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The Grass the Cow Ate (a silly poem)

September 14, 2023 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

14 Sep

The other day, I was inspired by a comment my brother made, and sat down and wrote a poem. It took seven minutes to get it written down.

It’s not very good. I’m sorry.

I still think it’s funny, which is why I’m posting it.

This is the paddock that the brown cow lives in.

This is the grass that the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

This is the milk that the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

This is the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

These are the people who eat the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

This is the freezer where the cheese is stored
by the people who eat the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

This is the cheese that came from the freezer
where the cheese is stored
by the people who eat the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

These are the chunks of cheese
that came from the freezer
where the cheese is stored
by the people who eat the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

These are the chickens
that ate the chunks of cheese
that came from the freezer
where the cheese is stored
by the people who eat the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

These are the eggs
that come from the chickens
that ate the chunks of cheese
that came from the freezer
where the cheese is stored
by the people who eat the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.

This is the quiche that is made from the eggs (and some more cheese)
that come from the chickens
that ate the chunks of cheese
that came from the freezer
where the cheese is stored
by the people who eat the cheese
that came from the milk the brown cow made
that came from the grass the brown cow ate
that grew in the paddock the brown cow lives in.


Okay, the story behind the poem: We were inundated with milk last summer, and Mom ended up making cheese almost every day for a while. Some cheese went into the freezer, but since we didn’t use it up fast enough, it ended up tasting bad. We’ve also discovered recently that milk products fed to the chickens can help them produce more eggs because of the extra protein. So yes . . . we’ve been feeding old cheese to the chickens, and they’ve been consistently producing eggs (right through the winter!), which has been helpful in a variety of baking ventures (although not necessarily quiche yet!).

I’ve (Semi) Started a Reading Journal!

September 7, 2023 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

7 Sep

Okay, full disclosure: I’ve been keeping records of what I’ve been reading for years now, but I’ve never kept a full-fledged reading journal, and honestly, I don’t know if I ever will.

I love seeing what other people have in theirs—pretty printed-out covers, details of genres, star ratings, book and character analysis—you name it, someone has probably done it. But being a minimalist, and reluctant to add more to my book-reading plate than I already have, I’ve decided to opt for something functional that suits me where I am right now. Though I’ve toyed with the idea of making up something beautiful and detailed, that isn’t something that I’m planning to pursue currently.

I started really thinking about keeping a reading journal when I came across a Booktube video about setting one up (and yes, I’m slightly jealous of this lady’s ability to scrapbook—I’d love to know how to do that!).

Since I have a bullet journal that I’ve hardly written anything in, and wasn’t sure what to use it for, I decided to convert it into something useful!

So without further ado, here are the spreads I currently have, that I love, and want to add more to . . . but hey, one thing at a time, right?

1. A Reading Log

I’ve consistently been keeping a reading log since 2018. It’s interesting to go back and see when I read some books, and has also been SUPER helpful in keeping track of books that I got for review and making sure they get reviewed! I also keep this list digitally, mostly because I can more easily search an Excel spreadsheet (but also because I like the graphs I can make based on gleaned data in there 😀 ).

2. Reviewing Log

This is based on the first log, but dedicated solely to the books I get for review. If you look closely, you may be able to see that some books have been on the list since 2017 (sorry, authors! I’m slowly starting to work back to those, I promise!). My favorite part is the colored pattern; as I read each book, the colored diagonals become my progress charts as I read, with 5% of the book represented by one diagonal line. So all the colored-in middles are the books I’ve finished reading. (In this case, pink generally means a book I got from NetGalley, and green represents books I got directly from the author.)

3. Book Lists and Reading Challenges

This is my newest, and therefore, most favorite section. I’ve wanted to keep track of book lists for a long time now, but never quite managed to figure out how to do that. I’m hoping this will do the trick; we’ll see! I may end up changing it again at some stage!

