Friday Morning Coffee Catch Up – Dragons!

On January 17, 2025January 17, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Coffee Catch UP26 Comments

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.

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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!

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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!

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

On January 7, 2025January 7, 2025 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn books and reading35 Comments

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 Favorite Reads of 2024

On December 26, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized51 Comments

Hello everyone!!! I hope you are all doing well – and finding time to read!

Ok – I am calling it now. It is close enough and I don’t foresee a bunch of reading to happen between now and the new year!

I had a hard time deciding on my favorite reads this year. I feel like this year was all about trying new genres and new authors that I loved; I went through different reading phases and my read list this year is just a hodgepodge of titles and genres. I didn’t read nearly as many books as other people, I am just slower now that my lifestyle is different! Pre-Wyatt I read over 100 books a year – now I read nowhere near that, and that is ok. Wyatt and I are making memories together everyday, and more importantly, I have turned him into a giant bookworm and library lover just like me. The library loves when he comes in (or so they say!) because he is so excited about getting books and reading. His favorite this year was The Phantom Tollbooth.

I tracked my reading in a hand drawn little chart this year!

I also started making these little journal pages.

They are not anything fancy but they are fun to do.

And I have digressed enough! My favorites, in no particular order:

A Dark and Secret Magic || A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking || The Teller of Small Fortunes

A Dark and Secret Magic was just the perfect autumnal spooky season read. It had everything. The atmosphere, the setting, the characters, the traditions – I really loved it and I hope the author writes another one in this world with these characters. I have a feeling that she is going to.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking really surprised me with how much I absolutely loved it. I loved the message regarding heroes, which was a more serious message hidden within these rather whimsical and magical world. It also touched on intolerance as well, another serious message and theme. However, it was handled in such a way that it didn’t feel heavy – sort of like when people make the perfect bread. I loved the little gingerbread man and of course Bob. I have been telling my husband nearly every day since I read this to read it. So come on Billy, let’s get to it!

The Teller of Small Fortunes is just a small, easy little read but it was so heartwarming to me. I love found family stories, I love adventures, I love magical tales, and this book had it all. It had Wheel of Time vibes but low stakes and cozy instead of huge and world building.

The Blue Castle || Tress of the Emerald Sea || The Berry Pickers

The Blue Castle: Lisa from Boondock Ramblings gifted me this book this year and I absolutely loved it!!! The imagery, the nature writing, Valancy just kicking butt and becoming her own person and taking her life into her own hands. Just all of it. I also learned that there is more to Montgomery than the beloved Anne. (I love Anne too though)

Tress of the Emerald Sea: Another kickbutt heroine. I love Tress so much. Sanderson and his wife watched The Princess Bride on day together, and his wife wondered what the story would have been like had Buttercup just not given up on Wesley after she heard he was dead, and instead which searching for him. And then, this book was born.

The Berry Pickers: This book was not light and fluffy or cozy. In fact, it destroyed me for personal reasons but it was still such an amazing book. I don’t want to say much because I don’t want to give anything away, but I do highly recommend it.

Miracles on Maple Hill || Kildee House

I went through a time in February/March when I just wanted to read some wholesome, old fashioned kids books. So I did. These two were my favorites. Miracles on Maple Hill was a touching story of a family that was struggling through some issues and when they move to the country, find what they needed to make it through to the other side. Kildee House is also about someone moving to the country, and finding a whole new life that suits them much better. This one has wild animals that live in the house which I of course loved, but it also had some parts that made me sob so be prepared for that. I asked Billy if I could have some foxes and a possum for Christmas but he told me no. What a stick in the mud he is. Maybe just a possum then? Think I could sneak one in this new year?

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers || What You are Looking for is in the Library

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers is a cozy little mystery with found family and most of all, hope. I love the love in this book.

What You are Looking for in the Library really started me down the path of translated fiction/Asian fiction/healing fiction. I could read this book over and over again. Instead of a little synopsis, I am just linking my review here.

And that my friends is a wrap! I learned that I love cozy fantasy and translated fiction. I fell down the Riley Sagar and Lucy Foley rabbit holes (if there was an 11 and 12 on this list, they would be The Only One Left by Sagar, and The Midnight Feast by Foley). I gave myself permission to indulge in all the middle grade fiction I want. I also read a lot of books with absurdly long titles, but that is another story. Overall, it’s been a good year of reading!

Top Ten Tuesday: Spooky Middle Grade

On October 29, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized33 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s prompt is a Halloween freebie! Since Halloween for me is more about Wyatt these days, my post this week is spooky middle grade books that I want to read. Going to the library with Wyatt I see all these fun looking middle grade books that I want to read too! I usually end up with one for myself every time we go. I grew up reading Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Mary Downing Hahn, and Betty Ren Wright, all of which scared my socks off as a kid and made me sleep with the blankets pulled way up over my head. I haven’t changed too much!

The Vanishing of Aveline Jones – This is the third in the series, and I just read the first two this fall. It is really well done series, with just enough freak out factor even as an adult. I would have definitely loved this series as a kid!

The Legend of the Skeleton Man – I really enjoy Joseph Bruchac, and I think this one would be one that makes you want to sleep with the lights on.

Scary Stories for Young Foxes – Ok, I don’t know much about this one other than I love foxes and there are foxes. Sometimes that is all it takes for me!

Ghost Book had me at its comparison to Studio Ghibli and Coco. ( Can any adult watch Coco without crying?)

Small Spaces is by the author of The Bear and the Nightingale and I feel like I have to know how she writes for middle grade! I loved The Bear and the Nightingale.

Wyatt and I read a picture book a few years ago that was super cute about the jumbies – I don’t think that the middle grade of The Jumbies will be so cute however. It looks pretty scary to me! And I just learned that they were both written by Tracey Baptiste. Well, now I really have to read it!

That cover of Evangeline of the Bayou – it is just so full of rich color and it feels…mossy. And damp. You can feel that cover. And it takes place in New Orleans, one of my favorite cities!

The Secret of Nightingale Wood by Lucy Strange. Honestly, all of Lucy Strange’s books have been on my TBR for ages and ages. I really need to read them.

Doesn’t this name just sound good when you say it? The Clackity. The Clackity.

And then one reread!

The Dollhouse Murders by Betty Ren Wright. This book scared the heck out of me as a kid, and I sort of think it still might. Dolls scare me in general and the idea that they could move while I was sleeping or something is absolutely horrifying.

Have you read any of these?

Top Ten Tuesday – Bookish Wishes

On June 11, 2024June 12, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized39 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This week’s prompt is: Bookish Wishes

Probably 99% of the books I read are from the library, but sometimes, I just want to have my own copy. Usually this is because it looks like a book that will really resonate with me, one that I will reread, and one that I will just be enchanted by for a long time. These are the books that have made that list of books that are currently on my wish list!

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa || Jane of Lantern Hill by L. M. Montgomery || The Honey Witch by Sydney J. Shields

The Travelling Cat Chronicles – I have been super into Japanese fiction this year and this one just sounds wonderful.

Jane of Lantern Hill – I have been wanting to branch out into other Montgomery characters and books, besides the beloved Anne. Jane seems like a great place to start!

The Honey Witch – This one is just so pretty. Lol.

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters || The Pink Motel by Carol Ryrie Brink || English Pastoral by James Rebanks

The Berry Pickers – I am very intrigued by this book! I feel like it could be a slow read for me, one to really take my time with and digest. Same with English Pastoral, which reminds me of John Lewis-Stempel, who is one of my favorite authors.

The Pink Hotel – I collect Carol Ryrie Brink books and this one just really appeals to me! I love books set in motels and I love the kitschy look of this cover!

The Mermaid in the Millpond by Lucy Strange || A Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal || Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

The Mermaid in the Millpond – The books by Lucy Strange are all beautiful looking and sound fantastic.

A Tempest of Tea – Ok, this is another one like The Honey Witch.

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop – Same as the Travelling Cat Chronicles. I am very interested in Japanese fiction right now.

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

Finally this Sanderson. I really loved Tress and want to read all of Sanderson’s Secret Projects/Cosmere books.

These are my top ten! Are any of these on your list?

My Sunday-Monday Post

On June 2, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized26 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 feel like I am draggin’ wagon today. I blame this weather, all overcast this morning. I have to get ready for church soon but I am procrastinating big time. I’ll have another cup of coffee and finish this post then I will get ready.

We had a pretty good week last week. Not anything exciting or noteworthy, just everyday life things. We did set up a fish tank for my kiddo who has wanted a fish, so that was our big event of the week. Wyatt is loving his fish Moon and his snail Sunny.

Read Last Week:

I had started listening to Tress last summer but then stopped because after listening I realized it was a book that I wanted to read, not listen to. And I am glad that I made that choice, because I loved Tress! Brandon Sanderson was inspired to write it after he and his family watched The Princess Bride (one of my all time favorite movies) during lockdown. His wife brought up a question about Buttercup and he started thinking about what it would be like if Buttercup went in search of Wesley rather than accepting that he was dead. And Tress was born. I absolutely loved it although I did find some parts a bit slow moving.

I started reading You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight as part of the Camp Spooky Readathon hosted by the Midnight Book Club on Instagram, and it was such a fast read that I finished it the same day I started. And it was a very busy day too! It was just one of those books that you could not put down and also was a quick read too. It was so good! Kaylnn Bayron said that she was a fan of those 80s slasher movies as a kid (just like me) and wanted to write her own homage to them. So she did! Very good read, not super gory.

Both of my books were inspired by movies! I just realized that.

