Reading Wrap-up For March 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 March with 653 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 646 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from Paperback Swap, Amazon and Bookmooch.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Rereads
- The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Heartbreak Hotel by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Quinn by Iris Johansen
- Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters
- The Best of Dear Abby by Abigail Van Buren
- House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- The Eighth Day by Brooke Leimas
- All For Anna by Nicole Deese
- A Ruling Passion by Judith Michael
- The Empty House by Rosamunde Pilcher
- September by Rosamunde Pilcher
- The End of Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Sleeping Tiger by Rosamunde Pilcher

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- The Books of Rachel by Joel Gross
- Mazes and Monsters by Rona Jaffe
- Kat's Cradle by Karen Kijewski
- Possessions by Judith Michael
- Quinn by Iris Johansen
- The Gathering by Anne Enright
- Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
- The Good Mother by Sue Miller
- Fling by Pamela Beck and Patti Massman

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: 2,448
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

So, there you go! The reading month that was March. 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 March 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 March with 678 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 671 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from Paperback Swap, Amazon and Bookmooch.

Let me try to break down the influx for you:

Rereads
- The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher

Changes to the TBR pile

Read from my TBR pile (Yes! I am a reading machine :))
- Heartbreak Hotel by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Quinn by Iris Johansen
- Gift From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh
- Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters
- The Best of Dear Abby by Abigail Van Buren
- House Rules by Jodi Picoult

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- The Eighth Day by Brooke Leimas
- All For Anna by Nicole Deese
- A Ruling Passion by Judith Michael
- The Empty House by Rosamunde Pilcher
- September by Rosamunde Pilcher
- The End of Summer by Rosamunde Pilcher
- Sleeping Tiger by Rosamunde Pilcher

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- The Books of Rachel by Joel Gross
- Mazes and Monsters by Rona Jaffe
- Kat's Cradle by Karen Kijewski
- Possessions by Judith Michael
- Quinn by Iris Johansen
- The Gathering by Anne Enright
- Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult
- The Good Mother by Sue Miller
- Fling by Pamela Beck and Patti Massman

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: 2,448
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

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

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

Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters

Published as: Audition: A Memoir in May 2008

Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf

Birth Name: Barbara Jill Walters

Born: 25 September 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts

Canonical Name: Barbara Walters

Pseudonyms: None

Audition: A Memoir by Barbara Walters was the twenty-first book that I read in 2013. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since June 30, 2010 although I didn't actually read it until March of 2013. This book took me ten days to read and was sent off to another good home on April 15, 2013.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Jodi Picoult - House Rules

24. House Rules by Jodi Picoult (2010)
Length: 532 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 19 March 2013
Finished: 26 March 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 2 February 2013
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Jacob Hunt is a teenager with Asperger's Syndrome. He is hopeless at reading social cues or expressing himself well to others, although he is brilliant in many ways. Like many children with Asperger's, Jacob has also developed a special focus for a specific subject - in his case, forensic analysis. He is constantly showing up at crime scenes, thanks to the police scanner that he keeps in his room, and telling the police what they need to do...and he's usually right. 

But when Jacob's small town is rocked by a terrible murder, for a change, the police come to Jacob with questions. All the hallmarks of Asperger's - not looking someone in the eye, unexplained tics and twitches, flat affect - can look so much like guilt to law enforcement. Suddenly, Jacob and his family, who only want to fit in, feel the spotlight shining directly on them.

For Jacob's mother, Emma, it's a brutal reminder of the intolerance and misunderstanding that always threatens her family. For his brother, Theo, it's another indication of why nothing is normal because of Jacob. And over this small family the soul-searing question looms: Did Jacob commit murder? 

I enjoyed this book immensely! House Rules is the third book by Jodi Picoult that I've read, and I must say that, in my opinion, each of the books that I've read have been entirely different. The characters have all been fully realized, the plots have been well-written and extremely thought-provoking, and Jodi Picoult is quickly becoming an author who I appreciate reading. I give House Rules by Jodi Picoult an A+! and look forward to reading her next book very soon.

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Abigail Van Buren - The Best of Dear Abby

23. The Best of Dear Abby by Abigail Van Buren (1981)
Length: 252 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 19 March 2013
Finished: 20 March 2013
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 31 January 2013
Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Abigail Van Buren is a new author for me.

Pauline Esther Phillips - also known as Abigail Van Buren - was an advice columnist and radio show host who began writing her 'Dear Abby' advice column in 1956. During her decades writing the column, it became the most widely-syndicated newspaper column in the world, syndicated in 1,400 newspapers around the world with 110 millions readers. Pauline's twin sister, Esther Pauline Lederer - who took over writing the 'Ask Ann Landers' advice column after the death of Ruth Crowley, the first 'Ann Landers' in 1955 - became estranged from Pauline for a long time, after Pauline introduced 'Dear Abby' a few months after Esther began writing 'Ask Ann Landers'. 

Although the sisters publicly reconciled in 1964, acrimony still existed between them until just before Esther's death from blood cancer in June of 2002. The Best of Dear Abby by Abigail Van Buren was actually one of six books written by the popular advice columnist throughout her lifetime. This book is a compilation of the most provocative questions and the wisest and wittiest answers to appear in 'Dear Abby's 33 years of syndication. I give this book an A+!

Abigail Van Buren passed away on January 16, 2013 at the age of 94. She had been battling Alzheimer's Disease for many years. Although her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, had been co-writing the column with Pauline from 1987, Jeanne assumed all writing responsibilities of 'Dear Abby' in 2002 after Pauline was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. 

A+! - (96-100%)   

 Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rosamunde Pilcher - The Day of the Storm

Re-read. The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher (1975)
Length: 264 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Originally Read: 23 July 2010
Re-read Finished: 19 March 2013
Where did it come from? Originally from Bookmooch, although I never realized that my friend Noelene had also given me a copy in April of 2010 in a box of about 25-30 books before her wedding.

 I hadn't read this book in over two years, so I decided that a reread was definitely in order. This book came to me from my friend Noelene, who was going to be getting married on March 17, 2011, and she had to downsize in order to move in with her new husband. This book was one of about 25 or 30 books that Noelene gave me. She is happily married to her husband Dave now for two years! :)

I must say that this was a fast and easy read for me - a sweet story that took me a day to reread. I can now post this book and send it off to someone else to enjoy.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Rosamunde Pilcher - The Day of the Storm

Re-read. The Day of the Storm by Rosamunde Pilcher (1975)
Length: 264 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Originally Read: 23 July 2010
Re-read Finished: 19 March 2013
Where did it come from? Originally from Bookmooch, although I never realized that my friend Noelene had also given me a copy in April of 2010 in a box of about 25-30 books before her wedding.

 I hadn't read this book in over two years, so I decided that a reread was definitely in order. This book came to me from my friend Noelene, who was going to be getting married on March 17, 2011, and she had to downsize in order to move in with her new husband. This book was one of about 25 or 30 books that Noelene gave me. She is happily married to her husband Dave now for two years! :)

I must say that this was a fast and easy read for me - a sweet story that took me a day to reread. I can now post this book and send it off to someone else to enjoy.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight