Tag: book reviews

Mini Book Reviews: Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, Emily of New Moon, and Greenwild

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

Hello everyone! It’s time for another mini book review post!

First up: Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa, translated by Eric Ozawa

A book about books and bookshops – I had a feeling I was going to like it. And I did! Takako is a young woman, who was blindsided one day by her boyfriend, when he tells her that he is getting married – but not to her. I think this could throw anyone for a loop! She falls into a depression, and an unexpected phone call from her uncle whom she hasn’t spoken to in years changes her life, when he offers her a job, working for room and board in his bookshop. For maybe anyone else this would be a dream come true. But Takako is not a reader.

I of course loved all of the aspects of being a reader who loves books that is touched upon in this book, but what I loved most was the relationship between uncle and niece. It just felt unexpected, and I found it refreshing. Her uncle Satoro is a bit of a free spirit, and at first Takako has a hard time relating to him. Throughout the book however, their relationship figures itself out, and Takako learns some things about her uncle she didn’t know. I absolutely loved this short read.

“No matter where you go, or how many books you read, you still know nothing, you haven’t seen anything. And that’s life. We live our lives trying to find our way.”

Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery

I had been wanting to read Emily of New Moon for awhile, although I wasn’t sure if I would like Emily as much as Anne. Imagine my surprise when I liked her maybe a little bit more? Don’t come for me Anne fans! Lol. I still love Anne!

However, I loved Emily of New Moon. She is feisty and temperamental, resilient and independent. I loved reading her story. There were flashes of Anne, with her whimsy and love of words and writing and poetry, but Emily is her own character. In the foreword written by Kate MacDonald Butler, Montgomery’s granddaughter, she states that Emily was her grandmother’s favorite creation, and that her grandmother has been quoted as saying “People were never right in saying I was Anne, but in some respects, they will be right if they write me down as Emily.”

I only had two criticisms – and a TW – there are a lot of references to cat deaths and also a character that had some off-putting vibes.

Otherwise I was completely sucked into this story that Montgomery has said reflected a lot of her own inner life in childhood.

“Emily had inherited certain things from her fine old ancestors – the power to fight – to suffer – to pity – to love very deeply – to rejoice- to endure.”

Greenwild by Pari Thomson

I loved this book. I love the idea of green magic, the green wild, the characters. It was just a really fun middle grade read for @middlegrademarch!

One thing in particular that I really loved was the fact that they said they were not witches – they were Botanists who worked with the magic of nature, but not witches. I thought that was just a neat distinction. I also loved that all wore overalls; I too love overalls. The whole Greenwild reminded me of Harry Potter, if Harry Potter was all nature-based and immersed in plants and greenery, greenhouses, trowels, dirt, parakeets. I could go on and on but I won’t. I will just urge you to go ahead and read this! I have already recommended it to all the moms I know who have middle grade aged children, but if you are an adult who enjoys middle grade, like me, I suggest you read it as well!

“Daisy began to feel like a seed taking root. She was insect-nibbled and wind-ruffled and elbow-skinned. Her hair was full of twigs, her fingernails were filthy – and every part of her felt hungry and alive.” That passage just feels so spring to me! It makes me excited to get outside and get my own hands in the dirt, planting things.

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized10 Comments

Hello everyone! I am so out of sync this week. I don’t know what it happening but I feel like I am just over here spinning my wheels but getting nothing done. I think I need to make a list, and just start working through it, instead of whatever the ADHD I’ve got going on over here. I am just trying to do too much at once, as well all do from time to time! I am behind on everything – school, my house, calls I need to make, catching up reading blogs and comments, just everything. I will get there though.

We started off pretty well. We had a great weekend. On Saturday, we went to my dad’s for the day and hung out with him and my stepmom. It was a very nice, relaxing way to spend the day. Then Sunday, Billy and I took Wyatt to a children’s book reading and author signing. There were two authors there, Kristen Remenar, who wrote The Groundhog’s Dilemma, an adorable little picture book, and Vicky Lorencen, who wrote The Big Book of Barf. When I saw that The Caboose bookstore in Royal Oak, which is the children’s bookstore area of Sidetracks Books, was hosting this I knew that Wyatt would love it, especially the barf book. And of course he did. He was a little bashful when meeting the authors at the end, and having his books signed, but he had fun.

