Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 5th Read Harder task.

Started and quickly stopped reading Wave this year. It was a stressful time, and I just could not get through even the first 20 pages. Going to try again. The writing was excellent, and the story is heartbreaking but also important.

Bonnie G. wrote: "Started and quickly stopped reading Wave this year. It was a stressful time, and I just could not get through even the first 20 pages. Going to try again. The writing was excellent,..."

I hated that book. The authors self-importance turned me off so much I couldn’t finish it.

My first thought was Wave by Sonali Deraniyagala, also.

But fiction could be used and it seems like a good reason to read : Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston which features a legendary Florida hurricane.

My pick is Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 for this

I'm thinking I'll read Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital which talks about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. If anyone has read it and knows if its good, let me know.

Tiffany wrote: "I'm thinking I'll read Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital which talks about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. If anyone has read it and knows if its..."

Within the first few pages they talk about euthanizing pets. I couldn’t get past that.

I read The Yellow House by Sarah M.Broom this year. I think it works for this prompt. I loved this book so you will see me suggesting it for every prompt it works for.

Rachael wrote: "My pick is Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883 for this"

mine too

I'm sorry (wait no I'm not) to keep spamming this thread but I LOVE natural disasters. (not the death and destruction part but the 'wow look what the earth can do' part). Here is a list for anyone unsure what to read:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

I’ve been meaning to read The Johnstown Flood for a few years, this seems like a perfect opportunity!

Megan wrote: "I'm sorry (wait no I'm not) to keep spamming this thread but I LOVE natural disasters. (not the death and destruction part but the 'wow look what the earth can do' part). Here is a list for anyone ..."

Thank You so Much for including this list. These are so helpful to me, and like you I appreciate reading how people survive all sorts of things, including natural disasters. I'm going to read about The Donner Party Bride.

The Desert Cries: A Season of Flash Floods in a Dry Land, by Craig Childs is out of print, but I found my copy used online for about $5.

Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse, is a middle grade (?) novel in verse that takes place during the Dust Bowl, so I am guessing it would count.

I'm going with The Emissary. This might fudge the rules a little, as the disaster is never specified and the description likens it to a nuclear disaster, but it won the National Book Award for Translated Literature, so I consider that to be a good enough reason to fit it in.

Ooh, Louise Penny’s most recent novel, A Better Man, is based around catastrophic spring flooding, if anyone is looking for a genre fiction option!

I loved Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, which I read a few years ago, about the 1900 hurricane that devastated Galveston.

Real natural disasters really stress me out so I'm anxiously looking at all of these. Any not too upsetting options?
I feel like sticking with fiction is my best bet, but I am open to reading about a real disaster.

I read Dyschronia this year and it would fit, also for climate change. It is sort of lyrical and vague, but interesting.

Hey hey everyone! Our rec post for this task is up now. https://bookriot.com/2019/12/10/books...

I found it impossible to put down Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster- a story of a disastrous storm on Mount Everest. Highly recommended.

I would really really highly recommend Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan’s Disaster Zone for this challenge. It's one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read.

Veronica wrote: "I'm going with The Emissary. This might fudge the rules a little, as the disaster is never specified and the description likens it to a nuclear disaster, but it won the National Boo..."

It is an ethereal dystopian story and I agree the book fits the category well enough. It seems most people love it or hate it. I personally enjoyed the book.

〰️Beth〰️ wrote: "Veronica wrote: "I'm going with The Emissary. This might fudge the rules a little, as the disaster is never specified and the description likens it to a nuclear disaster, but it won..."

Good to know that my assessment of it wasn't too far off. I'll be curious to see if I fall into the love-it or hate-it camp!

I think I'm going to read Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans for this one. It has been on my TBR list for awhile now.

The Glad Shout by Alice Robinson is my choice so far!

Lauraellen wrote: "Real natural disasters really stress me out so I'm anxiously looking at all of these. Any not too upsetting options?
I feel like sticking with fiction is my best bet, but I am open to reading abou..."

If you're thinking of sticking with fiction for this task, you might want to try "I Will Send Rain" by Rae Meadows, which is about a family's experiences during the Dust Bowl. That's what i'm going to read; something not too heavy.

Pompeii by Robert Harris is a fiction option for this prompt

Nothing, Nobody: The Voices of the Mexico City Earthquake by Elena Poniatowska sounds like a good one.

Inez wrote: "I would really really highly recommend Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan’s Disaster Zone for this challenge. It's one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read."

I agree.

Ann wrote: "Pompeii by Robert Harris is a fiction option for this prompt"

My husband suggested that one to me

Veronica wrote: "I'm going with The Emissary. This might fudge the rules a little, as the disaster is never specified and the description likens it to a nuclear disaster, but it won the National Boo..."

It could be argued that a nuclear disaster is a man-made disaster, not a natural one.

A non-upsetting one would be Midnight at the Electric; one timeline is set during the dust bowl, and one timeline is in the future after climate change has rendered it necessary to colonize Mars. It was very good; it's YA but it has a lot of crossover appeal.

Tiffany wrote: "I'm thinking I'll read Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital which talks about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. If anyone has read it and knows if its..."

It's very good - I highly recommend it. I lived in New Orleans at the time of Katrina (in fact, had friends who sheltered at Memorial Hospital) and found this book to be a very even-handed, fair account. And a gripping story.

In addition to Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital, I would recommend The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl. For a fiction option, Salvage the Bones is very good, and is set during Hurricane Katrina. Oh! One more really amazing Katrina book is: Zeitoun. Can't recommend it highly enough!

Life As We Knew It Its a fictional natural disaster, but it one day possible. Would this count?? Thanks a head of time.

Has anyone read Not a Drop to Drink? I was wondering if this would qualify as natural disaster in terms of drought (like Dry) or if it's more just a wasteland setting.

Thanks!

Lauraellen wrote: "Real natural disasters really stress me out so I'm anxiously looking at all of these. Any not too upsetting options? "

One of the BR recs is We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time, which is about helping Puerto Ricans, and may be more uplifting than upsetting.

Any book about the meteor that killed the dinosaurs would work. One example is The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World.

You could also try a children's book, as BR encourages reading children's and YA books. For example, a book about a dog saving people from avalanches: Barry: The Bravest Saint Bernard.

The Children's Blizzard is a non-fictional account of one of the blizzards in Laura Ingalls Wilder's The Long Winter.

I'm reading Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

Tiffany wrote: "I'm thinking I'll read Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital which talks about the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. If anyone has read it and knows if its..."

Loved it!! It was appalling and it pissed me off, but it was really good.

I'm planning to read Sarah M. Broom's The Yellow House- it's a memoir about one family in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and it's been named one of The Washington Post's 10 best books of 2019.

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History has been on TBR forever so I'll finally get this one!

I'm thinking about reading either Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast or The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous: Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina, as my beau grew up in Waveland, Mississippi and while he evacuated, he still rode out the storm and returned to the devastation of his hometown.

If anyone is looking for a fiction book for this category, I highly recommend Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. She grew up in the same area as my beau and also survived Katrina. I'm fairly certain that some parts of this novel may also be autobiographical.

Additionally, if anyone is considering a graphic novel for this one, A Fire Story was one of my best 2019 reads. It's a graphic memoir about a cartoonist and his family who went through the California wildfires in 2017.

I'm leaning toward reading The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus or The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History. Books about environmental disasters stress me out but I love medical history. I might also look for something on HIV/AIDS or the bubonic plague but need to do more research.

Dianna wrote: "I'm leaning toward reading The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus or The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History..."

I may be wrong - I've never done research on it. But I think that Ebola originated in nature, and was spread to humans when we started cutting down the jungle that housed the virus.

I'm planning on reading After the Flood by Kassandra Montag for this one. It's fiction and post-apocalyptic so I try one of the non-fiction options as well.

I'm trying to figure out if books about/inspired by Centralia, PA fit the spirit of this challenge. To clarify, this is a former coal mining town where a small fire underground quickly grew rapidly to the point that the entire coal mine underneath this town is on fire. On one hand, the fire was probably caused by man (either accidentally or on purpose.) On the other hand, this seems like a great illustration of the vastness of nature and how we can underestimate it's ability to fight back. And since this challenge seems to be somewhat geared towards climate change, coal mining fits into the ways our need for fuel can exacerbate some of the grimmer effects of nature around us.

I'm not married to this idea and there's a lot of great suggestions in this thread. It's just something I've been pondering.

Stephanie,

I think that’s an excellent and fascinating idea! The government had to claim the town via eminent domain and evacuate everyone, the post office has cancelled the zip code, and the fire has been burning for decades. Yes, human engineering and human decisions are a factor, but that’s true for people who insist on rebuilding in flood zones, communities that try to stop coastlines from shifting because they have built up against the ocean, and most avalanche deaths, too.

okay, out on limb a bit here, but would a sci-fi/fantasy setting like the Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin qualify for this?

Amy wrote: "okay, out on limb a bit here, but would a sci-fi/fantasy setting like the Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin qualify for this?"

Amy, some people are doing that. It’s your challenge to shape. :)

I just checked out Tornado: A Look Back at Louisville's Dark Day, April 3, 1974.

It’s local history from before I moved here. It’s also only 176 pages and mostly photos. Given my reading list for the year, shaving time on the prompts that don’t interest me as much seems wise.