Category: Uncategorized

Top Ten Tuesday:  The Ten Most Recent Additions to My TBR

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized52 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today the prompt was either the last ten books added to my collection or to my TBR. I decided to go with the second option today! These were all added through either other blogs, Instagram, and BookTube suggestions! Some of you might recognize books from your blogs that I commented on lol.

A Deadly Education || Alchemy of Secrets || Don’t Let the Forest In

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik: Enter a school of magic unlike any you have ever encountered.

Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber: Alchemy of Secrets is the first adult novel from global fantasy phenomenon Stephanie Garber, the multimillion-copy bestselling author of the Caraval and Once Upon a Broken Heart series.

Don’t Let the Forest in by C.G. Drews: As alluring as it is unsettling, award-winning author CG Drews’ debut YA psychological horror will leave readers breathless and hesitant to venture deeper into the woods.

Wild Dark Shore || Amazing Grace Adams || Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy: ‘At once a gripping mystery, an exquisitely written ode to the natural world, and a taut, psychological thriller, Wild Dark Shore is a triumph. Charlotte McConaghy is masterful in her ability to show the intricate connections between place and the human heart, and Wild Dark Shore shows her at the height of her powers. Breathtaking.’ HANNAH KENT

Amazing Grace Adams by Fran Littlewood: Bernadette, Eleanor Oliphant, Rosie, Ove . . . meet Amazing Grace Adams,the funny, touching, unforgettable story of an invisible everywoman pushed to the brink—who finally pushes back.

Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop by Kenji Ueda: For lovers of Before the Coffee Gets Cold and Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, a new book about the beauty of humble objects, the power of writing, and reconnecting with those you have lost.

This Book Will Bury Me || The Hollow and the Haunted || The Hollow Places

This Book Will Bury Me by Ashley Winstead: From the bestselling author of In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and Midnight is the Darkest Hour comes a chilling, compulsive story of five amateur sleuths, whose hunt for an elusive killer catapults them into danger as the world watches.

The Hollow and the Haunted by Camilla Raines: In this darkly magical, romantic YA fantasy debut, a closeted teenage psychic in small-town Washington foresees the death of his sworn enemy, and is forced to work with him to save his life. Sparks fly, but the dead are restless, and some ghosts don’t want to stay buried…

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher: A young woman discovers a strange portal in her uncle’s house, leading to madness and terror in this gripping new novel.

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe

Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe by CB Lee: A geeky overachiever determined to save the world through science and a troublemaking chosen one lashing out against her destiny meet and fall in love in a magical coffeeshop as their two very different universes begin to collide in Coffeeshop in an Alternate Universe, C.B. Lee’s fun, sapphic, cozy fantasy YA romance.

And there you have it! I must have been in some mood or watching/reading some people in moods when adding these! Although, I am excited to read them all.

And now, I am off to read more blogs and add more books to my TBR!

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized35 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 everyone! We are dipping into the negative temps here in Michigan this week, and I am planning to not leave if I can help it! I stocked up on extra groceries and supplies, including a huge library book run, in preparation. I just have to get crickets for the geckos and we are set! Well, Wyatt does have two appointments this week, but that is it. We are troopers though and can handle it.

Read Last Week:

I read Nightwalking by John Lewis-Stempel, and I adored it like I do all of his books. I generally have to order them online and they are sent from overseas but they are worth it to me! This one was a short little read but a good one.

Reading This Week:

I started Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates last week as well. It is good so far, but I wasn’t able to pick it up until the end of the week, so I am still working on it. If I manage to finish it this week, I will be starting A Death in Door County by Annelise Ryan.

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals for 2025

Book Reviews: Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells, Dead Voices, and Dead of Winter

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up- Dragons!

Watching:

Billy and I just finished up season 4 of Only Murders in the Building. I already miss it! They are all so talented and I love the trio of them together. I also love the new characters who were introduced!

Now though we need to find something else to watch!

And that is it from around here today! Stay safe everyone!

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals 2025

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized55 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Hello everyone!! I don’t have very many bookish goals honestly, just a few. And here they are!

Goal One: Visit more independent booksellers! We had so much fun at the end of last year seeking these out and shopping at indie local bookstores, and I want to continue on with that this year.

Goal Two: Continue using our local library! We have the best library, and it is one of Wyatt’s favorite places to go.

Goal Three: Have fun with my reading tracking!

