Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

This thread is for dropping ideas, questions, resources, comments, and discussion about Task 16: Read the First Book in a Series By a Person of Color.

A few resources that might be helpful (more to come!):

http://bookriot.com/2015/07/22/9-dive...

I am reading A Brother's Honor by Brenda Jackson. This is a new author for me.

I love Brenda Jackson. I have read most of her series. And she is great with her fans as well. Met her in person when she came to Bermuda on a Brenda Jackson cruise.

Very excited that Half-Resurrection Blues qualifies. Book 2 comes out pretty soon too I think.

Karin wrote: "Very excited that Half-Resurrection Blues qualifies. Book 2 comes out pretty soon too I think."

Me, too! I have it in paper (from a BR Quarterly box) and also bought the audio, which is read by DJO.

I am reading Sea of Poppies. Book 1 of the Ibis Trilogy.

I am going to read or .

@Cheryl I was going to read "the fifth season" as well! :)

The Fifth Season is fantastic! I highly recommend it to those considering it for this task.

I'm finally getting around to Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel Jose Older.

I'm leaning towards either Sorcerer to the Crown or maybe something by NK Jemisin. She has a couple other series besides Fifth Season.

Oh man I've been struggling with this one! This is the only one I haven't figured out yet. I will be watching the suggestions here closely!!

I'm going with

I am leaning towards Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey.

I have never read anything by Octavia E. Butler before, so I think I might try one of her series.

Sarah wrote: "I am leaning towards Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey."

Thank you. This one looks good.

Sarah wrote: "I am leaning towards Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey."

Oh, my goodness. This one has been on my TBR a long time. Think I will switch to it rather than start another new author at this time.

I've put Sorcerer to the Crown on my list but also want to read Half-Resurrection Blues...

We're doing this challenge as a family again next year. I would love to hear ideas for this category (as well as any others) for a 14 and 12 year old. Any ideas?

I'm also going to read Brenda Jackson, but will pick Delaney's Desert Sheikh.

Allie wrote: "I have never read anything by Octavia E. Butler before, so I think I might try one of her series."

I'm going to try Octavia Butler, too, by reading Dawn.

I thought I might go with Things Fall Apart, since it has been on my shelf for some time.

I've been "reading" The Three-Body Problem, but keep getting distracted by other things (like knitting), so I guess I'll save it for this challenge! (the audiobook narrator is terrible, so got the kindle version but cannot knit and read at the same time)

Cheryl wrote: "I am going to read or ."

those are both excellent choices!!!

If you like mysteries/noir, I recommend Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins #1) by Walter Mosley. Unfortunately, I can't use it because I've already read it.

I've had The Fifth Season on my to read for a while so I may read that. I could also read Legend... I cant decide.

Poppy wrote: "If you like mysteries/noir, I recommend Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins #1) by Walter Mosley. Unfortunately, I can't use it because I've already read it."

I'm reading that one now.

I second all the recommendations for Octavia Butler's and N.K. Jemisin's series! Both are amazing

Something by N.K. Jemisin for me, although I also have the series starting with Acacia by David Anthony Durham.

I'm going to read Naughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman!

Anyone know a cozy mystery series by a person of color?

Rachiel wrote: "Anyone know a cozy mystery series by a person of color?"

Yes!. Barbara Neely is an African-American writer and her character, a black woman ironically named Blanche White, is a cleaning woman/maid who discovers murders. The first book is Blanche on the Lam

Thanks Robin!

Cheryl wrote: "I am going to read or ."

I am planning to read Wild Seed as well since it also qualifies for Task 8 - A book pubbed in the decade you were born (80's for me).

Annie wrote: "I've been "reading" The Three-Body Problem, but keep getting distracted by other things (like knitting), so I guess I'll save it for this challenge! (the audiobook narrator is terri..."

Oh no! I listen to audiobooks while I knit too, and I have Three-Body Problem on hold right now. I hope I can tolerate the narrator!

If anyone here likes mysteries, Malla Nunn is a great author that fits this task. I read her first book in the Detective Emmanuel Cooper series for the 2015 challenge and loved it. The book takes place in South Africa, in the 50's

The Land by Mildred Taylor (Logans series) (young adult/middle reader)

The Company You Keep by Angela Henry (Kendra Clayton Mysteries)

So, Zen Cho, author of Sorcerer to the Crown, is a person of color? Liberty Hardy raves about the book in her podcast and I really want to read it!

I'll be reading both Wild Seed and The Killing Moon this year.

Karin wrote: "Very excited that Half-Resurrection Blues qualifies. Book 2 comes out pretty soon too I think."

YAaaas, it's so great! What a treat to read it for the first time! Enjoy!

I am very pleased to say that I have 3 or 4 books for this one. I have Half Resurrection Blues (just need to read it) and I am very interested in Sorcerer to the Crown.

May wrote: "@Cheryl I was going to read "the fifth season" as well! :)"

Sometimes, I with there were 'like' buttons on these threads too.

This has been one of the trickier ones for me to research. I'm tentatively going with Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima, since I already own the whole series, but I will also be curious about other readers' choices and suggestions. I recommend Things Fall Apart for anyone who hasn't read it yet. I had considered reading This Earth of Mankind by Pramoedya Ananta Toer for this challenge, but will probably need that title to fulfill challenge 14 (an author from southeast Asia).

I'm going to read Tiger Eye.

Dawn by Octavia Butler

Cheryl wrote: "I am going to read or ."

I'm torn between The Fifth Season and Sorcerer to the Crown! (Who are we kidding, I'll just read both.)

Cheryl wrote: "May wrote: "@Cheryl I was going to read "the fifth season" as well! :)"

Sometimes, I with there were 'like' buttons on these threads too."

I literally just went to 'like' this comment. Meta-ironic!

I do sometimes wish Book Riot weren't so US centric, "person of color" is not a term we use in the UK and is slightly problematic terminology for us.

Ultra wrote: "I do sometimes wish Book Riot weren't so US centric, "person of color" is not a term we use in the UK and is slightly problematic terminology for us."

What alternative would you suggest? I don't mean that to sound antagonistic - I'm also in the UK and have pondered this.

"An ethnic origin different to your own" maybe.

Ok, that's so helpful. I was confused about the terminology as well!