Category: books and reading

Book Haul!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading14 Comments

I rarely buy books anymore for myself – or I didn’t for years. I decided that this year, my self-enforced book buying drought will be over. I miss having my own books. I will still use the library for the bulk of my reading, but I am going to indulge this year as a form of self-care. I deserve books too! Lol.

Since I am super excited and the people around me in my life, in person, aren’t as excited as I am about books – with the exception of my 7 year old son, who also gets geeked about books. He yells “Yay books” every time we go into the library and I am always like “Inside voice!” but I am always stifling a laugh because I feel that way too. The library staff loves him and they are also pretty tickled by his excitement. Anyway, Wyatt loves books too, but he doesn’t get super excited about MY books. Naturally. So, I am sharing with you all!

So grab a cup of something and let me show you my new book babies!

The Last Unicorn. This has always always been a favorite of mine. I love the book, and I also love the animated movie which is pretty much almost exactly like the book. I will admit that parts of the movie freaked me out as a kid! I’ve never owned the book before but this cover.. I had to.

My most recent read! I absolutely adored this book. The little blurb that says it is a warm hug of a book – 100% accurate!

I have heard so many good things about T. J. Klune and I can’t wait to read this one. Everyone who has read it has seemed to love it. I have it on my list for next month, when I am doing Middle Grade March.

I bought this entirely for the cover. And the title. I didn’t even really read what it was about, but, well, if you read here often you know my love of rabbits.

Another stunning cover, and another one I have heard a lot of praise for.

I am so excited to read this one! This is a supernatural retelling of Anne of Green Gables which sounds so cool to me! The author also wrote Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries which I loved! I will probably read this for Middle Grade March too.

So, this is another one I don’t know too much about but I liked the look of it, and it also sounds like something I would enjoy. So fingers crossed!

These three were not purchased by me, but purchased for me by Billy for Christmas and my birthday, but I wanted to include them anyway because they are so cool. There was a time in my life when I would read Walden and Civil Disobedience every year. I haven’t read either for a long time, so I need to at least touch base with Walden again. And I have never read John Muir at all!

And finally these last three are books I have already talked about here. Two were books I had checked out from the library originally (Legends & Lattes, Emily Wilde). I ended up buying Legends and then my dad surprised me with the Heather Fawcett book! He said he saw and knew I would love it. And then of course, A Woman in the Polar Night that I just finished.

I also want to share this photo of my assistant today.

She was a huge helper!

Thanks everyone for giving me an opportunity to share my excitement!

Pretty in Pink: Literary Classics

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading21 Comments

I hope you guys are ready for some serious February posts – like pink books, for one. When I was younger, I hated pink. Yuck. Now, I love it. I don’t like to wear it but I love it around me, and well, since I usually have books all around, I looked up some pretty in pink covers of classic books. And wow, there are some lovely ones out there! Also..I may have taken liberties with the definition of pink, or how much pink..

(This post does contain a few Amazon Afilliate links – these are in italics)

Starting out strong with Anna Karenina. I thought this cover was so beautiful, and sort of Hepburn-esque.

This Wordsworth Collector’s Edition of Alice in Wonderland is certainly wonderful! I love everything about it! That cute little rabbit, the mushroom, the playing cards – just so adorable!

The Great Gatsby is one of my all time favorite classics, and this Wordsworth Luxe Collection edition is gorgeous! I remember the first copy I ever owned was the iconic version by Francis Cugat that we probably all think of and recognize instantly. However, this version is just so pretty and delicate.

I am obsessed with this cover of Anne of Green Gables, and I am pretty sure Anne would be too. I am 100% putting this copy on my list to buy one day!

I think this copy of Little Women by Barnes and Noble is perfection! It sort of makes me think of quilts and samplers and the era that Little Women took place in.

I had so many to choose from with this title! I love how dreamy this edition is! I would have felt remiss if I had left the darling of the literary world, Jane Austen, off this list, and Pride and Prejudice is probably the most widely loved. (and this one might lean a little bit more lilac than pink..)

