Book Blog: The Body Under the Piano (Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen #1) by Marthe Jocelyn
I review everything I read and post reviews on Goodreads and LibraryThing. That’s not enough. Good books are meant to be shared. Therefore, I’m spotlighting some of my favorite reads here on my site.
The Body Under the Piano (Aggie Morton, Mystery Queen #1) by Marthe Jocelyn
out now; Indiebound, B&N, and Amazon
I received an advance copy of the book from the publisher via NetGalley.
I need a time machine so I can go back to 1990 to hand my 10-year-old self this book. Almost-40-year-old me ADORED this novel, and I know my 10-year-old self would love it even more. Why? Because the book is smart, savvy historical fiction with an honest depiction of the era, and a heroine with a morbid bent that reminds me lot of myself–though Aggie is actually inspired by the childhood of the Queen of Mystery Writers herself, Agatha Christie.
Aggie is a young girl in 1902, growing up in a small British coastal town. She has a wild imagination and a taste for the macabre, and she can’t help but get involved when her music teacher’s cruel mother is found dead–dead of poison! Aggie and her friend Hector set out to investigate. Their methods are smart, but they also cause a lot of problems along the way, especially when a meddlesome local reporter gets tangled up in everything.
The characters are fantastic and fun, just as you expect in a cozy British mystery village; plus, they have fun portraits at the front of the book. One of the things I loved most was the honest depiction of the past. It was not sugar-coated. The book deftly addresses bigotry (Hector is a “foreigner,” a Belgian refugee inspired by Hercule Poirot), sexism (girls can’t/shouldn’t do many things), and the complications that arise in this period from a child born out of wedlock. The book feels quite cozy with its fun mystery and whimsical characters, but also grounded in realism because of how these other issues are handled. The balance is so well done.
I highly recommend this book for kids and their parents. If the child isn’t already into classic whodunits, this novel could very well be what kicks off a life-long love of the genre.
Read MoreBready or Not: Sable Breton (French Shortbread)
Last month I shared my recipe for Almond Sable. This time I present another French (from Brittany, to be specific) take on shortbread: Sable Breton!
These cookies are much more straightforward than the previous recipe. The ingredients are shortbread basics: butter, sugar, flour.
What sets this apart is, foremost, that it is not as sweet as its counterparts across the channel.
I also recommend that you use a kitchen scale to get that European-style precision–along with actual French butter. President-brand is expensive but widely available, even where I am in Arizona.
These cookies are downright pretty, too, with a crosshatched pattern and an egg yolk wash. They are perfect alongside a cup of coffee or tea!
Modified from the original at Mon Petit Four.
Bready or Not: Sable Breton (French Shortbread)
Equipment
- parchment paper
- small cookie cutter
- food scale
Ingredients
- 200 grams salted butter 1/2 cup plus 5 Tablespoons, President butter recommended
- 120 grams white sugar 1/2 cup plus 1 Tablespoon
- 3 egg yolks divided
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 280 grams all-purpose flour 2 cups plus 2 Tablespoons, plus more if needed to dust work surface
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 375-degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or use a silicone mat.
- Beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add two egg yolks and vanilla extract. Add flour until just incorporated.
- Lightly flour work surface and hands. Using rolling pin or hands, press dough to about 1/4-inch thickness.
- Use a small round cookie cutter on dough. Transfer rounds to cookie sheet, spaced out a bit. Use a fork to scratch a crosshatch pattern in the top, like a hashtag with more lines.
- Beat remaining egg yolk in a small bowl. Brush tops of cookies with yolk.
- Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until cookies are a consistent golden color. Transfer to a rack to completely cool.
- Store in a sealed container.
- OM NOM NOM!
Book Blog: Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith
I review everything I read and post reviews on Goodreads and LibraryThing. That’s not enough. Good books are meant to be shared. Therefore, I’m spotlighting some of my favorite reads here on my site.
Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith
out now; Indiebound, B&N, and Amazon
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
Don’t Read the Comments is a YA book that is incredibly timely, realistic, and well done…. but wow is it a hard read at times. Frankly, this book is a horror novel about what the internet and social media are like for women in this era of Gamergate and trolls. Don’t get me wrong–I loved the book and I am absolutely adding it to my shortlist for the Norton Award for next year–but I also pushed through reading it as fast as I could because there’s no denying it was triggery.
Divya is a passionate teenage gamer with a streaming channel and social media presence. Her increasing clout have started to garner her much-needed promotional items and sponsorships, but also, trolls who don’t want a girl–especially one of color–taking up space in ‘their’ world. When a troll mob ambushes Divya and her devoted Angst Army, that’s horrible enough, but when the threats become physical in reality, that’s something else.
Meanwhile, gaming is Aaron’s whole life–or would be, if he didn’t have to put in hours in his mom’s medical practice. His real passion is writing the plot for a new game publisher-start-up (though it’d be nice if he could get paid) and playing loads of other games, too. When he and Divya meet in-game, they strikes up a friendship that feels absolutely genuine–even as troll attacks against Divya escalate and her life begins to unravel.
Smith really nailed every element in this book. Every character and relationship resounds with truth, from Divya and Aaron’s adorably geeky connection to their love and exasperation for their parents. The gaming world comes across with 100% realism. As an old school gamer myself, I ADORED the shout-outs to old and dear favorites of mine like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy III (with a necessary note that this is the original American Super Nintendo release), plus casual mention of things like roms to play old games. Some revelations about Aaron’s dad were especially delightful.