Then for some reason, the rest of my week went wonky. Not bad, just like I said, out of sync. It was just one of those weeks I guess. I have no idea what happened to Monday, Tuesday Wyatt’s medicine issues reared its head and he threw up, Wednesday, actually… Wednesday was pretty good.

Wednesday Wyatt had therapy, and he kicked butt! He walked so far and did an awesome job!

Then Wednesday evening I went to my friend Kelly’s, and we hung out just chatting and drinking tea.

I told her that I felt like I was hanging out in a British Museum, her house is so beautiful. (you can see Kelly in the background there, telling her kids to get ready for bed)

Then Thursday I was all in a kerfuffle. We were expecting a delivery of medical equipment for Wyatt, a special seat for his walker, and it totally threw me off! I decided to just give up and give in after that, and chalk this week up to just what it was. Weird. Next week will be weird too. I am attending an advocacy leadership training online for three half days in the morning, and I have two different grandparents and Billy lined up to do the Wyatt things while I am doing it. I made up “sub plans” for those mornings too! Wyatt’s grandmother is doing a Valentine’s craft project with him on her watch, Billy is doing some dinosaur STEM stuff (and math), and my Dad is going to some hands on history with Wyatt. My dad was a special education teacher, then a principal, before he retired so hopefully it is like old hat to him. If not they can all just hang out. I will do the rest of school in the afternoon.

I am excited but nervous about the training! It’s been a minute since I did anything like this. I do think I can make it through three half days of training, and I think it will be fun; I just need to feel a bit more confident in speaking in a group again!

And with all that being said, I should probably get a move on! Have a good one everyone, and try to do something today that makes you smile!

Hello February!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized12 Comments

Hello February!!

Lately in the mornings, I have been standing at our back door, holding a cup of tea, and just looking out at the yard until my feet get too cold and I have to go all the way back in. The yard is just that February in Michigan kind of yard – muddy, dead plants, gray skies. There is a feeling of waiting about it. It is pretty forgotten for the moment, except when I take Wyatt out in his wheelchair, since our ramp is in the back of the house so he can use the yard during the good weather, so for the most part, the yard is not used, at least by us. I do see signs of animals out there though. There are obvious signs that rabbits congregate out there nightly, and I find broken shells of nuts littered about the deck occasionally from the squirrelsBut . Today I could have sworn I heard an early frog and shucked my boots on to go investigate – it would be too cold for a frog to be awake! I didn’t find him though. I will keep looking. There is also the big tabby with the ear tip that I have named Angus-Fergus, who leaves little cat footprints in the snow and sleeps under the deck at night. One time I surprised him when I opened the door, and he reared back in surprise and shock, his eyes wide. We just looked at each other and I told him he was ok, and he sauntered off to do whatever was on his agenda, our surprise meeting forgotten for the moment.

January was spent with a lot of at home days, focusing on school and the things I need to do around here. Just normal life stuff, without too many adventures. Lots of cozy moments with my kiddo, reading at night, or watching television with Billy in the evening once the house has been put to bed – Wyatt bathed and pajamaed, the creatures all fed, the kitchen cleaned up from dinner and the sound of the dishwasher running in the background. I foresee many of these same evenings ahead of us in February as well, although we do have some new things starting and some events on the horizon. I am planning Wyatt’s tenth birthday party, for one. It is next month but I am a planner so I will spend sometime working out all of the details.

I even have something new for me in the books! I am taking a leadership advocacy training course next week for three days, and I am sort of nervous! It has been a while since I have done anything like this, and it is for a few hours everyday. I even had a bit of homework for this week, which was actually more fun than work. I wouldn’t even classify it as work honestly. I had to create a collage to introduce my family, and I have to talk for two minutes about us. Can I do this? I will have to practice!

This is what I came up with. I had to add some bunting, because I love bunting and always have it hanging in my house for every season. It just makes everything feel so bright and fresh.

