Bloggin' 'bout Books: 11/17/09

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge

- ~~Alabama~~ (1)

- ~~Alaska~~ (2)

- ~~Arizona~~ (2)

- ~~Arkansas~~ (2)

- ~~California~~ (11)

- ~~Colorado~~ (3)

- ~~Connecticut~~ (1)

- ~~Delaware~~ (2)

- ~~Florida~~ (2)

- ~~Georgia~~ (1)

- ~~Hawaii~~ (1)

- ~~Idaho~~ (1)

- ~~Illinois~~ (1)

- ~~Indiana~~ (1)

- ~~Iowa~~ (3)

- ~~Kansas~~ (1)

- ~~Kentucky~~ (1)

- ~~Louisiana~~ (2)

- ~~Maine~~ (5)

- ~~Maryland~~ (1)

- ~~Massachusetts~~ (4)

- ~~Michigan~~ (2)

- ~~Minnesota~~ (2)

- ~~Mississippi~~ (1)

- ~~Missouri~~ (1)

- ~~Montana~~ (1)

- ~~Nebraska~~ (1)

- ~~Nevada~~ (1)

- ~~New Hampshire~~ (1)

- ~~New Jersey~~ (3)

- ~~New Mexico~~ (1)

- ~~New York~~ (9)

- ~~North Carolina~~ (4)

- ~~North Dakota~~ (1)

- ~~Ohio~~ (1)

- ~~Oklahoma~~ (2)

- ~~Oregon~~ (3)

- ~~Pennsylvania~~ (2)

- ~~Rhode Island~~ (1)

- ~~South Carolina~~ (1)

- ~~South Dakota~~ (1)

- ~~Tennessee~~ (1)

- ~~Texas~~ (2)

- ~~Utah~~ (1)

- ~~Vermont~~ (3)

- ~~Virginia~~ (2)

- ~~Washington~~ (5)

- ~~West Virginia~~ (1)

- ~~Wisconsin~~ (1)

- ~~Wyoming~~ (1)

- Washington, D.C.* (2)

International:

- Australia (5)

- Canada (3)

- England (18)

- France (3)

- Greece (2)

- Italy (1)

- Japan (1)

- Norway (1)

- Puerto Rico (1)

- Scotland (2)

- Vietnam (1)

Cookin' the Books: Sadie's Better Brownies

8:36 AM

Sadie's Better Brownies (from Lemon Tart by Josi S. Kilpack)

(Sorry about the poor quality of the picture - food photography is A LOT harder than it looks)

24 oz. (1 1/2 bags) semi-sweet chocolate chips (using 1/2 mint chocoalte chips is delicious!)

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

6 large eggs

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1 cup walnuts (pecans are better than walnuts though Shawn hates both)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and melt chocolate chips and butter in a double boiler. (Or melt in microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each heating until smooth.) Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs and sugar. Mix in the melted chocolate and the vanilla. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the chocolate mixture and mix well. Pour into a 9 x 13 greased pan and bake for abotu 35 to 45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Remove from oven and let cool before cutting into 2-inch squares

Makes 24 brownies.

(Parentheses indicate notes from Sadie Hoffmiller, the fictional baker/sleuth in Lemon Tart.)

My thoughts on the recipe: I'm strictly a brownies-from-the-box kind of girl, but this recipe sounded so good I couldn't pass it up. If you like from-scratch brownies, you're going to think you've died and gone to heaven when you bake these babies up. This recipe makes a very rich, cakelike brownie. Mine turned out nice and moist, just the way I like them. Just be sure to have a tall glass of milk on hand, because these are super, super sweet. Yummy.

(This recipe was used with permission from Josi S. Kilpack.)

A Hidden Winner

5:07 AM

So, my son turned 5 yesterday. I remember his emergency C-section vividly (well, not the procedure itself as I was heavily - and I mean heavily - drugged, but the before and after). Since he weighed only 3 lbs. 3 oz., he spent a month in the hospital, coming home when he was barely over 4 lbs. I'm amazed to see the big, healthy boy he's become!

Apparently, I was so amazed that I completely forgot to draw the name of the winner of The Hidden by Tobias Hill. Sorry about that. Without further ado, here she is:

Nancye

Congratulations! If you'll shoot me an email with your mailing address, I'll get it to you as soon as I can.

Don't forget to enter my new giveaway - I have 4 copies of Deadly Little Secret by Laurie Faria Stolarz that need good homes.

