The Saturday Six

One.

If you feel like your new year didn't start off with a flourish of purpose and organization and newness, and that somehow that might make you behind everyone else, read these words. You're right where you're supposed to be, you're not broken, and God has a purpose for this time, too!

Two.

Ever find yourself in a bind where you need to give a birthday gift quickly, but you don't have a single "Happy Birthday" gift bag in your house? If you are in a hurry and need to add a cute look to a plain bag, here's a free happy birthday cutout you can easily clip or glue to a plain bag!

Three.

Ryan finds the idea of hiking the Appalachian Trail intriguing. I found this post that gave an overview of each state on the trail and some of the highlights of that section of the trail. My hands went cold at the mention of bears and rattlesnakes...and I had no idea any part of this trail went outside any kind of forest-y areas. Walking through backyards????

Four.

The doors in our house are new enough that they have character. But if you're in an older home laced with plain and boring doors, check out this relatively inexpensive (and impressive, in my opinion) way to spruce them up!

Five.

I don't live in Texas, I don't have this much money, and I have no earthly clue what I would do with a horse property, but this is one sweet barndominium. (It is one of the ten most popular homes in the nation this week.)

Six.

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I did it! I read my first book of 2020, and I'm really excited to be able to cross that goal off my January list. Going back to work full time has created quite an interesting conundrum in getting all my other daily dreams accomplished. So far my goals have been to not miss a quiet time with the Lord, a workout, a blog post, and of course, quality time with Ryan. Only because of Ryan - and how he helps with housework - am I able to do any of these other things.

So my first book of 2020 was fiction, and it's called The Gray Chamber by Grace Hitchcock. This is part of a series called "True Colors: Historical Stories of American Crime." It's a different kind of series in that the characters aren't the same from book to book. Each book stands alone in that respect. I read the first book, The White City, last year, and I loved it. So when I saw Grace had the next book releasing this month, I knew I had to read it!

This book is set in New York in 1887. Edyth Foster is almost twenty-five years old and set to inherit her late parents' fortune on that monumental birthday. She's in the legal care of her uncle until that time, and he isn't embarrassed about allowing Edyth to share her wealth with him - to keep him in the manner to which he'd like to be accustomed.

While most young women in her position would be eagerly awaiting a husband and traveling in nothing but the best social circles, Edyth is content to tour around the city on her bicycle and improve her fencing skills. She's had a crush on her fencing instructor for years, but her lack of attention to fashion (or anything other than winning at fencing, really) has prevented him from noticing her in the same way.

Just before Edyth's birthday, her uncle finds a loophole in the will that says if she is committed to an asylum, she will forfeit the inheritance and it will all go to him. Blackwell's Island, a women's asylum in New York, was built to prevent any escape. Edyth knows if she ends up there - she may never get out.

As with the first of Grace's books, I learned a tremendous amount about history through fiction. Blackwell's Island was a real place, and the treatment of women with and without mental health issues was astonishing. It was incredibly sobering to read what so many of them went through - and sickening to realize that women didn't always truly have the illnesses they were diagnosed with having.

The story itself was well-written and captivating. The history behind it was bonus learning. I don't know how many books Grace intends to write in this series, but I hope there are many more. I enjoy her stories and her history lessons!

* I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. *