Bloggin' 'bout Books: 11/17/09

2026 Literary Escapes Challenge

- Alabama

- ~~Alaska~~ (1)

- ~~Arizona~~ (2)

- ~~Arkansas~~ (1)

- ~~California~~ (8)

- ~~Colorado~~ (2)

- ~~Connecticut~~ (1)

- ~~Delaware~~ (1)

- ~~Florida~~ (4)

- ~~Georgia~~ (1)

- ~~Hawaii~~ (1)

- ~~Idaho~~ (2)

- ~~Illinois~~ (2)

- ~~Indiana~~ (2)

- ~~Iowa~~ (1)

- ~~Kansas~~ (1)

- ~~Kentucky~~ (1)

- ~~Louisiana~~ (2)

- ~~Maine~~ (4)

- ~~Maryland~~ (1)

- ~~Massachusetts~~ (4)

- ~~Michigan~~ (2)

- ~~Minnesota~~ (2)

- ~~Mississippi~~ (1)

- ~~Missouri~~ (1)

- ~~Montana~~ (1)

- ~~Nebraska~~ (1)

- ~~Nevada~~ (1)

- ~~New Hampshire~~ (2)

- ~~New Jersey~~ (1)

- ~~New Mexico~~ (1)

- ~~New York~~ (7)

- ~~North Carolina~~ (3)

- ~~North Dakota~~ (1)

- ~~Ohio~~ (4)

- ~~Oklahoma~~ (1)

- ~~Oregon~~ (2)

- ~~Pennsylvania~~ (1)

- ~~Rhode Island~~ (1)

- ~~South Carolina~~ (1)

- ~~South Dakota~~ (1)

- ~~Tennessee~~ (2)

- ~~Texas~~ (3)

- ~~Utah~~ (1)

- ~~Vermont~~ (2)

- ~~Virginia~~ (3)

- ~~Washington~~ (2)

- ~~West Virginia~~ (1)

- ~~Wisconsin~~ (3)

- ~~Wyoming~~ (1)

- Washington, D.C.* (1)

International:

- Australia (8)

- Austria (1)

- Canada (4)

- England (27)

- Fiji (1)

- France (1)

- Ireland (3)

- Italy (3)

- Mexico (1)

- Morocco (1)

- New Zealand (1)

- Norway (1)

- Romania (1)

- Scotland (3)

- The Bahamas (1)

- Vatican City (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 2026 (asterisks denote favorites)

