I'm still pushing ahead!

Just a quick update on my latest reads...

#68-The Scarlet Letter ****
#69-The Swan Theives *****
#70- Every Last One ****
#71-Victorine ****

Only 4 more books to go to reach that 75 books read for the year goal!!! I am SOOO close!!! But I think it is do-able!!

My one regret for the year is that I don't think I will get War and Peace completed. I'm on page 475 of 1455....and If I concentrate on it I don't think I will finish my 75 book schallenge, but I may try anyway!! We shall see...I think at this point I only need to read 20 pages a day of W&P to actually finish it by the end of the year, which seems easy, but it's just pickin' that sucker up!!! And Once I DO pick it up I enjoy it most the time...However, I DID just get a huge library haul the other day (9 books) and am eager to get to them too! Ohhhh too many books, not enough time!!!

Oops!

I have not been keeping up with this blog, since I do all my reading posting at goodreads.com, however, here is the run down for the year so far!

1. Dracula By: Bram Stoker 5/5
2. The Other Queen By: Philippa Gregory 5/5
3. Then Came Heaven By: Lavyrle Spencer 4/5
4. The Inheritance By: Louisa May Alcott 4/5
5. Foul play By: Janet Evanovich 4/5
6. Gracelin O'Malley By: Ann Moore 5/5
7. My Sunshine By: Catherine Anderson 5/5
8. Catch-22 By: Joseph Heller 4/5
9. A Girl's Best friend By: Kristin Billerbeck 4/5
10.The Little Giant of Aberdeen County By: Tiffany Baker 5/5
11.Moral Disorder By: Margaret Atwood 5/5
12.The Restoration By: Douglas Liversidge 3/5
13.A modest Proposal By: Jonathan Swift 5/5
14.Little Women By: Louisa May Alcott 5/5
15. The Historian By: Elizabeth Kostova 4/5
16. Dead Until Dark By: Charlaine Harris 4/5
17. Water Dancers By: Terry Gambler 4/5
18. Captivated By: Nora Roberts 3/5
19. Anna Karenina By: Leo Tolstoy 5/5
20. Cutting For Stone By: Abraham Verghese 5/5
21. The Portrait of a Lady By: Henry James 4/5
22. Two For the Dough By:Janet Evanovich 3/5
23. People of the Wolf By:W. Michael & Kathleen Gear 5/5
24.Weep No More, My Lady By: Mary Higgins Clark 5/5
25.Leaving Ireland By:Ann Moore 5/5
26.Living Dead in Dallas By: Charlaine Harris 5/5
27.Stillwatch By: Mary Higgins Clark 4/5
28.The Magnificent Ambersons By: Booth Tarkington 5/5
29.The Kite Runner By:Khaled Hosseini 5/5
30. A Cry in the Night By:Mary Higgins Clark 3/5
31. Jane Eyre By: Charlotte Bronte' 5/5
32. Wicketts Remedy By: Myla Goldberg 4/5
33. Three To Get Deadly By: JAnet Evanovich 4/5
34.Firefly Beach By: Luanne Rice 4/5
35. The worlds Most Haunted Places By: Jeff Belanger 5/5
36.Wizards First Rule By: Terry Goodkind 5/5
37.Gilead By: Marilynne Robinson 4/5
38. Vanishing Acts By Jodi Picoult 5/5
39.Mother of Pearl By: Melinda Haynes 2.5/5
40. C is for Corpse By Sue Grafton 4/5
41. Great Expectations By: Charles Dickens 5/5
42. Outer Banks By: Anne Rivers Siddons 5/5
43. Keeping the Moon By: Sarah Dessen 4/5
44. The Diary of a Young Girl Anne Frank By: Anne Frank 5/5
45.Moment to Moment by: Barbara Delinsky 4/5
46. Little house in the Big Woods By: Laura Wilder Ingalls 5/5
47.Little House on the Prairie By: Laura Wilder Ingalls 5/5
48. Farmer Boy By: Laura Ingalls Wilder 5/5
49. Haunted Theaters By: Barbara Smith 5/5
50. On the Banks of Plum Creek By Laura Ingalls Wilder 5/5
51. Talking to Depression By: Claudia Strauss 4/5
52. Miss Julia Throws a wedding By: Ann B. Ross 5/5
53. Miss Julia Hits the Road By: Ann B. Ross 5/5
54. Miss Julia's school of Beauty By Ann B. Ross 4/5
55. Montana Sky By: Nora Roberts 5/5
56. Savannah Blues By: Mary Kay Andrews 5/5
57. Downtown By: Anne Rivers Siddons 5/5
58. Haunted Hotels By:Jo-Anne Christensen 5/5
59. Ramona the Pest By: Beverly Cleary 5/5
60.The Mystery at Lilac Inn 5/5
61.Harriet the Spy By: Louise Fitzhugh 5/5
62.D is for Deadbeat By: Sue Grafton 4/5
63.E is for Evidence By: Sue Grafton 4/5
64.The Bungalow Mystery By: Carolyn Keene 4/5
65.F is for Fugitive by: Sue Grafton 4/5
66. Haunted Houses By: Edrick Thay 5/5
67. Four to score By: Janet Evanovich 4/5



I am part of a group at goodreads called the 75 book challenge, where we try to read 75 books for the year. I am SOOOO close...only 8 more books to go!! I probably would have already met the challenge, except that I had to take 1 or 2 months off from serious reading for a bout of morning sickness, so that slowed me down a bit. Lately I have been slow in my reading, for some reason. It seems the closer I get to the end of the challenge, the further away the end gets!!! But I am sure I can meet the challenge, just need to focus a bit more on reading, instead of SIMS 3, or Facebook games.

Also, I have been really focusing more on my cross stitching, than reading it seems, since the baby will be here in about 4 months, I have been trying to get some things stitched up for her!

July: Monthly Rundown

Due to morning sickness I only got to 4 this month:

1. Outer Banks
2. Keeping the Moon
3. Anne Frank: the diary of a young girl
4. Moment to Moment

Re-Read: 1
Classic: 1
Dr. Boxalls list: 1

June: Monthly Rundown

This month proved to be a much more productive reading month than last month! I got 7 done!

1. The Worlds Most Haunted Places
2. Wizards first rule
3. Gilead
4. Vanishing Acts
5. Mother of Pearl
6. C is for Corpse
7. Great Expectations


TBR challenge: 2
Classics: 1
Paranormal: 1
Pulitzer: 1

New Genre: 1

May: Monthly Rundown

This was a SLOOOOW month for reading. Just how slow? 4 books! I only got 4 books read, and one of them was an audio! Freakin' FB!!

1. Firefly Beach By: Luanne Rice
2. Jane Eyre By: Charlotte Bronte
3. Wicketts Remedy by: Myla Goldberg
4. Three to Get Deadly By: Janet Evanovich

TBR challenge: 1
Dr. boxasll's List: 1
Classic: 1
Audio: 1

Yearly book count: 34
Yearly page count: TBA

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!