#7: Most underrated book

It's also the one with the weirdest name: I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes by Jaclyn Moriarty.

Moriarty is better known as a writer for young adults, particularly girls at high school age. She has a great sense of humour and likes to use different formats, particularly letter writing, in her books. Her protagonists are all beautifully quirky and lovable.

For whatever reason, I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes, which was marketed as a fairytale for grown-ups, never got the attention it should have. It may have been the title, it may have been the fact that the story is sort of hard to describe in one sentence, or it may have been the fact that she's not known for writing for adults.

Well, I'm glad I was reviewing books at a shopping centre magazine when this came by. My editor laughed derisively at the title and then put it on my desk. "Review this," she instructed, probably thinking it would've been punishment. When I looked at it, the only thing it had going for it was the hot air balloon on the cover. I love hot air balloons.

But lo and behold, I LOVED it and I still love it. But my review didn't end up going in. Since then I bought the book and gave my advanced reading copy to a friend I thought would like it (she went and bought the real thing), and I also lent my bought book to another friend (who also bought her own copy), and they have slowly been spreading the word.

I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes is not a book you can easily describe. It is sort of a mystery/fairytale/character study with funny, quirky stuff thrown in. It gains its fans through word-of-mouth and tends to be for people who trust the recommender enough to accept a fat novel that costs (in most cases) $30 and is rarely found in libraries.

Moriarty has since adapted I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes into a young adult version, The Spell Book of Listen Taylor, using just one of the three original protagonists, 12-year-old Listen Taylor. I've heard that although it is tighter, it isn't as good - and that's not just because they've taken out the sex and the blue language.

Read I Have a Bed Made of Buttermilk Pancakes, even if you are a teenager (there isn't anything in there you don't know). Highly underrated.

Day 08 – Most overrated book
Day 09 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 10 – Favourite classic book
Day 11 – A book you hated
Day 12 – A book you used to love but don’t anymore
Day 13 – Your favourite writer
Day 14 – Favourite book of your favourite writer
Day 15 – Favourite male character
Day 16 – Favourite female character
Day 17 – Favourite quote from your favourite book
Day 18 – A book that disappointed you
Day 19 – Favourite book turned into a movie
Day 20 – Favourite romance book
Day 21 – Favourite book from your childhood
Day 22 – Favourite book you own
Day 23 – A book you've wanted to read for a long time but still haven’t
Day 24 – A book that you wish more people would’ve read
Day 25 – A character who you can relate to the most
Day 26 – A book that changed your opinion about something
Day 27 – The most surprising plot twist or ending
Day 28 – Favourite title
Day 29 – A book everyone hated but you liked
Day 30 – Your favourite book of all time

I'd like to thank Sarah Jansen for her tweet about this, as well as The Literary Gothamite and Confessions of a Book Lush for the good idea.