Books Read in 2025 (asterisks denote favorites)

1. Coram House by Bailey Seybolt (Jan)
2. She Doesn't Have a Clue by Jenny Elder Moke (Jan)
3. My Salty Mary by Brodi Ashton, Cynthia Hand, and Jodi Meadows* [audio] (Jan)
4. The Echoes by Jess Montgomery (Jan)
5. The Highgate Cemetery Murder by Irina Shapiro (Jan)
6. Barbacoa, Bomba, and Betrayal by Raquel V. Reyes (Jan)
7. Murder at Chateau sur Mer by Alyssa Maxwell (Jan)
8. Away by Megan E. Freeman (Jan)
9. Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh [audio] (Jan)
10. A Golden Grave by Erin Lindsey* (Jan)
11. All Over the Map by Lanie Jacobs (Jan)
12. Stranded by Nikki Shannon Smith (Jan)
13. Elementary, She Read by Vicki Delany [audio] (Jan)
14. The Souls of Lost Lake by Jaime Jo Wright (Jan)
15. How to Book a Murder by Cynthia Kuhn (Jan)
16. A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (Jan)
17. The In-Between: Unforgettable Encounters During Life's Final Moments by Hadley Vlahos, RN* (Jan)
18. Red River Road by Anna Downes [audio] (Jan)
19. Janitors School of Garbage by Tyler Whitesides (Feb)
20. Something in the Walls by Daisy Pearce (Feb)
21. Janitors School of Garbage: Trials of the Trash by Tyler Whitesides (Feb)
22. The Brightwood Code by Monica Hesse [audio] (Feb)
23. A Legacy of Murder by Connie Berry (Feb)
24. The Crash by Freida McFadden (Feb)
25. To Catch a Storm by Mindy Mejia (Feb)
26. Murder in Miniature by Katie Tietjen (Feb)
27. A World of Hurt by Mindy Mejia (Feb)
28. If Walls Could Talk by Juliet Blackwell (Feb)
29. Finlay Donovan Is Killing It by Elle Cosimano [audio] (Feb)
30. Wool by Hugh Howey (Feb)
31. Shift by Hugh Howey (Feb)
32. Two Parts Sugar, One Part Murder by Valerie Burns [audio] (Mar)
33. The Treasure Hunters Club by Tom Ryan (Mar)
34. Last Light Over Galveston by Jennifer L. Wright (Mar)
35. Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber (Mar)
36. The Housemaid by Freida McFadden (Mar)
37. The Housemaid's Secret by Freida McFadden (Mar)
38. The Last Lifeboat by Hazel Gaynor [audio] (Mar)
39. You Belong Here by Megan Miranda (Mar)
40. Asylum Hotel by Juliet Blackwell (Mar)
41. The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth* [audio] (Mar)
42. Reconnected: How 7 Screen-Free Weeks With Monks and Amish Farmers helped Me Recover the Lost Art of Being Human by Carlos Whittaker (Mar)
43. Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister (Mar)
44. Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto* (Apr)
45. Her Last Flight by Beatriz Williams (Apr)
46. The Wind Called My Name by Mary Louise Sanchez (Apr)
47. What Happened to Nina? by Dervla McTiernan (Apr)
48. The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth [audio] (Apr)
49. That Last Carolina Summer by Karen White (Apr)
50. A Pie to Die For by Gretchen Rue (Apr)
51. The Raven Thief by Gigi Pandian (Apr)
52. The Boxcar Librarian by Brianna Labuskes (Apr)
53. Cold As Hell by Kelley Armstrong* [audio] (Apr)
54. Murder Runs in the Family by Tamara Berry (Apr)
55. The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden (Apr)
56. Petals and Poison by Jess Dylan [audio] (Apr)
57. It Happened on the Lake by Lisa Jackson (Apr)
58. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah* [re-read] (May)
59. Outside by Jennifer L. Holm (May)
60. You Are Here: Connecting Flights by various authors, edited by Ellen Oh (May)
61. The Silver Shooter by Erin Lindsey* (May)
62. The Art of Betrayal by Connie Berry* (May)
63. The Secret Room by Jane Casey* (May)
64. The Sasquatch of Hawthorne Elementary by K.B. Jackson (May)
65. The Sasquatch of Harriman Lake by K.B. Jackson (May)
66. Girl Forgotten by April Henry (May)
67. One Sharp Stitch by Allie Pleiter (May)
68. On Her Own Grounds: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker by A'Lelia Bundles (May)
69. #FollowMe for Murder by Sarah E. Burr (May)
70. The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware [re-read] (May)
71. Where Only Storms Grow by Alyssa Colman (May)
72. Every Time I Go On Vacation, Someone Dies by Catherine Mack (May)
73. The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller [audio] (May)
74. The Woman in Suite 11 by Ruth Ware (May)
75. I Am Not Jessica Chen by Ann Liang (May)
76. The Unselected Journals of Emma M. Lion, Volume 1 by Beth Brower (May)
77. The Quiet Librarian by Allen Eskens (Jun)
78. The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan (Jun)
79. Find Her by Ginger Reno (Jun)
80. Same Page by Elly Swartz (Jun)
81. Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman (Jun)
82. A Death at Seascape House by Emma Jameson (Jun)