First up is the 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime list, as voted on by Goodreads users. I’ve known about this list for quite a while, but never took much time to read through it. There are a lot of books on here that I want to read eventually! I’m not sure about some of them, but I thought it deserved a place in my journal. I’ve already read seven of these books, so that’s something of a start, I guess! 😀

This is my favorite spread so far. I’m a big fan of Lynn Austin’s books, and I know I haven’t even come close to reading all of them yet. I was thrilled to find a list of all of the ones she’s written so far, and also delighted to see how many of them I have read! Currently, there are 32 books on the list. I’ve read 12 of them, and have 9 more on my home bookshelf to read yet.

I’ve also recently discovered that I enjoy Ellen Vaughn’s writing, so since I ended up with extra space on the page, I decided to include the titles she’s written that I’d like to read eventually. We’ll see if I can find any of them!

I’ve been intrigued by the Buzzword challenge for a while, and since I was making lists anyway, I decided to add this to my journal! I don’t know if I’ll actually end up completing the challenge by the end of the year, but I’m planning on using the prompts to help me build my TBR lists over the next few months.

Peanut Blossom’s Book Bingo looked like so much fun I decided to include that in my reading journal, too! Again, I don’t know if I’ll end up finishing it by the end of the year or not—that’s not really a big deal to me—but I am hoping it will help me to keep picking a variety of books to read.

The one challenge I am planning to try to complete this year is the Read Your Bookshelf challenge. This one has been quite instrumental in getting me out of my old reading ruts this year, which I’m grateful for! I’ve been keeping track of this challenge digitally, but since it’s so fun to have an analog list that I can physically check off, I decided to add it to my reading journal as well.

And that’s what I have in my reading journal so far! I have ideas for lots of other lists I want to put in there—authors I want to read more of (John and Elizabeth Sherrill, for example), and series I want to complete. So far, I haven’t followed my impulses to actually do the research for said lists, but one day . . . !

Have you ever kept a reading log or journal? Do you set reading goals?

September 2023 TBR List and August Recap

August 31, 2023 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

31 Aug

I had so much fun putting together my August TBR list that I thought I’d do it again for September! I realized, after I finished putting together that list, that I’d probably picked too many books, and didn’t leave enough room for spontaneous picks. Oops! In the end, out of the 9 books I put on my list, I read 7 of them—I didn’t have time to get to The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy or Byrd’s Eye View by Chautona Havig. Oh well! Maybe I can pick them up some other time.

Here are the covers of the books I read in August. If you are interested in what I thought of any of them, click on the cover to be taken to the review.

Falling Between the Pages by A.M. Heath
★★★★
Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn
★★★★★
★★★★
Kingdom's Hope by Chuck Black
★★★★
The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
★★★
Forsaken by M H Rice
★★
The White Dove by Christoph Von Schmid
★★★★
Ten Fingers for God by Dorothy Clarke Wilson
★★★★★

After last month’s slightly too-long TBR list, I decided to try to go a bit lighter on the total number of titles this month. “Try” being the operative word—I have six books on my list this month, but I have hopes of being able to add a few other books to the list as the month goes on. I guess we’ll see!

One thing I’m excited about this month is that I’ve started something of a reading journal! I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, and finally got some specific ideas of how to do that recently. I’m hoping to do a more in-depth post on this soon, but suffice to say for now, I’ve come across several other fun reading challenges (the Buzzword challenge and Peanut Blossom’s Book Bingo), and I’m using some of those prompts to build my TBR list this month.

Some links in this post are affiliate links. Your purchase through these links helps keep this blog going, at no extra expense to you. Thanks for your support!

First, a book I got for review:

The Warsaw Sisters- A Novel of WWII Poland by Amanda Barratt

I’ve been trying to keep an eye on the books that are coming up in the next few months, and when I saw The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt, I was immediately intrigued. The only other book I remember reading that was set in Warsaw is The Silver Sword (and what an incredible story that one is!), but that was many years ago, so I’m eager to try something new. This book releases on Nov. 7. Isn’t the cover gorgeous?

Sara's Trek by Florence Schloneger
The Night the Angels Came- Miracles of protection and provision in Burundi by Chrissie Chapman

September’s reading challenge:

This month’s prompt for the Read Your Bookshelf Challenge was to turn to page 50 in the book I read for the challenge in August, and a word on that page had to be in this month’s title. I found the word “trek” on that page, which reminded me of a book I’ve been wanting to reread for months!