I also learned that February is National Embroidery Month, in addition to Black History Month. I have been doing a bit of a deep dive on the history of women and community and resistance and handicrafts the past few days, and I have a whole new section on my TBR just for this topic. I have also read that “grandma-core” hobbies like sewing and knitting and baking are helping teens these days handle stress. I know that it helps me to self-regulate, as my husband puts it, to sit and embroider at night.

Wyatt also starts his new bowling league this month. He is so excited about it! It was started by a group that sets up activities for special needs kids and adults, and they are in teams by age. Wyatt is Team Thundering Turkeys!

Despite some new activities on our horizon, the majority of our month will be spent the same as January. Snug in our little house, surrounded by each other, maybe if we are lucky a good cat on our laps, purring away, a nice cup of tea, a good book. Planning for spring but enjoying the season we are in.

Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile. Even if it is just a small thing, like ten extra minutes in the shower or taking a minute to look outside, and just observe the world.

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized43 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

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

Hey everyone! Just a quick post today!

Read Last Week:

I found myself not having as much time to read last week as I anticipated, and honestly I’ve been way too distracted by the news to read, but I did finish my buddy read, Redwall, with Billy! We had a nice discussion about it on the way to my dad’s yesterday. It was a fun little read, and we both enjoyed it.

Reading This Week:

I am hoping to read more, sew more, and doomscroll less this week, and I think these two books will be perfect to help in my mission. Under Loch and Key looks adorable and I think that I could use some Korean healing fiction as well, with The Healing Season of Pottery.

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday – New to me Authors I Discovered in 2024

What Wyatt’s Reading – Winter Edition

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching:

Billy and I have been watching Severance. It is super duper weird and it took me a few episodes to really get hooked, but now I am all in. I hate hate the design aesthetic though for inside Lumon however; I know that there is a reason for it, and it is not meant to make us feel good or be happy, and for me, it really does feel icky. The show though, I love. My friend Kelly and I were talking about this show the other day and she said if we were characters in the show, I would be Helly and she would be Mark, in terms of personality. Lol. She’s not wrong. Then we were having fun coming up with our Wellness Center “Your outie likes…” statements.

It’s just so very uncomfortable and plain and sterile. I do love green though.

Tonight we are supposed to watch a movie. I think we might skip it and watch Severance though!

And you guys, I am probably way behind on discovering this, but the website Bookshop.org is my new place to buy books, besides used book sites and local stores. The cool thing about Bookshop.org is that you can pick your local bookstore as your store, and a portion of the money you spend on Bookshop.org is given to your local bookstore! So you can still support your local small bookstore this way! I do have an affiliate account, but I don’t think you need to do that part to order and choose a store. However, if you don’t have a store to support, feel free to order through mine and support Brooks Books! They are my favorite local bookstore and they sell a mix of used and new books in the physical store. They also support other local businesses by giving smaller sellers space in their shop to sell things, as well as providing events and classes to the community.

And that is about it from me today! I hope that whatever you do, you do at least one small thing that makes you smile. Stay safe everyone!

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized49 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

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

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. We had a week where we stayed very close to home this past week, and it was nice to stay all cozy and hunker down with school and reading and baking.

Read Last Week:

This one was pretty good! It is the first in the series and I feel it could have been honed a bit better, but it was still a good read. I am for sure going to read the next in the series as well! Interesting characters and premise, just a bit clunky in parts, which is ok for the first book in a series I think!

Reading This Week:

So I have two wildly different books I am choosing between this week.

I am not sure which I am in the mood for! I guess I will find out when I start reading.

I am also buddy reading a book with Billy! I love when we do this.

I am so excited!

Posted Last Week:

Top Ten Tuesday: Recent Additions to my TBR

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

Watching:

Billy and I started a show called High Potential. It is entertaining but .. I am not 100% sold on it yet. It is based off a French show named HPI Haut Potentiel Intellectuel. It’s not a bad show but the main character can be a bit annoying, and some of the effects, etc that the show employs are just cheesy, and not in a good way, the way Murdoch is. However, I gave it a shot.

Tonight we are watching Argylle, starring one of my favorite actors, Sam Rockwell. Billy always knows he can get me to watch a movie I might be dragging my feet on if he mentions Sam Rockwell is in it. Argylle also stars Henry Cavill, another actor I really love.

