Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 12th Read Harder task.

Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime

I'm thinking I'll pick up Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China but I'm not 100% sure it counts as 'investigative"

This one! I loved the Serial podcast.
Adnan's Story: The Search for Truth and Justice after Serial by Rabia Chaudry

I'm going to try this one too.

Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed

If you're Canadian (or just interested in a Canadian perspective), The Skin We're In: A Year of Black Resistance and Power looks like a good fit.

I'm hoping this will be the year I finally get around to reading Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City.

I think I'll be going with Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite

I'm thinking The Daughters of Juárez: A True Story of Serial Murder South of the Border for this prompt.

I've just downloaded Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias which may or may not fit the bill, but looks fascinating.

I think I might read Invisible: Britain's Migrant Sex Workers for this after picking it up earlier this year but never getting round to it.

Would One Person, No Vote fall into this category?

Kelsey wrote: "I think I'll be going with Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite"

Oh I loved that book! I read it, I think, 4 or 5 years ago? Very memorable!

I think I'll be reading Black Klansman: Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime by Ron Stallworth.

What exactly is an Investigative Nonfiction book? I'm having trouble finding a definition. Is it a collection of related genres or is it its own distinct genre?

Would something like Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge or The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power count or are they not considered because they are history and sociology respectively?

Maybe On Gold Mountain: The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family by Lisa See.

Tiffany wrote: "I'm thinking I'll pick up Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China but I'm not 100% sure it counts as 'investigative""

I think it fits -- and it is very good.

I'm looking at lists of investigative journalism books. So far I'm going with Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools. The author has written other books too.

The Undocumented Americans is another possibility.

I'm curious if Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots would fit this category. It appears to be more than a memoir.

I'm eager to see Book Riot's definition and recommendations for this prompt.

For this prompt I will be reading The Golden Thread: The Cold War Mystery Surrounding the Death of Dag Hammarskjöld.

I'm also a bit unsure about how to interpret "investigate nonfiction," but it sounds like What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City by Mona Hanna-Attisha might fit. It's about the Flint water crisis, written by the doctor whose research was part of exposing the issues.

Gina wrote: "I'm also a bit unsure about how to interpret "investigate nonfiction," but it sounds like What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City by [au..."

That has been in my TBR for a while (I was raised in Detroit and have family that used to live in Flint so its of particular interest) and I did not even think of it for this. Thank you!

I leaning toward true crime for this, so I might go with Black Dahlia, Red Rose: The Crime, Corruption, and Cover-Up of America's Greatest Unsolved Murder by Piu Marie Eatwell.

For this one I might read The Spy Who Couldn't Spell: A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for America's Stolen Secrets by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee.

or Lynched: The Power of Memory in a Culture of Terror by Angela D. Sims.

Ilana wrote: "Would One Person, No Vote fall into this category?"

If not, it counts for Task #2! :)

Would Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America count as investigative non-fiction? I'm not sure how to define the term

The Light of Truth: Writings of an Anti-lynching Crusader by Ida B. Wells-Barnett. I was reminded of this by an earlier post. Earlier this year, she was given a posthumous Pulitzer for her lifetime achievement.

I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what investigative non-fic is. Would basically all history, politics, crime, medical books count, as long as they aren't memoirs/the author's opinions on such?

Kelsey wrote: "I think I'll be going with Without You, There Is No Us: My Time with the Sons of North Korea's Elite"

I came here to recommend this! I've already read it so I can't use it this year, but I read it a few years ago and really enjoyed it.

Jessica wrote: "I'm having trouble wrapping my head around what investigative non-fic is. Would basically all history, politics, crime, medical books count, as long as they aren't memoirs/the author's opinions on ..."

https://book-genres.com/investigative...

https://www.bustle.com/p/9-investigat...

I like this definition of investigative nonfiction.

https://book-genres.com/investigative....

"Books in the investigative nonfiction genre are about the act of investigating something, usually be journalists. They gather information from documents, databases, public records, interviews, and obtain data from government agencies; they search out and use information in an investigation to uncover crime, political corruption, and government wrong doing."

I wouldn't say all history and politics books are investigative. A book about the Battle of Gettysburg wouldn't be investigative, but someone trying to find out the truth about Pearl Harbor would.

