Before we get into books, can I just say that I am very impressed with myself for how well I've been keeping up with Read Harder this year? This school year has been uh...a lot, let's say. I've been incredibly overwhelmed, but somehow I've stayed on top of Read Harder, blogging, and with all my personal journaling goals. I'm sure there's some kind of psychology to this, like I'm using my blog and my journal to give myself a sense of control, but let's not focus on that. Let's just all be proud of me doing such a great job.
Now that that's out of the way, my thoughts on the May books. (Fun fact: I started writing this post very early and then out of habit scheduled it to post on the last Sunday of the month, well before I had actually read either Read Harder book, let alone added my thoughts. Clearly I have a lot of faith in myself.)
I thought Cupid Calling was very good for the most part. Solid character development, cute story, nice romance. My only real gripe was the author's choice to have one character very infrequently swear and then choosing to go with "freaking" as the substitute curse. On its own, using freaking as a substitute swear word just gives me strong childish/immature vibes because the only people I hear use that word are literal kids or Mormons, but they also frequently seemed to mix up WHICH character didn't swear and have the other MC also use it. Really took me out of the story, I don't know why. Other than that, be prepared for graphic sex scenes? Didn't bother me, but fair warning if you're someone who doesn't like them.
Raybearer...I mean, the dedication alone. "For the kid scanning fairy tales for a hero with a face like theirs. And for the girls whose stories we compressed into pities and wonders, triumphs and cautions, without asking, even once, for their names." How do you not immediately fall in love with this book, before even reading a word of the actual story? But then you READ the story, and Tarisai is just...EVERYTHING. Loved it. Can't wait to read the second book.
📗📗📗
And now, June challenges!
#11: Read a cookbook cover to cover. This is...I don't know, seems weird? I guess I'm not super familiar with cookbooks, but are they typically meant to be read cover to cover? I don't get it. I did find a book published last year called The Mexican Vegetarian Cookbook, though, and I'll never say no to finding more Mexican food options for myself, so I guess I've found my pick for this challenge. Close second/third were World Cocktail Adventures and The Cocktail Cabinet. I did buy Joel a copy of World Cocktail Adventures since he's gotten into making cocktails, and that does seem like a "cookbook" that it makes more sense reading cover to cover, since there are histories and anecdotes about each location and drink. I'm committing to the vegetarian cookbook for now, but if it gets to be too much of a slog I might end up following Ross's advice and pivoting.
#12: Read a nonfiction book about BIPOC and/or queer history. I'll be reading The 1619 Project. This was possibly the fastest challenge decision I've ever made. Can't wait.
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