Tag: book review

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized5 Comments

Hello everyone! I’m going to be honest, this was not our best week, my mom hasn’t been well, although it did start off celebratory and fun, with Wyatt’s birthday! I can’t believe my kiddo is 11. Where has time gone?? He was just a teeny tiny peanut when he was born and now he is almost the same size as me!

I mean, look at my hand next to him. Lol. He was 2 lbs 15 oz and 17 inches long. He is a miracle honestly.

We were trying to figure out what to do to celebrate his birthday. It has been so cold and yucky out, and germs have not slowed down out there at all. Wyatt had wanted to go to the Toledo Art Museum, but then I learned that it is closed on Mondays – along with just about every art and history museum. I didn’t know this was universally a thing, but it is. So we owe him a visit to the art museum. We pivoted and headed for the Toledo Zoo instead, and had a great time!

It was a Monday morning, cold, gray, and we pretty much had the entire zoo to ourselves. There were a few animals not on exhibit, and most of the buildings were still shuttered and not open, but that didn’t stop us from having fun.

We saw otters (my favorite there!), elephants (which Wyatt loved because one of them did something that young boys find hilarious), wolves, among other mammals, and went into the aquarium, conservatory, and natural history museum. The reptarium was under construction sadly but that just gives us a reason to go back. The conservatory was so cool – it had reptiles just loose and free in it! We all had to watch where we were going so we didn’t squish any. I also did something purely out of love for Wyatt – I sort of am weirded out by fish, and they had two open aquariums where you could pet a sturgeon and manta rays (or some sort of rays) and Wyatt was not quite tall enough in the wheelchair to do it, so I did it for him and described it and it was super gross, which Wyatt thought was hilarious.

That 80s looking building up there used to be where all of the big cats lived in the 1980s. I remember visiting them there when I was a kid and before zoos became more knowledgeable about habitats and what is appropriate. Now it is used as a restaurant! I swear we could eat in that building even then, while the big cats lived there but I might be misremembering. That was a long time ago!

I mean just check out this photo quality! Lol. I am the second from the left, and my little brother is in the red shorts next to me, and my cousin Brian is the other big kid. Check out the giant thermos jug my Aunt has! Lol.

We spent a few hours at the zoo, then headed home. It was just about time for dinner when we pulled back into our driveway, after having stopped for a family size mac and cheese, which was Wyatt’s request for dinner. And that was that! Wyatt has two little family parties this weekend to celebrate as well.

The rest of my week has been sort of split, with a lot of time being spent doing things for my mom. She has a UTI and it has really affected her mentally and physically. So I have been in contact with lots of staff and being there in person and juggling all that with Wyatt’s school and his appointments. Watching your parents age is really really hard!

And I don’t want to end on that so we will talk about… the book of poetry I just read. It is called A Bit Much, it is so good! I absolutely loved it. So many of the poems resonated with me. You can find the author, Lyndsay Rush, on Instagram as @maryoliversdrunkcousin. Lol. I have been sharing poems from the book with friends all week, like this one I sent my friend Kelly.

And with that, I will sign off for today. I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized11 Comments

Hello all! February has just been a month. Yuck gray skies, cold, surrounded by illness, we got Covid – we are ready for March and hoping that it holds better things for Michigan and for us. However it did have small happy moments of joy, and those are the things that keep us all going, really, aren’t they? Moments like singing with your child while he shoots a big grin at you, your husband surprising you with your favorite chocolate bar when you are having a bad day, a phone call or a message from a friend that brightens your day. And that is how our month has been, nothing big or exciting but full of these moments. Watching the Olympics all shmooed out on the bed with family and cats and blankets, those few days where the sun peeked out and the skies were actually blue, Wyatt getting excited about the history or art lesson, opening the mailbox to find a letter inside rather than junk mail – you get the idea.

Wyatt’s birthday is Monday! I can’t believe my teeny tiny baby who was literally as big as one of our kittens when he was born is going to be 11. My silly goofy happy boy. He fills our hearts with so much good everything, everyday. We had to postpone his birthday party though unfortunately-everyone around us is sick! Hopefully they will be better by next weekend and we can celebrate with our family. This weekend the three of u will eat the cake we ordered the party, and I will just order another. And we will figure out what we are going to do. Will we brave the weather and go to the zoo? Will we brave the germs and mask up and go somewhere inside? Only time will tell!

