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The Great British Bake Off Book Tag


Athena

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I follow ReadingWithJack on YouTube and he just created this tag (see for the video here). I thought it would be nice to post it here as I believe we have some people who watch this show?

 

QUESTIONS (copied from ReadingWithJack's video description):

1. CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations.

2. BISCUITS: Once you've eaten one, you’re hungry for more and each time you eat another, they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better.

3. BREAD: Kneading dough requires hard work and determination. Pick a book that you put off reading for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up.

4. DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country.

5. ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving.

6. PASTRY: Shortcrust pastry can crumble easily. Pick a character who you initially liked, but as you read more and more, your relationship with them crumbled apart.

7. VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favourite classic novel.

8. PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.

9. CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.

10. THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favourite book of the year so far that really impressed you.

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1. CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations.

The entire Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer - Everyone seemed to be raving about this series, and I love a good vampire story, but these were just awful. I found the writing to be well below par and the story to be entirely unoriginal. I still can't understand why so many people rate them so highly. Also the works of Edgar Allen Poe - I didn't find any of them even remotely chilling. I guess I like my horror to be more full on and, well, scary!

 

2. BISCUITS: Once you've eaten one, you’re hungry for more and each time you eat another, they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better.

The Heat series by Richard Castle is brilliant! Starting with Heat Wave, the books link in with the TV series (if Castle is promoting a book on the show, then you can bet there's a real book coming out about then in the real world too!). It's all incredibly meta, with the characters in the books mirroring those in the TV show (which slightly different names - for example, the lead male character in the books is called Rook, the other name for the castle piece in chess), but there are also nods to other shows which have starred Nathan Fillion, such as names (Malcolm and Reynolds) or people wearing blue latex gloves, which harks back to Firefly, the much loved show that got cancelled before the end of its first season. There are loads of in-jokes to amuse the fans of the show and of Fillion, but they also work really well as a stand-alone series independent of the show - obviously they're ghost written, as Richard Castle doesn't actually exist, but they're well written and have cracking characters and clever plots to entertain the most discerning of crime fiction fans.

 

3. BREAD: Kneading dough requires hard work and determination. Pick a book that you put off reading for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up.

We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver – I had no intention of reading this book, but it came up as a book group choice a few years back, so I picked it up and read it. I absolutely detested it. I found nothing redeeming in ANY of the characters, and was so angry with the mother that I actually threw the book across the room when I was finished with it.

 

Another one which invoked the same reaction in me was The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold – it was a slog to read and I hated it from start to finish.

 

I will never read anything else by either of these authors - I have been completely put off.

 

4. DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country.

Ronia, The Robber's Daughter by Astrid Lindgren is a children's book set in some Nordic woods long ago, in a time when fairyfolk live alongside humans, and robbers roam the woods to steal from unwary travellers. It's a magical tale of friendship and coming of age, and I've always loved it.

 

5. ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving.

I'm not really a huge reader of sci-fi, but I did love Halfhead by Stuard B Macbride. Set in a Glasgow of the future, where murderers are punished by chemical lobotomy and removal of the lower half of their head to make them instantly recognisable as they are employed doing menial work in the community. It's a stark and brutal vision of a future where human rights have gone out the window and the means of punishment aren't necessarily as effective as those in power would like to believe! Macbride is more well known for his Logan McRae series of police thrillers set in Aberdeen (which are excellent) - he's at the forefront of Scottish crime fiction today, and deservedly so!

 

6. PASTRY: Shortcrust pastry can crumble easily. Pick a character who you initially liked, but as you read more and more, your relationship with them crumbled apart.

Darrell Rivers of the Mallory Towers series by Enid Blyton. I remember loving her when I read these books as a child, but rereading them as an adult, I realised how horrible Darrell could be! He had a most terrible temper and would hit and shove people at a moment's notice. She was also rather imperious with the younger pupils at the school a lot of the time. She still had plenty of positive moments, but I didn't like her half as much as I did when I first read the books!

