Anita Shreve - Rescue: A Novel

87. Rescue: A Novel by Anita Shreve (2010)
Length: 305 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 7 September 2013
Finished: 10 September 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 22 August 2013
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and have read and enjoyed several books by this author in the past.

Peter Webster is a rookie paramedic when he pulls a young woman out of a totaled car - a wreck that should have killed her. It's Peter's first rescue that begins a lifelong tangle of love and wreckage. Sheila Arsenault is a gorgeous enigma - streetwise and tough talking, with haunted eyes, fierce desires, and a never-look-back determination. Peter, as straight an arrow as they come, falls for her instantly and entirely.

Sheila haunts his thoughts, and despite his misgivings Peter is soon embroiled in an intense love affair - and in Sheila's troubled world. He and Sheila are married and parents to a baby daughter. Like the crash that brought them together, it all happened so fast.

But can you ever truly save another person? Eighteen years later, Sheila is long gone and Peter is raising their daughter, Rowan, alone. Rowan has been veering dangerously off track, and for the first time in their quiet, orderly life together Peter fears for his daughter's future. His work shows him daily how dangerous the world is; how wrong everything can go within the space of a single second.

All the love a father can give a daughter is suddenly not enough. So, Peter seeks out the only person who may be able to help Rowan, although Sheila's return is sure to unleash all the questions he has been carefully keeping at bay. Questions such as: Why did a mother leave her family? What tore a young family apart? Is there worse damage ahead? How did the marriage of two people so deeply in love unravel? Yes, Sheila's sudden return certainly may be a godsend - or it may be exactly the wrong moment for a lifetime of questions, anger and longing to surface anew.

I'll say it again: I love Anita Shreve as an author! Despite this book being incredibly sad; I thoroughly enjoyed it. I give Rescue: A Novel an A+! - which, as I translated to Mareena, can also be marked as an A+++! This book is a definite keeper for me. 

A+! - (96-100%) 

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Brian Moore - The Doctor's Wife

86. The Doctor's Wife by Brian Moore (1976)
Length: 236 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 4 September 2013
Finished: 7 September 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 5 November 2000
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and Brian Moore is a new author for me.

Sheila Redden is a quiet, middle-aged doctor's wife. She is also on her way from war-torn Belfast to the south of France where her husband Kevin will join her in a few days, so that they can relive their honeymoon of fifteen years ago together. But Sheila had not reckoned on meeting Tom Lowry and finding her life totally transformed.

Ten years her junior, Tom Lowry is an American initially introduced to Sheila by an acquaintance of hers. What follows for both Sheila and Tom, is a brief but incredibly passionate affair that leaves Sheila completely devastated - never expecting that the love that she feels for Tom could become so strong in such a short period of time.

I have to say that I wasn't expecting The Doctor's Wife by Brian Moore to be as good as it turned out to be. Not that I was expecting the book to be awful or anything - I actually learned later that it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1976. However, since this was the first book by Brian Moore that I've ever read, I'll admit that my expectations about The Doctor's Wife started off slightly lower than they would have been had this been the second or third book by Brian Moore that I'd read.

Anyway, I certainly give The Doctor's Wife by Brian Moore an A+! This book was hidden away on my downstairs bookshelf for some time, until I discovered it while moving some books upstairs to look through them. I almost wish that I had read this book several years before now - oh well, better late than never, I suppose. :)

A+! - (96-100%)
   
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Marcia Willett - The Way we Were: A Novel

85. The Way we Were: A Novel by Marcia Willett (2008)
Length: 416 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 1 September 2013
Finished: 4 September 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 22 August 2013
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and Marcia Willett is a new author for me.

It was during a snowstorm in February, 1976 when Tegan - known as Tiggy to her friends - arrived at the remote house on Bodmin Moor. She had lost her partner in a tragic accident and was now alone - and pregnant. Julia, her dearest friend, welcomed her into her warm and chaotic family, and Tiggy slowly started to live again. She awaited the birth of her child, temporarily secure in the supportive love which surrounded her. 

But Tiggy's happiness was destined to be short-lived. Now, nearly thirty years later, when her son is about to become a father himself, the next generation discovers that there are secrets from the past that must be uncovered... 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the characters; the story itself, and the setting as well. I give this book an A! 

A! - (90-95%)
  
Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Judy Merrill Larsen - All the Numbers: A Novel

84. All the Numbers: A Novel by Judy Merrill Larsen (2006)
Length: 269 pages
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Started: 31 August 2013
Finished: 1 September 2013
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 22 August 2013
Why do I have it? I like contemporary fiction and Judy Merrill Larsen is a new author for me.

