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

Cold Mountain: A Novel by Charles Frazier

Published as: Cold Mountain in May 1997

Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press

Birth Name: Charles Frazier

Born: 4 November 1950 in Asheville, North Carolina

Canonical Name: Charles Frazier

Pseudonyms: None

Cold Mountain: A Novel by Charles Frazier was the forty-eighth book that I read in 2014. I have had this book on my TBR shelf since July 20, 2012 and it took me four days to read. This book is currently on several book swapping sites waiting to go to another good home.

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Betty Rollin - Last Wish

50. Last Wish by Betty Rollin (1985)
Length: 236 pages
Genre: Non-Fiction
Started: 28 April 2014
Finished: 29 April 2014
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 April 2013
Why do I have it? I like non-fiction and Betty Rollin is a new author for me.

In a time when tempers flare over Oregon's assisted-suicide law, and the debate still rages on both sides of the issue regarding Jack Kevorkian's physician-aided 'death with dignity' practice - Betty Rollin's groundbreaking New York Times Bestseller, Last Wish is an intimate, fiercely honest memoir of a daughter's struggle to come to terms with her terminally ill mother Ida's, decision to die. More than a simple examination of the ethical, spiritual, and technical aspects of assisted suicide, Last Wish is a celebration of Ms. Rollin's imperfect family, a passionate tribute to Ida's character and courage in the face of adversity, and a compelling argument for the right of the terminally ill to a humane and dignified death.

I must say that while this book certainly is sad, by no means is it written in a morose or depressing way. I found it incredibly poignant and down-to-earth. This family faced an impossible, emotionally grueling situation and dealt with their issues in the most courageous and loving manner possible. I give this book an A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Mary Higgins Clark - All Through the Night: A Suspense Story

49. All Through the Night: A Suspense Story by Mary Higgins Clark (1998)
The Alvirah and Willy Meehan Series Book 2
Length: 170 pages
Genre: Contemporary Mystery
Started: 23 April 2014
Finished: 25 April 2014
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale 
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 1 June 2001
Why do I have it? I like contemporary mysteries and had read and enjoyed Mount Vernon Love Story: A Novel of George and Martha Washington by the same author in the past.

A young unmarried woman leaves her newborn baby on the rectory doorstep of a church on Manhattan's Upper West Side. At that same moment, inside the church, a young man is in the process of stealing a treasured artifact - a chalice adorned with a single star-shaped diamond. Both the infant and the chalice subsequently disappear.

Seven years later, a few weeks before Christmas - lottery winner turned amateur sleuth - Alvirah Meehan and her husband Willy, are busy helping Willy's sister Cordelia - a nun who runs a thrift store that doubles as an after-school shelter for the neighborhood kids - prepare for the upcoming Christmas pageant. However, the shelter's future is threatened when the city condemns the building for that use. Then it is further jeopardized when the nearby brownstone to which the shelter was to be moved turns out to have been willed to a young couple who were already tenants in the building.

Convinced that something suspicious is going on, Alvirah refuses to believe that the will is genuine. She sets out to prove the couple are con artists. Soon she is involved with the mystery of the stolen chalice and child. 

While this was certainly a good story and I enjoyed reading it; I'm not entirely sure what grade to give it. In my opinion, the mystery was perhaps a little simplistic, and the plot seemed slightly hurried - at least to me. I would have preferred it if this story had been slightly longer, so that the plot could be better developed and the characters better drawn and more believable. Overall, I give this book a B+!

B+! - (89-94%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Introducing Schism: The Battle For Darracia by Michael Phillip Cash!

I was delighted to learn recently that four books by Michael Phillip Cash have recently won several awards! Congratulations on such a great achievement, Mr. Cash - it is certainly well-deserved. I have had the pleasure of reading three of Mr. Cash's books, and my daughter Mareena is currently reading his fourth award winner - Schism: The Battle For Darracia. For the next four Fridays, I will be highlighting all of Mr. Cash's award-winning books - and once again, I wish him my heartiest congratulations on such a wonderful achievement!

