Monica Dickens - Dear Doctor Lily

16. Dear Doctor Lily by Monica Dickens (1988)
Length: 448 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 16 February 2012
Finished: 21 February 2012
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 18 November 2009
Why do I have it? I like Monica Dickens as an author and have read and enjoyed two of her other books.


Two young women, Lily and Ida, meet on a flight to America and embark on a friendship that will see them through two very different marriages, and will bring them much comfort and distress, joy and heartache throughout the years as their friendship unfolds. I have to say that I really loved this book. It was extremely nostalgic for me to read. I give this book an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Danielle Steel - Malice

15. Malice by Danielle Steel (1996)
Length: 352 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 13 February 2012
Finished: 15 February 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 April 2009
Why do I have it? I like Danielle Steel as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.


Grace Adams is a woman with a past full of deep, dark, hurtful secrets. A stunning beauty, daughter of an influential lawyer, she has spent the last years nursing her dying mother through her final battle with cancer. On the night of her mother's funeral, she is brutally raped by her father and, after years of such repeated abuse, she snaps and kills him. 


Only 17 years old, she faces the death penalty in a town that is only too willing to believe in and continually perpetrate the supposedly perfect reputation of her father, even if it means prison for Grace. After her release two years later, she tries to pick up the pieces of her life. Eventually, she falls in love with and marries Charles Mackenzie, an up-and-coming politician and they start a family together.


During an important campaign, a tabloid releases the sordid story of Grace's past as well as several explicit photos of Grace taken while she was drugged. This leaves their family reeling; with Charles's campaign in shambles and Grace's life crumbling around her. I really enjoyed this book. It was a departure from Danielle Steel's other work and I give it an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Jack Kneece - Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case

14. Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case by Jack Kneece (1986)
Length: 240 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 11 February 2012
Finished: 13 February 2012
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2009
Why do I have it? I like true crime and Jack Kneece is a new author for me.


This book chronicles the life of John Walker, a former Navy warrant officer who was the mastermind behind a family spy ring that included his son and brother. He and his family was directly responsible for jeopardizing American security throughout the 17 years that they were actively spying for the Russians. I really enjoyed this book even though I don't usually like books about espionage. I found that it got extremely technical towards the end of the book and I have to say that I was shocked by the outcome of the Walker case. I give this book an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Louis L'Amour - The Haunted Mesa

13. The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour (1987)
Length: 368 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 8 February 2012
Finished: 10 February 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? Mareena had bought this book for me as an early Christmas present in 2009, not knowing that I had a second copy hidden away which I bought two years before. :)


The Navajo called them the Anasazi, an enigmatic tribe of southwestern cliff dwellers that disappeared many centuries ago. Their sudden disappearance baffled historians. Summoned to a dark, desolate desert plateau by a letter from an old friend, renowned investigator Mike Raglan is drawn in to a world of mystery, violence and mysticism. He will eventually learn the astonishing legacy of the Anasazi, but not without a high cost to himself and his friends. 


I did enjoy this book because it definitely started out very mysteriously and strange. However, as I read through it, it began to rely more and more on science fictional elements that I didn't really like all that much. Mareena said that she bought this book for me for Christmas because she thought I might like the mystery and ghostly horror of it. I had never read Louis L'Amour before and I'm certainly glad that I read this book but I generally thought of him more as an author of Westerns. I think that he has a wonderful writing style though. I give this book a strong A!


A! - (90-95%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Donna VanLiere - The Angels of Morgan Hill

12. The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere (2006)
Length: 320 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 4 February 2012
Finished: 7 February 2012
Where did it come from? From Walmart
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 12 January 2009
Why do I have it? I like historical fiction and Mareena bought this book for me as a present.


It's 1947. Nine-year-old Jane Gable first lays eyes on Milo Turner the day her alcoholic and abusive father is laid to rest. The Turner family is the first black family to live in Morgan Hill and Jane can't understand why people are so bitter. For Jane and her brother John, Milo is just a new friend and playmate.


Then tragedy strikes the Turner family and the Gables are asked to make a decision that could rip their family apart. One path may open up a whole new world for them and bring them closer together, the other may bring them trouble and heartache. As Jane struggles to make sense of the many changes that have come to her community, she will discover that she is surrounded by many angels who are ready to help her in the most ordinary and extraordinary ways.


I really liked this book and thought that it was a very easy read. I enjoyed this book so much because everything comes right. This is the second time that I've read this book and I give it an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

June Spence - Change Baby

11. Change Baby by June Spence (2004)
Length: 240 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 1 February 2012
Finished: 4 February 2012
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 contemporary fiction and June Spence is a new author for me.

Avie Goss is a 'change baby', a baby born to her mother late in life. She has been born almost a generation after her two siblings and truly cannot find her own place in her family. When her mother almost dies in a house fire, Avie returns home to the peaceful Southern lifestyle that she strove to leave behind forever after college. As she cares for her ailing mother, Avie begins to unravel the story of who she is and to discover the secrets of a disappearing picture of life as it used to be. Slowly, as she uncovers her family's legacy, she begins to build a new life for herself in a landscape with which she must come to terms.

I enjoyed this book and as I said, June Spence is a new author for me. I had started this story a few years ago and put it aside after reading a couple of pages. Don't let that scare you though, I really enjoyed this book and give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

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 665 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 655 books unread. All of the books that I acquired this month came from Bookmooch and Paperback Swap.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Re-reads
- A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer
- The Copper Beech by Maeve Binchy


Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- To the Devil a Daughter by Dennis Wheatley
- Winter Harvest by Norah Lofts
- The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier
- The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers
- Trust by Kate Veitch
- Hill Towns by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Crossroads by Belva Plain
- Fortune's Hand by Belva Plain

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
- Legacy of Silence by Belva Plain
- Daybreak by Belva Plain


Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- The Defense Never Rests by F. Lee Bailey
- The Spanish Bridegroom by Jean Plaidy
- Insomnia by Stephen King
- To the Devil a Daughter by Dennis Wheatley
- The Murderer's Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers
- Easy Peasy by Lesley Glaister
- Beach Roses by Jean Stone
- Madman in the Mirror by A. J. Gallant

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: 3,587
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