As a child, Ellen Banks' son Daniel would ask his mother, "How much do you love me?" Ellen would always answer, "I love you all the numbers."

What begins as a beautifully sunny August afternoon on a bucolic lake, suddenly turns tragic when a Jet Ski swerves fatally close to the shore. It's a day Ellen Banks could never have prepared for, a day no mother should ever have to face.

From the moment her son James is killed, Ellen is thrown into a maelstrom of sadness and grief. She now must face the unimaginable prospect of living in a family that has been forever altered while somehow continuing to stay strong for her older son, Daniel. Daniel, who witnessed the fateful accident and blames himself for his younger brother's death.

Ellen's shock and grief soon give way to anger and defiance as lawyers and policemen who once vowed to support her quest for justice succumb to political pressure and back away. Still, Ellen is determined to see the reckless young man pay for his crime and to heal her family's deep wounds. But first she must heal herself.

This was quite a book. Touching and very poignant, the story was an extremely powerful one for me to read. While All the Numbers: A Novel was certainly sad, I enjoyed the book immensely and am eagerly awaiting Judy Merrill Larsen's next book with baited breath. I give this book a blazing A+! 

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Reading Wrap-up For August 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 August with 709 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 698 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from Amazon, Feed Books, Bookmooch, Netgalley, Mareena also lent me a book of hers, and an author sent me his book to review. Mareena and I also went to a Library Book Sale on the 22nd to celebrate my birthday.

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 :))
- Bloodroot by Amy Greene 
- Mindbend by Robin Cook
- A Ship Made of Paper: A Novel by Scott Spencer
- The Red Scream: A Novel of Suspense by Mary Willis Walker 
- Deviltry Afoot by Carol Pritt 
- A Patchwork Planet: A Novel by Anne Tyler
- Brood X: A Firsthand Account of the Great Cicada Invasion by Michael Phillip Cash
- The Sky is Falling: A Novel by Sidney Sheldon
- Sweetwater Creek by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Exceptional Acrostics to Keep You Sharp by Charles Preston
- From a Buick 8: A Novel by Stephen King

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- The Right Wrong Number: A Short Story by Barbara Delinsky
- Every Word: Crossings by Amazon Digital Services
- The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
- The Grey Woman and Other Tales by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
- Curious, if True: Strange Tales by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
- Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon
- The Thing From the Lake by Eleanor M. Ingram
- The Thames Valley Catastrophe by Grant Allen
- The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
- Bleak House by Charles Dickens
- The Haunted House by Charles Dickens
- The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker
- The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker
- Ice Trap: A Novel of Psychological Suspense by Kitty Sewell
- Horn Pattern by Gretta Hines
- The 228 Legacy by Jennifer J. Chow
- Pray For us Sinners by Peter S. Fischer
- The Paradise Trees by Linda Huber
- Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend
- The Back Road by Rachel Abbott
- Preservation Hall by Scott Spencer
- The Rich Man's Table by Scott Spencer
- The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler
- Bound by Blood and Brimstone by D. L. Dunaway 
- Two Sides of a Heartbeat by DeLaine Roberts
- Blue Ribbon Kappa Sudoku Puzzles Magazine: October 2013 by Kappa Press  
- All the Numbers: A Novel by Judy Merrill Larsen
- Black Cross by Greg Isles
- Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm Toibin
- Distant Echoes by Colleen Coble
- Don't Tell by Karen Rose
- Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson
- The Geometry of Sisters by Luanne Rice
- The Hiding Place by David Bell
- House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
- In the Kitchen: A Novel by Monica Ali
- The Loop by Nicholas Evans
- Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
- A New Song by Jan Karon
- One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity by Debbie Macomber
- Rescue: A Novel by Anita Shreve
- Sandcastles by Luanne Rice
- The Sea by John Banville
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- The Summer I Dared: A Novel by Barbara Delinsky
- The Way we Were: A Novel by Marcia Willett
- The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
- Willing by Scott Spencer

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Shock Talk: The Exorcist Files by Bob Larson
- Bloodprint: A Novel of Psychological Suspense by Kitty Sewell
- Nightshade by John Saul
- Mindbend by Robin Cook
- Kitchen Candlecrafting by Ruth Monroe
- Bloodroot by Amy Greene
- Coroner at Large by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona
- North From Rome by Helen MacInnes
- Island Murders by Wanda Canada
- Mystery of Hunting's End by Mignon G. Eberhart
- Brood X: A Firsthand Account of the Great Cicada Invasion by Michael Phillip Cash
- The Eighth Day by Brooke Leimas
- Exceptional Acrostics to Keep You Sharp by Charles Preston

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

Books Read: 11
Pages Read: 3,265
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

So, there you go! The reading month that was August. 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 August 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 August with 734 unread books lying around the house and ended the month with 723 books unread. All the books that I acquired this month came from Amazon, Feed Books, Bookmooch, Netgalley, Mareena also lent me a book of hers, and an author sent me his book to review. Mareena and I also went to a Library Book Sale on the 22nd to celebrate my birthday.