As I've said before, Mareena is currently reading Schism: The Battle For Darracia and is thoroughly enjoying the book so far; although she is slightly miffed at her slower reading pace. I've told her repeatedly, "Mareena, your reading pace isn't necessarily slower, it's just more leisurely." I'm continually astounded that Mareena can remember details from the plots of several different books in such detail. She likes reading science fiction more than I do, so that's why she's reading Schism: The Battle For Darracia instead of me.

Schism: The Battle For Darracia. by Michael Phillip Cash was a Finalist for the Foreword Review's Book of the Year Award of 2013 in the Science Fiction Category, and also received Second Place for the Rebecca's Reads Readers Choice Awards of 2013 in the Science Fiction Category.

Meet Michael Phillip Cash

Michael Phillip Cash is an award winning and best selling author of horror, paranormal, and science fiction novels. Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island, The Hanging Tree, and Schism: The Battle For Darracia have all been named to Foreword Review's Book of the Year Awards. Michael currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children.

Connect and Socialize with Michael!

Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter

Schism: The Battle For Darracia by Michael Phillip Cash (2013)

Length: 202 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

Schism: The Battle For Darracia Blurb: 

On the planet Darracia, an ever-widening social gap between its inhabitants is causing turmoil that is fracturing a once peaceful world. Struggling with his identity, nineteen year old Prince V'sair must harness the power of the elusive Fireblade, the secret to a warrior's heart, in order to overcome his uncle Staf Nuen's lust for supremacy. Will the energy of the Elements guide the young prince to his true destiny or will Staf Nuen conquer Darracia? 

After the success of his first three books (Brood X, Stillwell, and The Hanging Tree) Michael is fulfilling a dream and creating his own epic fantasy world. Schism: The Battle For Darracia is the first book in a planned series.

Schism: The Battle For Darracia Book Trailer:

 

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Charles Frazier - Cold Mountain: A Novel

48. Cold Mountain: A Novel by Charles Frazier (1997)
Length: 449 pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Started: 18 April 2014
Finished: 22 April 2014
Where did it come from? From a Library Book Sale
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 20 July 2012
Why do I have it? I like historical fiction and have recently developed an interest in the American Civil War. Charles Frazier is also a new author for me.

Critically wounded and severely disillusioned by the fighting at Petersburg, Inman - a Confederate soldier - turns his back on the carnage of the battlefield and begins the treacherous journey to his home in the Blue Ridge Mountains and to Ada, the woman he loved before the war began. As he attempts to make his way across the mountains, through the devastated landscape of a disintegrating South, Inman comes into intimate and sometimes lethal contact with a variety of different people. Slaves and marauders, bounty hunters and witches - people who are both helpful and malign.

At the same time, the intrepid Ada struggles to revive her father's derelict farm. She had once lived a fairly affluent life - now her circumstances have been reduced to subsistence level by such a brutal war. Ada is learning to survive - and hoping to eventually thrive - in a world where all the old certainties have been irrevocably swept away.

As it masterfully interweaves both Inman's and Ada's stories, Cold Mountain: A Novel portrays an era and a landscape that is at once hugely powerful, majestically lovely, and keenly moving. 

In my opinion, this was an absolutely brilliant book - a new American classic. The story was evocative of a time that was incredibly harrowing and brutal for everyone - soldiers and survivors alike. It had a reality and a poignancy to it that I found extremely moving. Cold Mountain: A Novel captures the brutality of the Civil War perfectly - I give it a definite A+! This is a book which stands in a class all its own.   

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

James Patterson and Martin Dugard - The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King

47. The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King by James Patterson and Martin Dugard (2009)
Length: 357 pages
Genre: True Crime
Started: 16 April 2014
Finished: 18 April 2014
Where did it come from? From Paperback Swap
How long has it been on my TBR pile? Since 27 October 2012
Why do I have it? I like true crime and since Mareena also knows how much I'm fascinated by ancient Egypt (particularly the life and death of King Tut), she got this book for me in October of 2012.

Ascending to Egypt's most powerful throne at the tender age of nine, King Tutankhamen's reign sparked debate from the very outset. Behind the palace's veil of prosperity, bitter rivalries and jealousies raged among the Boy King's most trusted advisers, and after only nine years, King Tut suddenly perished, his name effectively purged from Egyptian history. To this day, his death remains shrouded in controversy - a secret buried for centuries.