Goal Four: Grow my Bookstagram/Instagram and TikTok. (if you have an account and don’t mind helping me out, follow me here and here!)

@foxandfirth

Just a few bookish goals for the year! #indiebookstore #indiebookshop #library #readersoftiktok #library

♬ original sound – foxandfirthco

    And those are my goals for the year!

    Have a good one everyone! Whatever you today, try to do one thing that makes you smile!

    My Sunday-Monday Post

    On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized45 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 everyone! My heart goes out to those on the west coast, living with those devastating wildfires. They look absolutely terrifying, and the news is just tragic and heartbreaking. I am also thinking of those of you who have plunged into cold weather when it is not your norm! It has been terribly cold here, and just a little snowy. We are used to it though here at least! I hope that everyone is staying safe from the fires and the cold.

    Read Last Week:

    I finished this one up last week, and it wasn’t bad. It just also wasn’t necessarily a good one for me either. I am going to post a few reviews this week, including this one. I will say that it just felt like it dragged on and on and was repetitive, but I did think the characters were interesting and well written.

    Reading This Week:

    I am currently reading Nightwalking by John Lewis-Stempel. I absolutely love Lewis-Stempel so I was beyond excited to receive this one for Christmas from Billy. I also really love going for walks at night and he just sums it all up so well.

    I am also planning on reading Hans Brinker, or the Silver Skates. I didn’t read it as a kid and I am looking forward to reading it now as an adult.

    Posted Last Week:

    Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025

    Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

    Watching and Making:

    Billy and I finished up the newest season of the American Ghosts – or at least caught up, I don’t think the season ended. The last two episodes were seriously our favorites that we have seen so far. Rose McIver is so amazing at impressions; it is one reason I love this version of Ghosts, honestly, because I love her as an actress. We loved iZombie and still miss it!

    We started Agatha All Along, which is also really good. I even like it and I never watched WandaVision, although we are watching that next. Billy watched it, and I didn’t, and now I need to. Lol.

    As for what I am making these days, I am working on a unicorn and apple tree embroidery that I got on Etsy. I am still learning and I am not a natural at this sort of thing, but I really love it. I like to just throw on a podcast or an audiobook, and stitch away. I also work on it while we watch tv a little bit as well.

    Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I had our first Cozy Crafternoon Zoom and we had so much fun with the ladies who crafted with us! It was neat to “meet” other bloggers and chat. We have some kinks to work out but for the most part I think it went really well! I hope that everyone else who was there had fun too!

    And that my friends is it from my part of Michigan! Stay safe out there everyone!

    Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

    On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

    Hello everyone!! This week has been beyond chilly and I am so grateful that I have not had to venture out into it too much. I did see that a lot of the country is cold right now too and I hope you are all staying warm!

    After New Years, we were able to just relax a bit more. We had a few commitments but for the most part, we spent time just hanging out at home together.

    We did go out twice, at least. Wyatt was invited to go bowling with some of the kids in his old preschool class, so we went and did that. He loves bowling so much! And strangely, the very next day a local adaptive group posted that they were forming a bowling league, so I signed Wyatt right up, immediately! I think he will have so much fun!

    Speaking of Wy-guy, he has been kicking butt and taking names at therapy! He is working so hard at walking. This kid is tough. Like seriously tough. At his last therapy appointment, he walked 48 feet before he needed a break. Yesterday, and with a two week break because of the holidays in between, he still walked 112 feet before needing a break! He is making significant improvements every week and he is so proud of himself, as he should be! This is an older picture, when he was first using this system back in September, and has been making such big gains every week since then!

    We have also been working really hard in our homeschool and Wyatt has been making some gains there too! He is just kicking butt all over this week. We started all new books this week too which is fun. In literature we are reading My Side of the Mountain which is super interesting, from my perspective as a parent, because this kid just takes off to live alone on a mountain? Are his parents looking for him? What is happening? That is all I can think about as we read this one together. Wyatt likes it, but has said he would not like to sleep outside in a bed a leaves and branches and I told him that was a good choice.