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 :))
- Bloodroot by Amy Greene 
- Mindbend by Robin Cook
- A Ship Made of Paper: A Novel by Scott Spencer
- The Red Scream: A Novel of Suspense by Mary Willis Walker 
- Deviltry Afoot by Carol Pritt 
- A Patchwork Planet: A Novel by Anne Tyler
- Brood X: A Firsthand Account of the Great Cicada Invasion by Michael Phillip Cash
- The Sky is Falling: A Novel by Sidney Sheldon
- Sweetwater Creek by Anne Rivers Siddons
- Exceptional Acrostics to Keep You Sharp by Charles Preston
- From a Buick 8: A Novel by Stephen King

Added to my TBR pile (oh well, you win some and you lose some! Not too bad though, I suppose:))
- The Right Wrong Number: A Short Story by Barbara Delinsky
- Every Word: Crossings by Amazon Digital Services
- The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
- The Grey Woman and Other Tales by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
- Curious, if True: Strange Tales by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
- Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. Braddon
- The Thing From the Lake by Eleanor M. Ingram
- The Thames Valley Catastrophe by Grant Allen
- The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe
- Bleak House by Charles Dickens
- The Haunted House by Charles Dickens
- The Jewel of Seven Stars by Bram Stoker
- The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker
- Ice Trap: A Novel of Psychological Suspense by Kitty Sewell
- Horn Pattern by Gretta Hines
- The 228 Legacy by Jennifer J. Chow
- Pray For us Sinners by Peter S. Fischer
- The Paradise Trees by Linda Huber
- Poor Little Dead Girls by Lizzie Friend
- The Back Road by Rachel Abbott
- Preservation Hall by Scott Spencer
- The Rich Man's Table by Scott Spencer
- The Back Road by Rachel Abbott
- The Bookstore by Deborah Meyler
- Bound by Blood and Brimstone by D. L. Dunaway 
- Two Sides of a Heartbeat by DeLaine Roberts
- Blue Ribbon Kappa Sudoku Puzzles Magazine: October 2013 by Kappa Press  
- All the Numbers: A Novel by Judy Merrill Larsen
- Black Cross by Greg Isles
- Brooklyn: A Novel by Colm Toibin
- Distant Echoes by Colleen Coble
- Don't Tell by Karen Rose
- Friend of the Devil by Peter Robinson
- The Geometry of Sisters by Luanne Rice
- The Hiding Place by David Bell
- House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III
- In the Kitchen: A Novel by Monica Ali
- The Loop by Nicholas Evans
- Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane
- A New Song by Jan Karon
- One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity by Debbie Macomber
- Rescue: A Novel by Anita Shreve
- Sandcastles by Luanne Rice
- The Sea by John Banville
- The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
- The Summer I Dared by Barbara Delinsky
- The Way we Were: A Novel by Marcia Willett
- The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck
- Willing by Scott Spencer

Taken off my TBR pile and sent to a new home (Yay! Happy Dance! :))
- Shock Talk: The Exorcist Files by Bob Larson
- Bloodprint: A Novel of Psychological Suspense by Kitty Sewell
- Nightshade by John Saul
- Mindbend by Robin Cook
- Kitchen Candlecrafting by Ruth Monroe
- Bloodroot by Amy Greene
- Coroner at Large by Thomas T. Noguchi, M. D. and Joseph DiMona
- North From Rome by Helen MacInnes
- Island Murders by Wanda Canada
- Mystery of Hunting's End by Mignon G. Eberhart
- Brood X: A Firsthand Account of the Great Cicada Invasion by Michael Phillip Cash
- The Eighth Day by Brooke Leimas
- Exceptional Acrostics to Keep You Sharp by Charles Preston

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

Books Read: 11
Pages Read: 3,265
Grade Range: A+! to B+!

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

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

Bloodroot by Amy Greene

Published as: Bloodroot in January 2010

Publisher: Vintage

Birth Name: Amy Greene

Born: 2 October 1975 in Morristown, Tennessee

Canonical Name: Amy Greene

Pseudonyms: None

Bloodroot by Amy Greene was the seventy-third book that I read in 2013. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since June 1, 2013 and it took me four days to read. I sent this book off to another good home on August 14, 2013.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight