The Girl Who Chased The Moon

I just finished this books a few days ago. I read almost the entire thing in one day. "The Girl Who Chased The Moon" by Sarah Addison Allen is a pretty wonderful book. For me, I enjoy books that keep me interested (obviously), and especially books that include some of my favorite things. For example, old houses with beautiful gardens, quaint little hometowns, and cooking or baking are things I look for in a fiction book.

At first, I didn't think I would like it because it started out as your typical girl gets shipped off to stay with extended family member and finds cute boy book. Gag me. Allen quickly laced in beautiful characters, fragile secrets about the town and its' people and some perfectly placed statements. 

One thing I really loved about this book was one of the characters baked cakes all the time and wanted to open her own bakery. I want to open my own bakery! I quickly jotted down some of the cake ideas that this character, Julia, made so that I could try to recreate a version of them. Just getting to read about other people loving baking as much as I do made my heart sing. Even better, when I finished the book I found recipes for the actual cakes in the back of the book! This is a first. A great novel that picks you up and won't let you down until you finish it....complete with recipes in the end. I highly recommend this book.

Some quotes from the book:

"High-spirited and mercurial, she'd been like the mist from perfume. You had to be content to let a little of it sprinkle over you. And then, eventually, it went away."

"Being needed was a lot like being tall--it was never really an issue until other people were around."

Have you read it before? What do you think? Do you want to read it?