Growing up, I always loved to read. I was much more interested in fantasy and escaping to an alternate reality compared to the mundaneness of going to grade school. Somewhere between high school and college, however, life got so busy I was not able to read for appreciation anymore.
It wasn’t until I bought my Kindle Paperwhite a few years ago that I decided to get back into reading, especially after having my Kindle Fire for over a decade—for so long that it is not even supported by Amazon anymore! One of the first books that I read on my Paperwhite, and one that I constantly remember back on, is A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher (the pseudonym for author Ursula Vernon).
Its premise is feel-good and whimsical: 14-year-old Mona, an apprentice baker whose magical talent is making dough and pastries bake themselves, is accused of murder. The town that she resides in is mostly full of commoners, and so life gets even crazier when it’s rumored someone is going around and eliminating all the magic users.
The plot escalates from there, as a sourdough starter named Bob gets to be a weapon against enemy forces, and several-feet-tall gingerbread assassins are created in giant ovens. Laced with dry humor and fantasy elements, this is a great novel to read if you’re looking for something to pick you up after a bad day, or in my case, after reading a very depressing book.
The way that Kingfisher wittily describes everything and Mona’s thought processes left me wanting more, and I have heard that many of the gags and jokes are reminiscent of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.
I thought that the concept of magic in this book was quite unique too – normally I would expect wands and drawing power from the elements, but it seems like anyone can be a magic user of anything (bread, for instance) with just their mind, which can be used to their advantage. At 320 pages, A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is a little longer than other books I usually read, but if you decide to dive into it, it will definitely brighten up your day. Thanks so much for reading!