The Great British Bake Off Book Tag

Thank you to Zaheerah Khalik for the wonderful creation of this tag!

Rules:

• Link back to Zaheerah’s blog is appreciated but optional. Feel free to use Zaheerah’s graphics.
• Tag people, don’t tag people, whatever. Just have fun.
• Ready, get set, Bake! (or tag)

My partner and I watch different cooking shows on occasion. I tend to like ones focused on actual cooking and my partner loves ones focused on baking. One day we are flipping through different cooking shows to watch and we come across The Great British Bake Off. I do not know what it is about this show… but everyone is so chill, even under immense baking pressure. A great baking show that I would recommend. Well, onto the tag!

The Ghosts of Nagasaki by Daniel Clausen is a book I received in the Goodreads giveaway some time ago. I did not know what I was getting myself into, but it was one of the best books I read that year! The Shosts of Nagasaki masterfully integrates the feeling of a contemporary novel with the strong themes and lessons from the Shūsaku Endō classic Silence. The author is a brilliant writer and only self-publishes as of now. I have read a couple of his other short stories, but The Ghosts of Nagasaki stays on the top of my list. This one is up for a re-read soon!

Level Up by Gene Luen Yang is a graphic novel about Dennis Ouyang, a Asian high schooler who loves video games. I really enjoyed Gene’s other graphic novel American Born Chinese and the insight of growing up with an API identity in a predominantly White environment. I was looking for more of the same narrative but using the contrast of video games and responsibility for success as the foundation. While this was the case, I felt the end fizzle out and turned into commentary about the potential harms of video games and video game addiction.

From Zaheerah: LONG STORY SHORT: #bingate happened when the contestants were making Baked Alaska on one of the hottest days of the year. Iain had put his ice cream in the freezer and Diana put his one to the side to put her ice cream in the freezer. The dish already had issues so it collapsed and Iain just chucked it into the bin. This resulted in him being elimiated that week since he had nothing to present. AKA one of the most dramtic moments of UK TV ever.

On principal, I do not DNF books I begin to read. I am sure there are terribly problematic books out there if I did happen to pick them up I would DNF without a problem. But I have not had one of those books. However, there are books I have read that I really really wanted to put down and giveaway and one of the books was The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I do not even know where to start… but I absolutely hated this book and pretty much every other popular novel of his. I have read Angels and Demons and the Da Vinci Code and both were pretty bad although Angels and Demons was tolerable. I cannot get past his writing style and how he unfolds his plot lines. I probably will not pickup another Dan Brown book in my lifetime.

Sun Dragon’s Song by Joyce Chng and Kim Miranda is a wonderful new comic book series I think is aimed for children. I received the first issue through NetGalley and I really enjoyed the read! The story features a differently-abled main character in a 100% Asian universe featuring Dragon Riders and a dragon farm! How cool is that?! This is a series I wished I had as a child and I look forward to the upcoming issues! I know I have multiple graphic novels / comic on this book tag but they are worth it and applicable! See my full review here!

Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yurri Herrera blew me away. I read it as a part of my Latinx Heritage Month features and I have heard good things, but did not expect this! Herrera has a way of conveying vivid imagery using sparse poetic language. In the short nine chapters and ~100 or so pages, Herrera packs a punch! The story is so gripping and it is steeped in emotions. This has made me ‘Must Read Again’ shelf for many reasons. I plan to write a full review but I am still processing long after I read the final line. Also, I must recognize the translator for the brilliant job they did! Not an easy task to capture the spirit of a novel, let alone a Yurri Herrera novel.

Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor is a phenomenal work of Young Adult fantasy set in the magical world of Nigeria. The story follows Sunny, an Albino, Americanized Free Agent of the Leopard People. trying to navigate a brand new world full of juju and spirit faces. Along with three friends, they must take on the villain Black Hat to save the world from his terror. There is so much to like about this book and since I think most of my friends / family read YA I would definitely recommend this one! See my full review here!

5. The 50 Year Sword by Mark Z. Danielewski

4. RASL by Jeff Smith

3. The Second Mango by Shira Glassman

2. The Scourge by Roberto Calas

1. Flamingoes & Bears: Poems by Jewelle L. Gomez

It by Stephen King remains as one of my favorite books of ALL TIME! The way King crafts the story, jumping from the past to the present, is masterful! The story is gripping from beginning to end and like many King novels, the climax hits just at the right time in the most brutal fashions. For those readers who like suspenseful, thrilling, and creepy novels, I would recommend It without hesitation. Oh, and I hope you are not adverse to clowns 🙂

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien is the only trilogy that came to my mind and I really do enjoy this one. I realized I do not read many trilogies – either stand alones or a series that is more than three books. The thing about Lord of the Rings is the classic fantasy and the storyline. While there lacks diversity on many fronts (maybe this is a good selection for #CritYourFaves), I have to give credit to Tolkien for his world building. I need to put this on the reread list soon!

In thinking about what to put here, I realized I do not read many companion books. Also searching companion novels on Google / Goodreads spits out a bunch of romance novels. Rose by Jeff Smith is the prologue to the Bone series of graphic novels and provides insight on Rose before she becomes Grandma Ben. I enjoy the Bone series and would gladly read any graphic novel in this universe.

I’ll tag the only person I have seen Tweeting about GBBO!

Bina @ If You Can Read This