Firefly Beach: A book Review

Title: Firefly Beach
Author: Luanne Rice
Pages: 379
Personal Rating 4/5
Number read for the Year: 34


From the Back cover: Coolly sophisticated and steadfastly single, Caroline Renwick has always been the sister everyone could count on. As she and Clea and Skye gathered at Firefly hill, their childhoos home, caroline thought that they had all put the past behind them. But as summer gets underway, a mysterious man arrives- a man who has the power to bring it all back...

Joe Connor was only six when his father dies at Firefly hill. Though he and Caroline had never met, the five year old girl reached out to him. They became pen pals, and friends, untill a teenaged Joe finally learned the truth about what had happened to his fatehre that night. Now after years of silence, Joe is suddenly here...and Caroline feels a connection. But she can't help but wonder if this handsome man hold the key to her family's healing- or it's destruction. And in his presence, how long will she be able to guard her heart?


Personal Thoughts and Review: I am a long time fan of this author, I have read about 9 or 10 of her other works, and she brings me into her characters world quickly and fully. I find myself totally emersed in their feelings, and story, their pain, and anger, and their happiness too. Her character descriptions are full and leave you with no questions as to who these people are, making the reading experience very enjoyable.

I anticipate enjoying more of Luanne Rice's works in the future.

Jane Eyre: A Book Review

Title: Jane Eyre
Author: Charlotte Bronte
Pages: 461
Personal Rating:5/5
Number read for the year: 31

From the Back cover:With her 1847 novel, Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte created one of the most unforgettable heroines of all time. Jane Eyre is an orphan, penniless and plain, but full of courage and spirit. She has endured incredible hardship to secure her humble status as a governess in the household of her brooding employer, Mr. Rochester. Jane's sharp wit, and defiant nature meet with Rochester's sardonic temperament. The two become enmeshed in a deep, intense bond. but Rochester has a terrible secret- a remnant from his past that could threaten any hope of happiness with his only love.

An unconventional love story that revolutionized the scope of romantic fiction, Jane Eyre is ultimately the tale of one woman's fight to claim her independence and self respect in a society that has no place for her.

Personal Thoughts and Review: Amazing!!! I, a few years ago made a pact to get more classics and worthy reading into my reading diet, and I have found few that are not totally amazing, and worth the time! The Bronte Sisters are truly a talented lot, and Jane Eyre was hard for me to set down. I enjoyed it alot.

It is hard to believe that in 1848, 4 years after it was published and already very successful, a woman reviewer tore it and it's author to shreds, with allocations of it being "Illegitimate romance" (taken from the introduction by Erica Jong). when even today readers find this books amazing and well worth the read...at least I do!

April: Monthly Run-down

April wasn't a bad month for reading. I set a goal to read 7 books, and I did just that. Here's what I devoured:

1. Weep No more my Lady by Mary higgins Clark
2. Living Dead in Dallas By: Charlaine Harris
3. Leaving Ireland By: Ann Moore
4. Stillwatch by Mary Higgins Clark
5. The Magnificent Ambersons By: Booth Tarkington
6. The Kite Runner By: Khaled Hosseini
7. A Cry in the Night By: Mary Higgins Clark

TBR challenge: 1
Classics: 1
Pulitzer: 1

I read alot of Mary Higgins Clark, as I had a three in one book of hers, I actually have another one as well in my TBR shelf that I may get to later on this year. I was pleasantly surprised that I met my goal to read 7 books this month.

Yearly book count: 30
Yearly page count: 10,059

Book Review: "The Kite Runner"

Title: The Kite Runner
Author:Khaled Hosseini
Pages:372
Personal Rating: A or 5/5
Number read for the year: 29


Goodreads review:An epic tale of fathers and sons, of friendship and betrayal, that takes us from the final days of Afghanistan’s monarchy to the atrocities of the present.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, The Kite Runner is a beautifully crafted novel set in a country in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption. And it is also about the power of fathers over sons -- their love, their sacrifices, their lies.
The first Afghan novel to be written in English, The Kite Runner tells a sweeping story of family, love, and friendship against a backdrop of history that has not been told in fiction before, bringing to mind the large canvasses of the Russian writers of the nineteenth century. But just as it is old-fashioned in its narration, it is contemporary in its subject -- the devastating history of Afghanistan over the past thirty years. As emotionally gripping as it is tender, The Kite Runner is an unusual and powerful debut.
Author Biography: Khaled Hosseini was born in Kabul, Afghanistan, the son of a diplomat whose family received political asylum in the United States in 1980. He lives in northern California, where he is a physician. The Kite Runner is his first novel.

