RIP 14 – Readers Imbibing Peril

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized2 Comments

Spooky season is here! I am a little late joining up this year, but I am so looking forward to participating again in Readers Imbibing Peril! I’m all about the fall as you all know and my favorite holiday is right around the corner, along with hard cider and apple cider and bonfires and comfy sweaters and boots. And I am really looking forward to a scary story or two!

This year I plan on participating in Peril the First and Peril of the Screen – or reading four books that fit the qualifications and a horror movie or two…

If you are interested here are the details, copied from the Readers Imbibing Peril website!

The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:Mystery.Suspense.Thriller.Dark Fantasy.Gothic.Horror.Supernatural.The emphasis is never on the word challenge, instead it is about coming together as a community and embracing the autumnal mood, whether the weather is cooperative where you live or not.

The goals are simple. 

1. Have fun reading.

2. Share that fun with others.

As we do each and every year, there are multiple levels of participation (Perils) that allow you to be a part of R.I.P. XIV without adding the burden of another commitment to your already busy lives. There is even a one book only option for those who feel that this sort of reading is not their cup of tea (or who have many other commitments) but want to participate all the same.

Multiple perils await you. You can participate in just one, or participate in them all.

Peril the First:

Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be Stephen King or Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Shirley Jackson or Tananarive Due…or anyone in between.

Peril the Second:

Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the challenge categories.

Peril the Third:

We all want you to participate. This Peril involves reading one book that fits within the R.I.P. definition.

Peril of the Short Story:

We are fans of short stories and our desire for them is perhaps no greater than in autumn. We see Jackson in our future for sure! You can read short stories any time during the challenge. We sometimes like to read short stories over the weekend and post about them around that time. Feel free to do this however you want, but if you review short stories on your site, please link to those reviews on our RIPXIV Book Review pages.

Peril on the Screen:

This is for those of us who like to watch suitably scary, eerie, mysterious gothic fare during this time of year. It may be something on the small screen or large. It might be a television show, like Dark Shadows, or your favorite film. If you are so inclined, please post links to any R.I.P.-related viewing you do on our book review pages as well.

Peril of the Review:

Submit a short review of any book you read and you may see it here on the blog! Again, you may participate in one or all of the various Perils. Our one demand: enjoy yourself!The R.I.P. XIV Challenge does not require you to read from a pre-selected list of books, but like many of you we love to get ideas from what others are thinking of reading. If you want to include a pool of potential reads when you sign up, either in the comments or on your own sign up post on your social media channel of choice (not required for participation), please do!This challenge is always a joy because of one thing: you! You sharing your passion for books, reading, films, television, etc. helps bring us together and ensures that we all have a great time. Thank each and every one of you who choose to participate on any level. We are honored that you would choose to do so.

To join, visit the site and sign up!

What Wyatt’s Reading – September

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized7 Comments

We had a great month of reading! I won’t list them all, but here are the highlights!

As you can see we have gone full fall reading over here! There are so many great picture books out there and we are eating them up like apples. Wyatt loved Apple Farmer Annie, Apple, Scarecrow Magic, and How to Find a Fox. Especially How to Find a Fox. It was fun to see how the fox was hiding from the little girl while she searched high and low. So cute. We both loved Hello, Fall and read it multiple times. Saving Samantha was wonderful, I have loved it for years although it was a bit long for Wyatt right now. I am probably going to buy it for our home library, along with Fall Walk and Red Sky at Night. All were great wonderful books. It is hard to not just buy all the books for him, so I am trying to “curate” a library of his favorites and also books that we can reference in the future, and not just every single one, which is how I would like to roll. Lol. But space and money! Our library always lists how much we have saved using the library that trip and we generally average a “savings” of $175 a week! Libraries are awesome, I highly encourage using them if you are not regular library goers.

Finally, Little Tree and Little Cub. I was so in love with these two books. Little Tree shows how in order to change, sometimes we need to let go. And Little Cub was so heartwarming. I read it to Wyatt while Billy was making dinner, and Billy came out of the kitchen to comment on how sweet the story was. And I agree.

We still have two months of fall books to read! Any favorites?

Book Review: The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review5 Comments

Goodreads Summary:

Connie Goodwin is an expert on America’s fractured past with witchcraft. A young, tenure-track professor in Boston, she’s earned career success by studying the history of magic in colonial America—especially women’s home recipes and medicines—and by exposing society’s threats against women fluent in those skills. But beyond her studies, Connie harbors a secret: She is the direct descendant of a woman tried as a witch in Salem, an ancestor whose abilities were far more magical than the historical record shows.

