Masquerade – A Book Review

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I’ve put off reviewing Masquerade by Nancy Moser. I wanted to like it. I like other books by the same author (Just Jane and How Do I Love Thee?). I think Moser’s books that are based on a real historical figure are better than those that are completely fiction.

When Lottie is told that she must marry an American whom she has never met in order to salvage what is left of her family’s reputation in Wiltshire, England, she sees all of her dreams of storybook love and romance crumble. Until she devises a plan. Heiress Lottie trades places with her longtime maid, Dora, and together they attempt to pull off the switch of a lifetime (from Amazon’s description).

Maybe it’s that I’m getting really tired of Christian historical fiction. The historical details and settings will vary from book to book, though almost everything I’ve read takes place in either Europe or North America and from around 1700 through 1900. Masquerade takes place in England and New York City in the year 1886.

However, the plot tends to be the same: Christian girl (who is always good looking) has weak faith. Girl meets boy (who is always good looking). She encounters difficulties in her life. She has a shallow, fairly unrealistic conversion scene. Troubles are solved. Boy and girl get together. I know that there are a only a few basic plots. But authors need to do something to break out of sameness!

The characters in this book were annoying. The only character I liked was Dora, the maid who pretends to be a lady in society. And my opinion of her dropped toward the end of the story when I saw how the romance aspect was going to be resolved.

Thank you to Bethany House for allowing me to read this book through the blogging program. Sorry, but I thought it was only a mediocre and forgettable read.

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Monday… again.

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I can’t believe it’s Monday. I was right that I was going to be “off” a day this week. I kept thinking it was Tuesday!

Today I once again attempted my hour of forced productivity. I shut down the computer, set the kitchen timer for an hour, and worked. It was nice! I cleaned the kitchen again (no dirty dishes!), vacuumed, cleaned out the vacuum cleaner, washed a load of laundry, folded clothes, cleaned off the bar counter, filed some paperwork, and started organizing my recipe book.

Remember this lovely binder I found for creating a recipe book? That blog post is from June. My recipes are in that binder, but they are not organized. I don’t use the book much for that exact reason. Today I decided it was time to change that.

I spent a full hour today trying to find the correct template for these tabs and then trying to figure out how to get them to print so that the labels would display on both sides. But they’re so pretty! I ran out of time to actually start sorting the recipes, but it’s a good start. I have tabs for This Week’s Recipes, Breads, Breakfast, Desserts, Entrees, and Salads. I’m not sure those will be the final labels, but I’ll change things around as I figure out what works best.

Tomorrow’s project – Sort through all of the recipes currently in my binder and toss the ones we don’t like or no longer eat. Put the remaining recipes behind the correct tab. Eventually I’ll get them all typed out in OneNote so that they are consistent from one recipe to the next instead of printed from various websites.

It’s amazing how much I can accomplish once I kick myself off the internet.

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Monday… on Sunday!

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Today really felt like Monday. Our air conditioning died yesterday so hubby spent a couple hours this morning at the mechanics’ trying to figure out what is wrong. They needed to dig deeper into the electrical system and hubby had to be at a client’s office at 11:30, so we’re taking the car in on Tuesday. Hubby spent the rest of the day at a client’s office and is just now on his way home.

As for me, I spent a good portion of the day being productive. I closed my laptop and forced myself to work. Nice change! The laptop being closed actually keeps me productive because I know it’s off limits until my break. If the laptop is open and I’m connected to the internet, I will sit down for “just one thing.”

Instead, I ran a couple loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, cleaned out the cat boxes, and made this season’s first pumpkin pie! I’m really excited to taste the pie tonight as the recipe called for freshly grated nutmeg. I actually found a whole nutmeg at the health food store and grated it myself. I’ve never done that before! The fresh spices smelled really good.

With our vacation a few weeks ago, I threw myself off on the habits I was working on. I’m going to start over. As I’m familiar with these habits and just need to get back into the routine, I’m going to work on all three this week. Hopefully that goes well!

