Category: Uncategorized

Book Review: Last Summer

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, Uncategorized4 Comments

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Goodreads Summary:

Lifestyle journalist Ella Skye remembers every celebrity she interviewed, every politician she charmed between the sheets, and every socialite who eyed her with envy. The chance meeting with her husband, Damien; their rapid free fall into love; and their low-key, intimate wedding are all locked in her memory. But what she can’t remember is the tragic car accident that ripped her unborn child from her. Ella can’t even recall being pregnant.

Hoping to find the memories of a lost pregnancy that’s left her husband devastated and their home empty, Ella begins delving into her past when she’s assigned an exclusive story about Nathan Donovan, a retired celebrity adventurer who seems to know more about her than she does him. To unravel the mystery of her selective memory loss, Ella follows Nathan from the snowcapped Sierra Nevada to the frozen slopes of southeast Alaska. There she discovers the people she trusts most aren’t the only ones keeping secrets from her—she’s hiding them from herself. Ella quickly learns that some truths are best left forgotten.

My Thoughts:

So. This book. My reaction was a bit unusual for me, I think. I was absolutely riveted to the story that was unfolding and read it pretty avidly and compulsively; however, I didn’t really like the main characters that much! They made a few decisions that I found questionable, but part of reading is getting out of our comfort zone, and this book certainly did that!

This book was pretty crazy, right from the get go. Ella wakes up in the hospital, not knowing why she is there, not remembering that she had lost her baby. Or even being pregnant at all!  A baby that she and her husband Damien had been expecting, had even named. Of course, I had to find out what the heck happened, right?

The book takes us through Ella’s life in the times leading up to the accident, and also what is happening in real time. We learn that she and her husband have a pretty passionate love for each other, are driven professionally, and their lives are somewhat laced with deceit and lies. It is very compelling reading, as things become explained slowly slowly bit by bit. There is a point in the book where I am happy with the way things are proceeding – then wham! From out of left field the story changes again. It’s like the book version of white water rafting, and the reader is in for quite a ride!

This book ends on a bit of a mystery – and I can’t wait to find out what happens next!

 

Thank you to Little Bird Publicity for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

Last week was a pretty good week! After doing some research I decided to replace my laptop with a Chromebook. I don’t use it for much anymore, other than blogging, online shopping, and other playing around on the interwebs. If I create any documents I use Google Drive, and photo editing and graphics creation I use online sites too, PicMonkey and Canva. So, for now this seemed like a perfect solution. And I have to admit, I love my new Chromebook. 🙂 It is super light and easy to use. So yay, I am back in business!  We also did a lot of bumming around the house, which for us is a novelty. Wyatt usually has therapy three times a week so it was nice to have some down time. And then best of all, Billy had a super long weekend, Thursday – Sunday. We bopped around, hitting up our favorite haunts, Belle Isle, the metroparks, my brother’s backyard for a bbq on the 4th. And we even did a new thing – we went out with another couple for dinner and drinks! We had been wanting to try a tiki bar that has been around for slight bit in Detroit, called The Mutiny Bar, and it was so fun. We enjoyed the company and the drinks!

Read Last Week:

The Lost Hours

Karen White is such a go to author for me these days. I wanted something less intense after Crawdads, but this actually turned out to be a pretty emotional read as well! I still loved it, it was an amazing story.

Reading This Week:

I want to try to knock out some NetGalley reads this week, and I picked two from the list to start with.

I also joined up with the Paris in July challenge. Once I decided I was going to join, I put the brakes on my bug book, so I could finish it this month. So I will be reading that as well. I probably will not finish all of these but I am going to give it a try! Lol.

Posted Last Week:

Only one other one, besides my Sunday-Monday.

Hello July!

Watching:

Our tv watching has really slowed down with the summer. We are watching Criminal Minds still on Netflix (there are so many!), and This Farming Life on BritBox because we are apparently obsessed with farms. Lol.

And finally, we have a winner for my Summertime Giveaway! Thank you to everyone who entered! Mary, I will be contacting you shortly!

What about you guys? What is happening in your neighborhood?

Hello July!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized8 Comments

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July, you are not my favorite month. I am not a fan of being hot and sticky and sweaty and Michigan summers are hot and sweaty and humid. Our family tends to shy away from the sunlight like vampires, hiding out in the air conditioning during the day, and then emerging in the evening as it cools off. None of us are summer lovers, in this house. But July, you have your own beauty and charm, and this year, I will embrace you more. You are a month of sunshine, and bright colors and flowers. Insects and birds are cheerily going about their business, flowers riot through gardens. There is a plethora of fresh fruits and vegetables at the farm markets, bursting with flavor, and more bright colors. That is probably my favorite thing about you July, your vibrancy.