1. Such a Clever Girl by Darby Kane (Jan)
2. When No One Else Will by Amanda Skenandore (Jan)
3. Atomic Habits by James Clear* [re-read] (Jan)
4. Murder on the Farm by Kate Wells (Jan)
5. Murder at Ochre Court by Alyssa Maxwell (Jan)
6. Not Dead Yet: The Memoir by Phil Collins* [audio] (Feb))
7. The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen (Feb)
8. The Missing Half by Ashley Flowers (Feb)
9. One Big Happy Family by Jamie Day (Feb)
10. A Tour to Die For by Michelle Chouinard (Feb)
11. Bluebird by Sharon Cameron* [re-read] (Feb)
12. The Lake Escape by Jamie Day (Feb)
13. Treacherous is the Night by Anna Lee Huber [audio] (Feb)
14. The Last Resort by Erin Entrada Kelly (Feb)
15. The Missing by Kristen Landon (Feb)
16. Dark and Bright by Catherine Lyon (Feb)
17. The Wild Robot by Peter Brown* [audio] (Feb)
18. Boiled Over by Barbara Ross (Feb)
19. Some of Us Are Looking by Carlene O'Connor (Feb)
20. Coach by Jason Reynolds* [audio] (Feb)
21. The List of Suspicious Things by Jennie Godfrey (Feb)
22. The Claiming by Jasmine Warga (Feb)
23. Dark and Deep by Catherine Lyon (Feb)
24. Ours is a Tale of Murder by Nora Murphy (Feb)
25. Zoom With a View by Jess Cannon (Feb)
26. The Nowhere Child by Christian White (Feb)
27. An Ordinary Kind of Evil by Kelley Armstrong* (Feb)
28. Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater (Feb)
29. Murder at 30,000 Feet by Susan Walter (Feb)
30. Dive Bar at the End of the Road by Kelley Armstrong (Feb)
31. You Were Always Mine by Nicole Baart [audio] (Feb)
32. In Case I Go Missing by R.N. Swann (Mar)
33. A Lie for a Lie by Ren DeStefano (Mar)
34. Local Gone Missing by Fiona Barton [audio] (Mar)
35. Murder is a Piece of Cake by Valerie Burns [audio] (Mar)
36. Murder at the Dolphin Hotel by Helena Dixon (Mar)
37. Death at the Dinner Party by Ellie Alexander [audio] (Mar)
38. The Secret Lives of Murderers' Wives by Elizabeth Arnott (Mar)
39. A Holiday Homicide by Elile Alexander [audio] (Mar)
40. Summer's Never Over by Darby Bozeman (Mar)
41. The Body in the Woods by April Henry [audio] (Mar)
42. Every Borrowed Beat by Erin Stewart (Mar)
43. First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston (Mar)
44. Please Enjoy Your Stay by Tara Goedjen (Mar)
45. This Weekend Doesn't End Well for Anyone by Catherine Mack (Mar)
46. A Victim at Valentine's by Ellie Alexander [audio] (Mar)
47. Rock-Solid Relationships: Strengthening Personal Relationships With Wisdom from the Scriptures by Wendy Watson (Apr)
48. A Body at the Book Fair by Ellie Alexander [audio] (Apr)
49. Our Marriage is Murder by Carol Goodman (Apr)
50. A Spy in the House by Y.S. Lee (Apr)
51. Dear Mrs. Bird by A.J. Pearce [re-read] [audio] (Apr)
52. Live and Let Chai by Bree Baker (Apr)
53. Talking to Strangers by Fiona Barton (Apr)
54. The Rush by Beth Lewis* (Apr)
55. Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter [audio] (Apr)
56. Angels & Demons by Dan Brown [re-read] (Apr)
57. The Cry by Helen Fitzgerald (Apr)
58. Heiress of Nowhere by Stacey Lee (Apr)
59. The Murder at World's End by Ross Montgomery (Apr)
60. Weightless: A Doctor's Guide to GLP-1 Medications, Sustainable Weight Loss, and the Health You Deserve by Rocio Salas-Whalen (Apr)
61. Dust by Alison Stine (Apr)
62. What I Mean When I Say I'm Autistic by Annie Kotowicz (Apr)
63. The Cartographer's Secret by Tea Cooper [audio] (Apr)
64. A Cute Little Murder by Molly Harper (Apr)
65. Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox (May)
66. Stabbed in the Baklava by Tina Kashian (May)
67. The Chambermaid's Key by Genevieve Graham* (May)
68. The River Knows Your Name by Kelly Mustian (May)
69. This Story Might Save Your Life by Tiffany Crum (May)
70. Dissection of a Murder by Jo Murray (May)
71. The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth* [re-read] (May)
72. Meet Your Baker by Ellie Alexander [re-read] (May)
73. Last One Out by Jane Harper (May)
74. Missing Molly by Natalie Barelli (May)
75. Family of Spies by Christine Kuehn (Jun)
76. A Map to Murder by Michelle Chouinard (Jun)
77. How to Kill a Crime Writer by Sarah Lotz* (Jun)
78. What We Did to Survive by Megan Lally (Jun)
79. Devils at the Door by Tessa Wegert (Jun)
80. The Chow Maniac by Vivien Chien (Jun)
81. My Husband's Wife by Alice Feeney (Jun)
82. The Secret Thread by Eve Chase (Jun)
83. Suddenly a Murder by Lauren Munoz [audio] (Jun)
84. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown [re-read] (Jun)
85. The Hike by Lucy Clarke (Jun)
86. The Foundling by Ann Leary (Jun)
87. Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen* (Jun)
88. Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth* [re-read] (Jun)
89. 100 Rules for Living to 100: An Optimist's Guide to a Happy Life by Dick Van Dyke (Jun)
90. You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke (Jun)
91. Anatomy of an Alibi by Ashley Elston (Jun)

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Cookin' the Books: Sadie's Better Brownies

A Hidden Winner

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2026 Goodreads Reading Challenge

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2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction

2023 - Middle Grade Fiction

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2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

Books Read in 2026 (asterisks denote favorites)