When a hint from her mother and clues from her research lead Connie to the shocking realization that her partner’s life is in danger, she must race to solve the mystery behind a hundreds’-years-long deadly curse.

Flashing back through American history to the lives of certain supernaturally gifted women, The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs affectingly reveals not only the special bond that unites one particular matriarchal line, but also explores the many challenges to women’s survival across the decades—and the risks some women are forced to take to protect what they love most. 

My Thoughts:

I loved The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane, and I was so excited when I saw that Katherine Howe had written a new book as a sequel to Constance’s story. I read this one eagerly and quickly, and really loved it.

The story picks up ten years after the first, and Constance is a professor working on tenure. She is still with Sam and while they are having some ups and downs in their relationship, they are still solid. However, her family has a secret, one that she must find the cure for before time is up.

I loved how this book flashed back through the decades to Constance’s ancestry, all the way back to Deliverance herself. We see glimpses of what the women of her bloodline have lived through, and how their family history has affected them. I loved seeing these small hints of the past, and it reminded me somewhat of Anne Rice’s Witching Hour, and reading the Talmasca history of the Mayfair Witches. (one of my favorite books ever, btw)

In between these introductions to Connie’s past, we are caught up with Connie and her race to find the answers she needs. Zazi, the student that she mentors, is a great addition to this story and I loved her presence and interests. Her character widens the range from the New England Puritan witchcraze to the south and voodoo and other forms and studies of witchcraft. I really hope that we get a book about her!

My only complaint really about this book is that it lacked a certain sense of urgency. I know we were supposed to feel that the situation was urgent and dire, but it didn’t really feel that way, until all of a sudden it was, if that makes sense. I could have used a little more build up besides the exposition of being told that it was urgent. Otherwise, I loved this book. I love books about academia and witches so this one was right up my alley, and well done. A great book to start the spooky season, as it was not really spooky but definitely supernatural!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized21 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 our house was dealing with germs! My son caught the dreaded back to school cold and passed it on to my husband. I have been dealing with my own asthma for two weeks, thanks to ragweed season. Fingers crossed for a better week! We did manage to visit the zoo for a quick few hours Friday morning, and then go to Hawkfest with my brother and his family on Saturday. I am excited, this week I get to take my niece on a school field trip to the pumpkin patch! It should be fun, and I am looking forward to hanging out with her.

Read Last Week:

The Daughters of Temperance Hobbs is a sequel to The Physick Book of Deliverance Dance, which I loved. I was so excited to read this one, and I loved it just as much! Review this week.

Reading This Week:

The Simple Wild (Wild, #1)

I finally picked this up and I am loving it! Just what I needed after a few super intense reads. If I do finish it, I am reading this one next, although I am nervous.

Wild and Crooked

I have mixed feelings about reading this – as the mother of a child with Cerebral Palsy I am thrilled that there is a book with a main character that has CP; on another level, I know this will probably be a bit emotional to read as well.

Watching:

We binged and finished up Mindhunter Season 2- that show really is fantastic. I was riveted and when the season ended I wasn’t ready! We also started watching The British Bake Off, which we always love. This week we might start the Dark Crystal series on Netflix – I loved that movie as a kid!

Posted Last Week:

Date Night: Ragtime Street Fair and Motor Muster

It’s Wednesday! What Are You Listening to?

What about you? What is happening in your world?

Date Night: Ragtime Street Fair and Motor Muster

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn date night, family, Uncategorized9 Comments

It was a spur of the moment type thing, this date night, and sometimes those are the very best kind. Greenfield Village was having its annual Ragtime Street Fair and we were having dinner with my mom who lives nearby, so it was so easy to ask her to watch the little man for us for just a quick few hours out.

I have always wanted to go to the Ragtime Street Fair and this was the first time we managed to get there for it. It was super cool to see people dressed in period clothing for the 20s, strolling in and out of the street fair tents full of food and drink. It was another motor muster, with old cars lining the streets but this time, the ages of the cars were limited from early 1900 to the ’30s, and nothing “newer” than that. The village was open late for this event, and we got there just as people were leaving, probably having been there for hours already during the day. My brother had gone earlier in the day and said that it was packed, so we weren’t sure what to expect. We had a little bit of a hard time finding a parking spot, but once inside it wasn’t bad at all.