    In history, we are covering the colonial era, and our book to accompany the lessons we are doing is The Courage of Sarah Noble. It is so funny to me that I didn’t read either of these books as a kid. We are also going to read Sign of the Beaver and also The Witch of Blackbird Pond. My degree is in history so this kid of mine will be learning about American history probably this year and next, with how long I spend on each time frame. We move slowly through time over here! I also need to add in a week or two of Michigan’s place in history during this time frame, because Michigan looked pretty different from New England during this time frame. I found a fiction book to accompany some of the history we will be discussing about the French and Native Americans here, and Pontiac’s War. The park, which was once the land where Pontiac and his people gathered before their attack on Detroit is like a mile away from here. I feel like I am rambling!

    Our artist this month is actually one I didn’t know much about either! Friedensreich Hundertwasser, who was an Austrian artist and architect. He was influenced by Gaudi, who we studied a few years ago, and you can really tell by looking at his designs. I love how colorful and and interesting his shapes are! Wyatt is enjoying him as well – loves to draw houses and trees and builds houses all the time with his toys so I thought he would enjoy Hundertwasser, and he does. I am actually pretty fascinated with him as well.

    So, it’s slow days around here! Lots of school, lots of art, lots of hanging out at home. In fact, Saturday is our first Cozy Crafternoon Zoom! It will be frigid here on Saturday so I am ready to just get cozy and work on my embroidery while chatting with the other ladies on the zoom.

    And that is really it from around here for now! Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile!

    Here are some random photos from the old camera roll!

    My Sunday-Monday Post!

    On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized32 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 everyone! It’s the first Sunday post of the new year!

    The last few days we have been wrapping up the holidays, putting our house back to normal, and having a few last hurrahs before school starts tomorrow.

    I also started the year out with two books I really enjoyed!

    I got both of these for Christmas, and I was pretty excited about both of them! The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells was absolutely perfect for this time of year, and full of mystery and magic. I loved it. Dead Voices is from a middle grade series and this series is actually a little scary in parts. Lol. Maybe because the author also wrote The Bear and the Nightingale, which also sort of gave me the creeps in parts.

    Reading This Week:

    My intention this week is to read Dead of Winter. I just have a ton of books here to read – books from my birthday still, from Christmas, the library. I almost have too many to decide! However, this one finally came in for me from the library so I am hoping to begin with this one. And the weather here is not snowy, but it is super cold so I feel like it will be a perfect time to read it and really get wrapped up in the atmosphere.

    Posted:

    My Favorite Reads of 2024

    A Look Back at 2024

    My Last Christmas Coffee Catch Up of 2024

    Happy New Year! Happy January!

    Watching and Making:

    Billy and I have been watching the American Ghosts the past few days, catching up on it. We also watched the newest season of McDonald and Dodds. It was really a spectacular season. As far as movies, we watched The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, which made it under the wire as one of my favorite movies of 2024!

    As for what we have been making, Billy has been working on some leatherworking projects, while I started a new embroidery with a unicorn and woodland animals. It is so cute.

    And, Lisa at Boondock Rambling and I have our first Cozy Crafternoon this Saturday at 1pm EST. If you would like to sign up just send me an email at crackercrumblife@gmail.com, and I will add you to our Zoom! We are just hoping to break up these wintery days after Christmas and avoid the blahs. We will just chat and craft and color and do whatever!

    I hope that you all have a happy day today!

    Happy New Year! Happy January!

    On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized25 Comments

    Happy New Year everyone!

    I am not a big New Year’s Eve kind of person. I find it a kind of sad day actually. However, I love New Year’s Day! The first day of a new year, just feels so fresh and full of hope and promise.

    This morning, we made a last minute decision to go see the first sunrise of the year. We pulled on warm clothes, filled our travelers with hot coffee and warm cocoa, heated up our hot pretzels, and piled into the car to head to the river. The sky was full of clouds but we were in luck; there was a sliver of sky wide enough to allow us to the see the fiery beauty of the rising sun.

    I stepped out for a moment to take this photo, and it was quiet over the river, except for the cries of the circling seagulls above. It was cold though, and my old yoga pants were no match for the wind, so I hurried back to the car and the warmth of my family. Wyatt and I were sharing the front seat for the sunrise show, so it was doubly warm. As the sun fully emerged over the horizon, whole families erupted from their cars around us, celebrating the rising of the sun as well. It was a really cool way to start the year.