83. Something Wilder by Christina Lauren (Jun)
84. Hummus and Homicide by Tina Kashian (Jun)
85. The Queens of Crime by Marie Benedict* (Jun)
86. The Library of Borrowed Hearts by Lucy Gilmore [audio] (Jun)
87. The Town With No Mirrors by Christina Collins (Jun)
88. Clammed Up by Barbara Ross (Jun)
89. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness* [re-read] (Jun)
90. Emily of New Moon by L.M. Montgomery (Jun)
91. With a Vengeance by Riley Sager (Jun)
92. Murder Past Due by Miranda James (Jun)
93. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson (Jun)
94. This Side of Murder by Anna Lee Huber [audio] (Jun)
95. The Whisper Place by Mindy Mejia (Jun)
96. Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin (Jun)
97. The Experiment by Rebecca Stead (Jun)
98. The Shadow of Memory by Connie Berry (Jun)
99. The Passengers on the Hankyu Line by Hiro Arikawa (Jun)
100. Rabbit Rabbit by Dori Hillestad Butler (Jul)
101. The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark (Jul)
102. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness* [re-read] (Jul)
103. The Death of Us by Lori Rader-Day (Jul)
104. You Are Fatally Invited by Ande Pliego (Jul)
105. Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green (Jul)
106. A Berry Deadly Welcome by A.R. Winters (Jul)
107. The Beat I Drum by Dusti Bowling (Jul)
108. The Last Murder at the End of the World by Stuart Turton* (Jul)
109. The Women by Kristin Hannah [audio] (Jul)
110. The Ivory City by Emily Bain Murphy (Jul)
111. A Fatal Thaw by Dana Stabenow (Jul)
112. No One Was Supposed to Die at This Wedding by Catherine Mack (Jul)
113. A Murder Most Fowl by Carmela Dutra (Jul)
114. Loon Cove Summer by Donna Galanti (Jul)
115. Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong* (Jul)
116. The Ripple Effect by Rebecca Caprara (Jul)
117. Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy (Jul)
118. The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt (Aug)
119. Death on Eat Street by J.J. Cook (Aug)
120. The How and the Why by Cynthia Hand* [audio] (Aug)
121. Heist Society by Ally Carter (Aug)
122. Evil Bones by Kathy Reichs* (Aug)
123. Six Weeks in Reno by Lucy H. Hedrick (Aug)
124. The Tontine Caper by Dianne K. Salerni (Aug)
125. I.R.L. by Jenny Goebel (Aug)
126. The Girls of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris [audio] (Aug)
127. Gluten for Punishment by Nancy J. Parra (Aug)
128. Curses, Boiled Again! by Shari Randall (Aug)
129. I Have Some Questions for You by Rebecca Makkai (Aug)
130. The Truth According to Us by Annie Barrows [audio] (Aug)
131. The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez (Aug)
132. The Land of Forgotten Girls by Erin Entrada Kelly (Aug)
133. Betrayal in the Badlands by Dana Mentink (Aug)
134. Canter With a Killer by Amber Camp (Aug)
135. Hour of the Bees by Lindsay Eagar (Aug)
136. Dominoes, Danzon, and Death by Raquel V. Reyes (Aug)
137. The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths* (Aug)
138. The Haunting of Emily Grace by Elena Taylor (Aug)
139. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman [audio] (Aug)
140. Writers and Liars by Carol Goodman (Sep)
141. The Family Next Door by Sally Hepworth [audio] (Sep)
142. The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman* [re-read] (Sep)
143. The Librarians by Sherry Thomas (Sep)
144. Radiant by Vaund Micheaux Nelson (Sep)
145. The Break-In by Katherine Faulkner (Sep)
146. The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko [audio] (Sep)
147. The Block Party by Jamie Day [audio] (Sep)
148. Daughters of the Bamboo Grove: From China to America, a True Story of Abduction, Adoption, and Separated Twins by Barbara Demick (Sep)
149. The Other Mothers by Katherine Faulkner (Sep)
150. Murder By Memory by Olivia Waite (Sep)
151. The One and Only Family by Katherine Applegate [audio] (Sep)
152. The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold (Sep)
153. A Time For Courage: The Suffragette Diary of Kathleen Bowen by Kathryn Lasky (Sep)
154. Famous Last Words by Katie Alender [audio] (Sep)
155. Sanctuary by Paola Mendoza (Sep)
156. Haunting and Homicide by Ava Burke (Sep)
157. West With Giraffes by Lynda Rutledge* (Sep)
158. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple [audio] (Sep)
159. Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt (Sep)
160. Heartwood by Amity Gaige (Sep)

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A Hidden Winner

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Books Read in 2025 (asterisks denote favorites)