Habit #1 – All dishes washed, every day. (Day 1 – check! I’m so happy that the kitchen is clean, even after making a huge mess with the pumpkin pie. I spilled cornstarch all over the counter!)
Habit #2 – Both cat boxes cleaned every day. (I’m switching this habit from the morning to anytime in the day. I found myself more likely to get it done every day if I didn’t have to force myself to do it first thing in the morning.)
Habit #3 – Daily flossing. (Dentist appointment next month!)

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Prayer

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I started reading a book titled Where There is Love, There is God. This is a compilation of Mother Theresa’s writings about God, love, prayer, faith, and other aspects of our relationship with God and with people.

One excerpt from Mother Theresa’s writings really struck me.

“If our life is without prayer, it is like a house without a foundation. The other day I saw a ten storey building, beautiful, completely finished, but they had to break it down because the foundation was only for a one storey building, and they were forced to break it down – and the whole thing was completely painted and everything – but they had to break it down. Our life of prayer… let it be the foundation, the beginning. But then that life of complete surrender and loving trust, these are stories to help us climb closer, closer. And as we come, first thing: that pure heart, and that real union, that complete attachment to Christ, If that is not there, it is like building a ten storey building on a foundation made for only a one storey – and then what happens? It breaks” (pg. 17).

She also said:

“To pray we need a pure heart. Prayer is to be united to God. Why was Mary chosen? Because her heart was clean and prayer will always give us a clean heart. Often during the day, feel the need to pray – when you are washing, studying, that union with Jesus. The more you pray, the more you will love to pray” (pg. 17).

Reading these quotes came right after reading Missie’s post about prayer. Missie is challenging people to set a reminder to pray on the hour, every hour.

Is God trying to tell me something? I think He’s telling me that we need to spend some more time together.

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Japanese studies

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I studied Japanese for over an hour today. It’s hard for me to focus at first because I have to access the internet for my study materials but I get distracted easily. “Let me check my email real quick.” “Oh, yeah. I forgot I was going to check this forum.”

Once I focused on my studying, I couldn’t stop. I listened to a podcast that covered basic compass directions (north, south, east, west). Then I read a lesson about how to conjugate verbs. It’s very different than English. Then I learned how to say “I plan to do something.”

I’m having a lot of fun! If you are studying another language, I have to recommend lang-8. This website allows you to post journal entries in the language you are learning. Native speakers will correct your grammar, word usage, etc. Then you return the favor by correcting others’ entries in English. Best of all, it’s free!

Tomorrow I plan to practice “I plan” and also get started learning the negative conjugations of dictionary form verbs. It sounds complicated!

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Blessings in the rain

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We had a huge storm today! It was beautiful. I know storms like this cause damage but they are also awe-inspiring in a beautiful way. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen a storm of this size move through the area. It was worse than the storm that took out our tree.

For awhile, the storm was mostly thunder and rain. Huge amounts of rain! Then we started getting hail. This video shows a bit of the hail that blew onto our patio.

As quickly as the storm started, it stopped. The clouds shifted and the blue sky was revealed. I thought that was the end of the rain.

An hour later, we had a repeat of the first video! It was intense and I loved it. I turned off the air conditioning and threw open all the doors. The smell of the rain and the sounds of the thunder booming are some of my favorite things in the world.

This was my first attempt at shooting a video specifically for Youtube and my blog. I might try it again sometime.

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2010 Reading Challenges – 3rd quarter update

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I meant to post this yesterday, but I didn’t finish updating the list soon enough. I’m doing well on some challenges and have even completed a couple. I’m also right on track to read 100 books in 2010.

Unfortunately, there are several challenges I am failing miserably on. It is more difficult than I thought to come up with titles that have colors in them! If anyone has any suggestions, I would be very thankful!

Christian Historical Fiction Challenge – COMPLETE!