Speaking of my Wy-guy, we signed him up for a local little league team! They have a special needs team and kiddo is now all ready to play baseball. My cousin has gloves from when her son played little league and he is also a lefty like Wyatt, so she is giving us one of his old gloves, so that is settled. I was talking to her on the phone yesterday about little league, and she asked if Wyatt had a glove yet. I was so confused. Why would Wyatt need a glove? I am not very sporty guys. Two of Wyatt’s friends from Blackbirds are on the team as well, so it will be nice to all go to the games together.

Wyatt will be having surgery again sometime during the season, but the surgeon has told us his recovery will be nothing like the previous surgery. This one will be just a few days and he won’t have any restrictions. He has to have the metal that they put in him in July taken out. That surgery will be happening at the end of April.

I have been really enjoying exchanging snail mail letters with a few different women around the country, and one woman in the Netherlands. It is always such a happy surprise to find a new letter in the mailbox! (thank you Tina for all of your letters! You have one on the way too) It was nice to sit down yesterday with a cup of tea while Wyatt was painting and write a few letters back. We had finished school and his exercises and I had completed a bunch of household tasks (litter boxes, dishes, etc) and I finally had a semi-quiet moment (there are never completely quiet moments when Wyatt is awake – he is always chattering away like a little squirrel), and it was nice. I have also received little gifts inside my letters, stickers and teas, and I need to get something to send back to everyone in my next letters. I am thinking about starting tea journal! I saw someone with one online and it is so cute. I mean, why shouldn’t I have a journal for everything? Lol. I am an archivist at heart!

I am so ready for spring everyone. Like major spring fever over here. I know that March weather is notorious for faking us out, and it is not spring weather yet – Wyatt was born on the coldest day of the winter that year – but this morning the sun is shining, and the temp is supposed to be 50 degrees and it just feels so close. Temps plunge again after this weekend but at least we have a day or two of warmer weather before it does. I am ready to see flowers and birds and to plant things, and try to tempt toads to our garden, and then for summertime fireflies at night and backyard barbecues and bonfires. I want to walk through a wood and hear the spring peepers, to watch people gather around our little free library again that has been sort of lonely little bastion of books out there in the snow all winter.

Is anyone else feeling spring fever? Or if you are in the southern hemisphere, are you ready for cooler temps?

And that is it from me today! I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Mini Book Reviews: A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping, The Amberglow Candy Store, Everyone is Lying to You

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

Hello everyone! It is time once again for me to post a few mini reviews!

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping is perfectly adorable. This book is all about love, what we will do for those we love, and finding the people we love. Just so much love. There is also some very villainous villains in this one too, a zombie rooster, a talking fox who is really a witch who has been cursed by her own curse, and various other magics at play. The characters are all those who have been hurt by others, whose existences were not deemed acceptable, for being different or “other”. The inn is a place whose real magic is love and healing, and it is just such a cozy, heartwarming read.

Yay for book one for me this year in the Books in Translation challenge! The Amberglow Candy Store was a very cute, simple, and quick read. I wasn’t in love with it, and I felt like it read pretty young. I actually even looked it back up to see if it was maybe middle grade but it isn’t. However, it wasn’t a bad book. It is split up into different little stories, like most of these healing fiction style books, and I definitely had my favorite stories. I loved the story of Ayumu, and I loved the story about Kogetsu, the han-yu who runs the shop. His story was probably my favorite. This story also made me want to try the types of treats mentioned in this book! All of them are unknown to me, and now I want to try them myself!

I do love this cover immensely as well.

I picked this up as a blind date with a book and it was an amazing read! This is a fictional thriller, murder mystery book, and I literally didn’t want to put it down. The mystery was well done, but even more so the depiction of social media. The ups and downs, the reality and the facade. What is authentic, what is not. And how even when we know that, we are still drawn in by the images and stories we see. I loved too that this was all juxtaposed against investigative journalism and social media, and research vs. opinion. It was all fascinating and I couldn’t stop reading. This is not to say either that all stories and images we see online are inauthentic or fake; just that maybe we all need to realize that everyone no matter how perfect they seem online, is still human.

I also really enjoyed the author pointing out that these women influencers are very powerful, rich women, some of them billionaires behind the scenes from their work as influencers, yet they are under the radar or not acknowledged as such. They might have a different sort of job, but at the same time are CEOs of their brands, which can pull in the big money. Why are they not acknowledged as highly as other powerful CEOs, or even acknowledged at all? I thought this was a very interesting viewpoint.