This Art Nouveau inspired set of love stories is absolutely beautiful. I love how this collection from Juniper Books includes Love in the Time of Cholera!

Now..my favorite! I love Jane Eyre and while I already have a copy, I need one of these two! The first cover is by Signature Classics, while the second version is a Wordsworth Luxe. Which one do you think I should get? You guys pick!

What Wyatt’s Reading – January

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading14 Comments

Hi everyone!! It’s been a fun reading month, full of wolves and snow and adorable woodland creatures! We hit up our library at least twice a week, so I am not sharing all of the books that we read together, but I am sharing some of our favorites. I am also back to buying more books than I had been so some of these are from Wyatt’s own personal home library.

This post does contain Amazon Affiliate links. If you were to purchase a book using a link, I would make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

A Thing Called Snow was pretty loved universally around here, by the whole family. Zommer’s books are oversized and just beautiful. In this one a fox and a hare, born in the spring and about to experience their first winter, are on the lookout for snow. My Winter City was more my favorite, not Wyatt’s. I just loved this look at what winter looks and feels like, all the little details from frost in the dad’s beard to slushy bus rides. Noisy Night was all Wyatt. This one was pretty cool because you feel like you are going up a floor in the building with every page because the residents all complain about the noise above them, until we get to the very top. It was pretty cute. And finally, probably the favorite book of the entire month, No Fuzzball! Any cat lover will be delighted by this one, and how Queen Fuzzball adjusts to a new little kitten face in her kingdom. It is absolutely adorable and also, made us chuckle. Definitely a keeper.

Wyatt loved Wolfboy. I knew he would – he considers himself a wolfboy half the time. And I could certainly relate to the grumpy feelings of being hangry!

We finally got some snow around here the other day, so Wednesday afternoon, after playing in the snow, we came in, had hot chocolate, and read a stack of snowy picture books. When It Starts to Snow and Blizzard were two of our favorites! When It Starts to Snow is a book that feels slightly poetic, with how it keeps asking the questions “What if it starts to snow? What do you do? Where do you go? These questions are answered by all of the little woodland animals and made us feel all cozy, because we knew what we were doing on our snowy day. Blizzard was fantastic- we both loved it! The author John Rocco tells his story about the blizzard of 1978, and the part he played in helping his neighbors and community, along with his memories of that time. We both really enjoyed it! It probably was our favorite right after No Fuzzball.

I Love Books in the Otter series is one of Wyatt’s go to grabs right now. He loves it because he too, loves books, just like Otter, and going to the library.

As for longer read alouds, we read the second in the Heartwood Hotel series, The Greatest Gift. Wyatt loves these books about the animals who work and live and stay at the Heartwood Hotel. After we finished up The Greatest Gift we moved on to Fantastic Mr. Fox – we are still reading this one and while things seem grim for the foxes right now, we have faith that Mr. Fox will come up with something to save his family!

Have you read any of these?

What Wyatt’s Reading – November

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading5 Comments

I can’t believe tomorrow will be the first of December! This year flew by! We have had so many trips to the library this year; I am always so thankful for them and allowing me to check out like 35 books at a time. We go through so many books, especially this time of year! Not only do we have our homeschool books, but now we have holiday books too! I won’t share them all, it would be a crazy post, so I will share our favorites!

Granny Gomez & Jigsaw was one of my Wyatt’s top favorites this month. Granny Gomez loves her baby pig Jigsaw, and they are great companions. Until Jigsaw grows too big for the house, and has to move to the barn. The solution made me smile, and Wyatt smile too. It is a very sweet book. Wyatt has a thing for pigs right now so you will see quite a few pig books in this list.

The Pumpkin Fair is a fun, festive autumn book with an obvious emphasis on pumpkins. It was just a cute little read. And while I Want My Hat Back was pretty cute too, the end surprised us! Although maybe it shouldn’t have….