    Yesterday we spent the day in creativity. It wasn’t planned, it just evolved that way. Wyatt has been busy creating collages and drawings for two days now, just fully immersed in his artwork. Billy did some leatherwork, I worked on my embroidery and a did a bit of writing with the Winter Writing Sanctuary with Beth Kempton. Everyday she has a new invitation (prompt) and I give myself ten or fifteen minutes to scribble out some thoughts. I am not a great writer but I am enjoying the process. In the first video Beth invites us to wake early, light a candle, and write by candlelight. However, Billy has forbidden me from lighting a candle, since I am an enormous calamity in the morning and he feels he would wake to a house on fire. I mean, he is right. I am a super klutz in the morning. It’s like my brain is awake far earlier than my body. We had pizza for dinner, in front of the Christmas tree per Wyatt’s request, watched some videos together, and then had a quiet night and I totally fell asleep way before midnight. Wyatt has never made it past 9 pm. I guess he takes after me, more of an early riser than a night owl.

    I’ve been thinking hard about my word for the year, and I don’t quite have one yet. Last year was my year of community. I want to continue that, building more community physically around us, more dinners and outings with our family and friends, but also digitally, here on my blog. Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are hosting Cozy Crafternoon zoom sessions this January and February to beat the winter blahs, and I hope it is just the beginning of such things. Maybe I will stick with the same word, Community.

    Today we will go for a ride to Belle Isle, the way we always do, and then Billy is making us a good luck dinner – pork chops, black eyed peas, and greens. For lunch we are also having a good luck meal, tamales that his mom made for us. Then tonight, we will watch the movie we watch every year on New Years Day and have for years, The Big Year starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson. It’s such a tradition at this point and we only ever watch that movie on January 1st. I look forward to it every year.

    And now, I am going to get another cup of coffee. I wish you all a wonderful day and a Happy New Year!

    My Last Christmas Coffee Catch Up of 2024

    On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized24 Comments

    Hello everyone!! This time in between Christmas and New Year is always so weird. I never really want to start anything new and I feel sort of stuck. Lol. It’s like a limbo time. It isn’t helping that it is super gloomy out these past few days (weeks?) Anyway, we had a wonderful holiday with family the past week.

    Last Saturday we spent Christmas at my dad’s. It is always so relaxed and chill. They order food, we all sit around and watch the kiddos open their gifts, and that is about it. The kids sort of have the run of the house and do what they want and make messes and play and eat all the candy…

    It was a wonderful day!

    Then the next few days I spent in a flurry of baking and cleaning, as I am sure many of us did.

    Christmas Eve, we went to Billy’s brother’s house for dinner and to hang out with everyone. The kids opened their gifts and played together, and it was a blast. I have awesome pictures but they do not wish their kids to be on the internet, and I am more than happy to respect their wishes.

    Christmas Day started early, at 6:30 am when Wyatt got up. Billy and I stumbled out the family room with Wyatt and watched him happily open his gifts. We also exchanged our gifts to each other as well. ( He got me two of the books that I wanted!)

    Then we had a little time to sit around and relax because my family wasn’t coming until 4. We were making a slow cooker pot roast, macaroni and cheese, cresecent rolls (I even made a baby size one for the Hurricane), and a winter fruit salad so we didn’t even have to spend the whole day cooking. The winter fruit salad was amazing by the way. Pear, apple, clementines, pomegranate seeds, and it was supposed to have kiwi but I didn’t get them with my order and forgot to get them later. I would say though that it didn’t need it. I am probably going to make it all winter long.

    Before long my other nieces descended upon us, along with my brother and SIL, and my mom. We ate, the kids opened gifts – you guys know the drill. It was a lovely evening and I had so much fun with the kids.

    I fell into bed that night, full of happy feelings, joy, and exhaustion. I had big plans for the next day – to do not one thing. And I didn’t.

    I totally relaxed 100% on Thursday. Wyatt played with all of his new stuff, and I did too. I flipped through my new books, played with the new markers that were in my stocking from Santa, and just totally goblinmoded out. Wyatt was cracking me up taking photos of his books….I wonder who he was emulating? Lol.

    Friday Billy was home! He took a few extra vacation days, although we have no idea what we are going to do. Maybe nothing! Yesterday we drove down to an antique store in Ohio and I picked up some cast iron rabbits and sent a bunch of pictures to my friend Kelly who also wanted to go to this antique store. She had a few things she was looking for. We also went to my favorite plant store, The Conservatory, but didn’t pick anything up this time, although they did give Wyatt a few stickers. Next we went to our favorite local fish store, to buy some little plants for the frogs, Hurkle and Durkle, and then ended up at the local book store down the street because of a certain little boy’s request. He picked up a used copy of an Avi book because to him when we say we are going shopping he thinks that means for books.