It was one of my favorite weather nights – cool, moody, clouds in the distance threatening rain, yet still summery with no humidity. We were able to walk around comfortably, checking out all the cars and chatting with the owners. We ambled a bit, bought drinks, and noticed everyone lining up on the curbs to watch the twilight parade of cars, so took our own seat on the side and peacefully watched the cars drive by for a little bit, sipping our drinks, comparing favorites, just existing side by side for a bit, easily. When we finished our beverages, we scrambled across the street between cars to check this one out – we had never seen anything like it before!

This car is so cool! It can drive in thirty feet of snow, and the owner said that he had taken it out in the snow many times – why not, he said, and really, if I had this I would take it out too! He couldn’t drive it in to the village like that but brought it in on a truck. It is a 1929 Closed Cab Model A Ford Pickup with a super Snow Bird Snowmobile attachment. According to the guy, and his sign. It was used for mail delivery, and I am assuming lots of other purposes too. I think I need one of these to handle our Michigan winters! Lol. And of course the buffalo plaid clothing hanging there – I am a sucker for buffalo plaid anything.

We chatted with the owner for a bit then wandered off to the garden, one of my favorite spots in the village. It was a great time to go, and now at the end of the year the blooms are fading but there were some plants bearing fruit, like tiny ornamental eggplants that looked like pumpkins! I am definitely adding that to my garden next year! We were on a slow roll tour of the village, so we took a seat in the garden watching the sun begin to set.

We sat for a few minutes, taking it all in, chatting with other people strolling through the garden, guessing what the different plants were, before setting off and catching up with the parade on the other side of the village. A man in an old Ford truck offered us a lift to sit on his hay bales in back, and we almost took it, but chose to keep walking, although, it would have been fun. The clouds started to really roll in and we had a feeling it was going to start to rain and wanting to beat the crowd out, we started heading toward the exit, slowly making our way there.

I had my head in the clouds, the sky was so dramatic and beautiful. It was one of those times I itched for my camera, not just my cell phone camera. I put my camera away a few years ago, as I felt I was missing moments, trying to capture them. I wanted to be fully present and not just the person behind the lens. I will probably pick it up again at some point, but not just yet, unless I go out and solo shoot.

The night was low key, mellow, and last minute. And we had a wonderful time together; we were able to talk and listen to each other, something that we don’t actually always get to do, with Wyatt around. Lol. It was one of those nights that was easy and simple and didn’t need to be a big thing to have fun.

It’s Wednesday! What are you listening to?

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life, family, family friendly, mom life, Uncategorized15 Comments

So, this is obviously a little riff on Monday’s What Are You Reading post that is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. I don’t really intend for this to be a weekly feature, but I thought this would be pretty fun, maybe once a month or three. And I would really really love to know what you guys are listening to!

Let’s start with podcasts.. I am in love with them. I have some that I listen to when I am sans child, since they are not appropriate for his little ears, but we have a few that we listen to together too.

Family Podcasts

Storynory – This is a great storytelling podcast! They share classic stories, fairytales, myths, even poems and all told in a fun, easy listening way for kids. Stories have great sound effects too, to make it more of an experience! Our favorite episode: The Owl and the Pussycat (super short, but I LOVED this poem as a kid and so does Wyatt now)

Circle Round – Another storytelling podcast, presented by NPR. This one is based mainly on folk tales, and some even are read by actual actors. I love the different range of stories that they present on this podcast, and they often pair with orchestras to add music as well. Our favorite episode: The Piper and the Pooka

Ear Snacks for Kids: This is a new one for us, we just found it, so no favorites yet but we are having fun discovering all of their quirky songs based around art and science and culture. We listened to one about teeth and teeth brushing this morning and it was so fun – who knew that topic could be so funny?

Classics for Kids: So, this one, I am pretty sure Wyatt is not paying too much attention to what the hosts are saying, but is just enjoying the music they play. Lol. However, I have learned from this one! Another one new to our lineup.

My List:

Lore by Aaron Mahnke: The first podcast I ever listened to, and I still love it. Mahnke has a way of unfolding a tale! I love his eerie, spooky tales that he slowly unwinds for us, bit by bit. So good! I actually listen to this if Wyatt is around, most of the time, unless the topic is too macabre. Lore is also a show on Amazon and Mahnke has a few books out too! Favorite episode: Black Stockings

America’s National Parks (L.L. Bean): I love this one!! Different stories about the history of our national parks, the people who have visited or worked there, and celebrates the wild nature of them all. I have so many favorite episodes, but here are three that I have made family members listen to because I wanted them to hear these tales: Favorite Episodes: 37 Days in Yellowstone, Alone on a Winter Island, and The Strange World of National Park Gift Stores.

My Favorite Murder: Another old favorite- Karen and Georgia and their quick witted banter lends a much needed mood lifter at times during this true crime podcast. However, this one is not safe for children to listen to, due to language and violence. Favorite Episode: The Live in Glasgow episode

Living Homegrown: A new one to my list, all good stuff about sustainability and how to live on the farm without actually living on the farm, tips on how to live closer to your food source while living somewhere you don’t really have access to land. The podcast was on a hiatus due to Theresa Loe’s cancer, but I think the podcast is starting back up again.

I usually use Spotify pretty exclusively, because I can listen to music and podcasts all in one place. Plus I have the app on my television now, so I can just play everything right from my tv, which has way better speakers. I have to be honest, my music lists are pretty bare! I could use some suggestions and help!

What we are listening to – music:

The National Parks – I had never heard of this band until I was searching for the National Parks podcast. Lol. They are pretty good, mellow for slow mornings or evenings, and coffee or wine.

Lord Huron: Sort of similar in sound to the National Parks, I discovered them for the first time while watching a vlogger on YouTube that we love, Trout and Coffee (jeez, I could do a post on vloggers too!)

The Okeedokee Brothers: So this one is Wyatt’s choice. They have so many albums for kids, and they are folky, bluegrass music, lots of nature imagery. We listen to them a lot! So much that now I actually am a fan too. Lol. Particular favorites here are Jamboree, Through the Woods, Evergreen, and Thousand Star Hotel, and Howl. Look them up on YouTube too, they have little movies!

And some people need no introduction – Tom Petty, Carol King, Van Morrison, Eric Church, Luke Bryan, Luke Coombs. We also listen to a really cool playlist called Classical Nature – I found I love Gustav Holst’s The Planets! Wyatt loves Flight of the Bumblebee. There is of course other stuff that we listen to, but these get the most play. This list is so different from what I used to listen to! I had no idea musical taste could change, but ours seems to have. My husband was a Skinny Puppy, Misfits kind of guy- I listened to a lot of alternative stuff and wore a lot of black. But now? We are country music, folk music type of folk. Lol.

So… I would love to hear what you are listening to! I could always use more suggestions! Do you listen to any of these?

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized28 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 had a lot of little moments that were fun, just small but appreciated. I met my friends for coffee to celebrate my SIL Chrissy’s birthday one morning while Wyatt was at school, and it was a nice way to start the morning (well, after all the getting ready for school and drop off was done!), Wyatt and I went to the library on our weekly pilgrimage, and on Saturday we bopped around our city wide garage sale and then celebrated my MIL’s 70th birthday! The city wide was pretty neat – I love just poking through people’s sale items lol. We bought a few things but not much. It is Secondhand September so I am trying not to buy new things for myself this month, so this was a fun way to do it. I always run into so many friends and acquaintances too, doing the same thing.

Read Last Week:

My plans were disrupted by my Kindle acting up on me! I was having the hardest time with it all week, so I eventually I gave up. I really didn’t read much of anything! I did start a book of local ghost stories that I picked up at the library – one story even takes place in my hometown. It wasn’t a great book however, so I didn’t end up finishing it.

Reading This Week:

I am so excited to read this! I loved The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane so I am looking forward to reading on with these characters. I was going to save more supernatural books for October but I can’t wait. I am also still working on Foxes Unearthed, if I can get the Kindle to behave!

Posted Last Week:

Saying Goodbye to Summertime Snippets

A Few Mini-Reviews

Harvest Full Moon

Watching:

We FINALLY watched Stranger Things Season 3!! And it was so so good! I admit I dragged my feet since I wasn’t a huge fan of Season 2, but 3 was amazing. After we binged that we decided to start Mindhunter Season 2 – which is freaking me out!