Reading This Week:

In keeping with my trend of reading vintage or older middle age books, I picked up Dandelion Cottage from the library the other day. I am excited to read it! The author grew up in Michigan on the shores of Lake Superior, and the Dandelion Cottage is apparently a real cottage that is still there. I think I am also going to start At the Pond this week as well.

Posted Last Week:

My Summer TBR

Coffee Catch Up: Our Life Aquatic

Hello June!

Watching:

Billy and I have been watching a few different things. My favorite that we have been watching is the newest season of The Brokenwood Mysteries. I just love that series so much. We are also watching When Calls the Heart and Palm Royale. I love the way Palm Royale looks and the cast is fire, but ooh it is hard for me to watch sometimes because of secondhand embarrassment and cringe. But the set and the costumes and the colors are just beautiful so that makes it worth it so far. This article is about the costumes if you want to read more.

We also watched The Fall Guy! I had been waiting for this movie to go to streaming and I was so excited. Now, I know this movie was panned but I loved it, and so did Billy. We both loved the tv show with Lee Majors as kids, and there were so many references and throwbacks to the 80s. We were so excited every time we caught one. We also think that the character Tom Ryder based his characters mannerisms and speech pattern after Matthew McConaughey, who I love. We both thought it was a lot of fun. I think people wanted nonstop action and this movie had a bit of a plot and a love story to boot.

And that is it from me today! I hope you all have a wonderful day!

Top Ten Tuesday – Quotes

On May 14, 2024May 14, 2024 By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized29 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl!

This week is all about our favorite book quotes! I have more quotes than books; some books just needed more space on here I guess.

First up is Watership Down, with multiple quotes. My favorite book of all time!

“Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it.”
― Richard Adams, Watership Down

“To come to the end of a time of anxiety and fear! To feel the cloud that hung over us lift and disperse—the cloud that dulled the heart and made happiness no more than a memory! This at least is one joy that must have been known by almost every living creature.”
― Richard Adams, Watership Down

“Men will never rest till they’ve spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals.”
― Richard Adams, Watership Down

Ok, I will move on now.

“So we dream on. Thus we invent our lives. We give ourselves a sainted mother, we make our father a hero; and someone’s older brother and someone’s older sister – they become our heroes too. We invent what we love and what we fear. There is always a brave lost brother – and a little lost sister, too. We dream on and on: the best hotel, the perfect family, the resort life. And our dreams escape us almost as vividly as we can imagine them… That’s what happens, like it or not. And because that’s what happens, this is what we need: we need a good, smart bear… Coach Bob knew it all along: you’ve got to get obsessed and stay obsessed. You have to keep passing the open windows.”
― John Irving, The Hotel New Hampshire

“This place has atmosphere, different from a bookshop with just new books. In here you sense the weight of time, stretching way back to the past.”
― Michiko Aoyama, What You Are Looking for is in the Library

“Hate is loud, but I think you’ll learn it’s because it’s only a few people shouting, desperate to be heard. You might not ever be able to change their minds, but so long as you remember you’re not alone, you will overcome.” – TJ Klune, The House in the Cerulean Sea

“When someone you love dies, and you’re not expecting it, you don’t lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time—the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes—when there’s a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she’s gone, forever—there comes another day, and another specifically missing part.”
― John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany

I am adding some in from The Last Unicorn as I am reading and annotating this book right now. I have always loved the book and the movie, ever since seeing it as a child.

“Unicorns are immortal. It is their nature to live alone in one place: usually a forest where there is a pool clear enough for them to see themselves-for they are a little vain, knowing themselves to be the most beautiful creatures in all the world, and magic besides. They mate very rarely, and no place is more enchanted than one where a unicorn has been born. The last time she had seen another unicorn the young virgins who still came seeking her now and then had called to her in a different tongue; but then, she had no idea of months and years and centuries, or even of seasons. It was always spring in her forest, because she lived there, and she wandered all day among the great beech trees, keeping watch over the animals that lived in the ground and under bushes, in nests and caves, earths and treetops. Generation after generation, wolves and rabbits alike, they hunted and loved and had children and died, and as the unicorn did none of these things, she never grew tired of watching them.”
― Peter S. Beagle , The Last Unicorn

“Farewell,’ she said. ‘I hope you hear many more songs’ – which was the best way she could think of to say good-bye to a butterfly.”
― Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

“The true secret in being a hero lies in knowing the order of things. The swineherd cannot already be wed to the princess when he embarks on his adventures, nor can the boy knock on the witch’s door when she is already away on vacation. The wicked uncle cannot be found out and foiled before he does something wicked. Things must happen when it is time for them to happen. Quests may not simply be abandoned; prophecies may not be left to rot like unpicked fruit; unicorns may go unrescued for a very long time, but not forever. The happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.”
― Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

I wouldn’t say these quotes (except for the Watership Down ones) are my top ten favorites of all time, but these are the ones I was feeling this week. Have you read any of these books? Are you an annotator? It is something I just started doing and I am really enjoying it.