    We were hoping to stop at the zoo but it was cold and raining so we opted for home and pizza instead. I painted my nails with the very sparkly polish Wyatt gave me for Christmas, we watched some tv, and that was that! Which brings us to right this very moment, Saturday morning, typing this up.

    I hope that you all had a wonderful week, and that whatever you do today, that you do something that makes you smile.

    A Look Back at 2024

    On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized28 Comments

    Hello everyone! I apologize in advance for what may end up being a very rambly, disorganized post.

    This year, I made some much needed changes. First of all, I decided I was not going to let my anxiety run my life anymore, and found a good therapist who worked for me and also a prescription that helps as well. At the beginning of the year, I was in a very terrible headspace, and by the end of January I knew something had to change. So, I did. It wasn’t easy but I am so much better now, and I feel like I have my muchness back!

    Once that was all out of the way, I hit the year running. I knew I wanted to build community for my boy, that was of great importance to me. And I wanted to build a community for myself as well. Our lives can be rather isolated, with homeschooling and also the degree of difficulty we began to have just leaving the house as Wyatt grew and it was harder for me to carry him outside. That was my next task, building friendships and community everywhere. I sooo appreciate all the friends I have made on my blog; you guys don’t know it, but your comments make my day a lot of times. I have many quiet days and it is so good to just chat with you all on here – and I am very much looking forward to the zoom crafting afternoons in January and February. Thank you so much for being part of my community!

    We are regulars at the library, and everyone there knows Wyatt and he is getting to know them all as well. I consider them very much a part of our community. I also try to shop at the same local stores often, and the people at these stores know Wyatt, and he knows them. The woman who works at our local fish store is always so friendly and kind to Wyatt when we stop in – and usually pick something up to bring home with us – to the point where she wanted us to come back after Halloween to show her photos of Wyatt in his costume. He loves the woman who cuts his hair, who is also a neighbor, and we also go to the same pizza place every Friday, where he feels completely at home.

    However, one of the biggest things I did to build community for Wyatt was start our Cub Scout pack. I am not going to lie, starting it from scratch was really difficult! I had no idea when I started how much bureaucracy went into it all, all the forms and committees and meetings and hoops to jump through to get it started. But I persevered and my friends did right along with me, getting this pack off the ground, because it is was so important to me to get this started for our kids. I am proud of myself guys! And we have reconnected with old friends from preschool, and even Wyatt’s old preschool teacher. Wyatt absolutely loves going to meetings and we have some really cool field trips lined up for January and February!

    We did some pretty cool things as a family this year. Small things, but good things.

    We visited some cool independent book stores and ate at a few new restaurants!

    We had some new experiences and revisited some old ones we enjoyed too. Winter lights at the zoo, a train ride in a vintage domed car, seeing some very famous (and cool) works of art in person. Wyatt and I went to see the Wild Kratts and the Halloween lights at the zoo, Wyatt went back to RicStar Music Camp, Billy was in an art show. Wyatt bowled for the first time, got the fish tank (and a few more) that he wanted, and attended his first baseball game. We also went to a dark sky park for Wyatt’s birthday and it was a moment I won’t forget.

    Wyatt has been working hard on walking, and Billy and our friends and family built a ramp that so many people donated to, that I was overcome.

    This year I also decided I was going to make myself feel better about myself. Lol. I was just feeling so grungy all the time. So, slowly but surely, I started to increase my skin care routine, step by step and product by product. I had to learn what I was doing in part, because forever and a day I was a wash my face with whatever and move on kind of person. So having a multi-step process was new and I have enjoyed it. I also – gasp!- added makeup to my repertoire. I don’t usually do that either! I splurged on some Blur cream, mascara, and lipstick (Kylie Jenner brand. You should have seen this fish out of water at Ulta.) and I am enjoying this newness as well. I don’t do it everyday but if I am leaving the house I do. I love the lipstick the most. I learned that during the World War II, women wore red lipstick because Hitler hated all makeup, so it was like a subtle fight against fascism. So red lips for me!

    I also indulged my creative side quite a bit this year, which has also been fun. My stepmom made me a jewlery-making kit at Christmas which I am super excited to start, and I am working on my embroidery all the time. I have also been painting some, when Wyatt does. I am not great at that, but I enjoy it nonetheless. Because it is not about being good, it is about having fun.