My pick: Sara’s Trek by Florence Schloneger

Mom read this book to us when I was little, and I remember enjoying it. I’ve been wanting to re-read it to refresh my memory, so this is an excellent time to do that!

A book a friend suggested:

My pick: The Night the Angels Came by Chrissie Chapman

A friend and I were messaging a couple of weeks ago, and she mentioned having just finished this book, and how much she appreciated it. I was intrigued, and found a used copy for not too much. I’m looking forward to reading it this month!

The Tanglewoods’ Secret by Patricia St. John
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

A book with the word “secret” in the title:

My pick: The Tanglewoods’ Secret by Patricia St. John

We just watched the movie based on this book as a family, and I realized then how little I remembered the story! That means it’s high time to read it again. I’m looking forward to diving in and comparing it to the movie. I’m sure it will be good; Patricia St. John is one of my all-time favorite authors!

A book with “magic” or a related word in the title:

My pick: The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

When I saw this prompt on the Buzzword reading challenge, I wasn’t sure I would be able to find anything on our shelves—we don’t tend to have magic-related books around here. But when I searched for “witch”, this one came up, and I’m thrilled to get to read it again! I’ve read it at least twice already, although it’s been many years since the last time I picked it up.

Return by M H Rice

A book that has spent the longest time on my To-Read shelf:

My pick: Return by M H Rice

Okay, this is probably slightly cheating: I just looked back at my old TBR/books-I-got-for-review list, and realized this isn’t quite the oldest one on there. I’m going to count it, though, because it is almost the oldest one on that list, and it’s definitely been on my physical TBR shelf the longest. I’ve been meaning to read this series since 2018, and although books 1 and 2 ended up being 2-star reads for me, I’m intrigued enough that I want to finish the series.

September 2023 TBR

And there you have it—the books I’m hoping to read in September! I’m really hoping to get to a few more than what I’ve listed here, but even if I don’t, I’ll be happy to have revisited some of these old friends and met a couple of new ones.

Have you read any of these titles? What books are you hoping to read in September?

My August 2023 TBR List

August 3, 2023 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

3 Aug

In late June, inspired by Chantel Klassen’s Booktube videos, I made up a TBR list. For the first time in years, I actually had some space in my reading life to pick books I wanted to read! (That’s not to say that I don’t normally get to pick books; it’s just that over the past few years, I’ve always been behind on the books I got for review, so I always felt like the next books I need to read are those, to try to catch up. Then about the time I caught up, I would get more books for review, and the cycle would start all over again!)

August 2023 TBR
Above: Not my full August TBR stack, but all the physical books I currently have that are on my list this month.

(Some links in this post are affiliate links. I’ve also been given several of these books for free in exchange for my honest review.)

I loved having a TBR list last month—and, even more surprisingly, I managed to get through all but one on my stack! I loved having some variety in my reading diet, and I think that helped to keep me moving through the books, as well.

So I thought I’d make up an August TBR, just for fun, and we’ll see how that goes over this next month.

First, two books I got for review:

Since I want to try to stay caught up with the ARCs I get, these are going on the top of my list:

Falling Between the Pages by A.M. Heath: I’m actually almost finished reading this book. It releases on the 28th, and if you enjoy romantic comedy, I’d highly recommend it. This has been a fun, very fast read.

Being Elisabeth Elliot by Ellen Vaughn: I’ve also already started this one. If you haven’t read its prequel, Becoming Elisabeth Elliot, I’d highly recommend you pick that one up and preorder this one (it releases on Sept. 12). Both are well-written, thought-provoking, and encouraging. These biographies read almost like novels, and the amount of time and research that went into these books is phenomenal.

And now, onto some TBR-building prompts!

August’s reading challenge—A book in the same genre as July’s book:

My pick: Kingdom’s Hope by Chuck Black

My July book for the Read Your Bookshelf challenge was Kingdom’s Dawn by Chuck Black, which is allegorical Biblical fantasy (which I think is a delightful, intriguing genre!). I’m wanting to get through all six books in the series, so I’m picking Kingdom’s Hope, which is book two.