J0 Piazza spent five years down the rabbit hole, doing research, and is in fact a journalist herself. When she had her baby in 2020 (I think) she began a deep dive behind the moms behind the blogs and Instagrams that always looked so perfect and had it under control, and began the podcast Under the Influence which is all about this topic. I of course started listening and it is just as fascinating as this fiction thriller!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized22 Comments

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! Just when we thought winter was ending, we got a fresh layer of snow. Sigh. More than the snow, I am ready for the germs everywhere to disappear for the season! Michigan is still at a high level for flu, and it has been holding steady for two months. We actually had to cancel our skating trip because all but two kids are sick! (and knock on wood they stay well!)

Books:

Last week I read two books!

Everyone is Lying to You is a library book I got in one of those blind date with a book things. I absolutely loved it and could not stop reading it.

The Amberglow Candy Store… not as much. It was very sweet (lol) but it read very young. I actually went and looked to see if it was a middle grade book but it is not. It was not a bad read, but I didn’t love it. I do love this cover though!

This week I am not sure what I am reading. I do have a few I am thinking about.

I am also anxiously awaiting a hold I placed on a book of poetry by Lyndsay Rush, who is showing up for me everywhere the last few days. She was on a vlog I watched, she was quoted in the book Everyone is Lying to You, and then she popped up on another person’s Instagram who I follow. I would buy the book but I like to use the library first, plus Billy and I are trying to do a no spend month. Well, we are buying groceries and necessities but nothing just for fun or because we want it. We have a million birthdays this month and want to stay on budget.

Screens:

In between the Olympics, Billy and I watched The Burbs tv show. We both really loved it! Then Friday night we started watching the Netflix series Death by Lightning, which is fabulous. The cast is amazing – Michael Shannon, Nick Offerman, Betty Gilpin, Matthew MacFadyen – so many great actors. It is about James Garfield and his assassin Charles Guiteau, and it begins by saying that these two and their lives have been lost to history. That we have forgotten who they are, and their stories. I feel like I am learning so much, and I want to read the book that the series is based on by Candice Millard called Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President. Billy and I have also talked about taking a road trip out to Garfield’s farm in the spring. I love when a show or a book brings history to life, and sparks a new interest. So far I highly recommend it, although we are only two episodes in out of a four part series. Was Chester A. Arthur also so rough and uncouth? I need to know! Just a note: There is swearing in this trailer.

In-Betweens:

Well, I mentioned we had to cancel our skating trip which was a bummer. I know the kids were excited; it stinks that the majority of the families got sick. We do have another outing coming up in a few weeks, to a maple sugar farm. Orchard?

I don’t have too much else to add! I just did my Friday Coffee Catch Up a few days ago and yesterday we spent catching up on things. I did have a nice chat with Lisa and Cat from Cat’s Wire during our crafternoon, which was a nice break in the day. I didn’t end up crafting at all, since I had a sleeping cat on my lap.

I did post a few times last week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books for the Armchair Traveler

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

And, I think that is it from me today! I hope that you all stay safe and healthy!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized25 Comments

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! Last week was yucky week! We all ended up with Covid. It was thankfully mild but we were still all super tired. We are feeling back to normal now though thank goodness!

Books:

While I was sick, I didn’t really feel like reading until I started feeling better. I did enjoy reading through Vivian Swift’s When Wanderers Cease to Roam, which was perfect. It was easy to read through, lots of pictures, and cheery. I am only halfway through it, but the chapters on the spring months were giving me life! About midweek I felt like reading again, and I ended up finishing two books.

I am really enjoying my slow “wander” through Swift’s book. Right now I am using it to get through these last dregs of winter, reading about all the seasons we have to look forward to, but I ended up buying a copy from Pango so that I can revisit it monthly or seasonally when I want to in the future.

The Cater Street Hangman is from a book series I used to read like crazy years and years ago. I often go back to it when I am not feeling well or need a comfort read.

And finally, A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping was delightful!! I absolutely loved it. Also another buy from Pango. I also sell on Pango, and one feature of it is that you can earn Pango bucks. You can either have the money you make sent to your actual bank account, or you can choose to keep it on Pango and use it to buy more books. That is generally what I do.