This month is a busy one too. We have so many fun things planned, in our own ways, of course. The fourth of July and family picnics. The lavender festival, the Detroit Kite Festival on Belle Isle. Bastille Day, watching the Tour de France together. Music concerts at the zoo. And three whole date nights for Billy and I, three weeks in a row! A dinner and tiki bar with new friends, a party with old coworkers, and then finally a date night at the zoo actually. I also see many more family dinners – my brother and I are trying to make them as weekly as possible. Iced tea parties with my boy once a week as well. Fresh salads, fresh fruits, simple easy meals. Trips to the library always feel so summery to me too.

As for me, I am going to a mom’s retreat in Texas at the end of the month, just my stepsister and I. I have to admit, I am super nervous. Beyond nervous and anxious. I have never been away from Wyatt more than 8 hours and now I will be gone for three nights. But I am doing it. I am teaching Wyatt to not let fear rule his life, and that begins with me. I have to do things that maybe I am scared to do, to show him that it is ok. I am also excited to go as well. I have always wanted to go to Texas, my whole life, and now I am. There is a chance to see some of my old college friends who moved to Austin as well, which would be a great big bonus. And this is a retreat for moms of kids with special needs like my kiddo, and the event coordinators have so many activities planned if we want to do them – or we can do whatever we want. Two and half days where I can do whatever I choose. So, this is going to be fun. I will get to hang out with my stepsister too, and really get to know her better, as we met when we were older. I am looking forward to that. It is a chance for me to grow, and it is good to push ourselves to that growth. Or that is what I keep telling myself!

I think this month too, I will revisit old children’s classic books, and just books that I loved as a child. I am also doing the Paris in July challenge, so that is on my mind too, all the fun reads and things I can for that. It has also been one year since I decided to start phasing out plastic, with Plastic Free July, and I signed up for a challenge for that as well, to keep me motivated and give me some new ideas. I need a push to get on that again, and the challenge will do well for that!

How about you all? Any big plans for July?

My Sunday/Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized15 Comments

 

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

 

Last week was a bit of a doozy! Summer hit with both barrels here in Michigan, with 90 degree temps- and of course my air went out!! And then my hard drive died! I felt sort of a like a jinx. Lol. Luckily we now have air again (Wyatt is very sensitive to heat) but alas, still no laptop. I am using my husband’s work laptop so I can’t use it much, so I might be hit or miss on here for a bit until I get a new one of my own. I am hoping for good 4th of July sale! I don’t need it to do much, really to surf the interwebs and blog. However, I do need a lot of memory I think, I have a ton of photos. Anyway, other than that nonsense, we had a pretty decent week, which ended in a shared family meal at my brother’s house. It was a good night.

Read Last Week:

crawdads-1

So this arrived!! And I promptly devoured it. I am calling it my favorite read of the year so far, it was amazing. Thanks Dad for surprising me with a copy!

Reading This Week:

The Lost Hours

When I first read Karen White ages ago, I didn’t care for her work.  I had been reading her Tradd Street series and had a hard time liking the main character. But then I picked up a book of hers that was not part of that series, and fell in love. I am slowly but surely making my way through all of her books. I needed a less intense follow up to Crawdads and Karen White is a go to author for me. So far,  I am loving this one.

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A summertime giveaway! Enter to win the above decorative book stack by following this link here.

Paris In July

Father’s Day Motor Muster

 

What about you? What has been going on in your neighborhood?

 

 

 

Paris in July

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized7 Comments

 

It has been a while since I have participated in anything bloggy other than the Weekly Sunday/Monday meme I do; four years, to be exact, since the birth of my son. I never knew if I would be able to commit! This Paris in July event, hosted by Thyme for Tea, will be my first in four years, and I am very excited! I felt like this would be a fun, very doable type of experience for me, and I am looking forward to it.

I am planning on reading a few books set in France, watching a French movie, and without a doubt, watching the Tour de France, as we do every year. We are big fans, and this year promises to be an exciting one, with some of the big names out of the race already before it has even begun. I also hope to do a mini Bastille Day celebration and eat a little French food too!

A little bit about the event from Thyme for Tea:

Paris in July is a French themed blogging experience running from the 1st – 31st July this year.

The aim of the month is to celebrate our French experiences through actual visits, or through reading, watching, listening, observing, cooking and eating all things French!  Here’s a link to some of my previous reviews.