And that is it from me this morning! Stay safe out there everyone!

Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized9 Comments

Hello!! This morning Wyatt and I had to be out the door for an appointment before I could have my second cup of coffee! We aren’t used to having to be up and moving that early anymore so it was a bit of a challenge. We managed though, with a helping hand from Billy who is working from home today, thank goodness. Wyatt had an equipment evaluation today, which is nice because they re-evaluated his wheelchair situation and think he is still good for a while but it will need to be “grown” for him in about 6-8 months as he grows. They also evaluated him for a stander which will be very good to have for many reasons while he is working on walking.

We are back home now and I am happily drinking that second cup of coffee. I usually only have two a day so I try to savor them.

We had a pretty slow week around here, due to the temperatures being so cold! I think at our coldest with wind chill, we were sitting at -22. I didn’t want to take Wyatt out in that sort of cold weather so we chilled at home. Good thing I stocked up on books the week before because we went through them all! Well, we went through Wyatt’s. We are reading all sorts of different books together these days; chapter books, easier reader books, picture books. We both are in love with the Mr. Putter and Tabby series – we read one before bed every night and they are so sweet and cozy! I just love them so much. The first one is Mr. Putter and Tabby Pour the Tea, I believe, and it is so heartwarming. They all are. I love that Mr. Putter adopted an old shelter cat, because his own bones were creaky and he didn’t move fast either. Anyway, they are always baking or making tea or painting the porch or so many other wonderful things, and I love reading them with Wyatt before bed. I will do a post next week of some of the books we have been reading together.

Before the cold set in though, we did get out to the Scout Shop in our area. We had to pick up a hat for a scout in our pack, and while we were there we picked up a few things. A backpack for Wyatt that will work well with his wheelchair, a small first aid kit in a fox zip up bag (because of course) and a few things for my niece who is also a scout. It was nice to get out before the weather got bad.

Then we settled in! We had school all week, and Wyatt is doing so well and making good gains every week in reading and math. I am so proud of him. For years we battled his medication fog, and now that he is on a different medication it’s so different to have school and so rewarding to watch him learning. He surprises me everyday! We are still learning about Hundertwasser in art, although this is our last week with him before we move on. Miso enjoyed watching Wyatt create his last piece, although she looks a bit like a little furry art critic. We also spent time learning all about Martin Luther King, Jr. on Monday.

Apparently cold weather motivates me to cook and bake. I made so many good things this week! We had Mississippi Pot Roast, White Chicken Chili, homemade chocolate chip cookies (and the best I ever made – I can be hit or miss lol), and also Snow Day Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast on Wednesday, when I gave us a snow day.

Of course, when the weather finally warmed up (to 30 degrees!) yesterday, we left the house for the first time in days. Guess where we went? The library of course!!

And that was really it! Lots of reading, tv, painting, embroidering, and eating. Lol.

I hope that everyone is doing well today, and if whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile my friends!

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

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review6 Comments

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?

Thursday Morning Coffee Catch Up

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized18 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are some random photos from the old camera roll!

My Sunday-Monday Post!

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized31 Comments

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer

Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz

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

Hello everyone! I hope the last week has treated you well. I know that this can be a fun time of year, but it can also be a very difficult one as well. If you are struggling and need someone to chat with, my Instagram chat is always open. (@foxandfirthco)

We celebrated Christmas with my dad last night, and we had such a fantastic time. The kids had a blast which in turn made all of us adults happy as well. They were just perfectly kids at Christmas, you know? Eating all the junk, playing, making a mess, laughing.. all those good things.

Wyatt and the Hurricane. She wanted to draw just like her big cousin. It was adorable.

My reading has been in the bin this past week. And I have read nothing Christmas! However I did read this one.

It took place at the time of Winter Solstice so it maybe counts. I love this series and I think young Erin would have definitely connected with this character.

Reading this Week:

I am slowly reading. It may take me two weeks with the holidays and all the things I need to do still. And at bedtime I just zonk out I am so whipped. But I am reading! And oo, I just realized it is Christmas! So I am reading a Christmas book!