Every year, we read Thanksgiving in the Woods. It is our very favorite and we all talk about how cool it would be to actually have a Thanksgiving in the woods one year. This book is based on real life events – maybe I can crash their holiday one year.

Bowwow Powwow was a great book! I liked all of the representations of the different dancers. I liked this one more than Wyatt did. Same with In November. I love Cynthia Rylant though so I get as many of her books as I can get my hands on. In November, is just such a wonderful autumnal book to usher the month in with.

Yep – we have begun reading holiday books. Wyatt loved all three of these! I was not as much of a fan of the Peppa book but Wyatt loves Peppa so..yeah.

First, If You Ever Want to Bring a Pirate to Meet Santa, Don’t! was hilarious. And who knew how closely a pirate could resemble Santa? Wyatt is also all about pirates right now, so it was cool to find a Christmas pirate book.

Christmas Cricket was delightful. We read it right before bed on a chilly night, and we were both feeling cozy and warm. This book is about a sad little cricket who escapes the cold rain by heading into a bright warm house. He feels tiny and insignificant, until he hears something that uplifts him.

Poppleton in Fall. This portly stylish fellow buys a new winter coat, tries to order pancakes, and watches the geese fly south. We also started the Heartwood Hotel series which is adorable. Wyatt really likes books with animals as main characters and this was a cute little read.

And that my friends, is a wrap of our favorite November reads!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading31 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hello all! Wyatt and I eased back into our normal post-Covid lives last week after our time was up, and it was nice to get back in the world. The library was one of our first stops, and of course Wyatt resuming therapy was on the list as well. Then yesterday we went to a local county fair and had so much fun, despite melting from the heat.

I also have a question for you, fellow book lovers. Have you ever ordered from Thrift Books or Abe’s Books? I am thinking about placing an order with one of them and I would love to hear some opinions on the two. Thanks!

Read Last Week:

I was able to finally get some reading time in last week, and finished this one up. I really enjoyed it! It was a bit slow for me at times but I still enjoyed the characters and the mystery. I am looking forward to reading the next one in the series!

Reading This Week:

I have always wanted to read Willa of the Wood and I am finally going to do it. I also had started Wild is the Witch and honestly, I can’t remember if I finished it! I need to do a review of it for NetGalley so I am going to reread it. It somehow got lost in the shuffle!

Posted Last Week:

Kid’s Bedroom Inspiration: Nature and the Outdoors

The Wednesday Hodgepodge

Classic Movie Impressions: To Catch a Thief

Hello, August!

Watching and Listening:

Billy and I binged the newest season of Brokenwood Mysteries on Acorn this past week. I am so bummed out now that we are done and have to wait all over again for more episodes! This series is such fun. We started season 2 of Only Murders in the Building last night though, and that helped couch the sadness of missing Brokenwood. Lol. OMITB cracks me up. It is such a great show.

As for listening, I am listening to a podcast called The Night Owl Podcast, which is a bit scary and spooky. I guess even thought we are in August, I am already leaning into fall which will be here before we know it.

That’s about it from my corner of Michigan! What about you all?

Morning Coffee Catch Up!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading, day in the life, Uncategorized9 Comments

I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend, and if you celebrate Mother’s Day, I hope it was a good one.

We’ve just been caught up in the everyday over here – work, school, family, etc. My mom hasn’t been well, she was laid low by a UTI, and then her antibiotics really took the wind out of her sails, so it has been a few days of balancing letting her rest but making sure she is eating and drinking water. And in case you didn’t know it, for our ladies 65 and older, confusion is a big symptom even before anything else of an issue. (Also, ten days of antibiotics are a must! We learned that the hard way as well)

I did manage to join my friends at our favorite nursery on Saturday morning! I didn’t buy too much for outside, but I did buy a cool bonsai for my mother in law for Mother’s Day, and lots of terrarium plants to jeuje up Freddy, Harry, and Luna’s tanks. I did get a laugh out of the names of those flowers – and I have to say the Wee Bit Grumpy side seems to be flourishing.

When I got home I learned my guys had enjoyed their time together as well, stumbling on an old-timey baseball game at the park.

