Book Riot's 2021 Read Harder Challenge - October Update: Guilty Pleasures & Notes From A Young Black Chef

 

Happy Thursday everyone!  I hope everyone's been staying healthy and happy.  How is it almost November already.  Anyway, that means that I've now completed 20 tasks of Book Riot's 2021 Read Harder Challenge.  The tasks I completed this month required me to read a book with a cover you don't like and a food memoir from an author of color.  I selected Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #1) by Laurell K. Hamilton and Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi.  Read on to see my mini reviews and what's coming up for November:

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I'm glad I finally read Guilty Pleasures (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #1) by Laurell K. Hamilton . I've been told to read it for ages and it was a fun new to me urban fantasy. The audiobook production was fantastic. I can't believe this was originally released in 1993 because it doesn't feel like it.  It still feels pretty modern all things given. I'll definitely be back for the sequel, The Laughing Corpse.  By the way, I ended up with a different library edition than I was expecting, but either way I'm still not a fan of this one's cover.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachi is a really intriguing memoir slash cookbook.  I will seriously have to try some of those recipes that are featured throughout it because they sound delicious.  I didn't know anything about the Onwuachi going in, but I might have to look into his upcoming cookbook.

My review is also on Goodreads.

Next Up For November:

Read a realistic YA book not set in the U.S., U.K., or Canada

My choice: The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf - I think this will be the first YA book I've read that's set in Malaysia.

Read a historical fiction with a POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist

My choice: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters - I just realized that the 2016 movie The Handmaiden was adapted from this book.  I can't wait to see what the source material is like because that film was pretty outstanding.

Have you read either of these books?  Are you taking part in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge this year?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!