Screens:

Well, I didn’t read much last week but I did watch television. We watched a lot of Olympics. I have such warm and fuzzy feelings about watching the Olympics with my mom as a little girl. It was always so exciting and such an event, especially when we knew figure skating would be on. We would sit under blankets on the couch with our cups of tea and watch all of the skaters. Such good memories. I wanted to make some of these with Wyatt too, but he wasn’t as interested in figure skating. However, he does like to watch moguls and snowboarding. We are watching everything we can, but those are his favorites. Our kittens like to watch too, which cracks me up. They really like the luge and bobsledding, but Mouse was riveted by snowboarding the other day.

We are also watching the tv show The Burbs, and we are both really enjoying it! It is like the perfect mix of mystery and thriller, as well as a comedy. I need to rewatch the movie again now.

Julia Duffy, who will always be Stephanie from Newhart to me, is on it, and she is my favorite character, but I do also really love Tod, who is played by Mark Proskch, or Colin from What We Do in the Shadows. He was hilarious in that, and plays a similar type character in The Burbs. Justin Kirk is also great in this so far, but again, I also loved him in another show, Weeds.

Last week on my blog, I posted:

In Our Homeschool

Friday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up, Minus the Coffee

Wednesday Morning Coffee (Covid) Catch Up

A Cozy Little Life: A Look at Book Journaling

In-Betweens:

Not too much, since we were sick, and I mainly blogged about everything else in my coffee catch up posts, except Valentine’s Day! Billy and I went for a walk and saw the sunset, with our Starbucks teas in hand, lol, and then we came home and he made us all pancakes with strawberry compote that he made himself, because I had weirdly decided I wanted those for some reason earlier in the week. They were delicious and we all loved them!

The kittens go in for their spay and neuter and surgeries tomorrow morning. I will miss them scampering and stampeding around the house while they are gone, and I will worry as well. My poor babies. It’s always so hard, isn’t it? We had our Blackbirds meeting last week, which was a lot of fun, and then this week our Blackbirds are going to a skating event I arranged. I am nervous about that as well! I want Wyatt to have all the experiences that he can though, so I will muster through it. This skating loop has an ice skating sled, that he can sit on and be pushed. There is also a cabana that we rented, a bonfire, and there is a restaurant that serves pizza. It will be fun although I will be a nervous mama until it is over.

And with that, I hope that all of you have a great day, and do something that makes you smile, even if it is something small!

Mini Book Reviews: The Lady on Esplanade, Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge, While the Earth Holds Its Breath, Secret Nights and Northern Lights

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello everyone! I try to write mini-book reviews every three or four books and it is time to share again.

The Lady on Esplanade by Karen White: I really enjoy this series! It has so much that I love all in one book, from New Orleans to hold houses and historic preservation to ghost stories and a long arcing mystery that goes back to Hurricane Katrina. This one was no exception, and really brought all of those wonderful things into play. I was even freaked out a few times! There is one aspect to this series that I don’t enjoy though, and it is the very messy romances. I really wish they would resolve because it detracts from my enjoyment of reading these. Otherwise, this series is really a lot of fun!

In the Lady on Esplanade, Nola and her crew are beginning the new endeavor of flipping murder houses, and the house they are currently working on is a doozy, and includes…a doll. You guys, I am totally creeped out by dolls! I know so many people love them but there is something so uncanny about them, and they give me the weirds. This one almost gave me nightmares! The mystery unravels slowly and I really enjoyed the very climatic ending! However, those romances..not it.

Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge by Gladys Taber and Barbara Webster: I have gushed all month over this book. It is a collection of letters between two friends, where they just chat together about their lives. Their dogs, horses, gardens, literature, children, and it was a wonderful journey through a year of their friendship. When I finished this book, I was sad. I didn’t want to leave these ladies and their stories to each other. I am so glad that our library system has access to many books by Taber, so that I can read more.

Two quotes that I loved, out of a million quotes that I loved.

“I never feel any older, that much I know. I hope I feel wiser and more tolerant and more full of loving kindness.”

“And the eye that has seen the wild dark beauty in the gaze of a fox is never going to be impressed by a diamond clip.”

While the Earth Holds Its Breath by Helen Moat: This book was pretty good, but I didn’t fall in love with it as I had imagined I would. Maybe this is because I already love winter, and I don’t need to learn how to embrace it. I did enjoy reading about Moat’s experiences, the walks she took, her travels. I think that is another thing – I expected more travel. However, a lot of this book takes place during all of the lockdowns of the pandemic, so Moat is also learning to love winter and cold and damp while having to stay close to home.