1. Distant Dreams (Ribbons of Steel, Book #1) – Pella, Judith
2. The Outsider: A Novel – Gabhart, Ann H.
3. Bachelors Puzzle – Pella, Judith
4. Sister’s Choice – Pella, Judith
5. How Do I Love Thee? (Ladies of History, book #4) – Moser, Nancy
6. Just Jane (Ladies of History Series #2) – Moser, Nancy
7. Eighth Shepherd (A. D. Chronicles #8) – Thoene, Bodie
8. Her Mother’s Hope (Marta’s Legacy, #1) – Rivers, Francine
9. Michal – Smith, Jill Eileen
10. The Apothecary’s Daughter – Klassen, Julie
11. Lady of Milkweed Manor – Klassen, Julie
12. The Inheritance – Alexander, Tamera
13. A Lady Like Sarah (A Rocky Creek Romance, #1) – Brownley, Margaret
14. The Hope of Refuge: A Novel (An Ada’s House Novel, Book #1) – Woodsmall, Cindy
15. A Bride Most Begrudging – Gist, Deeanne
16. A Bride in the Bargain – Gist, Deeanne
17. Queenmaker: A Novel of King David’s Queen – Edghill, India
18. The Centurion’s Wife (Acts of Faith Series #1) – Bunn, Davis
19. Ninth Witness (A. D. Chronicles, Book 9) – Thoene, Bodie
20. The Hidden Flame – Bunn, Davis
21. The Courteous Cad – Palmer, Catherine
22. All the Way Home – Tatlock, Ann
23. A Measure of Mercy (Home to Blessing, #1) – Snelling, Lauraine
24. Masquerade – Moser, Nancy

Biblical Fiction Challenge

1. Eighth Shepherd (A. D. Chronicles #8) – Thoene, Bodie
2. Michal – Smith, Jill Eileen
3. Queenmaker: A Novel of King David’s Queen – Edghill, India
4. Ninth Witness (A. D. Chronicles, Book 9) – Thoene, Bodie
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Christian Non-Fiction Challenge – COMPLETE!

1. How Women Help Men Find God – Murrow, David
2. Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement – Spencer, Irene
3. 3:16: The Numbers of Hope – Lucado, Max
4. Radical: Take Back Your Faith from the American Dream – Platt, David
5. Intimate Issues: Twenty-One Questions Christian Women Ask About Sex – Dillow, Linda
6. Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment – Osler, Mark
7. Loving Your Man Without Losing Your Mind – Davis, Susie
8. Love Is A Flame: Stories of What Happens When Love Is Rekindled – Bell, James
9. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, the Respect He Desperately Needs – Eggerichs, Emerson
10. The Jesus You Can’t Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ – Jr., John F. MacArthur

Jane Austen Challenge

1. Emma
2. Emma & Knightley: The Sequel to Jane Austen’s Emma – Billington, Rachel
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma – Birchall, Diana
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Extra – (Related, but doesn’t count toward the challenge) Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders – Ross, Josephine
Extra – The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World – Sullivan, Margaret C.
Extra – Just Jane (Ladies of History Series #2) – Moser, Nancy

Colorful Reading Challenge

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Memorable Memoir Challenge – COMPLETE!

1. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia Gilbert, Elizabeth
2. A Year in Provence Mayle, Peter
3. Sweet Mandarin: The Courageous True Story of Three Generations of Chinese Women and Their Journey from East to West Tse, Helen
4. Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement Spencer, Irene
Extra – A Thousand Days in Venice – de Blasi, Marlena
Extra – Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Kingsolver, Barbara
Extra – Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran – Saberi, Roxana
Extra – Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey – Knize, Perri

South Asian Author Challenge

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Chunkster Challenge

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Support Your Local Library Challenge – Almost every book I read is from the local library. If I read one that isn’t, I’ll mark it with a * in the list below.