Billy and I putzed about with the tanks while Wyatt played outside (we were outdoors as well) and I am pleased with how they are turning out!

Sunday I wanted a slow day, after so many days of being busy. We visited our moms briefly – my mom wasn’t feeling well and Billy’s dad just had surgery – and went to the park for ice cream. I loved just laying on the blanket in the warm sun, listening to the birds, surrounded by the little spring flowers that made it seem like fairyland. Billy and Wyatt bought me an Elephant Ear plant “Mojito”, and I apparently have two more gifts coming in the mail, although I am perfectly happy with my new plant. Then Billy made dinner, salmon and brussel sprouts, rice pilaf, and brown bread. It was fantastic!

It was a lovely weekend and then we hit the ground running Monday, back to the daily again.

Today is also book launch day for my friend Lisa at Boondock Ramblings! Beauty from Ashes is her third book in the Spencer Valley Chronicles and I can’t wait to read it, as I loved the first two! It is downloaded and waiting for quiet time this afternoon.

After becoming pregnant by her abusive ex-boyfriend, 27-year-old Liz Cranmer feels trapped in a prison of shame. Now a single mother she feels like the whole town, especially her church-going parents, view her as a trashy woman with no morals. That’s not how she used to think of herself but — could they all be right? And if they think that, then what does God think of her?
 
Ginny Jefferies, 53, has hit a few snags of her own in life. Her husband, Stan, barely acknowledges her, her job as the town’s library director has become mundane and stagnant, and her youngest daughter is having some kind of identity crisis. Pile on the return of a former boyfriend and you have the makings of a near-midlife crisis.

You can find it here for just .99 cents!

Or, you can read the whole series for under $5 right now!

What have you all been up to lately?

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading26 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was crazy. My dad fell and broke the top of his femur, which started a whirlwind of events for him and my stepmom. He had to have some screws and pins put in but he is home and working on healing. Then Billy had to have an oral surgery Thursday, on a tooth that needed a bone graft. He is also starting to feel a bit better as well.

I did get to finally visit with my dad yesterday! It was so good to see him and my stepmom – and I even got to see my nephew and stepsister as a bonus. They live a good distance away but I am hoping to get back there again soon. My dad was doing great!

Read Last Week:

I loved both of these books/stories, both were so good even though they both left me a little sad. I hope to review them both this week – although The Tiger Came to the Mountains is a short story, so the review will be short too. I think it took me 15 minutes or so to read? I am looking forward to reading the rest of the books in the collection!

Reading This Week:

I plan on reading a few more short stories in the Trespass Collection this week; I may even read them all as they are so short!

Posted Last Week:

10 on the 10th! Spring

Wyatt’s Week Last Week

Watching:

We are still watching Murdoch Mysteries. I am going to be honest, it’s not a *great* show. It is sort of cheesy, in both story-line and just the way it looks, but it is easy and entertaining, and was perfect for our stressful week.

And that’s it from around here this week. Stay safe and well everyone!

What Wyatt’s Reading Lately

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading5 Comments

Post contains a few Amazon Affiliate links.

I haven’t done one of these posts in ages!! I can’t possibly share all the books we have been reading for the past few months, but I do want to share as many as I can! So..here we go!

Let’s start with the big one.

Pete the Cat. All the Pete the Cat books. And there are many. However, we do seem to be reading the heck out of a few.

He love anything Pete, but I was really excited that he liked the little phonics box set! He will go and grab them and settle in. We read so so many Pete the Cat books – good thing there a huge catalog of them! And I have to say I love Pete’s attitude on life as well. It’s all good.

He has another series that he is really getting into as well – The Nocturnals. They are a series about anthropomorphic animals (his fave) and they are available in easy readers as well as chapter books. My mom got him the activity box for Christmas and we have been adding in more easy readers from the collection here and there.

And of course we are reading books not in a series as well.