Googled "investigative non-fiction books" and got a bunch. These two look interesting and fit the prompt:

Sway: Unravelling Unconscious Bias by Dr. Pragya Agarwal

Explaining Humans: What Science Can Teach Us about Life, Love and Relationships by Dr. Camilla Pang

I'm probably going with Sway, but Explaining Humans might also work for the Demystifying Mental Illness prompt for folks looking to double dip.

Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong—and the New Research That's Rewriting the Story The author's family is originally from India so this book counts!

Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic has been on my TBR for a while. Looking forward to reading it for this prompt.

Maybe Biased: Uncovering the Hidden Prejudice That Shapes What We See, Think, and Do

I think I'll read Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter, if it doesn't need to be a book about uncovering corruption.

Jeanne-Erin wrote: "I think I'll read Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter, if it doesn't need to be a book about uncovering corruption."

I loved this one! I am reading his Words on the Move: Why English Won't—and Can't—Sit Still for another challenge this year

Jeanne-Erin wrote: "I think I'll read Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English by John McWhorter, if it doesn't need to be a book about uncovering corruption."

I would strongly encourage you to listen to the audiobook. McWhorter is the narrator, and he does an amazing job.

Emma wrote: "I would strongly encourage you to listen to the audiobook. McWhorter is the narrator, and he does an amazing job.
.."]

I second this rec! The audio is really good!

Hello! Here's a guide to help you find some outstanding investigative nonfiction by authors of color: https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021...

Rebecca wrote: "Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic has been on my TBR for a while. Looking forward to reading it for this prompt."

I was going to use this one, but I'm not sure if Quinones is considered a POC. I know that sounds ludicrous, but it seems his ancestry is Southern European - Galician (Spanish) and Italian. Similar discussion came up with Antonio Banderas and the mostly white nominees at the 2020 Academy Awards.

I will probably read this book though, and I do think Quinones has unique perspectives from all the investigative reporting he has done in Mexico.

Here's an archived version of the Investigative Reporters & Editors (IRE) Book List (the current site shows this page as a dead link). Most are not by authors of color, but some are. I'm going with Another Day in the Death of America: A Chronicle of Ten Short Lives by Gary Younge.

https://web.archive.org/web/202011050...

The list below is for a book award given to journalists; a lot of these should fall under this category, but I don't think very many of the authors are POCs. (I have read The True American: Murder and Mercy in Texas by Anand Giridharadas and I thought it was good.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_B...

If investigative nonfiction is defined as writing that uncovers crime, political corruption, and government wrongdoing, then I'm guessing I could count these, but any feedback is welcome!

The Devil's Highway: A True Story, by Luis Alberto Urrea

Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo", by Zora Neale Hurston

Bury Me Standing: The Gypsies and Their Journey, by Isabel Fonseca (half Uruguayan)

Another term for this genre would be "investigative journalism."

Having someone in my life who experienced Hurricane Katrina, I've made it a point to include a book or two each year surrounding the different stories of what happened both during and in the aftermath of the storm. It helps me connect with him when the subject comes up since I was on the other side of the country.

I read The Good Pirates of the Forgotten Bayous: Fighting to Save a Way of Life in the Wake of Hurricane Katrina last year and I'm thinking of Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital for this year and this prompt.

Outside of that, I'm considering What the Eyes Don't See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance, and Hope in an American City .

Pretty sure the authors of Columbine and All the President's Men are white guys.

Oh dang, that's right. I was half asleep writing that earlier.

Mandie wrote: "Oh dang, that's right. I was half asleep writing that earlier."

Five Days at Memorial and the Henrietta Laks book are also white women, I think. (I'd totally recommend Five Days at Memorial regardless though! I just read it last year)

Would you all consider The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness or Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present to be investigative nonfiction?

Would Caste by Isabel Wilkerson not work?

The New Jim Crow and Caste both work, I have never read Medical Apartheid, but I would guess it works based on the title.

I’m thinking about Yellow Bird:Oil,Murder,and a Woman’s Search for Justice in Indian Country by Sierra Crane Murdoch. I’m not sure if the author is Native American.