100+ Reading Challenge

1. All Through the Night – Bunn, Davis
2. Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia – Gilbert, Elizabeth
3. Distant Dreams (Ribbons of Steel, Book #1) – Pella, Judith
4. A Year in Provence – Mayle, Peter
5. The Outsider: A Novel – Gabhart, Ann H.
6. Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders – Ross, Josephine
7. The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World – Sullivan, Margaret C.
8. The Swiss Family Robinson – Wyss, Johann D.
9. Bachelors Puzzle – Pella, Judith
10. In the Time of the Butterflies – Alvarez, Julia
11. Sister’s Choice – Pella, Judith
12. Shanghai Girls – See, Lisa
13. June Bug – Fabry, Chris
14. How Do I Love Thee? (Ladies of History, book #4) – Moser, Nancy
15. The Wisdom Of Eleanor Roosevelt – Wigal, Donald
16. Sweet Mandarin: The Courageous True Story of Three Generations of Chinese Women and Their Journey from East to West – Tse, Helen
17. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto – Pollan, Michael
18. How Women Help Men Find God – Murrow, David
19. Mona Lisa in Camelot: Jacqueline Kennedy and the True Story of the Painting’s High-Stakes Journey to America – Davis, Margaret Leslie
20. Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage – Andersen, Christopher P.
21. Now and Always – Copeland, Lori
22. Cult Insanity: A Memoir of Polygamy, Prophets, and Blood Atonement – Spencer, Irene
23. Knit the Season: A Friday Night Knitting Club Novel – Jacobs, Kate
24. Emma – Jane Austen
25. Emma & Knightley: The Sequel to Jane Austen’s Emma – Billington, Rachel
26. Just Jane (Ladies of History Series #2) – Moser, Nancy
27. A Thousand Days in Venice – de Blasi, Marlena
28. Beguiled* – Gist, Deeanne and Bertrand, J. Mark
29. The Silent Gift – Landon, Michael
30. 3:16: The Numbers of Hope – Lucado, Max
31. Radical: Take Back Your Faith from the American Dream* – Platt, David
32. Pride and Prejudice – Austen, Jane
33. Eighth Shepherd (A. D. Chronicles #8) – Thoene, Bodie
34. Intimate Issues: Twenty-One Questions Christian Women Ask About Sex – Dillow, Linda
35. Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma – Birchall, Diana
36. Her Mother’s Hope (Marta’s Legacy, #1) – Rivers, Francine
37. Michal – Smith, Jill Eileen
38. The Apothecary’s Daughter – Klassen, Julie
39. Lady of Milkweed Manor – Klassen, Julie
40. The Perfect Match (Deep Haven Series #3) – Warren, Susan May
41. The Inheritance – Alexander, Tamera
42. Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment – Osler, Mark
43. The Inheritance – Alexander, Tamera
44. A Lady Like Sarah (A Rocky Creek Romance, #1) – Brownley, Margaret
45. The Hope of Refuge: A Novel (An Ada’s House Novel, Book #1) – Woodsmall, Cindy
46. A Bride Most Begrudging* – Gist, Deeanne
47. A Bride in the Bargain* – Gist, Deeanne
48. Loving Your Man Without Losing Your Mind – Davis, Susie
49. An Amish Gathering: Life in Lancaster County – Wiseman, Beth
50. Sarah’s Garden (Patch of Heaven Novel) – Long, Kelly
51. Queenmaker: A Novel of King David’s Queen – Edghill, India
52. Blind Hope: An Unwanted Dog and the Woman She Rescued* – Meeder, Kim
53. Love Is A Flame: Stories of What Happens When Love Is Rekindled* – Bell, James
54. The Centurion’s Wife (Acts of Faith Series #1) – Bunn, Davis
55. How Sweet It Is – Wisler, Alice J.
56. How to Read a Book – Adler, Mortimer J.
57. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life – Kingsolver, Barbara
58. Leah’s Choice: Pleasant Valley Book One – Perry, Marta
59. The Guinea Pig Diaries: My Life as an Experiment – Jacobs, A.J.
60. Ninth Witness (A. D. Chronicles, Book 9) – Thoene, Bodie
61. The Well-Educated Mind: A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had – Bauer, Susan Wise
62. Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires, the Respect He Desperately Needs – Eggerichs, Emerson
63. Cooking Basics for Dummies – Miller, Bryan
64. The Hidden Flame – Bunn, Davis
65. Real-Life Homeschooling: The Stories of 21 Families Who Teach Their Children at Home – Barfield, Rhonda
66. The Courteous Cad – Palmer, Catherine
67. All the Way Home – Tatlock, Ann
68. Between Two Worlds: My Life and Captivity in Iran – Saberi, Roxana
69. The Jesus You Can’t Ignore: What You Must Learn from the Bold Confrontations of Christ* – Jr., John F. MacArthur
70. A Measure of Mercy (Home to Blessing, #1) – Snelling, Lauraine
71. Grand Obsession: A Piano Odyssey – Knize, Perri
72. Masquerade* – Moser, Nancy
73. The Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands – Schlessinger, Laura
74. The Great Conversation: The Substance Of A Liberal Education (Great Books Of The Western World, Volume 1) – Hutchins, Robert Maynard
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A couple random thoughts