Kingdom's Hope by Chuck Black
Forsaken by M H Rice

A book I’ve been avoiding:

My pick: Forsaken by M H Rice

I’ve been avoiding this series for about five years ago, so I think that counts. 😉 I was given all three books for review, and I remember reading the first chapter of the first book at some stage and putting it down in defeat. I’m determined to get through them now, though (I read the first book in the series last month; it was a 2-star read, so okay, but not great). I don’t necessarily recommend the series, but since I’m committed to reading them, this is going on my stack.

A classic book: Actually, three books!

The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy
The White Dove by Christoph Von Schmid

Okay, proof that I’m a nerd: I have a list of 350 classics that I’d like to read at some stage over my lifetime. I doubt I’ll ever get to all of them, but I want to try! I have a good number of them on my shelves already as physical copies, so I’m randomly picking one from those. Last month in this category, I read What Katy Did by Susan Coolidge and Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E. Stevenson.

This month’s random pick, The Death of Ivan Ilych, is a short story (in a collection of short stories we have), so I decided to randomly pick a second read. That turned out to be The Kreutzer Sonata, which is also in the same short story collection! I’m excited; I haven’t read any Tolstoy works in years (and what are the odds . . . out of 350 titles, that two were picked from the same book?)! I’m looking forward to reading these.

Since both of those are short stories, I decided to generate one more random number, to see if I could get a slightly longer book . . . and I ended up with The White Dove by Christoph Von Schmid. Yay! I’ve also been wanting to read this book for a while, but it’s one of those that I wouldn’t normally just pick up to read.

A book based on a true story:

My pick: Ten Fingers for God by Dorothy Clarke Wilson

I’ve been wanting to read this book for about ten years now, but never got around to it. It’s the biography of Paul Brand. I’ve read two or three books by or about him, but I’m excited to see what this book contains!

Ten Fingers for God by Dorothy Clarke Wilson
Byrd's Eye View by Chautona Havig

The next book in a series:

My pick: Byrd’s Eye View by Chautona Havig

Again, I’ve been wanting to read this book for several years (it was published in 2020), but haven’t gotten around to it. It’s the last book in this series that I haven’t read yet, so I really want to get to it!

I may end up picking one or two more Kindle books as the month goes along; we’ll see! And I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two of these end up being shoved off onto September’s TBR stack; it just depends on how much time I have to read this month.

New releases I’m looking forward to:

Before I sign off, I wanted to highlight three exciting releases I’m anticipating this month (besides the two I mentioned at the top of this post)!

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette
A Beautiful Disguise by Roseanna M. White
He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox

Voice of the Ancient publishes on the 15th, A Beautiful Disguise publishes on the 22nd, and He Should Have Told the Bees publishes on the 29th. I’ve read (and greatly enjoyed!) all three of these books. Highly recommended!

Over to you: What books are you hoping to read in August? When was the last time you put together a TBR stack? If you decide to write a blog post about your reading plans for the month, drop a link in the comments—I’d love to see your list!

The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag: 2023 Edition

July 5, 2023 by Esther Filbrun · Leave a Comment

5 Jul

I admire bloggers who manage to find all the fun tags. The best tag-loving blogger I follow is Kate Hoppman from Once upon an Ordinary, and I love reading through her lighthearted, upbeat posts—even though her reading styles are WAY different than mine.

And hey, I’ve had a great reading year so far, and have wanted to write a mid-year post to share all the books anyway—so why not use a fun tag to do so? Let us begin!

(Some links in this post are affiliate links, which help support this blog at no extra expense to you. 🙂 )

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2023:

I have two titles that are close ties for this place, but I’m going to pick He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox. A solid story, relatable characters, delightful setting . . . I sped through this story and was sad when I got to the end.