“The steaming crumble was hygge in a bowl. No self-respecting Scandinavian or Northern European would ever think of dieting in winter. Food is comfort against cold and dark.”

Secret Nights and Northern Lights by Megan Oliver: I absolutely had to read this book. I dream of a trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights one day. It just seems like one of the most magical things I could ever do. So of course I wanted to read this book set in the land of Fire and Ice!

This is a second chance romance, which was absolutely adorable. Mona and Ben have history, that goes way way back. Like all the way to kindergarten when they became friends. They bumble through trying to work together and navigating their feelings after being reunited after fourteen years, and they ultimately end up finding themselves as they learn who each grew up to be. It has cute moments, funny moments, tender moments, and yes, spicy moments. Not closed door, and there is swearing too if that bothers you. I really liked this debut romance by Oliver, and I will be looking for more in the future!

And I can add two of these to my total for the Nonfiction Book Challenge hosted by Book’d Out!

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Discoveries

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized39 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s Prompt:  Bookish Discoveries I Made in 2025 (New-to-you authors you discovered, new genres you learned you like, new bookish resources you found, friends you made, local bookshops you found, a book club you joined, etc.)

Hello everyone! Happy Tuesday!

Let’s just get into it shall we?

Let’s start with Crafternoon! Crafternoon is a zoom event that I co-host with Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings where we meet up with fellow bloggers that we have met online by visiting their bookish blogs, and we talk about whatever while we craft. I always have a lot of fun catching up with everyone.

Next up is my reading journal. I loved keeping a fun reading journal of the books I read. I add quotes and my thoughts, stickers, and what not to it. I love doing it and I love looking back through it too.

Then there are my monthly outings with Wyatt, for books and coffee and cookies (although he doesn’t drink any coffee, he drinks hot chocolate)

We haven’t been able to do lately – in December we both were sick, and then this month it has been too cold! Hopefully we can get out and go in February!!

I also had a book outing with my cousin! He took me to Sip and Read in Detroit for my birthday, and treated me to a glass of wine and a book. We had such a great time and we need to go again soon. My treat this time!

We also went to a book festival in Toldeo, Oh last year, and had a great time. We met up with my cousin and his family. His son and his wife are big readers too. We had a blast!!

Ok this next one, I am not sure if it counts but I am counting it. Billy and I went on a date to theatrical Poe evening. It was amazing. There were a few readings from Poe and it was very atmospheric. I had so much fun!

Last year I also started reading more translated fiction that wasn’t Japanese or Korean. I read Of Salt and Shore, which is Dutch, as well as Seacrow Island which is Swedish.

I almost forgot our Little Free Library! We built a Little Free Library this year, to cheer Wyatt up during his surgery. He loves going out and checking the books. It is really a lot of fun for all of us.

And I think (?) that is everything!

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile!

Books, Screens, and In-Betweens

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized43 Comments

I am linking up with Deb at Readerbuzz,  Kathryn at Book Date, and  Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer.

Hello everyone! I am writing today from inside the Arctic circle, which is now known as Michigan. It has been soo cold here. It is awful. Extreme temperatures are really tough on Wyatt, so we have been inside for most of the past week, and it looks like this week ahead will be more of the same. We are maybe going a little stir crazy!

Books:

Did I tell you I finished Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge? I did, and I miss the ladies chatter already. I need to go find another of their books ASAP. I also finished While the Earth Holds Its Breath. I wasn’t overwowed by it, but it was still a pretty relaxing, calm read.

I have read so far this year four nonfiction books already. Who am I? I do need a break though from it though, and I have two books on deck. I don’t know which one I will end up reading, but I am going to start them both and see which one sticks. I may end up reading them both, who knows? We are stuck inside after all.

Screens:

Billy and I haven’t been watching too much lately! You would think we would be. We have been watching the news a lot more than anything. And the kittens and Miso. They are bringing us happiness in a dark time honestly. Maybe that book “We’ll Prescribe You a Cat” has the right idea. I haven’t read it yet but maybe I will next month. And I know some of you aren’t cat people, so there are other things, dogs, fish, plants. Really just find something that brings you joy right now. Painting, a pen pal. Walks in nature. A good book. A funny movie. Today I think we are going to watch A Night at the Museum with Wyatt. I love that movie and he has not seen it yet. We may end up watching all three this week, who knows? Anyone else have any ideas for kids movies like Paddington, A Night at the Museum, etc, that you really loved?

