the bookish baking tag!

Hello, friends!

The Bookish Baking Tag, created by Kay @ Hammock of Books, showed up at a perfect time for me. I’ve been really into baking since quarantine started and even though I don’t know how to cook anything else, I’d definitely be able to live off of cake, brownies and cookies for the rest of eternity, which I’m 100% down to.

Thank you so much for Caro @ Book Cheshire Cat for tagging me to answer this one!

The Sound of Stars really had the most perfect beginning. I was immediately immersed into the story and intrigued about these characters and the universe. In this book, we follow a future where Earth has been invaded by an alien species who has banned all forms of art, and our main character is one of the few people keeping a hidden library.

Even though I did not love the entire book, I felt like the beginning was incredibly strong.

(Also, should I try baking muffins? I’d never done it before so I have no idea how complicated/easy it would be but they’re so delicious!)

Technically, P.S I Still Love You starts out just as the year is ending, since the first scene of the book takes place right before New Years. But I love this series so much I had to include it.

I know a lot of people associate the holiday season with cozy, warm vibes (not me, not only because I’m a Grinch but also because in this side of the Hemisphere, we spend Christmas on tank tops and flip flops), and the To All the Boys series screams warm fuzzies to me.

Fun fact: even though cinnamon rolls are internet’s favorite way of defining characters and people, I’ve never tried them myself, though I suppose they couldn’t taste anything other than delicious, considering it’s cinnamon after all.

My choice for this answer has to be Aurora, from Aurora Rising, who’s not necessarily smol, but still deserves to be protected. I found myself being so protective of her from the second I first read into her perspective. She’s just confused and trying her best, which means I’ve officially adopted her.

I recently read 10 Things I Hate About Pinky and it’s definitely a book with MAJOR summer vibes. It is set during the summer, alright, but also in a vacation-like spot by the lake, and what screams summer more than that?

It’s also a very light-hearted, easy read and the relationships are A+ so really no reasons as to why you shouldn’t read it.

I’ve been reading the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman and they always give me nostalgic vibes. I think it’s because I read a lot of alike middle grade series growing up and they all share a similar feel.

The characters are kids and being in their perspective, going through these crazy adventures with them, you can’t help but also imagine yourself as a kid who’s part of the group.

Even though I am a firm believer in chocolate chip cookies supremacy and that they’re, indeed, the best cookies to exist (sorry to be dripping FACTS), I can not say I’ve pondered a lot about this question because I do not read that many classics.

In fact, the only one I’ve read and enjoyed was The Outsiders, which I’m not even sure can be considered a classic, but I know it’s a required read, so I guess it does? ANYWAY. The fact the author wrote this book when she was 17 will never fail to blow my mind.

Where We Go From Here deserves SO much more love and hype. Y’all should be reading it already, pls.

It’s a YA contemporary novel that talks about HIV through three different perspectives, by a Brazilian author and set entirely in Brazil, with a very authentic and realistic portrayal of what is like being an university student here. It’s GREAT, alright. Go read it!

I’d never heard of Angel Food Cake before, but a cake that feels like pure air and fluff can only be divine.

Her Royal Highness gave me the exact same feelings: it was just an incredibly light-hearted, fast-paced read, centered around Millie, who moves to Scotland and finds she has a princess as her roommate. I liked that it was such a fluffy romance with little to no drama. It was certainly refreshing.

OH YES CARROT CAKE SUPREMACY. I know carrot cake can actually be quite different depending where you live, but in Brazil, we have carrot cake with chocolate frosting and I *can not explain* how good that is.

But I digress.

I felt like it was only fair to choose a book that can top carrot’s cake iconic-ness and that is, of course, Camp. That book has such a positive and up-lifting message about how, regardless of how you present yourself, your queer-ness is valid and you can be whoever you want to be.

I know Barbie said that first, but like, it’s still such a good message!!! We love to see it!

*inserts footage of me trying macarons for the first time* Ok, I am not gonna do that, though I DO HAVE FOOTAGE. Instead, let me just insert a picture of the first macarons I’ve ever tried in 2018 when I visited Laduree’s NYC (yes, very Blair Waldorf of me).

Becoming by Michelle Obama was incredibly intimidating, just because the audiobook was SO LONG. Like, 18h long. And I’m only used to listening to audiobooks that are around 8h long, so yeah, took me a while, but I did it and it was great.

I feel like I don’t talk enough about Summer Bird Blue, so let’s fix that. Not only this book features an ace-aro bi-racial protagonist, but also a number of the side characters are mixed! Our protagonist is also dealing with grief/depression, so there’s a lot of great rep overall and this book broke me and put me back together, so it’s definitely one you should check out.

I really don’t like banana bread, fun fact. I don’t like banana in general, so there’s that. But I swear the book I’m answering for this question is *actually* good.

To me, Vicious is 100% deserving of all the hype. Recently, my best friend read it too and he agreed that the reviews are not lying when they say this book is such an immersive experience and a true page-turner!

What’s your favorite baked good – to eat or to bake yourself? And if you’ve read any of these books, let’s chat in the comments!