 Seeds! Seeds! Seeds! by Julie Carpenter and Jarad Johnson We're just sharing a list of the seeds we bought today, but we thought the garden nuts out there might enjoy it! Don't ask us how much we spent! What are you planting?
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 Dracula (2020 Netflix series) Full of surprises both pleasant and horrifying, the newest re-imagining of Bram Stoker's Dracula is three riveting episodes which not only bring the tale of the world's most famous vampire into the twentieth-first century, but twist the story around, taking a bite from the novel, a bite from the various theater productions,and bringing new characterizations to life to give us a story which doesn't at all, um—suck.
 Guess what guys: Julie wrote a book! An actual book, with a title and a cover and everything! Cue ridiculous dancing around the kitchen. I may or may not have done the tango with my cat when I heard the news, and I can say that he was not appreciative of my creative expression. (I often think of my cats like orderlies in a mental asylum- they are arguably saner than I am, and they only stay to make sure I don’t try to fly off the roof. Whatever kitties, I still say it’s worth a try!)
 Poetic Justice Books and Arts by Julie Carpenter Here at Sacred Chickens we like to review as many books from small presses as we can. And what better place to purchase one of these books than at an independent bookstore. If you like supporting independent bookstores, how about Poetic Justice Books and Arts. It’s a great little bookstore. Might I have an ulterior motive for asking you to go order something from them? Yeah, probably. Poetic Justice Books and Arts is also my publisher! (If you haven’t ordered Things Get Weird in Whistlestop, why not go and get one now? You know…while you’re thinking about it.)  Season of Light by Julie Carpenter Whenever we have a work meeting at Sacred Chickens, we always seem to end up wandering around some garden somewhere, even in the middle of the winter. Jarad and I went to the Garden Lights, Holiday Nights at the Atlanta Botanical gardens because of course we did. First, any excuse to wander around a garden, and second, it sounded really cool. It did not disappoint. Magical tunnels of light, a singing, dancing forest, the floating lights of the Atlanta skyline and spiked cider. A perfect winter evening for a couple of garden nuts. Maybe next year we'll invite you all!  Skin Memory Author John Sibley Williams by Jarad Johnson Poetry and I have a love hate relationship; when we get along, it’s fantastic, but when we disagree, we really don’t like each other. For example, Poe and I are great friends, but Bukowski and I are not on speaking terms. It’s hit and miss is what I’m trying to say. Poetry is distinctly different than reading a novel. A book may leave you with ideas and messages to think about, but poetry to me always seems to keep its secrets close. It’s up to the reader to interpret whatever message we may or may not glean, and the interpretation either hits you or sometimes takes much longer than for prose. Poetry is an introspective process, and I often find that the messages interpreted from it are specific to the reader. But perhaps I’m just a lazy reader. I do like a story that buttons itself up. This little collection of poems is definitely a hit for me. It’s published by Backwaters Press. I appreciate the name, and the contents within. Titles for poetry books are very important. I need to have a starting word or concept. There are so many poems I loved in this collection, and I would like to go through them one by one. Unfortunately I can’t, but I have chosen four poems that really struck a chord with me. Instead of just a cursory glance, and a recommendation, I would like to really get into a few of these.
 Mrs. Greenthumbs Author Cassandra Danz by Julie Carpenter I am not a fan of winter. Granted, now that I’m older and my internal thermostat is broken, I’m better able to deal with cold weather - if taking off and putting on layers of clothes every thirty seconds and opening and closing windows can be considered “dealing with it”. It’s no longer the temperatures that get me. At this point my main objection to winter is that I feel lonely while all the plants are sleeping. I miss the leaves, the flowers, the buzz of nectar drunk bees. All I get in winter is cold gray sky and blank expressions from naked trees. There’s certainly no use talking to them while they’re napping – and trust me, I’ve tried. (But why not have a long conversation with an evergreen you might ask, say, a pine or a cedar? The cedars are serious and somewhat taciturn, and just between you and me, the average Georgia pine has very little depth so to speak. It’s why they topple over on houses during storms. Don’t get me wrong, they’re very sweet…but no sparkling conversation there. Anyway, evergreens never want to discuss my favorite topic: spring.) After Christmas, I wish I could go dormant with the oaks, fall asleep among the roots, covered with a blanket of withered leaves and wake with the buds in the spring. But alas…that is not to be. So, I do the next best thing. I read and dream about gardens.  Garden Spells Author Sarah Allen by Jarad Johnson Sometimes, I buy books for the title. That’s probably not the right way to do it, and I’m sorry…(not really, but some of you were clutching your pearls, and I wanted to give you a little comfort. This parenthetical observation probably counterbalanced that; in which case I am kind of sorry). However, in rare instances, I find that the title is so compelling, reading the dust jacket is not necessary for purchase. I will admit that buying a book based on the title is risky; sometimes if I had read the blurbs or synopsis, I would have been prevented from giving my monies to an author who poured all the originality into the title instead of the contents within. But sometimes, it’s worth the chance. It’s a reading adventure! And that is exactly how this little book by Sarah Allen grabbed my attention.
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