 

7. VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favourite classic novel.

It's hard to choose really, I love so many classic novels. If really pushed to choose, I would have to whittle it down to these two: Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. They're very different from one another in tone and style, but both have an undercurrent of wit and humour that is delightful, and the writing of these two grand masters is just sublime.

 

8. PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.

An Awfully Big Adventure by Beryl Bainbridge – I remember enjoying the film when it first came out, but when I eventually got round to reading the book, it was boring and, ultimately, rather pointless. I felt completely deflated after reading it and it put me in a bit of a funk for a while afterwards, where I just couldn't be bothered to read anything at all. I hate when that happens! It made me resolve never to read anything else by that author.

 

9. CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.

The Stand by Stephen King is one of my all time favourite novels. I've read the full,m unabridged version, which comes in at well over 1000 pages, at least a dozen times over the years, and I still always find something fresh and new in it, as well as feeling like I'm visiting old friends. I'm long overdue a re-read, so I really must dig out my copy and go see Stu and Franny again! Also the works of Brom - the combination of stunning artwork and sublime writing is a surefire winner, and I could read his illustrated novels over and over again and never tire of them!

 

10. THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favourite book of the year so far that really impressed you.

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (illustrated by Chris Riddell) - This graphic novel based on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale is visually stunning and has a few little twists that keep even those most familiar with the tale going to the very end.

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1. CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations.

The Da Vinci Code.  So much fuss about this book and it was so badly written.  I posted a bit from the start and a bit from the middle and a bit from the end on a critique forum I used to be on and everyone ripped it to bits, not realising what it was.  Lordy me it was awful.

 

2.BISCUITS: Once you've eaten one, you’re hungry for more and each time you eat another, they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better.

The Discworld by Terry Pratchett.  As each book came out, the world building just got better and better .  And it's somewhere that I feel like I know well.  If you dropped me somewhere in Ankh Morpork, I'd know exactly where I was.  

 

3. BREAD: Kneading dough requires hard work and determination. Pick a book that you put off reading for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up.

I can't actually think of one.... not since finishing my degree anyway.  I gave up forcing myself to finish a book years ago.  Too many books, not enough life.

 

4. DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country.

Arabian Nights.  Loved it as a child.  Love it now.  Scheherazade is a bit of hero to me.  

 

5. ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving.

Can't really think of one...... I have catholic tastes so will read anything.   I've quite enjoyed Mills and Boon when I've wanted to read something mindless.  

 

6. PASTRY: Shortcrust pastry can crumble easily. Pick a character who you initially liked, but as you read more and more, your relationship with them crumbled apart.

Janet Evanovich with the Stephanie Plum stories.  Loved the first 5 but the rest..... Oy........  

 

7. VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favourite classic novel.

Pride and Prejudice.  Love that book.  I also like the Sherlock Holmes stories but only for the puzzles.  They're not that well-written.  Woman In White by Wilkie Collins is pretty good.  And for non-fiction, The Prince by Machiavelli is brilliant.

 

8. PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.

Hmmmm....there's been quite a few of these, unfortunately.  The Casual Vacancy is probably the latest.  Nothing but stereotypes of horrible people.

 

9. CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.

 

Agatha Christie.  All of them.

 

10. THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favourite book of the year so far that really impressed you.

Don't know yet!  We're only in September.

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  • 4 weeks later...

 

10. THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favourite book of the year so far that really impressed you.

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (illustrated by Chris Riddell) - This graphic novel based on the Sleeping Beauty fairytale is visually stunning and has a few little twists that keep even those most familiar with the tale going to the very end.

I have this on my Kindle to read next.  I didn't realize it was a graphic novel, but I knew it had illustrations.  I wish I had it in real book form.  That would be a great Christmas gift idea that I could whisper in the hubby's ear.

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Such fun!

 

 

1. CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations.

I've had several over the years, but one that is from this year is The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters.  I had really high hopes for this novel because of all the good reviews, but I thought the plot has been done a million times and was very predictable.

 

2. BISCUITS: Once you've eaten one, you’re hungry for more and each time you eat another, they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better.

