“How Do I Love Thee?” by Nancy Moser (July 2009 Featured Book!)

Book Description:
A novel of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetic romance.
She dreams of love for others, but never for herself…
Elizabeth Barret is a published poet- and a virtual prisoner in her own home. Blind family loyalty ties her to a tyrannical father who forbids any of his children to marry. Bedridden by chronic illness, she has resigned herself to simply existing. That is until the letter arrives…
“I love your verses with all my heart,” writes Robert Browning, an admiring fellow poet. As friendly correspondence gives way to something more, Elizabeth discovers that Robert’s love is not for her poetry alone. Might God grand her more than mere existence? And will she risk defying her father in pursuit of true happiness?




Author Bio:
Nancy Moser is the best-selling author of twenty novels, including “Just Jane,” the Christy Award-winning Time Lottery, and the “Sister Circle” series co-authored with Campus Crusade co-founder Vonette Bright. Nancy has been married thirty-three years. She and her husband have three grown children and live in the Midwest. She loves history, has traveled extensively in Europe, and has performed in various theaters, symphonies, and choirs.




My Thoughts:
I was first introduced to Elizabeth Barret Browning’s poetry when I was in high school, first in English lit and then again by a secret pal who gave me a book of her works. At that season of my life I didn’t really enjoy the classics, but Elizabeth’s poems were different. Though they weren’t too complicated but they still contained a vast deal of passion. I didn’t know much about the author’s private life beside the author bio in the book. So when I heard that Nancy Moser was coming out with a book on Barret Browning’s life, I was excited. I hadn’t known what “Ba” went through as a writer and a woman trapped by illness. Most of all she had to follow the plan that God had for her, even though it contradicted the plan her father had for her. True love triumphs in the end.

50 Questions

If you've been tagged or you are reading this, you have the honor of copying all these goofy questions, writing your own response, and tagging 25 other victims. You have to tag me so really you just need 24 more people. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you - but not in a creepy stalker kind of way.

To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your title as "Getting to know each other!", tag 25 people including me (tagging is done in the right hand corner of the app) then click publish.

1. What time did you get up this morning?
Late.

2. How do you like your steak?
Slathered in ketchup.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? "
The Nativity Story" back in 2006. We don't go to the movies very often, too expensive.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
NCIS.

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be?
Nowhere but Indiana! I would like to see the world though, but I'd always return to Hoosierville.

6. What did you have for breakfast?
Generic version of Honey Bunches of Oats.

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Italian.

8. What foods do you dislike?
Spicy foods.

9. Favorite Place to Eat?
Dairy Queen, Olive Garden or Steak N Shake.

10. Favorite dressing?
Italian, nothing else will do.

11. What kind of vehicle do you drive?
1999 blue-gray Taurus.

12. What are your favorite clothes?
Casual and comfortable: t-shirts, tanks, shorts, blue jeans.

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance?
Right now, I'm in the mood for Bavaria.

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full?
1/2 full.

15. Where would you want to retire?
Only in Indiana.

16. Favorite time of day?
The morning.

17. Where were you born?
Beech Grove, IN.

18. What is your favorite sport to watch?
Figure skating.

19. Who do you think will not tag you back?
Probably Terrie, since I got this from her. :~)

20. Person you expect to tag you back first?
My sister.

21. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
Uncle Bill. I don't see him very often on Facebook.

22. Bird watcher?
Only if I see an uncommon bird, like a woodpecker or a humming bird.

23. Are you a morning person or a night person?
A little of both.

24. Do you have any pets?
Well, technically, I have only one. A psycho gray tabby cat named Bingley. But my sis has two cats named Garfield and Darcy. And Dad has a graceful Basset hound named Grace.

25. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
Nah, the exciting news I did have turned out to be a dud.

26. What did you want to be when you were little?
A firefighter, palentologist or an archeologist.

27. What is your best childhood memory?
Living next door to my grandma.

28. Are you a cat or dog person?
Both.

29. Are you married?
Nope.

30. Always wear your seat belt?
Of course, it's the law.

31. Been in a car accident?
Thank God, no.

32. Any pet peeves?
Hypocrites.

33. Favorite Pizza Toppings?
Extra sauce and extra cheese, and a wee bit of sausage.

34. Favorite Flower?
White roses and the tulips my grandma used to grow.

35. Favorite ice cream?
Neopalitan. (sp?)

36. Favorite fast food restaurant?
Dairy Queen. Yummy tenderloins and scrumptious desserts.

37. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
None of your beeswax. :~P

38. From whom did you get your last email?
Can't remember.

39. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Probably Booksamillion.

40. Do anything spontaneous lately?
No, not really.

41. Like your job?
Oh yeah, nothing like cleaning toilets. ;~p

42. Broccoli?
Yes, dripping in butter.

43. What was your favorite vacation?
Hmmm, going to the outlet mall in Tuscola was cool. But I loved the day we went to Nashville, that was awesome.

44. Last person you went out to dinner with?
Hmmm, probably the family.

45. What are you listening to right now?
Sirus 1940's channel. Ina Ray Hutton is singing, "Five O'Clock Whistle."

46. What is your favorite color?
Powder blue.

47. How many tattoos do you have?
None. Needles freak me out.

48. How many are you tagging for this quiz?
Not sure.

49. What time did you finish this quiz?
9:10am.

50. Coffee Drinker?
Never, coffee tastes bleh! I love the smell though.

15 Books That Have Changed My Life

1. The Bible
2. “Redeeming Love,” by Francine Rivers
3. “The Shack: A Novel,” by William P. Young
4. “The Diary of a Young Girl: Anne Frank,” by Anne Frank
5. “Eve’s Daughters,” by Lynn Austin
6. “A Woman’s Place,” by Lynn Austin
7. “The Looking Glass,” by Richard Paul Evans
8. “90 Minutes in Heaven,” by Don Piper
9. “Pride and Prejudice,” by Jane Austen
10. “Gianna,” by Jessica Shaver
11. “Tears in a Bottle,” by Sylvia Bambola
12. “The Tennant of Wildfell Hall,” by Anne Bronte
13. “Winter is Past,” by Ruth Axtell Morren
14. “While Mortals Sleep,” by Jack Cavanaugh
15. “The Amber Photograph,” by Penelope Stokes