We were tagged by Aoife at Fred Weasley Died Laughing to do the GBBO book tag, created by ReadingWithJack and what better time to do it than the week Bake Off is back on air!

1. CAKE: The cake has sunk in the middle. Pick a book that didn’t rise to your expectations.
Bee: Across the Universe by Beth Revis. It turned out to be one of the most predictable and boring read!
Maddie: Anything I’ve read this year by E. Lockhart: How to be Bad and the Ruby Oliver series. Nothing has been as cool and plot twist-y as We Were Liars!

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.
Bee: The second half of the Study Series by Maria V Snyder. I love the original trilogy, but the fourth book kind of let me down. But, Night Study really pulled it back to a kick ass continuation!
Maddie: Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne – Each book got progressively more feminist and filled with girl power, two of my favourite things!
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
Bee: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. It’s one of our university texts for this year but it’s over 800 pages. No way was I reading that in one sitting!
Maddie: Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. I just wanted this mess of a romance series to end already, and really had to psych myself up to read it.

4. DESSERTS: Foreign deserts such as crème brûlée and Spanische Windtorte are on the menu. Pick a book set in a foreign country
Bee: Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, set in Iran! I’ve never read something set in the Middle East before, and it was interesting to read something that dealt with politics.
Maddie: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke is my go to pick for this. It’s set in both Germany and Italy, and despite being a fantasy series, the locations really ground this book in reality!

5. ALTERNATIVE INGREDIENTS: Not usually used, but surprisingly good. Pick a book from a genre you wouldn’t normally read but ended up loving.
Bee: The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black. Fairy fiction is both my favourite and least favourite genre because there are so many ways it could go wrong and I’m always nervous to pick up something new in case it doesn’t meet my expectations.
Maddie: Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. High fantasy set in a medieval England doesn’t sound like my cup of tea but somehow I’ve read half the series…

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.
Bee: Every character written by Cassandra Clare. My first read of this series made me fall in love with them all, but the second time round, I was extremely aware of their flaws…eek.
Maddie: Eadlyn from The Heir by Keira Cass. I mean, pretty much immediately, I disliked Eadlyn, but I liked the potential she had. Too bad she was nothing like America and acted like a whiney brat for most of her duology!

7. VICTORIAN/OLD-FASHIONED BAKES: Recipes from the past that still taste delicious today. Pick your favourite classic novel.
Bee: Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell. It’s about a group of little old ladies and is delightful.
Maddie: MANSFIELD PARK by Jane Austen! I loooooove it.

8. PATISSERIE: You’re eating a chocolate éclair but there’s barely any filling inside. Pick a book that lacked substance and fell flat.
Bee: The Program by Suzanne Young – for my opinions, check out my review!
Maddie: Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige. I was excited to discover another retelling, but the blurb completely mislead me into thinking the plot was going to be awesome and quest-y rather than laboured…

9. CHOCOLATE: Chocolate is a comfort food for many people. Pick a book you could read again and again and still find comforting.
Bee & Maddie: Geek Girl by Holly Smale. This series will always be wonderful. The end.

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.
Bee & Maddie: Check out the sidebar of our blog! We have a list of our favourite books of the year so far!

And that’s the tag! I, Maddie, declare myself Star Baker for typing this up.