I did manage to write some posts last week!

Books I Read I in 2025 with Cats on the Cover

Our Cozy Little Life – Wintering

In-Betweens:

We had some really great things happen here last week. When you have a kid with special needs, milestones are often inchstones, and Wyatt was kicking butt last week. He is really coming along in reading, and not just reading but SAYING THE WORD out loud to me. I know this guy is understanding so much more than I realize but the fact that he doesn’t verbalize everything usually makes it really difficult for me to measure how much. Last week though he was just blowing me away with actually reading words out loud to me.

He also took his first steps post surgery last week!!!! It was a lot of work and a few months coming and I am so very proud of him. And he was very proud of himself too, which he should have been. I will post my Instagram reel of it, but I am not sure if it ever works when I do this.

And that is about it from around here. Making cookies, eating cookies, playing with kittens, cuddling Miso, writing our pen pals, homeschool.

I hope that whatever you do today, you do something that makes you smile. I know that I am hoping that the snow (an expected 9 inches here) will have enough a break so that I can run up to Starbucks for my Self-Care Sunday routine of matcha latte with oatmilk and 1 pump of vanilla. We will see though.

And here are some random photos!

Our Cozy Little Life – Wintering

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized26 Comments

Hello everyone! It is crazy weather here in the States isn’t it? I am worried about you all in the south! Stay safe and warm, wear layers, lots of natural fabrics that breathe, build your blanket forts and hunker down. We have been in this house for far too long here, and we just have a few more days of it, although I am taking Wyatt to therapy today at least. We will have a feels like above a negative number so I am going for it, because later tonight our temps really get bad, and we could reach temps of -35. Not fun!

While Billy has been out and about for work this week (poor guy), Wyatt and I have been inside. I did go to the pet store last night to just get out but that has been it. We have been really working hard at school, and Wyatt is doing fantastic. He is really coming along with reading and I am so proud of him. We are also covering the Lewis and Clark expedition in history, learning about boreal forests in science, and we are about to start a whole architecture unit for art, which I am super excited about. I just need to get to the library to pick up some books for it- maybe Saturday I can venture out.

I am having a lot of fun finding pen pals! Lol. When I was younger, I had a pen pal who lived in England and it was a lot of fun. I remember she mailed me the Adrian Mole books which were hilarious. It is sort of neat to revisit this as an adult. I shall call it my correspondence and pretend I am a Lady having my morning tea and writing my letters, when I will really be listening to Wyatt chattering on, the kittens running all over around me, Miso sleeping on my lap, etc. I have been browsing blank cards and stationery sets online, and can’t decide. There are so many different types and designs!

I also finished up my book, Stillmeadow and Sugarbridge, which was so quaint and lovely. It was a nice read for this time of year, slow and easy, and I miss their stories now. I will have to read the other books as well, if my library has them. When I was reading about the women themselves online, it seemed they had very fascinating lives!

In kitten news, we had a little surprise. Mabel is really a Max! Our two sisters are really sister and brother. It happens, kittens are so hard to tell when they are really little. And Max looks like he is going to be a big cat – his paws are enormous! They have been cracking us up. We have a new little routine: when I get up, I feed Miso, who is generally waiting next to me on the bed, or rather, pawing my face for her breakfast, then I get Wyatt’s breakfast, and fetch the kittens. Wyatt and I sit in my bedroom with the kittens while they play, and after an hour or so, I put them back into the office, feed them, and then they take a nap. Only a few more days or so and I should be able to just let them have free run of the house. Miso seems to be handling their presence ok – when Max escaped yesterday she found him and they gently sniffed each other’s faces. We are going slow because she is such a gentle animal and I don’t want to overwhelm her and the kittens are a lot.

I have also had a lot of time to plan things! I lined up a skating event for our Blackbirds at a place called the Ribbon in Toledo. We have a cabana, a fire pit, and skating aids at our disposal, including a sled with two runners that Wyatt can use on the ice. We rented the place for two hours, and even if our kids spend most of their time drinking hot chocolate by the fire, it is right by the ice and can be part of the scene in whatever way they choose and are comfortable. I am really excited.