This is such a cool series.

Posted Last Week:

Christmas Coffee Catch Up: Gingerbread and Zoo Lights!

Comfy Cozy Christmas: What We Have Been Watching

Top Ten Tuesday: My 2024-2025 Winter TBR

And I am woefully behind on visiting blogs. I hope to do that tomorrow morning!

Watching:

Billy and I have been watching a lot of Christmas movies lately. When we don’t, we are watching Murdoch Mysteries or the Great British Bake Off. We have two movies left on our list, the Muppet Christmas Carol and Emmett Otter’s Jug Band Christmas. I can’t wait!

Lisa from Boondock Ramblings and I are planning some Cozy Crafternoons on Zoom in January and February, to beat those winter blahs that happen late winter after Christmas. We are thinking we will have maybe two per month, so four in total. We will just all meet up on the date and time, and individually work on whatever we want – embroidery, coloring, knitting, crocheting, jewelry making, etc, while chatting or you could even have the sound off and just feel part of the group without the chatter, if you like it quiet. It is sort of open and flexible but also social. I will probably be stitching away – my friend has requested a small pillow with an embroidered possum on it, so I will be working on that in January for a while. Anyway, if you are interested in learning more send an email either to me at crackercrumblife@gmail.com or to Lisa at lisahoweler@gmail.com. That way we will also have your email for the zoom link! Our first scheduled crafternoon is January 11th at 1 pm EST.

And that is it from me today! I hope that you are all doing well, and I wish you a happy week of winter reading and a wonderful holiday season!

A Few Short Book Reviews

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn book review, books and reading11 Comments

Hello all! I am so far behind on book reviews, and now that the weather is turning cool and we are not running around as much, it feels like a good time to get caught up. Not all in one post though, that would be crazy.

Let’s see… let’s start with the most recent book that I read.

Clueless at the Coffee Station is a book that I won in a giveaway on Instagram and I am so happy that I did! I have been in a bit of a reading slump for a few weeks, and I was finally able to settle into a book with this one. It was the perfect book to read right now, as the weather in Michigan begins to change to cooler days and chilly nights. The book is set in Michigan as well, which was a fun little bonus for me as I read.

The book is about barista Betti, a woman who enjoys her simple life serving coffee, even though her sister thinks she should be doing something different with her career. When a theft occurs during Open Mic night while Betti is behind the counter, she finds her job and lifestyle at risk and puts on the best sleuth outfit she can find at the thrift shop and begins to investigate…

I found Betti to be earnest, entertaining, and just as awkward as I am. I did enjoy the little bits and pieces of zen she found in her day, the little glimmer moments, such as the coffee shop before it opens and she has Main Street to herself, and a pot percolating behind her. Or a text from a potential love interest that reads “If you are up for cinnamon tea and midnight donuts, I know a place.” That would be a huge green flag for me. Overall I really enjoyed this book, and can’t wait for the next one!

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden: Ooo this was such a good one! It is a middle grade by the author of The Bear and the Nightingale and I was so excited to see how she writes for kids – and let me tell you, it is just as good as her adult writing! (although of course, at a children’s reading level and interest) I absolutely loved the main character’s father, who is very quirky , artistic, creative, and loves to bake. However, her mother has passed away and Ollie is still dealing with this emotionally, as one would expect. Her mother also sounds like she was a very interesting person, with an adventurous spirit, and Ollie is reeling from her loss.

However, the book takes a very spooky turn soon after Ollie encounters a strange woman at the pond. It actually had parts that made me want to look over my shoulder for creepy smiling faces…

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, and I plan on reading the second in the series sometime over the winter.

A Dark and Secret Magic is one of my favorite reads this year. It was the perfect fall read, and had so many cozy elements to it. A small cottage in the woods with a fire, a cat, delicious meals that sounded so good yet so simple, magic, romance, ghosts, pumpkin patches and fall festivals.. I could go on and on but I won’t because there is a lot to this book that I don’t want to give away. I will just say that if you like autumn and witchy reads, then you need to read this book. And when you do, make sure you have set some serious reading time aside because you will not want to put it down!

And that is where I will wrap it up today! I hope you are all reading something good today!