Tag: reading

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized22 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 all! I hope life is being kind to you right now. I am currently enjoying all the new growth my plants have had recently – and I think my violet might even pop out a flower! It never has before and I would love it! I just see this little shoot getting ready to unfurl, and I am hoping it is a flower. I have been using the water from our aquariums to water all my plants and I think it has been giving them some extra nutrients!

Read Last Week:

I loved both of these reads! Malamander was so cute and fun, and Gladwynn took me along for another unputdownable mystery! Book reviews will be up this week.

Reading This Week:

I am looking forward to reading both of these! Then next week, I am starting my annual reread of Watership Down!! I have been waiting for it to feel a bit more spring, and I think it is finally feeling less winter around here. And, I hope I didn’t just jinx Michigan!

Posted Last Week:

Monday Morning Coffee Catch Up

A Severance Style Get To Know Me Post

Watching:

Billy and I finished up Season 2 of Severance! It was such a ride from start to finish. The whole show is so well conceptualized, well acted, and well written. It is also a bit weird. I love it!

I was afraid that we wouldn’t be able to follow it up, and have a bit of television hangover, but luckily we had episode one of Season 3 Beyond Paradise to watch! It was the perfect show for how I felt last night.

In My Blogging World:

 Lisa at Boondock Ramblings and I are hosting another film watching event for springtime. It is six weeks, six movies, and very easy going! If you want to watch one or all or a few, we would love to have you join in. Just watch along and comment on our posts or post your own thoughts and link up!

If you are interested, this is the schedule of movies! Our first post will be up this week!

Also, in January and February, Lisa and I were hosting Crafternoons and they turned out to be so much fun that we are continuing them on through the year. People craft, color, sometimes just chat, and we just have a lot of fun. They are drop in style, so no time commitment, just if you have some time to just craft or hang out one scheduled afternoon, drop on in! We will have our schedule up for spring this week!

Whatever you do today, try to do something that makes you smile! I am going to watch Wyatt bowl this afternoon and that always brings a smile to my face!

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.

My Sunday-Monday Post

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized35 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! Today is Wyatt’s birthday – he is a big time ten years old today! I am all sorts of emotional over this. We are going to the zoo (even though it is absolutely freezing today!) and then a special meal at a fancy shake place in Detroit.

Read Last Week(s):

These were both really good!

Reading This Week:

It’s Middle Grade March! I don’t usually do reading challenges because I am usually trash at them, with no discipline. This one is pretty simple with five prompts, and I think I can do it! Week one we are supposed to read a book by an author with three names – so I am picking Emily of New Moon! I love this cover btw. These are the prompts, in case anyone is interested!

1. Read a book by an author with 3 names
2. Read a book with flowers on the cover
3. Read a book that is part of a series
4. Read a book that involves travel
5. Read a book written in the 1900s

Posted Recently:

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read and Never Reviewed

Top Ten Tuesday: Books Set in Another Time

Down the Rabbit Hole: How My Crafternoons Led To A New TBR

Sunday Afternoon Coffee Catch Up: Tulips on the Window, Bowling, and Scouts

Mini Book Reviews: The Sad Ghost Club, Temple of Swoon, and The Honey Witch

Hello March!

Watching:

We are watching a few different things! We have been watching Murdoch Mysteries, The Great Pottery Throw Down, and we just started Dickinson. Dickinson is a fun little show, and is just silly and escapist. However, I do feel they get some of the details about Emily’s life correct, like her intimate relationship with her friend Sue, who her brother later marries. It is done in the style of the movie A Knight’s Tale, or Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes, with modern music, language, sensibilities interspersed. I am a Dickinson fan, so I hope that this show sparks interest and curiosity in young people for poetry and words and Dickinson herself, and maybe they will watch and search out more information or look for her collections of poetry.

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

Mini Book Reviews: Sad Ghost Club, Temple of Swoon, and The Honey Witch

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized14 Comments

Hello all! Welcome back to another edition of mini book reviews! It seems to be the best way for me to write reviews, in these little bite size reviews.

