by Nora Roberts
- Crosswordoku by Patrick Blindauer and Frank Longo

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: 1,893
Grade Range: A+! to A!

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

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

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin

Published as: Rosemary's Baby in March 1967

Publisher: Random House

Birth Name: Ira Levin

Born: 27 August 1929 in The Bronx, New York City, New York
Died: 12 November 2007 in Manhattan, New York City, New York

Canonical Name: Ira Levin

Pseudonyms: None

Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin was the thirty-ninth book that I read in 2011. I picked this book up from a Library Book Sale that Mareena and I went to in July of 2011. This book took me three days to read and it is a definite keeper for me! Mareena and I have both seen the movie Rosemary's Baby starring Mia Farrow - separately, and together - but neither one of us had actually read the book until I acquired it in July of 2011.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Lois Battle - Bed and Breakfast

41. Bed and Breakfast by Lois Battle (1996)
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 20 July 2011
Finished: 30 July 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 15 July 2011
Why do I have it? I like stories about family dynamics and Lois Battle is a new author for me.

After her best friend's narrow brush with death, Josie decides that life is too short to hold grudges. She resolves that this year, her family - three grown daughters she has raised carefully with mixed results - will come together for Christmas come what may. I truly enjoyed this book and found it charming. I give it an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - The Lonely Furrow

40. The Lonely Furrow by Norah Lofts (1977)
The Sir Godfrey Tallboys Trilogy Book 3
Length: 308 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 23 July 2011
Finished: 28 July 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 15 July 2011
Why do I have it? I like Norah Lofts as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

This is the third book of the Godfrey Tallboys trilogy, focusing on Sir Godfrey's and his lady's children - specifically Henry Tallboys, who, as the son of a knight,  has chosen to become a farmer. I did like this book, but this was the end of the trilogy and as such, focused quite a bit on the earlier books. I give it an A!


A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - The Lonely Furrow

40. The Lonely Furrow by Norah Lofts (1977)
Sir Godfrey Tallboys Series Book 3
Length: 308 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 23 July 2011
Finished: 28 July 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 15 July 2011
Why do I have it? I like Norah Lofts as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

This is the third book of the Godfrey Tallboys trilogy, focusing on Sir Godfrey's and his lady's children - specifically Henry Tallboys, who, as the son of a knight,  has chosen to become a farmer. I did like this book, but this was the end of the trilogy and as such, focused quite a bit on the earlier books. I give it an A!


A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Ira Levin - Rosemary's Baby

39. Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin (1967)
Rosemary Series Book 1
Length: 245 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 19 July 2011
Finished: 22 July 2011
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 15 July 2011
Why do I have it? I like horror and Ira Levin is a new author for me. Mareena and I had both seen the movie Rosemary's Baby starring Mia Farrow many years ago, and I was curious to see if the book was better than the movie.

Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband, Guy, a struggling actor move into a creepy apartment in Manhattan and discover a coven that sets its sights on the young couple. They are drawn into a history of witchcraft and the occult by the granting of their deepest desires. I loved this book and give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Stephen B. Seager, M. D. - Breathe, Little Boy, Breathe!: An Emergency Room Doctor's Story

38. Breathe, Little Boy, Breathe!: An Emergency Room Doctor's Story by Stephen B. Seager, M. D. (1981)
Length: 195 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 14 July 2011
Finished: 18 July 2011
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 14 July 2011
Why do I have it? I had read and enjoyed Psychward by the same author.

This is the story of Dr. Seager's time as an emergency room doctor. It has funny and touching moments in it. I enjoyed this book very much, although I can see how others might not. It is very simple writing. I give this book an A! and look forward to his next book.

A! - (90-95%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight