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

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!

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!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up – Dragons!

Hello everyone! Thank goodness for coffee this morning. I am chilled today, with the intense cold that we are having. Next week we have a deep freeze, with temps dipping down into the negative numbers. I hope to get all prepared today and tomorrow so that we barely have to step foot outside unless we have to, like for appointments and therapy. Poor Billy though will still have to leave for work in it.

This week has been another week of focusing on work – although we did throw some fun things in as well!

Wednesday Wyatt had physical therapy, but this week he had therapy, then a two hour wait before math tutoring, which was in the same building. So in between we went to the Henry Ford Museum! It was a fun way to spend a few hours. It was super weird, because it was an odd time and no one was there. Just a few other people but the museum is so big that we felt like it only Wyatt and I walking around.

We are actually going to call off tutoring next week due to the cold, and just go home after therapy.

Yesterday, I decided to shake things up! Instead of our normal day of school, we celebrated Appreciate a Dragon Day. Wyatt has been working so hard that I thought he deserved a fun school day. So, it was all dragons all day! We started with reading books about dragons, then moved on to studying the dragons of Wales. We will be looking at Chinese dragons on Chinese New Year, so I thought we would stick with Western style dragons this week. I bought a unit study on Etsy that was about different dragons of the world, and we combined that with the book Dragonology, and had a blast. It felt like school, but… was all fun. Wyatt had to label cities on a map of Wales for one of the activities, and one of the names of the cities made me do a double take! It is, ahem, Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, on the Isle of Anglesey. According to this article written by Rick Steves, it means “St. Mary’s Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave”. It had a smaller name until a tailor added to the name to try to attract visitors. I have to admit, I am a person who would definitely make a stop there because of the name!

Then, I had two projects lined up to make – an art project and a STEM project. However, the art project took us so long that we never made it to the STEM project! I will save it for another day. The art project turned out so cool though – it took us like two hours to make it together! We also listened to a dragon book on Spotify while we worked.

After that we took a bit of a break – or rather, Wyatt did. I was getting ready for the final part of Dragon Day- we were having a dragon themed dinner, snack, and then we were watching How to Train Your Dragon. I kept it simple, and it turned out pretty cute!

We all had Dragon’s wings grilled cheese (cheese on Black Rye bread cut into dragon wings), dragon scales (Doritos), and our snack was popcorn with Swedish fish bowls, because Toothless the dragon in the movie loves fish! Unfortunately, my little dragon explorer didn’t make it to the movie! He zonked out ten minutes in. Lol. So we turned it off and we will watch it either Saturday or Sunday instead.

Tonight I will be glad to plop into bed and just chill out, after a long week. I am going to my mom’s first though, to hang out for a bit, then when I get home, I will shower, get in my pajamas, and crawl into bed to watch some television and stitch and read my book! I started Hans Brinker yesterday and it is so good so far, although I am barely into it yet. This weekend we are finishing up some things so that next week we can stay tucked into the house as much as possible.

As for Dragon Day, this is what we read and used!

(This section does contain Affiliate Links from Amazon and Etsy)

A Friend for Dragon || Dragons Love Tacos || Dragonology || Attack of the Underwear Dragon || The Truth About Dragons || Rise of the Earth Dragon (listened on Spotify)

Wyatt’s favorite of the group was A Friend for Dragon. It was pretty funny honestly. Dav Pilkey is awesome. I loved The Truth About Dragons, which is about biracial identity, and it was absolutely beautifully written and illustrated.

And for the Dragon study by country, I used this.

Dragons of the World Study by Wildfeatheredu

And now for some random photos!

And that is it from our very cold corner of Michigan! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Three Mini-Reviews: The Woodsmoke Women’s Book of Spells, Dead Voices, and Dead of Winter

Hello everyone! I am not great at review posting, and I am hoping to do a little better this year. I am going to try to post a mini-reviews post for every three books I read, and see how that works!

This book was my first book of the year, and it was absolutely perfect to begin with. It was mystical, magical, and full of mystery. The characters were so richly written, with so much insight and love, that they felt so real to me.

Carrie is a Morgan woman, and the Morgan women have always been able to harness the mountain and make it do their bidding. But for a price. Always a price. She left her small town in the mountains ten years before this story begins, and is returning, under the suspicious eyes of townsfolk. She has left people who loved her behind: Jess, her best friend; Cora, her great-aunt, and she has to face them as well as the town. She also meets the mysterious Matthieu.

This book feels so fey and atmospheric, with an edge of sadness and darkness. It is about love and sadness and friendship and sacrifice, and I felt so many things reading it.

One thing: One thing bothered me almost the entire book – I could not figure out where it was set! As an American reading it, it felt so Appalachian mountains region to me, but I knew that could not be right because the terminology was British, with takeaways and biscuits. Near the end I found something that pointed to it being set definitively in England and my brain settled down.

My first read, and my first five star of the year!

Dead Voices by Katherine Arden. I really enjoyed this one too! I am all about the snowed in trope, and this one that involved a haunted ski lodge/inn sounded right up my alley. This book is part of the Small Spaces series, and while it did have multiple points of view, the main character in this book was Coco. It was neat to see things from her perspective more this time, as the least brave of her trio of friends, comprised of herself, Ollie, and Brian.

This book was the perfect wintry read for January. I love a good ghost story, and this one had a few cool twists. Katherine Arden is a genius at creating an atmosphere and her middle grade is no exception. I could feel the cold creeping in at night, the darkness that comes all too quickly.

Great story that was a fun read on a chillingly cold day!

Dead of Winter by Darcy Coates was my least favorite of the these three. It was not a bad book, but not quite the perfect thriller for me.

Let’s start with the good, because it did have a lot of good stuff. I felt like the characters were very interesting and well written, with fantastic back stories that all pulled in the way they were supposed to with the overall plot. The setup was really good too – a group of travelers on their way to a vacation, away from it all in the mountains, gets snowed in at a remote cabin – and then people start dying.

The not-so-good: Ok, skip this if you don’t want spoilers because it might be spoilery.

I figured out who the killer was almost immediately. Like within 50 pages. Then it felt like I was just following the clues through the book to confirm it, and to me the clues felt kind of obvious. I don’t say this like I am some great mystery solver either – I am no Miss Marple over here. The other thing was that the book sort of dragged out and became repetitive. It is pretty bad when gruesome murder feels repetitive but it did.

However, this book was not a terrible read. I really enjoyed the arc of the main character, as she navigates through what is happening. It just lacked a little subtlety, in my opinion.

I would give this one 3 out of five stars.

Have you read any of these? What did you think?

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Goals 2025

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!)

    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

    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

    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!

    Top Ten Tuesday: Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025

    Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

    It seems like there are so many good books coming out! Honestly, I found a lot of these through other bloggers on these Tuesday posts!

    A Language of Dragons by S.F. Williamson looks so good!! Bletchley Park, dark academia, dragons… I can’t wait! And do I have to? No, because this came out Jan. 2nd! I just need to get it!

    The Baby Dragon Cafe by A.T. Qureshim. I know I have mentioned this one, and I think I actually saw it the first on another Top Ten Tuesday. It just looks so adorable!!

    The Rainfall Market – that cover is just gorgeous.

    The Green Kingdom: I love the plot of this story, where the main character needs to figure out botanical riddles!

    Whale Eyes: This memoir comes out in March, and I am very much excited to read it. It is “told through an experimental mix of intimate anecdotes and interactive visuals, this book immerses readers in James’s point of view, allowing them to see the world through his disabling eye conditions.” I have been trying to read more and more books that give voice to the disabled community, as my son is a part of it. I want him to read and see books that reflect this representation, because books are mirrors as well as windows.

    The Secrets of Underhill: This one is a fantasy middle grade, and the main character is the daughter of a traveling arborist who treats magical trees.

    The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen: I can’t wait, it just sounds so darn good. It also sounds like one that might me cry, but that is ok.

    Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man): I loved Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice to Murderers and I am looking forward to this next installment of her shenanigans.

    Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales: I love love this cover! Little snail!!! Ok, and I love this series too.

    And finally, the last one for this post.

    Greenteeth by Molly O’Neill: Growing up, I love all books about faeries, and I remember just poring over the Brian Froud books over and over again, and reading the different tales of the magical creatures – like Jenny Greenteeth. I am excited to read this version about Jenny.

    And that is it from me today my friends! I can’t wait to read everyone else’s posts and no doubt add a “ton of books” (as my son would say) to my list!

    My Sunday-Monday Post!

    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!

    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!