First up! The Sad Ghost Club

The Sad Ghost Club by Lize Meddings: “The universe is most pleased we met.” You guys this book was just so good. I could relate to this so well; I was so shy and awkward in high school and had such anxiety over social things, much like these characters. This graphic novel is a very sweet look at anxiety, loneliness, feeling like you don’t belong anywhere.. it is just wonderful honestly. I am adding the rest of the series to my library holds ASAP!

Two “ghosts” meet at a party, both out of sync with the rest of the party goers, and it is a wonderful conversation between two people who have possibly found a kindred spirit. If you visit The Sad Ghost Club website, and you are in the UK, there are also helplines posted for those who are feeling like thye need a helping hand.

Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura: I’m an adventurer at heart. While in reality I am an introverted stay at home homeschool mom, there was a time I dreamed of discovering lost cities and digging up relics, having all sorts of wild adventures along the way. I am glad I actually pursued that outside of daydreams, because the reality is I much prefer reading about them in climate controlled, bug free spaces. Temple of Swoon is the perfect read for armchair adventuring archaeologists like me – this book has danger, a steamy jungle, a lost city, some crazy shenanigans, and romance. I ate this book up, like Miri eats her snacks. Miri is the main character, who is smart, resilient, a bit of a goofball, and prides herself on always having the best snacks. I thought she was awesome! Rafa wasn’t too bad either…

This book is for you if you like

🥾 Enemies to lovers
🥾 Indiana Jones
🥾 Cinnamon roll MMC
🥾 Smart women

Also if you like this book I highly recommend the old classic movie, African Queen. It was also an adventure story that made me laugh out loud.

The spice level: It is explicit open door, but it is almost all the way at the very end of the book. If I compare it to Under Loch and Key, which I reviewed last round, it seems tame. I haven’t read many romances honestly so I am still working out a system. Let’s say if Under Loch and Key is 5 jalapenos, this one is 3.5?

“These are the wild women who run barefoot through the meadow, who teach new songs to birds, who howl at the moon together. Wild women are their own kind of magic.” After all of this snow and being indoors – as cozy and wonderful it has been – I am more than ready to wake up to the songs of the birds in the morning and to run around barefoot again, to see colors again! That is why I decided this long gray February of the snow moon was the perfect time to read The Honey Witch – and it did not disappoint. The imagery was beautiful and conjured up long summer lazy summer days, bees buzzing around the garden, fireflies at night. It had a very cool magic system I thought, of a honey witch and an ash witch, a yin and a yang, balance. But the balance was out of order in this book, and Marigold had to find her place as the new honey witch and overturn the curse .. and that is all I will say!

This book:

🐝 Cozy Fantasy
🐝 Enemies to Lovers
🐝 Sapphic
🐝 Slow Burn Romance
🐝 Cool Magical System

For the spice level, which is sapphic, I would give it the same as Temple of Swoon – 3.5 jalapenos. Explicit open door but it is fairly short as well as near the end.

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

Top Ten Tuesday: Books That Take Place in Another Time

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized51 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

This Week’s Prompt: Books Set in Another Time (These can be historical, futuristic, alternate universes, or even in a world where you’re not sure when it takes place you just know it’s not right now.)

I wasn’t quite sure how I wanted to do this one! I decided to do a decade by decade book for each decade of the 1900s. The century that I was born in… lol. Most of these are books that I have read; a few are from my TBR.

A Reliable Wife (1909)|| Girl Waits With Gun (1914) || The Great Gatsby

A Reliable Wife was such a wild ride of a book! It is set in Wisconsin in 1909. All of Goolrick’s books blew me away when I read them.

Girl Waits with Gun is one on my TBR – and I am pretty sure I learned about it from TTT! It is set in 1914.

The Great Gatsby -because really, what better book to represent the Roaring 20s?

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek || City of Thieves || When Women Were Dragons

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek is another TBR book. I had never heard of the Horseback Librarians until a few years ago when we went to a historical event at Greenfield Village near us and there was a woman dressed as one. She told Wyatt and I about these women and gave Wyatt a library card. It was really cute. Anyway, this book is set in 1936. I need to get to it.

City of Thieves is one of my favorite books ever. I recommend this book over and over and over again. It is is set in 1942 in Russia.

When Women Were Dragons is physically sitting on my shelf and I need to read it. Maybe I will this spring. It sounds amazing. It is set in 1955.