He Should Have Told the Bees by Amanda Cox
A Light to My Path by Lynn Austin

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2023:

A Light to My Path by Lynn Austin. Oh wow. This one broke my heart, but was it ever spectacular! The history! The setting! The characters! It drew me in and I remembered again why I fell in love with Austin’s writing in the first place.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To:

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette. It’s been FAR too long since I read a Cossette novel, and I can’t wait to dive into this one! It makes my heart happy to know that this is the first in a tetralogy, too . . . so I have three more delightful books to look forward to after this one! (And isn’t the cover gorgeous?)

Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette
A Beautiful Disguise by Roseanna M. White

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2023:

I would say Voice of the Ancient, but since that’s already picked, can I pick a book I’ve already read that is releasing in August? I LOVED A Beautiful Disguise by Roseanna M. White—it was a super-fast, gripping read for me, with delightful characters and a hilarious premise. Aristocrats who run their own secret spy service and own a pet lion? Yes, please!

5. Biggest Disappointment:

I hate to admit it, but Walking in Tall Weeds by Robin W. Pearson was the first book that came to mind for this category. I loved her debut novel, and had high hopes for this one . . . but it fell flat for me. It was still a good story, but I struggled to get through it.

Walking in Tall Weeds by Robin W. Pearson
With Every Memory by Janine Rosche

6. Biggest Surprise:

With Every Memory by Janine Rosche. This book was way deeper than I thought it would be, which was a lovely surprise! Follow the link to read my review.

7. Favorite New Author:

Chelsea Michelle. I read their (free!) prequel novella earlier this year, and my only complaint was that it wasn’t longer. I can’t wait to see what they come out with next!

Hours We Regret by Chelsea Michelle
This Is Where It Ends by Cindy K. Sproles

8. Newest Fictional Crush:

Del Rankin from This Is Where It Ends by Cindy K. Sproles. He’s loving, caring, selfless, and the kind of steady, hard-working gentleman you want to have around. I loved the way he treated Minerva in the story!

9. Newest Favorite Character:

Either Lady Marigold Fairfax from A Beautiful Disguise, or Del Rankin from This Is Where It Ends—I can’t decide. I loved both of them!

10. Book That Made You Cry:

I don’t cry easily. It’s rare that a book makes me cry, but both With Every Memory by Janine Rosche and The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers came close a time or two.

The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers

11. Book That Made You Happy:

A Beautiful Disguise by Roseanna M. White, definitely. This one dealt with some heavier topics, but most of it was very upbeat.

12. Favorite Book To Movie Adaptation You Saw This Year:

Jane Eyre. That book will forever be one of my most favorite classics, and for the most part, I loved the BBC version of the story. Unfortunately, there were a few scenes that crossed boundaries for me, so I can’t fully recommend it . . . but they did stick to the story pretty well, which I was happy about!

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year:

Ooh, tough call. I don’t know that I have a favorite, but I remember my review of Worthy of Legend by Roseanna M. White basically wrote itself once I got going. I had so many thoughts about it that that was an easy one to write.

Worthy of Legend by Roseanna M. White
Drawn by the Current by Jocelyn Green

14. Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought So Far This Year:

I don’t have it on my shelf yet, but Drawn by the Current by Jocelyn Green is one I’ve bought this year, because I loved the ebook so much, and I think the cover is gorgeous!

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year:

Um . . . I have to pick a few? Well, Voice of the Ancient by Connilyn Cossette, definitely. That is the next one on my TBR pile I’m planning to focus on. Byrd’s Eye View by Chautona Havig, because I’ve read the rest in the series and never quite got to this one. The Accident by A.M. Heath (there are one or two by her that I haven’t read yet, and I really want to rectify that situation!). And The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox, because 1) I’ve wanted to read it for a long time, 2) it’s on our shelf, and 3) it just doesn’t feel right to say I adored two of her books and haven’t had time for the other one. 😀

What would your top picks be for these categories? I’d love to hear them. What have you been reading lately? Feel free to consider yourself tagged; I’d love to see your list, if you care to share!

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  • The Grass the Cow Ate (a silly poem)
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  • September 2023 TBR List and August Recap
  • My August 2023 TBR List
  • The Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag: 2023 Edition

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