From the Bookshelf to the Kitchen: Serious Moonlight and Pie #4

It's been a couple months since I baked a pie for this series, but I'm back with a deliciously dark recipe - and it's pretty easy too!

"Was he friendly? Yes. Was my stomach filled with butterflies every time he smiled at me? Yes. Were we sharing breakfast pie at the diner? Drivin' Me Cocoa (chocolate silk and whipped cream, dusted with cocoa)..." - pg. 326 of Serious Moonlight

Goodreads  Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble


Drivin' Me Cocoa Pie

(missing: vanilla and butter)

1 refrigerated pie crust
1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
1 square baking chocolate, melted and cooled
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs (pasteurized will be best, since they aren't being baked)
Cocoa powder.

Blind-bake your pie crust in a tin (not a glass pan unless it's a little more shallow). Let it cool, then cream the butter while gradually adding the sugar. Blend in the chocolate and vanilla. Cream thoroughly. Add eggs one at a time, beating for 5 minutes after each addition. Pour into baked and cooled pie shell. Top with homemade whipped cream. (You can make your own with whipping cream and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar. Beat the cream until it forms soft peaks, then add the sugar, and beat til it forms stiff peaks. I recommend chilling the bowl and beaters in the freezer for a few minutes just so it'll help the whipping cream set.) Chill for several hours and then sift cocoa powder over the pie before serving.

I can't get enough of this silky smooth, rich pie. Tag me on social media if you end up making it!

The Winter Duke Mood Board from Author Claire Eliza Bartlett

After a delightful interview with Claire Eliza Barlett about her debut last spring, We Rule the Night, I'm happy to welcome her back to the blog. She has a mood board to get y'all excited for her sophomore novel, The Winter Duke.

And here's some comments from Claire. :)

What I love most about THE WINTER DUKE is the setting. I had so much fun with it, and I really wanted it to have an effect on what my characters did and who they were. That's why I selected the girl under the ice for Ekata, my sarcastic disaster duke. She's in over her head, she's obsessed with the duchy in the lake beneath her own frozen realm, and her predicament threatens to consume her. Below, Inkar is her warrior maiden girlfriend-slash-wife of convenience, a fierce viking-styled warrior who still manages to be cheerful at her good fortune and overawed by her surroundings. 

I really wanted to include some art that envisioned the duchy Below, but I had trouble getting a hold of exactly what I wanted. So instead, I included one of the main characters from Below - Meire, Ekata's liaison into this underwater kingdom. She looks a little dangerous here; the duchy Below is definitely a different world than the world Ekata usually inhabits! 

I picked an ice palace and a rose to encapsulate the world above the ice - Ekata is surrounded by cold grandeur, living in a tiny duchy where almost everything is ice. The roses have a thematic significance - but you'll have to read the book to find out what it is!

All photos came from Pinterest.

Thanks so much for sharing, Claire! Below, you'll find a little more about the book, plus some relevant links.

Goodreads  Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble  The Book Depository

When Ekata's brother is finally named heir, there will be nothing to keep her at home in Kylma Above with her murderous family. Not her books or science experiments, not her family's icy castle atop a frozen lake, not even the tantalizingly close Kylma Below, a mesmerizing underwater kingdom that provides her family with magic. But just as escape is within reach, her parents and twelve siblings fall under a strange sleeping sickness.

In the space of a single night, Ekata inherits the title of duke, her brother's warrior bride, and ever-encroaching challengers from without—and within—her own ministry. Nothing has prepared Ekata for diplomacy, for war, for love...or for a crown she has never wanted. If Kylma Above is to survive, Ekata must seize her family's power. And if Ekata is to survive, she must quickly decide how she will wield it.

Part Sleeping Beauty, part Anastasia, with a thrilling political mystery, The Winter Duke is a spellbinding story about choosing what's right in the face of danger. 

website

I am a writer and tour guide in Copenhagen, Denmark. Though I originally come from Colorado, I left the US when I was eighteen and I haven’t lived there since. More permanent stops on my travels have included Switzerland, Wales and Denmark. The arrival of a Danish husband has somewhat cemented my living situation, but I get my travel in smaller doses these days. I like to write fantasy, mostly, though I dabble in soft sci-fi. My short stories are more adult, my novels more YA. I’ve studied history, archaeology, and writing. I like to take my inspiration from historical events, and the more unknown and inspiring the event, the better. I am represented by Kurestin Armada of P.S. Literary.

Top Ten Tuesday: Books With Titles Related to Valentine's Day

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Today is a Valentine's freebie post, so I'm sharing roughly a dozen books with titles that seem especially perfect for Valentine's Day.

1. I Love You So Mochi by Sarah Kuhn

2. Sick Kids in Love by Hannah Moskowitz

3. Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

4. The Geek's Guide to Unrequited Love by Sarvenaz Tash

5. The Secret of a Heart Note by Stacey Lee

6. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith

7. What I Like About You by Marisa Kanter

8. A Date with Darcy by Tiffany Schmidt

9. Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann

10. I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

11. The Fill-In Boyfriend by Kasie West

12. 10 Blind Dates by Ashley Elston

What was your Valentine's TTT topic?