The trilogy that has impressed me the most is The Hunger Games. I have enjoyed quite a few trilogies and series and usually there is one book that is a bit of a disappointment, but not this trilogy.  I thought each book was wonderful.

3. BREAD: Kneading dough requires hard work and determination. Pick a book that you put off reading for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up.

There are two books that I had on my shelf for a while before I got the determination to read them, and they are Jane Austen's Persuasion and Mansfield Park.  I have to include the two because they are pretty equal in my eyes.  I dreaded starting them, but they ended up being very enjoyable.  I actually prefer them over Pride & Prejudice.

 

4. DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country.

The first sort of exotic book that comes to my mind is The Peacock Spring by Rumor Godden.   I read this probably 18 years ago and have never forgotten it.  Gees.  Typing that sentence made me feel really old.

 

5. ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving.

I rarely read the horror genre, so NOS4A2 by Joe Hill surprised me immensely.  I absolutely couldn't put it down.

 

6. PASTRY: Shortcrust pastry can crumble easily. Pick a character who you initially liked, but as you read more and more, your relationship with them crumbled apart.

This one is a tricky.  I guess it would have to be Anastasia Steele from Fifty Shades of Grey.  Even though the books weren't great, I did read all three.  I really just wanted to smack her midway through book 2.

 

7. VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favourite classic novel.

My favorite classic is Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte.  My love for it has stood the test of time.

 

8. PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.

I felt like this when I read The Memermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd.  It was so underwhelming and shallow.  It wasn't bird cage liner status, but was very disappointing from such a great writer.

 

9. CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.

It has to be Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.  For me it is the epitome of comfort and the warmth.  Every time I think about this novel I can't think of plot, all I think of is the feeling it gives me.

 

10. THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favourite book of the year so far that really impressed you.

I have to pick NOS4A2 by Joe Hill for this question as well.  My other favorite is Wreckage by Emily Bleeker.  It really took me by surprise.

Edited by nursenblack
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  • 8 months later...

1. CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn't rise to your expectations.

I wouldn't say I thought this would be one of the greatest books of all time but after seeing the film numerous times and it been right up my street I was disappointed with 'The Devil Wears Prada' by Lauren Weisberger. Andy was just a brat

 

2. BISCUITS: Once you've eaten one, you’re hungry for more and each time you eat another, they get more and more delicious. Pick a book series or trilogy that got progressively better.

I haven't read any

 

3. BREAD: Kneading dough requires hard work and determination. Pick a book that you put off reading for ages and needed a lot of determination to pick up.[/b]

I would have to say Shakespeare. I am jealous of those who can read him easily. I enjoy his work I can just find it a little intimidating.

I think 'War and Peace' is a book I'll long to read and put it off

 

4. DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country.

'The Help' Kathryn Stockett

 

5. ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn't normally read but ended up loving.

From science fiction 'Frankenstein' Mary Shelley

 

6. PASTRY: Shortcrust pastry can crumble easily. Pick a character who you initially liked, but as you read more and more, your relationship with them crumbled apart.

I think I would have to pick the character Anna from 'RSVP' Helen Warner

 

7. VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favourite classic novel.

I can't choose a favourite. As many as there are out there that I haven't read

 

8. PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.

I am not sure what I want to say for this question. I have read a couple of books where the storyline for me was neither here nor there.

'Sense and Sensbility' Jane Austen and 'If You Could See Me Now' Cecelia Ahern

I could be misreading the question

 

9. CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.

There are many books I could read over and over 'Rebecca' Daphne du Murier 'Twenties Girl' Sophie Kinsella 'Wuthering Heights' Emily Bronte which is a top favourite of mine that I have read this year. However as there as many books I haven't read I don't look to reread books. Maybe in the future

 

10. THE GRAND FINAL: Everyone is out to impress with extravagant show-stoppers! Pick your favourite book of the year so far that really impressed you.

'Wuthering Heights' Emily Bronte

I have read a couple of Stephen King and he is fast becoming a favourite of mine

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