Wry Writer wrote on her blog about the Great British Bake Off Book Challenge.

Here is mine.

ON YOUR MARKS – A Book You Can’t Wait To Read

Exit Party by Emily St. John Mandel. I’m a huge fan of her books and am really looking forward to this one. Comes out September 15, 2026.

SIGNATURE BAKE – A Book From Your Favourite Genre

I love survival stories. There are many great books out there, but the most recent one for me was 117 Days Adrift by Maurice and Maralyn Bailey. Another great one is Left for Dead by Eric Jay Dolin.

SHOWSTOPPER – A Book With A Beautiful Cover

I love the outdoors and hiking; I found this cover beautiful and creative. A Walk in the Park by Kevin Fedarko.

SOGGY BOTTOM – A Book That Made You Cry

Oof. Lots of books make me cry, but this one was so powerful, raw, and full of hope that I cried many times while reading it. When Breath Becomes air by Paul Kalanithi.

HOLLYWOOD HANDSHAKE – Your Perfect Book

My perfect book is hard to nail down. All books are beautiful and perfect for different reasons, but mine would include animals, the outdoors, kind humans, and some history. That about describes Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton for me. I just loved the book. So, it’s a double entry on this list for me.

LEAVING THIS WEEK – A Book You Didn’t Finish

Always remember the words of Doris Lessing:

” There is only one way to read, which is to browse in libraries and bookshops, picking up books that attract you, reading only those, dropping them when they bore you, skipping the parts that drag – and never, never reading anything because you feel you ought, or because it is part of a trend or a movement. Remember that the book which bores you when you are twenty or thirty will open doors for you when you are forty or fifty- and vice versa. Don’t read a book out of its right time for you. " ~ Doris Lessing

Don’t be afraid to stop reading a book. It may not be your time.

I’ve stopped many books, and you should too. Dive deep into new genres and try reading a book that doesn’t even look good to you. Explore. You may just be surprised by what you find.

Three recent books I DNF.

Dominion by Matthew Scully

Dominion by Tom Holland.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

STAR BAKER – A Five Star Read

Last years 5 star read was hands down Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. Another one that everyone should read is Foster by Claire Keegan.

AND THE WINNER IS – A Book By A Favourite Author

A hands-down favorite author is Maria Popova. I love how she writes. Her latest book, Traversal, was outstanding.

And you, Avid Reader, what would make it into your Great British Bake Off list?

Finished reading: Foster by Claire Keegan 📚

This was the first book I’d ever finished, and then I immediately started over again. Claire Keegan is a master with words and story. I loved every word of this book. It’s a Novella at around 90 pages, and you will wish it were much longer.

I looked up what interviews I could find, and Keegan speaks about her meticulous revision process and reworking until every word earns its place. Sometimes, spending years on a story.

Do yourself a favor, sit down with this book and enter a moving, beautiful, story.

I’m looking forward to reading more of her work.

Some favorite highlights:

Part of me wants my father to leave me here while another part of me wants him to take me back, to what I know. I am in a spot where I can neither be what I always am nor turn into what I could be.

Her hands are like my mother’s hands but there is something else in them too, something I have never felt before and have no name for. I feel at such a loss for words but this is a new place, and new words are needed.

‘Where there’s a secret,’ she says, ‘there’s shame – and shame is something we can do without.’

This water is cool and clean as anything I have ever tasted: it tastes of my father leaving, of him never having been there, of having nothing after he was gone. I dip it again and lift it level with the sunlight. I drink six measures of water and wish, for now, that this place without shame or secrets could be my home.

Kinsella takes my hand in his. As soon as he takes it, I realise my father has never once held my hand, and some part of me wants Kinsella to let me go so I won’t have to feel this. It’s a hard feeling but as we walk along I begin to settle and let the difference between my life at home and the one I have here be. He takes shorter steps so we can walk in time. I think about the woman in the cottage, of how she walked and spoke, and conclude that there are huge differences between people.

‘You don’t ever have to say anything,’ he says. ‘Always remember that as a thing you need never do. Many’s the man lost much just because he missed a perfect opportunity to say nothing.’

and so many more…