Have a happy St. Patrick's Day!

Facebook Graphics, St. Patrick's Day Graphics at WishAFriend.com

I hope that everyone; old and new friends, online and offline friends, and family from all over, have a wonderful and much blessed St. Patrick's Day. I am truly honored and blessed to have you all in my life! :)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Belva Plain - Crescent City

23. Crescent City by Belva Plain (1984)
Length: 429 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 12 March 2012
Finished: 16 March 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 Belva Plain as an author and have read and enjoyed several  books by this author in the past.


She was the stunning daughter of a wealthy Jewish merchant. From an idyllic childhood in opulent New Orleans, Miriam Raphael would be swept up into the turmoil of the Civil War. Forced to choose between her duties as a Southern wife and mother and her love for a forbidden man and a forbidden cause, Miriam is at the center of a whirlwind of divided loyalties and divided hearts.


I really enjoyed this book. This was the first time that I have read this book, even though I love Belva Plain as an author. This is actually the first book that I've read that takes place during the American Civil War and give it a strong A+!


A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

William Peter Blatty - The Exorcist

22. The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty (1971)
The Exorcist Series Book 1 
Length: 340 pages
Genre: Horror
Started: 7 March 2012
Finished: 11 March 2012
Where did it come from? From Bookmooch
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 6 March 2012
Why do I have it? I like horror and have actually read this book once before many years before and really enjoyed it. Both Mareena and I have seen both the original version and the remastered versions of the movie. Mareena read the book when she was in high school herself and got this book when she thought I gave away my paperback edition. She was kind enough to let me read this book first.


Regan MacNeil is a young girl who is living with her famous actress mother, Chris, when Regan becomes inexplicably ill and she becomes the target of poltergeist activity. As time goes on, Regan becomes fully demonically possessed and in desperation her mother takes her to a Catholic priest who deals with psychiatric issues. Father Damien Karras has recently lost his mother and starts out not truly believing that Regan is actually demonically possessed.


Suffering from a crisis of faith, it only takes a couple of visits with young Regan for Father Karras to begin to suspect possible possession. In trying to get the Catholic Church to perform an exorcism of Regan, Karras turns to a local bishop who initially refuses the exorcism unless Father Karras can contact Father Lankester Merrin to be primary exorcist of Regan. 


The doubt-ridden Father Karras contacts Father Merrin, currently on an archaeological dig in Iraq but who has begun to feel that in time, he will face an immense spiritual battle. Father Merrin returns to the United States and both priests prepare themselves physically, mentally and spiritually for the upcoming battle with something that will drain them almost to the point of death. I really enjoyed reading this book again and give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)


Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Gary Devon - Bad Desire

21. Bad Desire by Gary Devon (1990)
Length: 326 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 1 March 2012
Finished: 7 March 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 contemporary mysteries and Gary Devon is a new author for me.


Mayor Henry Slater may have bitten off a little more than he can chew in his latest extramarital affair. He has promised 17-year-old Sheila that he'd protect her and that there are no impediments to their relationship. But there are - Henry's wife, Sheila's grandmother and a police officer. To fulfill his obsessive desire, Mayor Henry Slater will become a very resourceful and very dangerous man. 


I really enjoyed this book. Gary Devon is a new author in my TBR pile and I give this book an A+! It really showed how desperate and dangerous people can become with their obsessions.


A+! - (96-100%) 

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Norah Lofts - Saving Face and Other Stories

20. Saving Face and Other Stories by Norah Lofts (1983)
Length: 229 pages
Genre: Short Story
Started: 29 February 2012
Finished: 1 March 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 have not read many short stories, but I like Norah Lofts as an author and I have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.


This is a book of nine short stories set in and around the same small English town. I enjoyed this book. I don't usually read that many short stories but I like Norah Lofts as an author and am willing to read anything written by her at least once. I give this book an A+!


A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for February 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 February with 652 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 643 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:

Re-reads
- The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere


Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Change Baby by June Spence
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case by Jack Kneece
- Malice by Danielle Steel
- Dear Doctor Lily by Monica Dickens
- Claudia's Shadow by Charlotte Vale Allen
- My Beloved Son by Catherine Cookson
- Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Miracle by Irving Wallace
- A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- The Mormon Murders by Gregory White Smith and Stephen Naifeh
- The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier
- Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
- The Covenant of the Flame by David Morrell
- The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin

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

Books Read: 9
Pages Read: 2,965
Grade Range: A+! to A!

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

Reading Wrap-up for February 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 February with 658 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 649 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:

Re-reads
- The Angels of Morgan Hill by Donna VanLiere


Changes to the TBR pile 


Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Change Baby by June Spence
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- Family Treason: The Walker Spy Case by Jack Kneece
- Malice by Danielle Steel
- Dear Doctor Lily by Monica Dickens
- Claudia's Shadow by Charlotte Vale Allen
- My Beloved Son by Catherine Cookson
- Now You Know by Kitty Dukakis and Jane Scovell

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! :))
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Miracle by Irving Wallace
- A Father's Story by Lionel Dahmer
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt
- The Mormon Murders by Gregory White Smith and Stephen Naifeh
- The Loving Spirit by Daphne du Maurier
- Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
- The Covenant of the Flame by David Morrell
- The Blackwater Lightship by Colm Toibin

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

Books Read: 9
Pages Read: 2,965
Grade Range: A+! to A!

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