I also formed a teeny book club for Wyatt and two of his friends! Our goals are pretty simple, just to have them say maybe what they liked and didn’t like at first, and then we will have a themed snack and craft, because that is how I roll and these three will love it. We are planning our first club meeting all the way out in March, which is crazy to think about. It’s hard to believe Christmas was already a month ago!

I have been doing a lot of journaling, list making, letter writing lately, and will probably start a sewing project or two this weekend. We have our first Crafternoon of the year Saturday and that will be a nice way to break up this inside time!

And that is it for me today – if you are in the States and in the path of this storm, stay safe and warm! I know that our Southern Hemisphere friends have been experiencing the opposite weather, very hot days, so I hope you are all staying cool! Wish me luck, I need to go snowblow so Wyatt can get to therapy!

Updated to add: I remembered while I was out snowblowing that we have also been watching the adventures of Josh and Jase, two Brits that are touring through Michigan right now. I was sorry to hear they had encountered mishaps on their visit here, but are on the mend and in the U.P. now! They are hilarious, and I love how they are representing my state! You can check them out here!

Mini Book Reviews: The Bewitching, Dinner For Vampires, and Moon of the Crusted Snow

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized13 Comments

Hello everyone! It has been forever since I did any book reviews, and I think I skipped over some books. Oh well I guess. This review has the last book I read in 2025, and the first two that I finished in 2026. Let’s start with that last book of 2025, The Bewitching.

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”

This book snuck in at the last minute, and made it right onto my favorites list. It was amazing. I was deep into the story reading one night during a wild storm – rain that pelted the house so hard that even Miso, who was curled up on my legs, jerked her head back and flattened her ears, and the wind whipped by so fast and furious that the windows rattled. And I am not exaggerating! The night otherwise was quiet, it was later in the evening and Wyatt was asleep and Billy was downstairs playing video games. I had the house to myself, along with the book and the storm. I probably should have gone to bed, but I kept reading during that storm and I was freaked out.

This book is filled with an overwhelming sense of foreboding. The story is told through three different points of view, from different times in history – the early 1900s on a farm in Mexico, 1930s New England, and 1990s New England. I love this multilayered approach to the story, and how we can learn from previous generations. It is hard for me to say which timeline and story that I liked best, because I loved them all, although the early 1900s storyline of Alba was a bit slower and took me longer to get hooked. I loved this book and I am so glad that I own it!

This book does have some trigger warnings, so look them up if needed.

I was looking for an audiobook to listen to when I ran into this one on Libby. I had just watched A Biltmore Christmas starring Bethany Joy Lenz, so she was fresh in my mind. I loved the cover, so Sweet Valley High, and I did like the series One Tree Hill, for at least the first two seasons. So, I went for it.

I am glad that I did! This book is read by Lenz herself, which made it all the more real, hearing her story in her own words and voice. Becoming part of this cult was a slow roll, a creeping insidious happening, one that would be hard to see coming until it was too late. It was couched in love bombing and isolation, preying upon people looking for connection, to others and to Christ. However, what happens is much more than that. It was also about total control to the organization, of resources and time and most of all the people. It was struggle, but Lenz was able to escape and tell her story, and I am so glad that she has since found happiness and independence.

And, yay – I am checking off the television category of the Nonfiction Reading Challenge with this one!

This book had been on my TBR forever, and I am so happy that I finally read it. It is a short book, a quick read, but not a fluffy one. It is bleak, yet also hopeful. I have never read a dystopian novel like this one, that at its center you really could feel the heart of the characters.

When the lights go out in a small northern Anishinaabe community in Canada, nobody worries at first. This happens all the time. However, as the days turn into a week, and they don’t hear anything from the South about what is going on, things begin to seem a bit more dire. Food supplies begin to dwindle, they must conserve all of their resources, and most importantly, work together and look out for each other. This is their way. Community. They care for each other. They share. They collaborate and help. They endure. They remember the old ways, they remember their culture. They gone through other “end of the world” events before as a people, and have survived. When they were sent from their homes to an unfamiliar land, when their children were rounded up and sent to residential schools – these also were end of the world events. And still, here they are.

However, the world begins to creep in, and threatens the community.

A sense of dread and doom lays heavy over this book, it is bleak, and scary to consider such isolation and lack of resources. Yet there is also that feeling of something more.

I could talk forever about this one, but I don’t want to give too much away. It is a short book and I don’t want to ruin anyone’s reading experience with spoilers. However, if you have been sleeping on reading this, I absolutely recommend it.