Rosamunde Pilcher - Winter Solstice

57. Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher (2000)
Length: 454 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 13 July 2012
Finished: 16 July 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 Rosamunde Pilcher as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Elfrida Phipps, once a famous actress on the London stage, retires at age 62 and moves to the sleepy Hampshire village of Dibton. She never anticipates going off with a man. But after a devastating tragedy, her first friend from when she arrived in Dibton, Oscar Blundell - the church organist - asks her for companionship. So, with her brown-and-white dog in tow, Elfrida begins her journey.

What she doesn't realize is that also joining her and Oscar in the rundown Victorian mansion in Scotland, will be Carrie, a young woman with a broken heart recently returned from Australia after ending her affair with a married man. Joining her will be her young teenage cousin Lucy, who Carrie has agreed to look after, when she discovers that her mother and aunt are constantly squabbling. Sam Howard is an American whose wife leaves him for another man. He is a man without a home and without roots, so when his job sends him to Scotland, he jumps at the chance to go.

He falls in love with the lush, craggy landscape and sets his sights on a house. These five very different people - Sam, Carrie, Lucy, Elfrida and Oscar - will form firm friendships that will change all their lives forever. I really enjoyed this book. It was a first time read for me - the writing was beautiful and it flowed along nicely for me. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rosamunde Pilcher - Winter Solstice

57. Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher (2000)
Length: 454 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 13 July 2012
Finished: 16 July 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 Rosamunde Pilcher as an author and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Elfrida Phipps, once a famous actress on the London stage, retires at age 62 and moves to the sleepy Hampshire village of Dibton. She never anticipates going off with a man. But after a devastating tragedy, her first friend from when she arrived in Dibton, Oscar Blundell - the church organist - asks her for companionship. So, with her brown-and-white dog in tow, Elfrida begins her journey.

What she doesn't realize is that also joining her and Oscar in the rundown Victorian mansion in Scotland, will be Carrie, a young woman with a broken heart recently returned from Australia after ending her affair with a married man. Joining her will be her young teenage cousin Lucy, who Carrie has agreed to look after, when she discovers that her mother and aunt are constantly squabbling. Sam Howard is an American whose wife leaves him for another man. He is a man without a home and without roots, so when his job sends him to Scotland, he jumps at the chance to go.

He falls in love with the lush, craggy landscape and sets his sights on a house. These five very different people - Sam, Carrie, Lucy, Elfrida and Oscar - will form firm friendships that will change all their lives forever. I really enjoyed this book. It was a first time read for me - the writing was beautiful and it flowed along nicely for me. I give it an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Cathy Lee Crosby - Let the Magic Begin: Opening the Door to a Whole New World of Possibility

56. Let the Magic Begin: Opening the Door to a Whole New World of Possibility by Cathy Lee Crosby (1997)
Length: 363 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 5 July 2012
Finished: 12 July 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 autobiographies and I was curious about Cathy Lee Crosby's life.

Cathy Lee Crosby is an internationally known and multi-talented actress, writer, producer and philanthropist. She was a seventh-ranked professional tennis player who went on to star in 60 feature films, three off-Broadway plays and was co-host of the television series That's Incredible! during the 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1995, four major life events occurring in quick succession - the death of her grandmother, contracting Epstein-Barr Syndrome, her divorce from football star Joe Thiesman and declaring bankruptcy when Joe sued her for half of all her assets - led Cathy Lee Crosby into a realm of darkness and despair. This book follows her struggle back to what she calls "The Bliss Zone" - the place of inner peace, contentment and the pure "magic" of life.

I must say that this was the first time that I had actually read this book, after having it on my downstairs bookcase for about three years. I normally love autobiographies, and while this particular book started out very strongly, about halfway through it became bogged down (at least in my opinion) with Cathy Lee's metaphysical and 'New Age' practices. I believe in the miraculous, and in the little coincidences of life - please don't misinterpret my thinking on that score - I just don't believe that everything is ultimately a 'sign from the cosmos' to be dissected and studied down to the last minutest detail.

I did enjoy parts of this book, however I found that at certain points in this book Cathy Lee Crosby became somewhat of a name dropper and that ultimately lessened my enjoyment of the book. I give this book a strong B+! and look forward to potentially passing it on to another interested reader of non-fiction.

B+! - (89-94%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Stephen White - Privileged Information

55. Privileged Information by Stephen White (1991)
The Alan Gregory Series Book 1
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 2 July 2012
Finished: 5 July 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 Stephen White is a new author for me.