I am pretty sure I am in love with Yuyi Morales’ work. I have every single book written down for us to read on Wyatt’s TBR. (lol) They are seriously beautiful. And you can’t go wrong with Laura Numeroff. They are just so fun, although they make us hungry. These two are Wyatt’s favorites. We started reading them after he discovered the cartoon, although I have had copies of them for ages, probably since before he was even born. A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting was a super cute read – it’s written like a field guide, but is hilarious and a story as well.

We like books about embracing our differences and what makes us special, and Spoon is one of those stories. I also liked the inclusion of Chopsticks as a character. It was a great read. And we loved The Tobermory Cat! This was about a cat who wants to be special – but doesn’t realize that he already is. Well, until the end that is.

Animals at Night is really cool. It’s a nonfiction book about, you guessed it, animals at night. Wyatt is all about tigers these days so we spend a lot of time on that page. Plus, it has a glow in the dark poster so bonus. The illustrations are gorgeous so I can look at it all day as well honestly.

And finally, The Boy Who Loved the Moon. I bought this for Wyatt for Christmas, because he is our boy who loves the moon, and I thought it was just a beautiful story with stunning illustrations. I thought he would like it but I was surprised by how much he does. He requests it all the time – which makes my heart happy. I guess it is a movie short too, but I haven’t looked it up yet. I need to do that.

If you read my Sunday-Monday post, then you might know we are reading Appleblossom the Possum together. Wyatt loves this book. And I do too! It is so cute, but also teaches about possums at the same time. Very adorable, very fun, and informative to boot!

And these are just a few of the books we have been enjoying! What are some of your favorite children’s books?

My Favorite Books of 2021

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading12 Comments

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season if you celebrate! Things were good around here, and my kiddo was very into the magic of Christmas this year (more about that tomorrow).

I had a very dark reading year this year! Not all of my favorites are on the spookier, scarier side, but..it appears many are. I also had a really rough reading year. I had so many books I didn’t finish, times I just couldn’t get into reading, it was very weird for me. I was just a little off my reading game. However, there are some books that I just loved.

Fire Keeper’s Daughter was my absolute favorite read this year. I learned from it, was entertained by it, and completely devoured it. I also love that it was written by a Michigan author!

Hmmmm…maybe I spoke too soon. Maybe World of Wonders is my favorite book this year. Ok. This is my favorite nonfiction read of the year. I ran around telling everyone to read it. I loved the connection to nature, the throwbacks to her childhood, which while on some level were relatable to me, also were very far from my own experience.

Small Favors – just so good. I never quite knew where this story would go and I had a few surprises. I read this obsessively and I love everything Erin A. Craig writes so far. Also, another Michigan author!

The Final Girl Support Group and Bunny – both such good books, such crazy. Bunny was a trip and a half. And The Final Girl Support Group spoke to the part of me that grew up watching horror movies, Freddy and Jason and Michael Myers.

The Family Plot – Another dark, crazy read. But I completely loved it and my mom and I could not stop talking about it. I mean, a book that involves true crime? I am there.

The Box in the Woods is another one that I really enjoyed. I really love the Truly Devious series and I thought it was a bit cheeky of Johnson to have a murder mystery set at a summer camp. Perfect, right?

And finally, A Solitude of Wolverines. A mystery about a wildlife biologist who gets mixed up in a bit of a situation, one that could prove to be deadly. I have been waiting so long to read the next book in this series – next month! I decided January would be a good month to read a book about polar bears…

I wonder what roads my reading will take me down next year? I can’t wait to find out!

Sunday Afternoons, Alone Time, and a Nature Book Giveaway!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading, family, Uncategorized10 Comments

Sunday was another bright and beautiful day! And we had plans to visit my dad and stepmom out in the “country”. They live about an hour and a half from us, in a small town in Michigan. The cute type of town that has antique stores, a small local hardware, a toy store, a tea shop, and a other little boutique shops lining the four streets of downtown. My stepmom had invited us out, asking if Billy could help my dad with a few projects around the house, and threw in the promise of a meal – and that she would watch Wyatt so I could wander the downtown for some alone time. We would have gone despite the promises, they are family, and family helps family. But, I couldn’t pass up the call of some time shopping by myself either.