Rewind & Review #153

Created by Shae Has Left the Room.

~I'm trying the Book of the Month subscription box. It's just a book (or multiple books if you add extras on); while I enjoy the OwlCrate goodies, some of them are things I'll never use so this makes for some nice variety. The one thing I really don't like is the BotM logo added to the covers and spines, and also that they make all the books extra tall.
~We had a bout of unseasonably warm weather, so I got to sit on the back porch and read for a couple afternoons.

Books I Received for Review

Six Angry Girls by Adrienne Kisner (from Macmillan via Edelweiss)
A Murderous Relation by Deanna Raybourn (from Penguin via Edelweiss)
The Betrothed by Kiera Cass (from HarperCollins via Edelweiss)

Books I Bought

Don't Read the Comments by Eric Smith
Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson

Books I Read

The Lost Girls by Jennifer Baggett, Holly Corbett, and Amanda Pressner (3 stars)
The Winner's Kiss by Marie Rutkoski (reread)
Practically Ever After by Isabel Bandeira (3 stars)
Throw Like a Girl by Sarah Henning (5 stars)
The Only Thing Worse Than Me Is You by Lily Anderson (reread)
Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles (4 stars)

Blog Posts You Might've Missed in the Last Few Weeks

   (from 1/27-2/1)

• So You Like... #91
• Review: Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (4 stars)
• Most Anticipated February 2020 Releases
• Review: Chirp by Kate Messner (4 stars)

   (from 2/2-2/8)

• Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope Will be 5-Star Reads
• Review: This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Williams (3.5 stars)
• Random Friday: Favorite Book From My Favorite Author

Random Friday: Favorite Book From My Favorite Author

Want to participate in Random Fridays? Just do the following:

• Include the above image in your post and link back to my blog.
• Blog about this week's topic (or a variant of it).
• Add the link to your Random Friday post at the bottom of this one.

It was really hard to pick one book and one author, but I did. However, if you asked me to do this post once a month, I'd definitely have a different answer each time. :) 

Today I'm only talking about Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills.

As I said in my review for Emma's most recent book (Lucky Caller), her books are "soft, and realistic, and beautiful. They're like sunny June afternoons on the hill outside my house, like Christmas morning, like waffles on Sundays. And I hope she never stops writing such character-focused, life-focused books."



So much contemporary fiction, while good, doesn't feel relatable, or the dialogue is a bit unrealistic. But even the larger-than-life characters (like FH's Gideon Prewitt) feel like they could actually exist. 

Mills accurately captures a life that doesn't just revolve around one relationship. Claudia is defined by her friendships (both old and new), by her relationships with her sister and brother and parents, by her first boyfriend, and by her burgeoning romance with Gideon. Iris, her new friend, is also defined by her love for the boy band, This Is Our Now. I feel like one of the ways I'm defined is by my love for Taylor Swift and her music.

The two themes I noticed in Foolish Hearts are "Can we trust our hearts?" and "Can we trust what other people say their hearts feel?" Claudia has been burned by an ex-boyfriend who said he just felt regular around her, so she expects love to be more extraordinary. But that's the thing; true love outlasts the early wildly passionate feelings, or sometimes it doesn't even start that way.

At its core, though, Foolish Hearts is a story about Claudia expanding her universe and exploring new possibilities, both of which I think are essential to a good coming-of-age story.

Something else I really love and appreciate about FH is how everything isn’t perfect, and things fall apart, but they are repairable. I appreciate that because I feel like some books and TV shows have a tendency to cause so much drama and conflict that the relationships are irreparable. (Or, even if the characters reconcile, it feels forced or wrong.)

(some of my favorite books of 2017, notably Foolish Hearts, and me)

Foolish Hearts is a laugh-out-like-type of story that also takes itself seriously in its deeper moments, which I think is a wonderful balance. There is a time and place for books that are all sadness, but in a world like the one we live in, we need to see there can be light despite the darkness. That's why I appreciate the quieter, "fluffy" YA contemporary stories.

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Review: This Train Is Being Held

This Train Is Being Held by Ismée Williams
Grade: C+
Release date: February 11, 2020
An e-galley was provided by Amulet Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: When private school student Isabelle Warren first meets Dominican-American Alex Rosario on the downtown 1 train, she remembers his green eyes and his gentlemanly behavior. He remembers her untroubled happiness, something he feels all rich kids must possess. That, and her long dancer legs. Over the course of multiple subway encounters spanning the next three years, Isabelle learns of Alex’s struggle with his father, who is hell-bent on Alex being a contender for the major leagues, despite Alex’s desire to go to college and become a poet. Alex learns about Isabelle’s unstable mother, a woman with a prejudice against Latino men. But fate—and the 1 train—throw them together when Isabelle needs Alex most. Heartfelt and evocative, this romantic drama will appeal to readers of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: I really love stories that embrace their New York City setting, especially when they venture out to Brooklyn too. The setting is one of the strongest parts about This Train Is Being Held, since so many key scenes are set on the subway. The voice is also very teenager-y, which is always a plus when it comes to YA.
The main thing I struggled with, though, was the pacing and time jumps. Three years honestly felt like too long of a timeline, and there were too much time between some of the chapters. A story can be set over a longer span, but for a story like this, three years felt too long. I still felt distanced from the characters at the end, because there were things that weren't explicitly shared until much too late in the narrative.
I liked that the two main characters had strong focuses on a hobby/passion - Isa is a dancer, and Alex plays baseball. But at times I felt like they were just details to flesh out their characters; the lack of specificity about some baseball terms/things and some ballet details was a flaw. On that note, I felt Isa's best friend Chrissy was very two-dimensional. She was reduced to a promiscuous stereotype who settles down very quickly with one high school boyfriend, and it was just...weird, for lack of a better word.