    Overall, it was a year. It had its ups and downs, like any year, but we definitely made some great memories together.

    Thank you again for hanging out around here with me!

    My Favorite Reads of 2024

    On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized51 Comments

    Hello everyone!!! I hope you are all doing well – and finding time to read!

    Ok – I am calling it now. It is close enough and I don’t foresee a bunch of reading to happen between now and the new year!

    I had a hard time deciding on my favorite reads this year. I feel like this year was all about trying new genres and new authors that I loved; I went through different reading phases and my read list this year is just a hodgepodge of titles and genres. I didn’t read nearly as many books as other people, I am just slower now that my lifestyle is different! Pre-Wyatt I read over 100 books a year – now I read nowhere near that, and that is ok. Wyatt and I are making memories together everyday, and more importantly, I have turned him into a giant bookworm and library lover just like me. The library loves when he comes in (or so they say!) because he is so excited about getting books and reading. His favorite this year was The Phantom Tollbooth.

    I tracked my reading in a hand drawn little chart this year!

    I also started making these little journal pages.

    They are not anything fancy but they are fun to do.

    And I have digressed enough! My favorites, in no particular order:

    A Dark and Secret Magic || A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking || The Teller of Small Fortunes

    A Dark and Secret Magic was just the perfect autumnal spooky season read. It had everything. The atmosphere, the setting, the characters, the traditions – I really loved it and I hope the author writes another one in this world with these characters. I have a feeling that she is going to.

    A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking really surprised me with how much I absolutely loved it. I loved the message regarding heroes, which was a more serious message hidden within these rather whimsical and magical world. It also touched on intolerance as well, another serious message and theme. However, it was handled in such a way that it didn’t feel heavy – sort of like when people make the perfect bread. I loved the little gingerbread man and of course Bob. I have been telling my husband nearly every day since I read this to read it. So come on Billy, let’s get to it!

    The Teller of Small Fortunes is just a small, easy little read but it was so heartwarming to me. I love found family stories, I love adventures, I love magical tales, and this book had it all. It had Wheel of Time vibes but low stakes and cozy instead of huge and world building.

    The Blue Castle || Tress of the Emerald Sea || The Berry Pickers

    The Blue Castle: Lisa from Boondock Ramblings gifted me this book this year and I absolutely loved it!!! The imagery, the nature writing, Valancy just kicking butt and becoming her own person and taking her life into her own hands. Just all of it. I also learned that there is more to Montgomery than the beloved Anne. (I love Anne too though)

    Tress of the Emerald Sea: Another kickbutt heroine. I love Tress so much. Sanderson and his wife watched The Princess Bride on day together, and his wife wondered what the story would have been like had Buttercup just not given up on Wesley after she heard he was dead, and instead which searching for him. And then, this book was born.

    The Berry Pickers: This book was not light and fluffy or cozy. In fact, it destroyed me for personal reasons but it was still such an amazing book. I don’t want to say much because I don’t want to give anything away, but I do highly recommend it.

    Miracles on Maple Hill || Kildee House

    I went through a time in February/March when I just wanted to read some wholesome, old fashioned kids books. So I did. These two were my favorites. Miracles on Maple Hill was a touching story of a family that was struggling through some issues and when they move to the country, find what they needed to make it through to the other side. Kildee House is also about someone moving to the country, and finding a whole new life that suits them much better. This one has wild animals that live in the house which I of course loved, but it also had some parts that made me sob so be prepared for that. I asked Billy if I could have some foxes and a possum for Christmas but he told me no. What a stick in the mud he is. Maybe just a possum then? Think I could sneak one in this new year?

    Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers || What You are Looking for is in the Library

    Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is a cozy little mystery with found family and most of all, hope. I love the love in this book.

    What You are Looking for in the Library really started me down the path of translated fiction/Asian fiction/healing fiction. I could read this book over and over again. Instead of a little synopsis, I am just linking my review here.

    And that my friends is a wrap! I learned that I love cozy fantasy and translated fiction. I fell down the Riley Sagar and Lucy Foley rabbit holes (if there was an 11 and 12 on this list, they would be The Only One Left by Sagar, and The Midnight Feast by Foley). I gave myself permission to indulge in all the middle grade fiction I want. I also read a lot of books with absurdly long titles, but that is another story. Overall, it’s been a good year of reading!