Enthralled by the ruler's tragic story and hoping to unlock answers to the 3,000 year-old mystery, Howard Carter - an English archaeologist and Egyptologist - made it his life's mission to discover the pharaoh's tomb. He began his search in 1907, but encountered numerous setbacks and countless dead-ends, before he finally, finally uncovered the long-lost crypt and ultimately found the keys to an unsolved mystery.

In The Murder of King Tut, James Patterson and Martin Dugard reveal the clues that point to murder. Digging through all the evidence - X-rays, Howard Carter's files, forensic clues, and stories told through the ages - the authors reveal their own account of King Tut's life and death. The result is an exhilarating true crime tale of intrigue, passion and betrayal that shines a bright light on the most ancient mystery of all.

I've always had an interest in Egyptology, and specifically in King Tutankhamen himself, so reading this book was absolutely fascinating for me. I found all three sections of the book - King Tut's story, Howard Carter's story, and the present-day story of how the book was written - extremely interesting in their own right. I learned so much more about each individual and their own personal histories, as well as the various periods of history, than I already knew before I read this book. I give The Murder of King Tut: The Plot to Kill the Child King by James Patterson and Martin Dugard a definite A+!

A+! - (96-100%)

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight

Introducing The Hanging Tree: A Novella by Michael Phillip Cash!

I was delighted to learn recently that four books by Michael Phillip Cash have recently won several awards! Congratulations on such a great achievement, Mr. Cash - it is certainly well-deserved. I have had the pleasure of reading three of Mr. Cash's books, and my daughter Mareena is currently reading his fourth award winner - Schism: The Battle For Darracia. For the next four Fridays, I will be highlighting all of Mr. Cash's award-winning books - and once again, I wish him my heartiest congratulations on such a wonderful achievement!

I had the pleasure of reading The Hanging Tree: A Novella by Michael Phillip Cash back in October of 2013, and must say, the book was just the right one for me to read for the Halloween Season. The Hanging Tree: A Novella by Michael Phillip Cash was a Finalist for the Foreword Review's Book of the Year Award of 2013 in the Horror Category.

Meet Michael Phillip Cash

Michael Phillip Cash is an award winning and best selling author of horror, paranormal, and science fiction novels. Stillwell: A Haunting on Long Island, The Hanging Tree, and Schism: The Battle For Darracia have all been named to Foreword Review's Book of the Year Awards. Michael currently resides on Long Island with his wife and children.

Connect and Socialize with Michael!

Website * Blog * Facebook * Twitter

The Hanging Tree: A Novella by Michael Phillip Cash (2013)

Length: 90 pages

Purchase your copy from Amazon!

The Hanging Tree: A Novella Blurb:

Enter a world where spirits roam the earth in Michael Phillip Cash's haunting new novella, The Hanging Tree. Set amid the eerie backdrop of Long Island, an area famously steeped in old legend, two young would-be lovers contemplate their future while visits from those who have come before them reveal the lure of fate...and the power of free will. 

At seventeen years old, Arielle's relationship with her parents is slowly deteriorating. Angry and defiant, she is at a loss on how to cope with the tumultuous situation in which she finds herself. Arielle's only comfort is Chad, an eighteen-year-old young man who seems to truly understand her struggles. 

Arielle and Chad meet beneath the low-hanging branches of what the local community has nick-named the "Hanging Tree". An ancient and majestic landmark, it has long been rumored that the tree is haunted by ghosts. These ghosts span various centuries and vary wildly in age, but each one of them has one thing in common: their deaths are all somehow connected to the tree itself. 

As Arielle and Chad commiserate over their current situation and their precarious nature of their future, the spectral inhabitants of the Hanging Tree witness their conversation. One by one, the ghosts begin reminiscing about their own lives - and deaths - as they examine the inner demons with which their human forms long struggled. An eerie meditation on the oft-overlooked power of choice, Cash's The Hanging Tree will stay with readers long after they turn out the light.

The Hanging Tree: A Novella Book Trailer:

 

Till we Meet Again, Glow Brightly as Moonlight