There will be no rules or targets in terms of how much you need to do or complete in order to be a part of this experience – just blog about anything French and you can join in! Some ideas might include;

  • reading a French themed book – fiction or non-fiction,
  • watching a French movie,
  • listening to French music,
  • cooking French food,
  • experiencing French, art, architecture and travel

If you are interested in learning more or signing up, visit Thyme for Tea here!

Father’s Day Motor Muster

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life, family, family friendly, Uncategorized4 Comments

Father’s Day morning was awful. Rainy, cold, gray. But we were undeterred by the bad weather, and tucked ourselves into our rain gear and continued on with our plan for the day!

Greenfield Village was having its annual “Motor Muster”, where people from all over drive their classic cars to the village and show them off. I have to admit, I am not super into cars. But Billy is, and it was Father’s Day, so there we were. He’s a good guy and a great father so whatever he wanted, it was his day. There was one thing I did want to do though, and that was ride the train. A month ago my stepfather passed away, and he was a huge train enthusiast, and I wanted us to take a ride on the steam train around the village, in memory of him on Father’s Day. So we made that our first stop – it was a good way to stay out of the rain too. It was actually pretty atmospheric in the rain, with the thick steam wrapping around the sides of the train. Wyatt loved it, and Jerry would have too.

 

When our ride ended, the rain pretty much had too, luckily. We wandered about looking at the cars, and I found that I was actually really interested this time. Lol. Call it my summer of retro, I guess! We saw some really cool vehicles though, and we had the village pretty much to ourselves for a while, due to the morning’s rain.

 

Those wood paneled cars are really cool looking! Billy loved all the International Harvesters, which I guess are very rare. There were three at the Motor Muster, one of which was a wagon type version, which Billy had never seen and was super excited about. I was more of a fan of the Vernor’s truck, so classic Michigan! I also liked this one:

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We were excited to see the Tin Can Tourists had a few people there too!

 

After we had walked around and checked out all the cars, we checked out the rest of the sights! This year the village had added in vintage era music shows, food stalls, and living history type exhibits, if you could call them that. I thought these ladies looked amazing and so very retro cool, working on their Victory Garden.

 

And yes, as any good Hawaiian blooded man does, my husband ate the grilled spam sandwich. Which he said was excellent!

All in all, it was a great way to spend the day and we had a fun with this blast from the past! And hey, since you are here, check out my giveaway!

Summertime Giveaway!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized8 Comments

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Summer has finally arrived in Michigan! It’s warm, birds are singing, the sun is shining and there are multiple opportunities for fun everyday, from road trips to ice cream to summertime reading on your front porch!

Last week I was talking about how when you are a kid, summer feels endless, and full of promise, brand new adventures whenever you are ready. I realized I want a little of that back, that feeling of summer stretching out in front of us like a blank slate, despite having adult responsibilities. These moments can be small or large, summer vacations or a trip to the library, whatever you make it. A chance to make your own summer story.

When I saw this decorative stack of books, I knew that it would help inspire me to keep to my goal – and then I realized I wanted to give an opportunity to one of you to have this as well. When I was talking to Michelle of Bombshell Redesign about what I wanted to do, she generously gifted a matching stack for someone to have the chance to win!

A little bit about Michelle and Bombshell Redesign: She is a firecracker, a whirl of energy and creativity, with an eye for repurposing things that may just get thrown away or recycled. She is a mother, an avid reader, an entrepreneur, an artist. Bombshell Redesign is a quirky, quotable, bookish way to upcycle books headed for recycling or a landfill. She offers many different options, including personalizations and special requests. These decorative stacks are fun and perfect gifts for friends, grandparents, book clubs, and teachers – or for anyone for that matter!

To enter, we are doing this old school! Leave a comment below on my blog, and please be a U.S. resident. You do not need to be a blogger just have an email. Bonus points if you follow me on Instagram @crackercrumblife and @BombshellRedesign! If you do, just leave me your Instagram name in the comments, or email it to me at crackercrumblife@gmail.com so I can check. Then I will use a randomizer online to find the winner! Winner will be announced July 7. 🙂

 

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized19 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

So far, summer break has not been much break for me, but it is nice to have Wyatt here. Last week we did a bunch of non-fun things but still stuff that needed to get done, so I think..we might be ready to just kick back and relax for a bit! Friday Billy took the day off work and the three of us went to the zoo to celebrate World Giraffe Day, as giraffes are Wyatt’s favorite animal currently. We spent the rest of the weekend pretty much just hanging out around the house and with family, and it was nice to have a long weekend together.