Personal Thoughts:Phenominal book!! I don't know why it's been sitting on my TBR shelf for sooooo long, I can't wait to get to A Thousand Splendid Suns! That one is also in my stacks, I bought them at the same time...a few years ago, when they were going through their hayday, it's taken me just now to get to them...this book makes me thank God for allowing me to live in America, and for the men and women in our armed forces who are willing to risk their lives to go into a place like Afghanistan and save those less fortunate, as well as make sure our country stays a free place.

Book Review: "Stillwatch" By: Mary Higgins Clark

Title:Stillwatch
Author: Mary Higgins Clark
Pages: 368
Personal Rating: B or 4/5
Number read for the year: 27

From the insde flap cover: Broadcast journalist, Pat treymore comes to Washington to do a piece on the senator andvice-presidential nominee Abigail Jennings, but also to discover the truth behind her own mysterious past. Despite anonymous warnings to stay away, PAt continues her search- revealin gdark secrets that threaten to end the senators political career...and Pat's life.

My Personal thoughts:This one was ok, not as great as previous ones I've read of hers. But still enjoyable. I gave it a 4/5 rating. It had been sitting on my TBR shelf for quite some time, and I decided I was in the mood for some mystery and went for it.

Book Review: "Living Dead in Dallas"

Title: Living Dead in Dallas
Author: Charlaine Harris
Pages:279
Personal rating:A or 5/5
Number read for the year: 26

From goodreads review: "Cocktail waitress Sookie Stackhouse is on a streak of real bad luck. First, her co-worker gets murdered and no one seems to care. Then Sookie is attacked - and poisoned - late one night by some weird and apparently mythical beast. She only survives because the local vampires roll up and graciously suck the poison from her veins (like they didn't enjoy it). But in return the blood-suckers need a favor.

Which is why Sookie ends up in Dallas, using her telepathic skills to search for a missing vampire, on the condition that her undead friends don't do anything, well, vampiric while she's there. Easier said than done. All it takes is one delicious blonde and one small mistake for things to turn deadly."



Personal Thought:I thought the second one in this series (this one) was better than the first. I think I'm starting to get addicted to this series...oh boy! lol

Book Review: "Leaving Ireland" By Ann Moore

Title: Leaving Ireland
Author: Ann Moore
Pages: 378
Personal Rating: A or 5/5
Number read for the year: 25


From the back Cover:Hoping for a better future, Gracelin O'Malley sets sail from her beloved Ireland- a journey that takes her to a world far different from anything she's ever known. After surviving the difficult voyage, she joins her brother Sean, already much changed by his exciting life in Manhattan. she takes a job in a saloon, learning firsthand the harsh reality of immigrant life and the horrors ofthe Irish tenement district. Haunted by the choices of her past, and desperate for news of the infant son she left behind in County Cork, she finds solace in the friendship of a runaway slave, a woman who has made unspeakable choices of her own. As grace struggles to adapt to her new home, she reunites with a man she once misjudged. With his help, she finds the courage to take a stand against the corruption and injustice around her, but her brave actions threaten the very people she swore to protect.

Personal thoughts: This author was new to me at the beginning of the year, when I read the first one of the Gracelin' O'Malley series. I fell in love with her writing and her characters. There is a third book in the series, and I want to read it eventually, though I don't own it yet. If you have any Irish in your blood, I would suggest this one for you, these novels are rich with Irish History as the story of Gracelin O'Malley unfolds in this delightful series.