The drive was easy and pleasant, and we pulled into my dad’s driveway about noon. We piled in the house, the scent of bubbling soup on the stove greeting us as we walked through the door. Their house has a room with a wall of windows that I am in love with. I would 100 percent be sitting there summer or winter, looking out into the yard over tea or a glass of wine in the evenings, coffee in the morning. I can never have enough windows or light. We went in and visited a bit, then Billy headed off with my dad, and I kissed my kiddo goodbye and headed out for some shopping.

I am not a huge shopper by nature – but I don’t mind a turn around an antique store. I can spend some time in one, just marveling over the things being sold. Little teacups, pieces of furniture, old photos and paintings and clocks and watches and jewelry and wooden boxes – well, you know. I love to look at the old photos and wonder about the people in them, what were their lives like, how did their photos end up for sale. I always look at the books, and usually buy one or two.

As it was Sunday, half the stores were closed. But that didn’t stop me. I had the streets to myself. The stores to myself. I just wandered through happily looking at the wares, picking things up, imagining. Listening to the conversations of the people who worked there. (Sadly, one woman had just lost her dog the night before.) And I even purchased a few small things, although quite a few objects were calling my name. One of my friend’s is all about antiques – her whole house is pretty much all antiques and is insanely gorgeous. One day I will do a photo tour of it as it doesn’t seem real. But anyway, she has a talent for finding perfect pieces. I am not that person, but I will spring for some things that catch my eye. My style is more eclectic/boho than antique but it is still fun to putter about.

I liked both of these pieces but left them in the store. But I am loving that little bench and I feel like I need it in my kitchen. I have a library card catalog in my kitchen right now that I want to move to the basement to our art area to fill with art supplies, and a little bench might be nice there instead. And I have no idea why I liked that small chest of drawers – it just appealed to me. But, I wasn’t buying furniture Sunday. I was more about enjoying the look around and the time.

I did buy a few little things though.

I have always loved Gwen Frostic, and whenever I spot her art or books in the wild, I buy them. One of my favorite things that I did this year was visit her old art studio in northern Michigan, so when I saw that they had two of her books of art and writing, I knew that I was buying them. And one is even signed! Then that little sugar and creamer set was just adorable, with its pastoral scene. And only eight dollars for both pieces, which to me seemed like a deal!

After perusing the shops, I strolled the streets, which were peaceful.

Before I knew it I had explored the whole downtown – ending at the Tecumseh Brewing Company. I contemplated having a drink outside but decided not to this time, and opted to head back and see how the kiddo and grandma were doing.

Kiddo was doing wonderful – when I walked in he and my stepmom were enjoying a small picnic on the floor of raspberries and blueberries. He was perfectly happy and content. Grandma had given him ice cream as well, and they had a good time throwing “snowballs” (the plush version). The three of us hung out for a while before being rejoined by Billy and my dad, and we sat down to a delicious lunch of tortellini bean soup and sandwiches. I love that soup! I make it all the time but mine is never as creamy as Shellie’s. I think I need to let it simmer longer. Or something.

Before we knew it, it was time to head back home. It had been a great day visiting and we are planning on going back soon. It is much nicer to see them in person these days!

And now – the giveaway!

If you read here, then you might know that I love John Lewis-Stempel, a British nature writer. I am in love with his work and my husband has gifted me through the years with his books as Christmas gifts. And as my birthday is next week, I am going to make like a Hobbit and gift a copy of The Private Life of the Hare – it is a short read about hares, and is simply gorgeous as well! To enter just drop a comment below and make sure I have your email address. Winner will be picked at random and contacted via email. Sadly, only U.S. only for this giveaway this time. Giveaway ends November 15th at midnight – the night before my birthday! And if you just want to comment but not enter that is cool too! Just let me know!

Updated November 16:

And the winner is….Deb from Readerbuzz!!