My Little (Big) Secret

I've ben keeping a secret from my blog readers. I think though it is time to tell all... especially considering how far things have gone.


Back in April I met a guy.

He liked Tolkien, Doctor Who, reading and theology. Just my kind of guy.

Naturally we started dating. Our favorite dates included going on long walks, watching movies, playing games and debating everything from Tolkien to theology. Most every Sunday he would come and spend time with my family and I.

When he sat through all five hours of Pride and Prejudice with me and then read it... I knew he was the one.  When he put up with my craziness, not to mention my family's craziness.... I knew he was the one. When I drug him through fields, rivers and over fences for a "relaxing" walk and he never complained... I knew he was the one. But most of all, when he said "I love you" and asked me to marry him... I knew he was the one.

So yes... we're engaged!!!!! I'm so excited to start this new journey in my life and I would covet your prayers as Brian and I prepare for marriage.

I cannot help but quote Jane Austen from her novel Pride and Prejudice: “I am the happiest creature in the world. Perhaps other people have said so before, but not one with such justice. I am happier even than Jane; she only smiles, I laugh.”

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Book Review- The Eyre Affair

Finally! I've been recommended this book for years now and I was so excited to get it in the secret santa. It was the first book I picked up this year because I couldn't wait to read it.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Welcome to a surreal version of Great Britain, circa 1985, where time travel is routine, cloning is a reality (dodos are the resurrected pet of choice), and literature is taken very, veryseriously. England is a virtual police state where an aunt can get lost (literally) in a Wordsworth poem, militant Baconians heckle performances of Hamlet, and forging Byronic verse is a punishable offense. All this is business as usual for Thursday Next, renowned Special Operative in literary detection, until someone begins kidnapping characters from works of literature. When Jane Eyre is plucked from the pages of Brontë's novel, Thursday must track down the villain and enter the novel herself to avert a heinous act of literary homicide.

As a book lover, and more specifically a classics lover, I couldn't help but be fascinated by this book. It's a book nerd's dream. As a time travel aficionado this book was also a success.
Thursday Next made a fun protagonist and Acheron Hades a chilling villain. The other characters popping up in the book, like her dad and her uncle I also really enjoyed. The plot and writing was quite clever, though I feel like it sometimes tried to be too clever. The side plot of who wrote Shakespeare was intriguing and it's (semi) conclusion was surprising. I wonder if it gets continued in the next book in the series as I don't feel like we have a proper conclusion for that yet?

Overall I enjoyed it but I did have some qualms. There was some (not a copious amount but it was there) language in it that I didn't appreciate and frankly wasn't necessary. I also really wish that we could have seen more of Thursday's and Landen's relationship because I almost wanted her to get with Braxton instead because I felt like we knew him better. And yes, I get that the whole relationship thing is supposed to be mirroring Jane Eyre and that Braxton is St. John Rivers. However that actually annoyed me as I liked Braxton and I didn't want that analogy drawn because I thought it was unfair to him as he is far better than St. John Rivers.

Overall I'd recommend it. Next time I read it I'll definitely be going through it with whiteout though.

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Top Ten Tuesday FREEBIE!!!

This week's Top Ten Tuesday theme over at Broke and Bookish is a freebie!!!! I wasn't sure what exactly what I wanted to do but as I look back over my lists over the years most of time they are permeated by classics because that's what I mostly read. So today for this freebie theme I thought I would make a list of my Top Ten Favorite Modern Books! By modern I mean in the last couple decades.... in other words... for me, not a classic.... yet! I'm also excluding non-fiction to make my choosing easier. I'm also excluding books published posthumously (ahem Tolkien).
This post is for those of you who for some reason are reading my blog but don't like classics. I made this for you. ;)

1. The Giver (whole series) by Lois Lowry 
2. Rakkety Tamm (whole Redwall series) by Brian Jacques 
3. Harry Potter (whole series) by J.K. Rowling
4. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith 
5. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card
6. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
7. Odd Thomas and Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
8. Binding of the Blades series by L.B. Graham
9. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak 
10. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness (whole series) by Andrew Peterson
11. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
12. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
13. The Martian by Andy Weir 
14. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Could I actually narrow it down to ten? No! Do I ever? No! It was incredibly hard to get this list down to just fourteen. I drew a line at 1990, which helped a little bit. 

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It's Monday! Back to Tea

A couple months ago my parents started complaining I had too much tea (true) and that I never drank it (unfortunately also true). To prove them wrong I started drinking my tea again and to my delight I have rediscovered my first love... tea. I've finished a few of the boxes of tea already, another win so my parents won't complain I have too much. However, last evening I bought another box of tea... it was only one though!
Anyways.... reading.

Currently Reading

• Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas
• Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey

Finished in the past couple weeks

• The Bourne Supremacy 
• Cousin Phyllis by Elizabeth Gaskell (audiobook)
• The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde 

Coming Soon

• A Series of Unfortunate Events- The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket (I read the first book years and years ago and now I'm watching it on Netflix and it's making me want to read the whole series now!)

I'm not sure what else is to come next. I really want to finish Total Truth before I start another non-fiction book but it's pretty long so that may take me awhile. I'll also be starting a new audiobook soon but I'm not sure which one yet. 

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Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant

Almost exactly four years ago my grandma had a stroke. Last week she passed away. In a way it was a relief. She has suffered so much since her stroke and it gives me great joy to know she is not suffering anymore. I derive the greatest joy though from knowing that she is with Christ in heaven.
Grandma was an incredible women. She was the third of fifteen children and naturally helped raise the younger ones. She got her teaching degree and went on to teach a couple of years before meeting my grandpa and marrying him. Grandpa and her celebrated sixty years of marriage, had three children and fourteen grandchildren. Shortly after their sixtieth anniversary grandpa passed away. A couple months ago grandma got to rejoice in her first two great-grandchildren. Grandma found her greatest joy in caring for people. Besides faithfully serving her family, Grandma also served her church and community. She taught Sunday school for about fifty years and was involved in the children's ministry at her church in many other ways as well.
Growing up I remember how patient and self-sacrificing she was. When the family was together for a week she would make three full meals a day BY HERSELF for all twenty plus of us. It was only in the last couple years before her stroke that she would let any of us help her and even then only a little.
There's so much more I could say about my grandmother but I would just echo what my uncle said in her eulogy... Not one of us, her husband, children and grandchildren would be where they are today if it hadn't been for her. It is without a doubt that when she passed away God welcomed her into heaven saying "Well done, good and faithful servant."

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It's Monday! All Things New

It's Monday and a New Year! Currently I'm gone skiing in Colorado with the family and some friends. With the road trip I should be reading a fair amount.
I love the newness of the new year (yeah that sentence read weird). I feel like I can dive into reading with a fresh perspective and renewed energy. I'm excited to see what reading goals I complete this coming year.
A local used bookstore was having an after Christmas sale so naturally I bought more books. A lot of Wodehouse and some Trollope too! I just love books. :)

Currently Reading

• The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum 
• Sacred Marriage by Gary L. Thomas
• Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey

Finished this Past Week

• none :(

Coming Soon

• The Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard 
• The Bourne Ultimatum by Robert Ludlum 

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