The Girls || Joyland || My Best Friend’s Exorcism

The Girls has been on my TBR for a long time. I really need to get to it eventually. It seems like a good summer book so maybe this summer. This book is set in the 1960s.

Joyland is another favorite of mine. I have found that my favorite books by Stephen King are sort of weird compared to other people lol. This is one of them. I just love the whole story- the new adultness, the summertime working at the amusement park, a haunting, a mystery, some supernatural things. It was fantastic. It is set in the 1970s.

My Best Friend’s Exorcism is such a creepy gross book! I loved it though. It is so 1980s that I had to list it here.

The Mall

I am a Gen Xer and yes, so much of my young adulthood centered around the mall. I haven’t read this but it is on my TBR. It sounds like a good read! (if you have read it let me know what you thought!)

And there is my list! I am super excited to see where everyone else is taking us today!

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!

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!

Top Ten Tuesday – New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024

On By Erin @ Cracker Crumb LifeIn Uncategorized47 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl

Today’s Prompt is New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2024! When I went back and looked at the authors I read in 2024, I was surprised to learn that out of the 66 books that I read, 58 books were written by new to me authors. I had a big year of new to me authors! I had no idea honestly, that it was that high of a number.

So for this post, I am picking a few of the 58 that I haven’t talked about as much on here.

The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines || Sisters of the Lost Nation || The Berry Pickers

Last year I put a lot of effort into reading that had diverse representation. I was especially on the lookout for middle grade books that have casual inclusion of characters who use a wheelchair or have a disability, for my son. He doesn’t need to read about what it is like to have a disability – he already knows that. What he does need are stories that show these characters included in things and part of things.

I was so happy to find The Lumbering Giants of Windy Pines! The main character is a wheelchair user, but she also fights monsters. Pretty cool if you ask me!

Sisters of the Lost Nation is a book written by and indigenous author, about indigenous characters. It was a horror story, and it was excellent. It not only has horror elements but also highlighted the invisibility of missing indigenous women in the world – how they disappear and their disappearances are not often as investigated as thoroughly as they should be, if at all.

The Berry Pickers also carries that theme, but in a very different way. Peters wrote such a heartwrenching novel with The Berry Pickers that I found myself tearing up frequently.

Clueless at the Coffee Station || Haunted Ever After || Christa Comes Out of Her Shell

Clueless at the Coffee Station is a cozy mystery written by an independent author, who I learned about from Lisa at Boondock Ramblings, another independent author. Clueless was such a good book, and I loved that it is set in my own home state of Michigan! The author, who now lives in Japan, actually is originally from a Michigan town about ten miles away from me.

I love Halloween and this fall I went crazy reading all the fall/ghosts/spooky books I could – but I also wanted them to not be as scary as a straight up horror. DeLuca’s Haunted Ever After was absolutely perfect and I can’t wait to read another book set in Boneyard Key.

Christa Comes Out of Her Shell is a book I picked up because the main character is a scientist (and we need to read about more female scientists!) who studies snails. I love snails! This book made me laugh out loud at times, but also had its more serious moments. It was the first Waxman book I have read and I will be reading more.

A Fellowship of Bakers and Magic || The Teller of Small Fortunes || Flowerheart

My favorite genre (sub-genre?) is cozy fantasy and I loved all three of these.

A Fellowship of Bakers & Magic is straight up a fantasy version of the Bake Off. I wanted to eat everything the characters were baking, and I just really enjoyed this cozy book.

The Teller of Small Fortunes is another cozy that is full of found family, one of my favorite tropes. I am hoping for another book from this author about these characters!

Flowerheart was just a fairy tale-esque cozy fantasy, that was the perfect read for spring.

The Only One Left || A Psalm for the Wild-Built

I finally hopped on the Sager train and was so happy that I did. I could not put this book down! I was sucked into this crazy story and when it was over all I wanted to do was talk about it with other people!

A Psalm for the Wild-Built is another book that I devoured and then wanted to talk about with everyone. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but I really did. I read somewhere that it was “cozy sci-fi” and I agree. No wonder I liked it.

And those are my ten, plus a bonus for good measure!

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!

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?