Read last week:

Last week, I said I was going to read Where the Crawdads Sing, and I really honestly thought I was going to. Lol. Then I got a lot of comments from people mentioning that their library hold lists were seriously long and that they had a long wait, and I started to wonder. I went up to the library to see if it was in for me, and well, it wasn’t. So I asked about it, as my online account did not show that I was any number in line, so I assumed it was in for me. I learned that the library changed its policy and no longer is telling people where they are on the list, and that it appears I do have a while to wait. I was kind of bummed about this change in policy – I don’t understand it. My dad called as I was leaving the library and I was telling him about my book woes, so he surprised me later by calling and telling me that he ordered it for me from Amazon! Yay Dad to the rescue! In the meantime, I read Last Summer. I plan on reviewing it July 10.

Reading this week:

I usually love Lorna Landvik so I am looking forward to this one! It’s all lined up in case Where the Crawdads Sing comes later in the week.

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Book Review: Finale by Stephanie Garber

World Giraffe Day

What about you all? What is going on in your neighborhood?

Book Review: Finale by Stephanie Garber

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Goodreads Summary:

A love worth fighting for. A dream worth dying for. An ending worth waiting for.

It’s been two months since the Fates were freed from a deck of cards, two months since Legend claimed the throne for his own, and two months since Tella discovered the boy she fell in love with doesn’t really exist.

With lives, empires, and hearts hanging in the balance, Tella must decide if she’s going to trust Legend or a former enemy. After uncovering a secret that upends her life, Scarlett will need to do the impossible. And Legend has a choice to make that will forever change and define him.

Caraval is over, but perhaps the greatest game of all has begun. There are no spectators this time—only those who will win, and those who will lose everything.

Welcome, welcome to Finale. All games must come to an end…

My Thoughts:

I was so excited to read this final installment in the Caraval series. I have been enchanted by this world since I first picked Caraval up on a whim- I think it is such a unique story, and so visual for a book. I can totally imagine this series as a movie or television show – everything just feels so alive and bursting off of the pages, in glittering technicolor. There is a sense of vivaciousness, excess, beauty from this world and Scarlett and Tella are such great characters, and their fierce love for each other. They are truly sisters, so different yet loyal and devoted to the other. In this book, we got to hear almost equally from both and I loved it reading a book that had both of their perspectives.

Holy Love Triangles Batman! Not just one character with a love triangle, but two. I have a slight favoritism for Scarlett and Julian though, so I have to say I enjoyed their journey in Finale a wee bit more. Tella and Legend, I’m just not as into their story as I am Scarlett and Julian’s. Maybe it is because we met Scarlett first? Regardless, I still greatly enjoyed seeing their stories spin out and finally conclude.

There were some pretty big surprises in this book! From sad ones to ones that I didn’t see coming, it was a bit of a roller coaster from start to finish. I found myself drawn more to the character of Jacks, and was almost sort of rooting for him over Legend! Of course, you will not find out until the very end who Tella ultimately ends up with..

I also really enjoyed hearing the stories of the Fates, how they came to be, their history and the lore surrounding them. That was actually really cool. They played a huge part in this book, and I really loved it.

Overall, I really enjoyed Finale!

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for the advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review!



My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized17 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

Our weekend is unfolding pretty slowly. It’s rainy and a little dreary, so today (Saturday) we are pursuing indoor pursuits like blogging, coloring, painting, and later crafting as a family. We are going to make strawberry necklaces out of salt dough to wear for our full strawberry moon party on Monday. We went out for a bit this morning, and daydreamed over retro trailers – they are just so darn cute and the idea of just hooking up and moving out for a night or two on a whim suits us. Or I could just park it in the driveway in our yard and use it as a quiet reading retreat too! I feel strongly that we will have one of these, one day…

Read Last Week:

The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay by Kelly Harms – I do not usually read books that do not match the season I am living, I am weirdly seasonal. This book however, it didn’t matter. I totally adored it and it was the perfect little happy escape read that I needed!

I also started A Buzz in the Meadow and while I am not a super bug person, I am fascinated by this book.

Reading This Week:

I have been very inspired by Lakeside Musing’s posts lately and I hurried to put a few of the books she has read recently on hold. Well, two of them came in and this was one! I am looking forward to reading it. ETA: So everyone’s comments on how long the holds list is made me double check my status! Lol. Our library changed their policy and no longer tells you where you are on the list for a book, so the way it was listed in my holds area online made it look like it was in. I am not sure why they wouldn’t tell us where we are though. 😦 So…it looks like I have a long wait ahead of me if I am going to read it from the library, darn it!!!

Posted Last Week:

Hello, June!

Supporting Small and Local

Watching:

The Durrells on Prime and Criminal Minds on Netflix. I love the Durrell family!

How about you all? How are you doing?