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I can’t believe September is almost over. Even being a homemaker, time seems to fly. There are so many things I want to do but only so much time in a day. I guess that means prioritizing the things I do, deciding what is truly important and what I shouldn’t waste my time on.

These days, I spend most of my productive time cleaning the house, studying Japanese, and exercising. My quilting has taken the back burner as has most of my reading. I think I need to limit my internet time so that I can tackle some of the other things I wish I had time for. There’s really no reason for me not to get everything done.

Today has not been so productive, which is party my fault and partly out of my control. I have spent too much time on the internet plus hubby and I watched the first episode of The Biggest Loser while we were eating lunch. There’s nothing like watching people eat greasy food and reap the results to prevent me from going back for seconds (even of my fairly healthy food)!

But, hubby’s phone has been ringing all day long with clients and coworkers calling. When that happens, I have to be quiet and there goes most of my housework! At least I was able to fold all of the laundry. Now I need to finish washing the dishes and start making dinner.

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What’s On My Nightstand – October

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What's On Your Nightstand I’ve read quite a bit this month but most of the books are more challenging than my normal reading. Thus, I’ve not read quite as many titles. I have a feel October will be like that as well.

This is what I’m going to attempt in October, but I know I will not complete all of these.

These are not all of my books. The open book is my husbands as he is learning C#. No idea what that is, but he calls it “light reading!” He also has a couple of other art and computer books in that stack, so I’m not completely insane!

My priority books:
The Importance of Being Earnest – I have seen two movie adaptations of this play and I loved them both. It’s time I read the play!

How to Read and Why – I’ve read How to Read a Book and I’ve heard How to Read and Why is also very good.

The History of the Ancient World: From the Earliest Accounts to the Fall of Rome – I don’t plan on reading this entire book, but I do want to start it. Even though I progressed through the normal history classes in elementary and high school, plus another year or so in college, I feel ignorant. I want to match up Biblical history with the rest of the world, to gain an idea of what else is going on during the time of Abraham, David, and Christ. I want to put the Bible in context!

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First day back at work!

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I’m so excited to be “back” from vacation, though I didn’t leave the city. I took a break from almost everything productive for an entire week. Very little cleaning or laundry, no Japanese, no shopping, nothing. It was nice but by Thursday morning I was actually starting to miss a nice clean house!

Now I have tons to do to catch back up. Today I exercised, studied Japanese for an hour, ran a load of dishes (still more to do), washed and dried 2 loads of laundry (I have a huge pile to iron), and caught up on some emails that desperately needed to be sent.

Tomorrow I’ll be finishing up the kitchen, ironing a LOT of clothes, and whatever else I have time for. I know I’m not going to catch up in one day as it took more than one day to make a mess. But it’s nice to see some progress being made!

I’ve resolved that next time we take time off from work, I’ll spend an hour a day to keep the very basics of cleaning up to date. Yup.

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