Last weekend, our fun Fall activity was making Halloween sugar cookies. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love any excuse for a sweet treat. Thankfully, sugar cookies are an easy snack to make and you can change them up for different holidays. Plus, involving K was super easy. Most of the Halloween cookie cutters were still packed away, but we found a few: a pumpkin, a leaf, and a cat.
Now I’ll be honest, I left the baking up to K and his grammie this time. I supervised and took pictures. I did help K when he started to help roll out the dough–he could become an excellent pastry chef one day. After the cookies had baked to perfection, it was time to sample! Grammie and K had done a great job. When we finished our sampling, we took what was left of the cookies– it’s almost the holidays so none of the extra cookies consumed count right?–and it was time to frost!
I think this was K’s favorite part. We didn’t have orange frosting so we used vanilla and dyed it orange and he got a small taste. Needless to say, we have a new frosting fiend in our house. The cookies turned out beautifully. But most importantly, they turned out delicious. And when it comes to cookies, that’s really all that matters right?
Halloween Reads To Go With Our Halloween Sugar Cookies
K also got a new book: You’re My Little Pumpkin Pie with illustrations by Natalie Marshall. This is a fun Halloween-themed board book with cutouts. K loves these books and enjoys turning the pages to see what’s on the other side of the cutout. Another book that K received was Happy Halloween, Little Critter! by Mercer Mayer. This has flaps on the pages that shows which critter is in which costume and he loves finding out who is under the flap. I’m so glad that books have fun ways to make reading entertaining for children!
I had a really fun weekend baking Halloween sugar cookies and reading Halloween books with my son and my mom. I’m enjoying making new traditions with him as he grows up. Do you have any Fall or Halloween traditions with your children?
Happy Fall, y’all! 🍁🍂🎃 Well, y’all, another month has come and gone, which means it’s time for my October TBR! I completed my entire TBR for September, which means it’s a fresh slate this month. I have yet another ambitious TBR for this month, but it’s a bit different because I chose books that will help me get in the mood for Halloween and the Fall season. I’ll be doing some buddy reading, as well as reading a few ARCs. So, let’s get into it!
I just finished The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. I read this for my participation in Banned Books Week. This book takes place in Afghanistan and follows a friendship between a boy and the son of his father’s servant. It covers love, betrayal, family, redemption, sacrifice, and loyalty. This book caused so many emotions, y’all. I’ll get more into my reaction in my review!
Another book I’m going to read this month to spooky things up a bit is The Companion by Katie Alender. I’ve already mentioned this as one of my anticipated reads from a few months ago, but I’ve been dying to read this, and this month is perfect for it. This is about a girl, Margot, whose entire family dies in an accident and everyone keeps telling her she’s lucky. But when Margot gets taken in by a wealthy family and finds out the true reason for their kindness, Margot is left wondering whether she really is lucky. I can’t wait to dive into this, it sounds like such a perfectly spooky read for Halloween-time!
October Buddy Reads
I’ll be reading Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo as a buddy read. Sure to start getting me in the Halloween mood, this book is about Alex, a freshman at Yale with a dark past. It’s her job to keep an eye on the secret societies of the rich and powerful of Yale, but what she finds just might be worse than can be imagined. This is one of my most anticipated books and I just haven’t gotten around to reading it (shocker). I’m glad I’m finally sitting down to do it!
Another book I’ll be tackling this month is Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This is a classic that I’ll be reading as a buddy read. A classic I’ve never read, this book is about scientist Victor Frankenstein who creates a creature out of body parts and uses an electrical charge to start it. The monster demands a partner, as his only request is friendship, but when Frankenstein fails to complete the female counterpart, the monster promises revenge. I’m glad to finally read it!
The last buddy read I’ll be doing this month is The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White. This is a retelling of Frankenstein. This is about a girl named Elizabeth who doesn’t have much, but luck finds her when she’s taken in by Victor Frankenstein. She’s given shelter, food, a warm bed, everything she could want–and he finally has a friend, and the two become close. But not everything is always as it seems, and sometimes keeping the peace can come at a great cost. This book sounds so good. I love books where the main character may be on the fringe of sanity. I can’t wait to read it!
October TBR ARCs
One of the ARCs I’ll be reading is Tsarina by Ellen Alpsten. I was fortunate to receive a copy of this from St. Martin’s Press. In this story we follow Catherine Alexeyevna, Peter the Great’s second wife. The year is 1725 and Russia risks mayhem as Peter left the empire without an heir and is dying. Can Catherine manage to take the throne? I’m so excited for this one. I love a good historical fiction novel, and strong females throughout history are always so great to read about. This will be publishing in November.
The other ARC I’ll be reading is These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. I won this in a giveaway during SDCC by Simon Pulse. This is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet but set in Shanghai in 1926. Um, yes please! We’re following two gangs–the Scarlet Gang and the White Flowers. Juliette Cai is the heir to the Scarlet Gang and Roma Montagov is the heir to the White Flowers. When strange things start happening to members of the gangs on both sides, Juliette and Roma must set aside their differences and come together to save their city. Y’all I can’t wait to read this one either. I love retellings, I love Romeo & Juliet, and I love the premise of this book. This book is expected to be published in November.
So, that’s it for my October TBR. What’s on your shelf this month? Any other spooky recommendations?