Harvest Full Moon

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn autumn, books and reading, family, family friendly, mom life, nature9 Comments

Tonight is the full harvest moon – and coincidentally, Friday the 13th!! OOoooooOOO…

The Harvest Moon is the moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox which is coming up on the 23rd. This time, the moon is also a micromoon, meaning it will appear smaller in the sky, the opposite of a supermoon. So much happening in our skies right now! We are spending this harvest moon with my brother and his family, having a fire in the yard and eating cheesy corn chowder and apple bread made from the apples growing on our tree. The moon won’t rise in our area until after midnight, so it probably won’t be Friday the 13th anymore technically, and I kind of am ok with that.

I have been reading Harvest Moon books to Wyatt this week, in preparation for this moon that signifies harvest season and family. And because I am always curious and forever reading more on things, I also looked up books on superstitions for my own reading. Mine haven’t come in at the library yet, so I won’t get to read them until maybe next week, but I am looking forward to flipping through them.

These were all great reads, but our favorite is Possum’s Harvest Moon. This little possum just wants his friends to get together and celebrate before winter arrives, and meets with a little resistance at first! Eventually, all the friends have a great time together, hanging out at the Harvest Moon. Kind of like we are going to do with my brother and his family – although we will see him after winter arrives too. I am guessing though, historically, that for people in the “old days”, that once the snow fell you might not see your neighbors until spring, so maybe people back then had celebrations of their own, before snows kept them isolated.

I have to admit, the superstition of Friday the 13th does get to me… my family is very superstitious, I blame our Irish and Scottish ancestry! As I mentioned above, I went digging for some books on superstitions, as my curiosity usually does lead me to do. These were the few I found that looked really interesting!

We actually had the Encyclopedia of Superstitions in the library I used to work at, and the kids checked it out like crazy. I had to order a new one for the library eventually, it became so worn out. So, I figured that had to go on my list! I am sure I won’t read these cover to cover, all of them, but you never know I guess! What the Moon Said is a kids chapter book that drew my interest as well, it looks really interesting. They had me at Little House though…

How about you guys? Any plans for tonight? Any suggestions for a harvest moon play list?

A Few Mini-Reviews

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book club, book review, books and reading4 Comments

It’s been a minute since I have posted any mini-reviews and I have been reading so many good mini reviews lately that I have decided to do a few of my own!

Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered: I love this podcast and I was so excited to read this book, that I never even bothered to read what this book was about! I figured it was going to be more true crime, but it was more self-help than anything. I still really enjoyed it, and while I find Karen and Georgia fun on their podcast, it was nice to hear their voices describe their own lives and past mistakes and how they have moved on, without all the banter. Some good truths in this book! I found it so relatable, but maybe because I was a less than perfect teen and twenty year old, who made some crazy mistakes too. (If I’m being honest, I still do!)

Brazen: Rebel Ladies who Rocked the World: This book blew me away, honestly. I learned about women I had never heard of before, I read about women I had heard about, and it was all presented in graphic novel form. I picked it up on a whim, and loved the illustrations, the message, the facts. I even found some new role models! Amazing read, loved it and read it all in one afternoon! I plan on seeking out more of Bagieu’s work soon.

Leaving Time: Another one that really was amazing. This is my first Jodi Picoult book and if all of her writing is like this, no one wonder she is so loved. This was our book club pick for my neighborhood book club, and the woman who chose it told me she thought I would like it. And I did! Half of the book was about elephants, and if you are familiar with my blog, you will know that I love animals and learning about animals. And these elephants will break your heart; you will never look at an elephant the same way again. At it’s core this book is about loss and grief and mothers and healing, and is so beautifully written. And then the end, I just didn’t see it coming. Excellent book.

Saying goodbye to Summertime Snippets…

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn day in the life, family, garden, hygge, Michigan, mom life, nature, Uncategorized9 Comments

As summer is ending and falling into fall, school is back in session, and the easy breezy summer days are no more for this year. And that is ok, there is a season for everything. I can see the change of seasons in my photos, as summer images give way to autumn.

Late summer meant trips to the aquarium, summer music class, visits to Greenfield Village with grandparents. ..

Family nature hikes, surrounded by a canopy of green, the last of the water lilies dotting the water (they were gone the very next week!), Sandhill Cranes before they leave for warmer climates..even a woolly bear caterpillar spotted on a little leaf. Don’t worry though if you are not a fan of snow, this woolly bear says we are in for a mild winter!

Playing in the dirt everyday all day, ice cream on the lawn, ground cherries that we found growing in our back garden, and spontaneous hugs from my kiddo.. (those aren’t seasonal though!)

This week we are getting ready for the harvest moon! I feel we have officially reached fall!