Content warnings: racism and racial profiling, bipolar disorder, suicide attempt, police brutality

The Verdict: A bit of a disappointment when it came to the craft and details. Such a good premise and setting deserved better.

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: No

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Hope Will Be 5-Star Reads

Hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

Well, every book on my Twenty 2020 Reads lists, I suppose, lol. But more specifically...

1. Beyond the Black Door by A.M. Strickland

Fantasy about asexuality? I love to see it.

2. Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli

I love watching gymnastics at the Olympics, so I need this book to be good.

3. Every Reason We Shouldn't by Sara Fujimara

This one is about figure skating, but I still feel the same way as I do with Break the Fall.

4. The Princess Will Save You by Sarah Henning

It's like The Princess Bride so obviously I need to love it.

5. The Silence of Bones by June Hur

Who am I if I don't love diverse, unique historical fiction?

6. Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

Everything about this book sounds perfect for me.

7. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The Hunger Games was one of my first YA loves, so I have high hopes for this prequel.

8. The Boundless by Anna Bright

I'm hoping Selah's story wraps up well!

9. Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner

I mean...it's MWT. And the final Queen's Thief book.


10. Recommended for You by Laura Silverman
Hate-to-love in a bookstore? Sign me up.

So what books are you hoping you'll love enough to give 5 stars to?

Review: Chirp

Chirp by Kate Messner
Grade: B+
Release date: February 4, 2020
An ARC was provided by Bloomsbury in exchange for an honest review.
Summary: When Mia moves to Vermont the summer after seventh grade, she's recovering from the broken arm she got falling off a balance beam. And packed away in the moving boxes under her clothes and gymnastics trophies is a secret she'd rather forget.

Mia's change in scenery brings day camp, new friends, and time with her beloved grandmother. But Gram is convinced someone is trying to destroy her cricket farm. Is it sabotage or is Gram's thinking impaired from the stroke she suffered months ago? Mia and her friends set out to investigate, but can they uncover the truth in time to save Gram's farm? And will that discovery empower Mia to confront the secret she's been hiding--and find the courage she never knew she had?

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: One thing is certain about Kate Messner's books - she always addresses tough topics in an approachable way for middle grade readers without ever talking down to them. Although Chirp does not revolve around sexual assault, it is still addressed in a poignant, relevant way, especially in this #MeToo age when so many girls and women have come forward to share their experiences.
But Chirp is more about Mia's grandmother's cricket farm. It is seemingly being sabotaged, and Mia is determined to figure out who is behind the accidents and troubles. I am someone who is super squeamish about bugs and would never consider eating them, but I thought Messner did a great job of writing everything about the farm and why it exists. The book is also about Mia finding her footing again, and it was so good to see her get involved in an entrepreneurial space for tweens AND an American Ninja Warrior-esque camp. Both these activities help rebuild her strength. She also acquires some new friends, and I would've liked a little more page space devoted to Clover and Anna.

Content warnings: (age appropriately) referenced and described past sexual assault

The Verdict: Another solid book from Kate Messner. :)

Buy: Read Between the Lynes  Barnes & Noble

Will I be adding this book to my library?: It's likely.

Most Anticipated February 2020 Releases

One month down, eleven to go!

Waiting For

1. Ember Queen by Laura Sebastian (2/4/20)
The final book in the trilogy. We'll see how this goes.

2. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson (2/4/20)
This one has been super popular in the UK. I do love a good murder mystery, so we'll see what I think of this one!

3. The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne (2/4/20)
A Persuasion retelling in space. Color me intrigued.

4. Storm from the East by Joanna Hathaway (2/11/20)
The sequel to a very solid fantasy. (If you like The Winner's Curse you'd probably like this one and its predecessor, Dark of the West.)

5. In the Shadow of the Sun by E.M. Castellan (2/11/20)

Historical fiction set during Louis XIV's reign!

6. Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli (2/18/20)
Give me all the gymnastics and Olympics books.

7. Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon (2/18/20)
I'm very excited to see how Sandhya's venture into contemporary fantasy goes!

Already Read - You Should, Too!

1. Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed (2/4/20)
Another solid contemporary from Becky, made all the better by Aisha's writing, and great Muslim and Jewish rep.


2. Chirp by Kate Messner (2/4/20)
One of the queens of contemporary middle grade has done it again.

What's on your most-anticipated list for the next month?