Tag: preorder

My 5 Favorite Books With Food

Food in books paired with snacks. Could it be better?

Hey everyone! I’ve been hard at work on the Pie-Jinks series launch, so I’ve been thinking A LOT about pie. If you haven’t read the prequel yet (Pumpkin Spice Pie-Jinks, which is currently on sale for $0.99!), basically the main character Reese bakes magical pies that are infused with emotions and feelings and memories.

So now that I’m less than 2 weeks away from the launch of the series, I figured it’s a good time to do something a little different: suggest some of my favorite books with food central to the themes and recommend something to snack on while reading!

But before that, a little bit of an update about the Pie-Jinks events:

(Image: graphic for Vanilla Bean Vampire Launch Party. Includes a picture of the cover, the words “Vanilla Bean Vampire Launch Party”, a pie picture, a background of frosty fall leaves, lots of sparkles, and a bunting in autumn colors along the top. Colors are light yellow, orange, and salmon pink.)

Okay. Now that I have THAT out of the way, let’s dive into these suggestions! I love books with food, and especially books with MAGICAL food, so let’s take a look at some great food books I’ve read. 🙂

My Favorite Food Books!

A Snicker of Magic by Natalie Lloyd

So I literally JUST read this one. It’s a sweet, magical middle grade story about a town with a curse that pulled all but a snicker of magic away. The main character returns with her wandering, free-spirit mother, desperate to finally find some roots, and falls right into the way the town operates. And one of the best parts of this book? Magical ice cream! Seriously, there’s magic food in here and sweet magic realism and some really cool plotting and world building. One of my favorite books all summer!

Recommended snacking: Ice cream… your favorite flavor! Mine are teaberry (Leiby’s brand) and chocolate marshmallow (Turkey Hill brand)

The Great Witches Baking Show by Nancy Warren

Ok, here is another one I read this year, and honestly it gave me so many warm feelings. It reminded me a lot of the Pie-Jinks books, but with a more spring/summer feel!

This book is all about a girl looking to figure out where she came from and who her family is, and to do that, she learns how to bake and gets onto a show being filmed at the location of the only clue she has to her family. But then someone starts sabotaging the contestants, there’s some weird ghosties floating around, witches hosting the show, and… MURDER!

Super cute, super cozy, all the food, all the magic. Definitely recommend! And, there’s a whole series of these, and yes, I plan to keep reading one of these days!

Recommended snacking: Cake! There is a lot of cake in here, among other baked goods like tarts. My favorite kind of cake is vanilla with chocolate icing (whipped if possible), but I also love angel food.

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

This one is a contemporary young adult with the enemies to friends trope. Two girls with an intense rivalry and hatred for each other take things a little too far and almost destroy their school on prom night. Their punishment? Work together on a food truck for the summer… or else.

And as these things usually go, the girls learn more about each other and that maybe they aren’t so different after all. And maybe they could actually work together and make this the best food truck ever! Cute, lots of drama, and lots of emotions!

Recommended snacking: This one makes me think of my favorite restaurant apps. So I will recommend boneless wings (I don’t like bone-in, I know, terrible), jalapeño poppers (the cream cheese ones), and blooming onions!

Hello, Sunshine by Laura Dave

First off, can I say how much I LOVE this cover?

Okay. So this is another contemporary, but adult. Women’s fiction. This book stars Sunshine, a celebrity YouTube chef who suddenly falls from grace. There’s lots of drama, cooking, celebrity life, and heartfelt plot and characters in here. It was such a good, entertaining, thought-provoking read, and the cover just makes me keep coming back to it to think about it all over again.

Recommended snacking: Obviously this one has heavy citrus vibes, so I’m going with lemonade and ambrosia!

Sourdough by Robin Sloan

I’ve mentioned this one before, and I’ll mention it again! I love this story about a tech lady who rediscovers her passions through a singing sourdough started she inherits out of the blue. It’s silly and light and a little fantasy/sci-fi, and it remains near the top of the list of my favorite books of all time!

