'A' Is For Alibi by Sue Grafton

This book was all over the place for me. The story line was really interesting and it took me awhile to figure out the "who done it", which I always appreciate it. Though I'm not sure this was Grafton's intent when writing this book, I found it an interesting portrait of feminism in 80s California. 

The down side of this book was the language. I was told it was very accurate for the culture, but as a writer, I feel like it went a little overboard. I also found some of the descriptions unnecessary and cumbersome, though beautiful at times. The writing style was just a bit weird for me I think. I also was really annoyed with the sex because of the involvement with someone in the investigation and her calling it "making love" when it was anything but. 

The ending was interesting and suspenseful, but was not enough to make up for the other. I cannot recommend this book, though it was an interesting story. And sadly, I will not likely read another one, at least not for a long time. 

I can only give this book 3 stars due to the problems mentioned.

Boy or Girl: What is Manor Baby 6?

For the first time we decided to find out early what our newest member would be. Jamey and Lillian really wanted to know and their hearts were each set on a different gender. So after much prayer and consideration, at our mid term ultrasound we got the results and our friends helped us to surprise our family with the gender. Lillian finished her challenge first and Jamey with help also finished.

So the Manor family is having...

A BOY!

Anybody else surprised? I was a little, but I'm so thankful God has blessed us with another child. Now to figure out a name. :)




*Many thanks to Andy and Shannon for coming up with the games for us to find out the gender and making a yummy cake.

*Many thanks to our friends who helped make this a special discovery for our family.

Understood Betsy by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

I loved this book! It was part of Jamey's curriculum this year and I wanted to read it for my Back to the Classics Challenge for my children's classic and I am so thankful we had this book available. It follows Elizabeth Ann (Betsy), a 9-year-old orphan as she moves from one family member's house to another and how she adjusts. I laughed out loud so many times and even learned a few things. It is a fun glimpse into mountain life in the early 1900s as well as a good reminder of how much we take for granted in the 21st century. I highly recommend this book and look forward to reading it again with Lillian in a couple of years.

4.5 stars for this book.

A Moment of Real Life

This week we have worked really hard to begin cleaning and organizing our whole house. This is something I have wanted/needed to do for 2 years, but have not completed for many reasons. The biggest reason: I am a ridiculous perfectionist! No kidding. You would never know by walking my house that I hate clutter and disorder, but my perfectionism out weighs my OCD tendencies when it comes to my home because if I cannot get it all done in one day then I forget where I was or things get moved that should not have been and I feel like I have to start all over again. This causes my stress level rise beyond, what I feel, is a bearable point, and so I learn to live with horrible disorder and tell myself it will be better when the kids are older. Clearly this is a lie and I need to learn how to have some order and teach my kids some order now!

Monday we spent all day on the living room, deep cleaning and organizing. I was doing well until the end of the day. It was hard work, but I had been able to organize the shelves with decorative things, movies, kids stuff, Wii games and coupons fairly easily as well as move stuff from off the table we use for shoes and bags with little mental trouble. The last shelf did me in. Why? It was a shelf of my things. The thought of having a shelf for my notebooks in the living room stressed me out beyond what I was prepared for. At the time I did not understand why. What was such a big deal about having a shelf for a few of my things in the living room?

I am a selfish person at heart. I know this. God has graciously revealed this to me and has helped me to seek to kill this sin in my heart. The hard part of dealing with this is I can easily swing to my legalistic side, which says I must not have anything that is mine and deprive myself. This is not an appropriate response! My dear friend, Julianne, reminded me that it is good for my family and me to have a shelf with my things as it teaches sharing and that not everything belongs to them. It's not selfish to have a shelf with a few of my things on it. The house, the shelf, the things have been entrusted to me by God to take care of, and if that means having a shelf in the living room to keep the things He has given me on because it is the best place for them, so be it.

I pray as we organize God will continue to show me how to best steward the space He has given us. Maybe I will move the things from the shelf as we find places for other things in our house, but for now it is OK because it is the best use of the space at the moment.

I also pray God will kill my perfectionism as we organize in spurts. This is very hard for me, but must be done the way our schedule is the next couple of weeks. I want our home to reflect God in all things, even in the way it is organized and put together.

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis

This book is up there with The Magician's Nephew for me in this series. As a whole I really enjoyed this book. Eustace and Reepicheep had me laughing frequently. The adventures on the different islands were very well thought out and interesting to follow. I really appreciated the lessons that were scattered throughout. Our kids also enjoyed this book and talked through it with us.

What I did not like was the ending. It was very anticlimactic and abrupt after all they went through to get where they were. It was a big let down.

Aside from the last 2 chapters, it is my 2nd favorite of the Narnia books. I would recommend this as a food fun read.

4.5 stars for this book.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

At 30 years of age, I finally got around to reading this classic and was pleasantly surprised! There were many parts that made me laugh out loud. It was an excellent look at a different class of people from a different time and the absurdity around it. I also appreciate the conflict of marrying for name and wealth vs marrying for love and attraction. It is an area I really enjoy discussing and seeing other world views is helpful for me. The end was a little slow and unnecessary and I would have preferred it end a chapter earlier, but that's just my opinion. As a whole I enjoyed the book.

I would give it 4 stars.

Everyday Church by Tim Chester & Steve Timmis

It has been a little while since I read this book, but if I remember correctly it was pretty good. A couple of the early chapters I struggled with because of style and some tediousness. The rest was very practical and gave general vision for how the church can begin to work together to follow the Acts model of the Body. We read this book for school of missions and it is highly recommended.

I would give it 4.5 stars.