The Dim Sum Book Tag

I saw this tag on Anna’s blog (My Bookish Dream) and wanted to give it a try because I love dim sum. It’s been forever since I’ve eaten them, but man, they are delicious! If you haven’t tried them before, I highly encourage you find a place that sells them because you won’t be disappointed.

This tag was created by Joey @ Thoughts and Afterthoughts and Jenna @ Reading with Jenna. Dim sum is a style of Chinese cuisine whereby food is served in small (tapas-like) portions and is common during yum cha (which literally means: drinking tea). This tag is inspired by good company and good eats.

Here are some rules to devour this tag:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site
2. Devour dim sum and answer the tag questions
3. Tag five others to join your round table for some dim sum fun
4. Food coma

Tea: A book that started off hot but quickly turned cold.

The “8th Harry Potter book” was a huge let down for me. I was super excited that we were getting another book in the series, thinking it was going to be a story and not a play script. When I saw that it was a play script, I was slightly disappointed but it didn’t deter me. It wasn’t until I started reading when I realized that I wasn’t going to enjoy it. I’m not angry at J.K. Rowling, however. This wasn’t entirely written by her (in fact, I believe most of the play wasn’t written by her), so there’s no point in being mad.

Chiu Chow Dumpling: A book that features elements of land and sea.

Six of Crows is the first book that comes to mind. They have to travel to a different land in order to pull their impossible heist and part of the story is spent on the boat trip on the way there and on the way back. The rest of the story takes place on land where they are scheming and making plans.

Rice Noodle Roll: A favorite multilayered character you’ve read (ex. traits? skills? morally ambiguous?).

Professor Snape anyone?

Shrimp Dumpling: A book with a transparent blurb that gives the story away.

This is one of my biggest bookish pet peeves. I don’t like it when I can tell how the story is going to end by reading a two paragraph summary on the back that was meant to intrigue the reader rather than spoil the whole entire book. I find this problem in a lot of YA books. Combine the obvious blurb with the typical YA cliches (which I don’t mind) and the reader can assume how the story is going to play out. What’s the fun in reading a story if you already know what’s going to happen?

Steamed BBQ Pork Buns: A book that is fluffy on the outside but packs a punch of flavor (ex. message? depth? controversy?).

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee isn’t a fluffy story, but if you read it at face-value, it’s a pretty simple story. However, if you look in depth into the story, you see many lessons and messages. What those messages are is up to the reader to find out and interpret.

Chicken Feet: A book with divided opinions.

This one is obvious. The Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas (which I’ll mention many times in this tag) has two reactions: complete adoration or absolute hatred. The main cause of this? The protagonist, Celaena Sardothian, of course! It’s funny how the assassin herself causes those same reactions throughout the series when she meets new characters.

Lotus-Wrapped Sticky Rice: A book you’ve received/given that was nicely packaged.

I’m not terrible at wrapping presents, but I’m also not super artsy with it either. Whenever I receive books as a gift, I ask them not to wrap it because I find it to be a waste of resources because I know I’ll tear through it all to get to the book inside.

Egg Custard Tart: A book that uses simple ingredients and cliches but executes it perfectly.

I can’t think of a book that fits this description… I know I’ve read some before but I can’t think of the name.

Mango Pudding with Evaporated Milk: Any book recommendation + beverage/snack that’s a winning combination.

I don’t tend to eat when I read because I’m so engrossed in the story that I forget that I have food. However, if I did eat/drink while reading, I would probably go for something that is fairly mess-free (so my fingers aren’t dirty when I need to turn the page) and easy to snack on because I want to focus more on the book than the food.

Fried Sesame Balls: A book cover with embossed text/design you just love to run your fingers over.

I really like any book that has some kind of texture on the cover, but one series that comes to mind is the Throne of Glass series. Not only do the hardcovers and the paperbacks have the same velvety paper for the cover, the title is embossed, which gives it a nice texture.

Dim Sum Steam Cart: The type of carrying bag you use to bring books around.

I just use whatever bag I’m taking with me. Most of the time, that would be a backpack. However, if I think the book is going to be damaged along the way if I put it in my bag, I just carry it in my hand.

I definitely drooled a little (okay, a lot) when I did this tag and now I’m hungry! I haven’t tried some of the foods listed but I really want to. Of course it didn’t make my hunger any better by looking up photos of these delicious foods to see what some of them looked like.

I tag…

Everyone who loves dim sum or wants to give it a try!

Clean Template (for your copying + pasting convenience) 

Tea: A book that started off hot but quickly turned cold.

Chiu Chow Dumpling: A book that features elements of land and sea.

Rice Noodle Roll: A favorite multilayered character you’ve read (ex. traits? skills? morally ambiguous?).

Shrimp Dumpling: A book with a transparent blurb that gives the story away.

Steamed BBQ Pork Buns: A book that is fluffy on the outside but packs a punch of flavor (ex. message? depth? controversy?).

Chicken Feet: A book with divided opinions.

Lotus-Wrapped Sticky Rice: A book you’ve received/given that was nicely packaged.

Egg Custard Tart: A book that uses simple ingredients and cliches but executes it perfectly.

Mango Pudding with Evaporated Milk: Any book recommendation + beverage/snack that’s a winning combination.

Fried Sesame Balls: A book cover with embossed text/design you just love to run your fingers over.

Dim Sum Steam Cart: The type of carrying bag you use to bring books around.

Until next time….