Clinical psychologist Dr. Alan Gregory faces professional and personal disgrace when several of his attractive female patients are found dead. When the first murder victim is found with a diary detailing her bizarre sexual infatuation for Dr. Gregory, he becomes the prime suspect in the investigation. As more of his patients are murdered, Alan faces a dilemma, the evidence that will clear his name is privileged information that he can't reveal at the risk of breaching his professional ethics. But in order to save his life, Dr. Gregory must discover which of his patients is a potential killer.

I have had this book on my bookshelf for about three years and have only just sat down to read it. I'm so glad that I did as it was truly an engrossing read that I almost didn't want to end. I give this book an A+! and look forward to tracking down more of Stephen White's books to read. There are now about nineteen or twenty books in the Alan Gregory Series, and I can't wait to read more from Stephen White.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Morris L. West - Summer of the Red Wolf

54. Summer of the Red Wolf by Morris L. West (1971)
Length: 308 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 28 June 2012
Finished: 1 July 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 fiction and Morris L. West is a new author for me.

A writer, accustomed to writing about the troubled spots of the world and living in the hustle and bustle of the cities, decides to take time off in order to recharge his spirit and find a certain peace of mind. He travels to the Western Outer Isles of Scotland, known as the Outer Hebrides, and settles in and around the islands of Lewis and Harris. His arrival to the area and his friendships with two young men, as well as his love for one young woman, Kathleen, provide the spark that ignites a drama of madness and terror that forever changes all their lives.

I really enjoyed this book, the first of Morris L. West's works that I've ever actually read although I may have some of his other books on my bookshelves downstairs. They are so well-hidden that I haven't actually investigated very well. I give this book an A+! and look forward to finding out whether I actually do have any more of Morris L. West's books around. He is an Australian author whose earlier life sort of mirrors my late husband's - as my husband spent roughly five years studying to become a priest, but left before he took his final vows.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up for June 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 June with 636 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 627 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from Paperback Swap and Bookmooch.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Rereads
- Devil's Gate by Elizabeth Ergas

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- The Servant by Robin Maugham
- The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe
- The Letters by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger
- Wife Found Slain by Caroline Crane
- The Hampton Sisters by Bernard F. Conners
- Hollywood's Greatest Love Stories by Dick Kliener
- The Rector's Wife by Joanna Trollope
- Sunset in St. Tropez by Danielle Steel

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- Rage by Elizabeth Ergas
- The Bait by Dorothy Uhnak
- Chill of Summer by Carol Brennan
- A Child's Garden of Death by Richard Forrest
- Skyward by Mary Alice Monroe
- Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
- The Uncanny by Andrew Klavan
- Girl in the Mirror by Mary Alice Monroe
- Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News by Gwenda Blair

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
- Walking Shadow by Robert B. Parker
- The First Victim by Ridley Pearson
- Legion by William Peter Blatty
- Dead Run by Erica Spindler
- Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
- The Servant by Robert Maugham
- Darkness Falls by Joyce Anne Schneider
- Just Tell me What You Want by Jay Presson Allen
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- A Sight For Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell
- Endless Night by Agatha Christie
- All Heads Turn as the Hunt Goes By by John Farris
-The Great Fire by Monica Dickens

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: 2,366
Grade Range: A+! to A!

So, there you go! The reading month that was June. 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 June 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 June with 636 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 627 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from Paperback Swap and Bookmooch.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Rereads
- Devil's Gate by Elizabeth Ergas

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- The Servant by Robin Maugham
- The Book Club by Mary Alice Monroe
- The Letters by Luanne Rice and Joseph Monninger
- Wife Found Slain by Caroline Crane
- The Hampton Sisters by Bernard F. Conners
- Hollywood's Greatest Love Stories by Dick Kliener
- The Rector's Wife by Joanna Trollope
- Sunset in St. Tropez by Danielle Steel

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- Rage by Elizabeth Ergas
- The Bait by Dorothy Uhnak
- Chill of Summer by Carol Brennan
- A Child's Garden of Death by Richard Forrest
- Skyward by Mary Alice Monroe
- Rise and Shine by Anna Quindlen
- The Uncanny by Andrew Klavan
- Girl in the Mirror by Mary Alice Monroe
- Almost Golden: Jessica Savitch and the Selling of Television News by Gwenda Blair

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Mystic River by Dennis Lehane
- Walking Shadow by Robert B. Parker
- The First Victim by Ridley Pearson
- Legion by William Peter Blatty
- Dead Run by Erica Spindler
- Thornyhold by Mary Stewart
- The Servant by Robert Maugham
- Darkness Falls by Joyce Anne Schneider
- Just Tell me What You Want by Jay Presson Allen
- The Haunted Mesa by Louis L'Amour
- A Sight For Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell
- Endless Night by Agatha Christie
- All Heads Turn as the Hunt Goes By by John Farris
-The Great Fire by Monica Dickens

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: 2,366
Grade Range: A+! to A!

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