Of course, part of the realism is the horror aspect: trolls, doxing, and the persistent harassment that women endure online. This is all sadly accurate, too, but I love how Smith brings everything together in the end with thoughtfulness and care. Nothing about this book is sugar-coated and easy, but there’s still a spirit of hopefulness that is necessary in their world and in ours.
Read MoreBready or Not: Ultimate Chocolate Cookies
Ultimate Chocolate Cookies! Say that in a gravelly announcer-guy voice. ULTIMATE CHOCOLATE COOKIES!
These are loaded with chocolate–melted into the dough and with bonus chocolate chips, too! Oh yeah, and cocoa!
The addition of espresso powder (or instant coffee) amps up that chocolate flavor, too. If you don’t keep that around for your cookies and brownies, it’s a good habit to start.
I mean, amping up chocolate flavor is DEFINITELY a good thing.
You might even say it makes things… ultimate.
Modified from AllRecipes Magazine February/March 2015.
Bready or Not: Ultimate Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
- 12 ounces semisweet chocolate chips 1 bag, divided
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder Dutch process or regular unsweetened, sifted
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 5 Tablespoons unsalted butter room temperature
- 3/4 cup brown sugar packed
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 eggs room temperature
- 1 teaspoon espresso powder or instant-coffee granules
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- On the stove top or in a microwave, melt 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, warming until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In another bowl, stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt.
- In a big bowl, beat together the butter and two sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, scraping bowl to make sure everything is combined. Follow up with espresso powder and vanilla, then the melted chocolate. Stir in flour mixture. Fold in the remaining chocolate chips.
- Cover mixing bowl and let dough stand for about 30 minutes so that the chocolate can set.
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Use a teaspoon scoop to place dough spaced out on parchment-covered cookie sheet or seasoned stoneware.
- Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and let set on stove about 10 minutes before moving cookies to a rack to completely cool.
- Store in sealed containers at room temperature. Cookies may crisp up more after 1 day, but keep quite well.
- OM NOM NOM!
Book Blog: Jinxed by Amy McCulloch
I review everything I read and post reviews on Goodreads and LibraryThing. That’s not enough. Good books are meant to be shared. Therefore, I’m spotlighting some of my favorite reads here on my site.
Jinxed by Amy McCulloch
out now; Indiebound, B&N, and Amazon
I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley.
This tense, smart middle grade book establishes a near-future Earth where only the poorest people have smart phones. Anyone who’s anyone has a baku, which is a companion robot, computer, and accessory all in one. Lacey Chu is a brilliant young engineer with her hopes set on getting into an elite school that fast-tracks graduates to the Moncha corporation, where Monica Chan invented bakus. Lacey is devastated when she isn’t accepted, and embarrassed when all she can afford is a measly level one scarab baku. But when she finds a piece of junk and hauls it home to her workshop, she’s stunned to find it’s a cat baku unlike any other. She fixes it up. Suddenly, her school rejection is undone. She’s in! But as she starts her dream school, she realizes her baku, Jinx, is truly unique. He doesn’t obey orders, as if he…. is alive.
This book is so much fun. You can’t help but love Jinx. He’s such a cat. Lacey is a great heroine, a kid with dreams and genuine drive. I found the book breathless in pace. I didn’t want to put it down! My only complaint is that the book ends on a tortuous cliffhanger.
Read MoreBready or Not: British Flapjacks
Time for flapjacks–British-style flapjacks, which are like American granola bars! This recipe, modified from British baking goddess Mary Berry, is super-easy and delicious.
In advance of my big trip to the UK last June, I wanted to make numerous British, Scottish, and French goodies so I could then find the legit thing over there to see if I did it right.
I ended up eating a lot of different flapjacks. Not only are they common to find at bakery counters everywhere, but in grocery stores I found a lot of what Americans call energy bars are labeled as flapjacks instead.
This particular flapjack is more like a bakery-style flapjack: like a toffee-rich granola bar. A drizzle of chocolate, I found, added some necessary contrast and balance.
My husband took these to work. A Scottish-born co-worker gave one a try and actually asked, “Is this a flapjack?” I cheered and danced when I heard that. I did it! I made a recognizable flapjack!
I found the original version of this recipe in Mary Berry’s cookbook Baking with Mary Berry. Unlike most (or maybe all) of her other cookbooks, this one is in American measurements, though it still features loads of British goods. Click on the picture below to find it on Amazon.
I modified another recipe from this book, too. Find my take on British-style Gingerbread here!
Bready or Not: British Flapjacks
Equipment
- 8x12x1-inch pan (small jelly roll pan)
Ingredients
Flapjacks
- 9 Tablespoons unsalted butter 1 stick plus 1 Tablespoon
- 1/4 cup corn syrup
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 2 1/2 cups rolled old-fashioned oats
Chocolate Drizzle
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 teaspoon shortening
Instructions
- Preheat oven at 350-degrees. Line pan with aluminum foil and apply grease or nonstick spray. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, gently heat the butter, corn syrup, and sugar until everything is melted together with the sugar dissolved. Stir in oats to completely coat.
- Scoop everything into the prepared pan. Use an uneven spatula to spread out evenly.
- Bake for 30 minutes.
- Let cool for about 5 minutes. Leaving contents in pan, slice into thin rectangular bars. Let completely cool.
- Use foil to lift contents onto cutting board. Slice again to separate.
- In a microwave-safe bowl, heat up chocolate chips with shortening, cooking in 20 second bursts and stirring well between each time, until chocolate smoothly stirs together. Use a fork to drizzle over flapjacks.
- Store in sealed container at room temperature.
