red velvet cookie attempt

My child asked for Red Velvet cookies as a snack for having friends over to watch a horror movie. The RED is an important part here. You know, like blood. 

So I did the thing where I didn't really follow the recipe and am now disappointed. At least I'm self aware? 

I didn't have a printed recipe in any of my cook books - not even the ones which are expressly just cookies. 

So I browsed recipes online. One with high ratings and good reviews was essentially a chocolate cookie recipe I've had for a long time, but with red. It suggested liquid dye, gel, or beet root powder. I thought that sounded fun, so I ordered the powder. And asked my husband to pick up white baking chips from the store.

I used margarine, set in the bowl overnight. I used the cocoa powder substitution for baking chocolate, as I've always done. No buttermilk, so I used coconut milk rather than water. Put in the beet powder with the flour. Hand stirred the "white cream morsels" in at the end. 

Used the little scoop tool to plop them on the baking tray. 

They needed the full 10 minutes. See this one? I tried to take them out at 8 minutes and it was NOT ready. 

They taste good. Cookies a success, but red velvet they are not. 

The God of the Woods

By Liz Moore

476 pages

Mystery

A mystery spanning the 1950s - 1970s, set at a bushcraft summer camp. 

The two mysteries and timelines are layered with each other. 

I did not fully expect the resolution to the chronologically earlier mystery, although I did start to suspect it about 3/4 of the way through the novel. However I'd also thought that there was another possible perpetrator. I didn't buy the solution that seemed the most obvious, however. 

I was somehow less curious about the second mystery, but I did appreciate the resolution of that one too. 

At first I had trouble getting into the book, but I was pretty invested before I was 100 pages in. But then I didn't want to finish it! I just didn't want it to be over so I kept putting it down. 

I loved this bit with the allusions:

I also really liked this bit about relationships:

Overall, a great book.

Author info:

The Bone Thief

By Vanessa Lillie

Hawthorne Legacy trilogy

Recent Reads

Luminaries, Onyx Storm, House in the Cerulean Sea, Where the Library Hides, To Shatter the Night

Rating: meh. Predictable sometimes, bizarre others. What is up with her teeth clicking. Ughggh.

Rating: Ugh. Book 3 of... 5? I liked the first book mostly, but I have trouble with a series. I was just so irritated a so many things about this novel. 

Rating: Charming. I enjoyed this one a lot. I'm glad it can stand alone; however, I do believe there is another book that's at least in the same world if not with the same characters. It was funny, and sad, and wonderfully written. 

Rating: good! The second in a duology. I really liked it and wanted to keep reading it. A few character choices were unbelievable. A few twists were predictable, but others were not. Worth reading this pair!

Rating: meh. Second in a duology? Or are there going to be more? I just didn't care. And there were things that didn't make sense. And stop saying "my girl." Ugh.

Project Hail Mary

By Andy Weir

476 pages

Sci-Fi

I picked this up when I took my classes up to the school library. I liked The Martian and it caught my eye. Wow, this was a great book. 

It was my book I was reading at school, but I brought it home this weekend because I just didn't want to out it down. 

It was interesting, and it was funny. 

Loved it.

To Kill a Shadow

By Katherine Quinn

YA Fantasy 

book 1 of ?

Fourth Wing & Iron Flame

By Rebecca Yarros

First 2 books in a 5 book series. 

I enjoyed the first book (Fourth Wing) more than the second. 

But by the time I was reading the second? The stakes: so high. The choices: so incomprehensible. The relationships: a little uncomfortable. 

I still finished it. I still wanted to know how the second book ended. (I was irritated with how it ended.)

Will I read the rest of the series? 🤷‍♀️

When the Moon Hatched

By Sarah A. Parker

543 pages

Fantasy 

So. 

Yeah. 

There was a lot I didn't like about this book. The needless word shifts (slumber-terror vs nightmare, for example...) the way that they curse just like we do. The crudity. 

But it had some interesting things about dragons?

And I did want to know how it ended. 

Not interested enough to read the sequel, whenever that happens. 

all the Mercyverse

Patricia Briggs has an ongoing novel series about a coyote shape-shifter names Mercy Thompson. She's a mechanic. She is friends with vampires, werewolves, and fae. She's a force for chaos. 

There are so many. Alpha & Omega books too. 

These are just 3 of the ones I don't own and need to return to the library today. 

In the Time of Butterflies

By Julia Alvarez

Historical Fiction 

Paperback

321 pages

It actually took me so long to read this. We just got a bunch of copies for our school book room, and I had never read it. 

It was good, and moving, and interesting, and important. It was also sometimes slow reading. The voice of each sister is really distinct, which I appreciated.

Just not my typical light and fluffy read. But worth reading. 

Song of the Six Realms

By Judy I. Lin

Fantasy

376 pages

Hardback

Owlcrate special edition

My child challenged me to read "the pinkest book" I owned. This one is lovely peach and pink and had rose gold gilding on the pages. 

It's really a beautiful book.

synopsis & front endsheet

back endsheet

front lid & inside dust jacket

back lid & inside dust jacket

author letter & signature page

I really enjoyed this book. It was full of Chinese culture and entertaining characters.