Recommended snacking: Again this may be obvious, but… bread and butter! Maybe a little sharp cheese. My favorites are yeast rolls, warm Italian bread, and white bread. And for cheese? Cooper sharp American or wine cheese.

Final Thoughts

I love food in stories, and in particular magical food. While the books I shared here aren’t ALL magic food, they do all have elements that I love in each one. And, of course, thinking about magical food just makes me think about Pie-Jinks all over again!

I know I’ve been talking about these books a lot, but I’m just so excited to share them with everyone. During the pandemic, these books brought me joy. They’re light, fluffy, and magical. They’re exactly what I needed to escape from the darkness in our world. I had a blast writing them, and I want to share the whimsy and the deliciousness with everyone else. So I truly hope you’ll celebrate these books with me and maybe give them a chance. ♥

But even if not, I hope my list of recommendations sparks some interest in you and brings you some joy as summer winds down. Please feel free to share your favorite food stories with me in the comments… especially if there’s magic!

Until next time, happy reading! ♥

5 Awesome Books for the End of Summer

Wow, where did summer go???

It seems we’re already halfway through August, and I’m a couple weeks behind in getting you a new blog post. My apologies! I could give you all kinds of excuses… or I could give you five fresh book recommendations?

Since we’re wrapping up the summer, let’s take a look at some good summer and end-of-summer stories. I have a mix of different genres here, so hopefully there’s a little something for everyone.

Without further ado, here are 5 great books to close out your summer!

(As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through these links. However, I have chosen these books because I read and enjoyed them by purchasing them myself or borrowing through the local library.)

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

This is a great summer contemporary! Meet Andie, a politician’s daughter who suddenly finds her summer wide open. So what should she do? How about start a dog walking business? And maybe meet someone new…

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Sticking with the contemporary theme for a minute, how about prankster Clara and her rival, Rose? When Clara takes things too far at their senior prom, both of them are sentenced to summer working her dad’s food truck. Together. Or else.

This was a delightful story of unexpected friendships and summer jobs.

One S’more Summer by Beth Merlin

Okay, so I may be light on fantasy this week. But we’re switching from YA to adult here.

Gigi is about to lose her crush to her best friend… and she has to be part of the wedding. So to get herself a little distance and perspective, she decides to sign up as a camp counselor at the place where she always felt she belonged: Camp Chinooka. But there’s more there than just an escape there, and Gigi has to find herself and come to terms with her feelings before her whole life unravels.

Of all the books I’m recommending today, this one gives me the biggest end-of-summer vibes. And I can almost smell campfires!

Laid Back Camp

Okay, completely switching gears here, I have a manga I just started. Laid Back Camp is exactly what it sounds like: all about camping, no drama, no stress. But a cute story and characters you can fall in love with.

Honestly, this is one of the most relaxing things I’ve read in a while. If you find you need a break, this may be the book you’re looking for.

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

This one is a nonfiction story following Cheryl as she hikes the Pacific Crest Trail alone. She talks about her life, what led her to the trail, the trail itself, and how she found herself again by hiking it. It’s a really fascinating story steeped in nature.

And if you like stories like this, I have a bonus story: A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. Like Wild, this book is all about a hiking trip, but it’s along the Appalachian trail and gives you some history of that trail as well. I really enjoyed this story, and it has a VERY unexpected ending… at least to me!

And Remember…

The second Seasons of Magic: Fireflies & Faeries book comes out on August 20th! (Any links to my own books, like Carnival of Curses below, are not affiliate links)

You can pick up your copy of Carnival of Curses on Amazon or these other retailers. If you want some summer fair fun (since all my local fairs were canceled this year), a vampire acrobat, a pegasus circus pony, and a frog-boy, you’ll adore this contemporary fantasy retelling of the Frog Prince!

I had a ton of fun writing it, so I hope you all enjoy reading it.

Until next time, happy reading! 😀