Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

I'm assuming this includes historical fiction as well as contemporary?

Jenny wrote: "I'm assuming this includes historical fiction as well as contemporary?"

I think that would work! I saw La Bastarda on a YA list somewhere, so I think I might use that.

I might go with How It All Blew Up for this one

The Night Diary was very good, if anyone is looking for historical fiction from India.

I might have to look around for this one, but just based my tbr list I might go with The Silence of Bones or Between Shades of Gray.

Here the Whole Time looks like a good book, and will double up for fat-positive romance.

The Weight of Our Sky and Boxers/Saints count for this as well as the historical fiction with a POC protagonist prompt

For a prior, similar prompt I read On Two Feet and Wings. It’s nonfiction, about a young boy forced to flee Iran to avoid being forced to fight.

The Night Diary is wonderful and works for this prompt

This list also has fantasy but there are some good recs if anyone is looking for a YA set in Australia https://www.thenerddaily.com/must-rea...

This should be a fairly straightforward prompt for people who don't live in the U.S, U.K or Canada! I'm in Italy, so a visit to the library will give me plenty of options!

For this I am reading Talking of Muskaan.

I'm going with

cherie wrote: "Salt to the Sea"

Really good book!

I might read:
Code Name Verity
The Silence of Bones
The Fountains of Silence
Darius the Great Is Not Okay (some US but mostly Iran if I'm reading the description correctly)
Wanderlove

Help: Is Historical Fiction considered Realistic Fiction? I have always thought they were separate categories.

Yes historical fiction is realistic. It just means not SFF or romance or alt-history or absurdist. Things that did or could happen.

Here are some possibilities with #ownvoices:

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea (Set in Sri Lanka, LGBTQ Author)
If You Could Be Mine (Set in Iran, LGBTQ Author)
Learning to Breathe (Set in The Bahamas)
A Girl Like That (Set in Saudi Arabia)
Aluta (Set in Ghana)
When the Ground Is Hard (Set in Swaziland)
Wonderful Feels Like This (Set in Sweden, Translated)
The Rainbow Troops (Set in Indonesia, Translated)

I've had The Finnish Line by Linda Gerber on my to read for years (I was originally going to use it to fill a Popsugar challenge prompt way back in 2015) and I never got to read it. No time like the present (or, future as it were).

I want to add The Girl and the Ghost - set in Malaysia by a Malaysian author

Anyone looking for a light, happy read for this one might enjoy the rom-com Anna and the French Kiss set in France

Jill wrote: "Here are some possibilities with #ownvoices:

Swimming in the Monsoon Sea (Set in Sri Lanka, LGBTQ Author)
If You Could Be Mine (Set in Iran, LGBTQ Author)
[book:Lear..."

Thank you for this amazing list! Every single one sounds amazing! My TBR just exploded!

I'm going to read I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade by Diane Lee Wilson

Bonnie G. wrote: "Yes historical fiction is realistic. It just means not SFF or romance or alt-history or absurdist. Things that did or could happen."

Curious as to why romance wouldn't be included?

Esther, its subjective, but I read a ton of genre romance, I love it heart and soul, but realistic it is not. That includes authors like Jasmine Guillory and Rebekah Weatherspoon who write about real non royal people.

What about Patron Saints of Nothing? Isn't most of the novel set in the Phillipines?

Bonnie G. wrote: "Esther, its subjective, but I read a ton of genre romance, I love it heart and soul, but realistic it is not. That includes authors like Jasmine Guillory and Rebekah Weatherspoon who write about re..."

Hm, then I would argue that a lot of mysteries and thrillers are even less realistic than romance novels, especially in YA. At least in my high school years, teenagers falling in love was more common than teens solving crime cases. :D

Lol. point taken. But I didn't say that falling in love was unrealistic. I have done it a few times myself. I said the storylines in genre fiction, some of which are mysteries, are unrealistic.

Furia

Jessica wrote: "I might read:
Code Name Verity"


Do you need to read the first 2 books to read this?

I really wanted to read Code Name Verity for this category as it was already on my to-read list, but I then discovered that the book begins and ends in England. It didn't feel true to the spirit for me, so I'm going to select another.

For this prompt I'm reading Almost Autumn by Marianne Kaurin, translated by Rosie Hedge.

I am reading One Thousand Paper Cranes for this one.

Hi everyone! Our recommendations post for this task is now live: https://bookriot.com/read-harder-a-re...

I do believe that “Realistic Fiction” is categorized as contemporary, not Historical Fiction. They are two separate genres. The list posted above from Book Riot looks great. All are Contemporary Fiction.

They specifically say that some of the books are set in the 1800s or 1960s. I think historical fiction is likely fine.

Although I've read it already so can't use it myself, I highly recommend If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan. It's one of my favourite books!

I really enjoyed Love & Gelato, especially if you want a light YA romance

Emily wrote: " Jessica wrote: "I might read:
Code Name Verity"


Do you need to read the first 2 books to read this?"

Definitely not! Code Name Verity was the first one published and can very easily be read as a stand alone. In fact, I haven't read the others - and this is still one of my favorite books! Based on the descriptions the others really seem more like companion novels than a traditional series.

(Although, since the main characters are British and the book has some parts in the UK, I personally wouldn't use Code Name Verity for this prompt.)

I love the book riot suggestions, and especially liked that they are less US-centric than the recommendations sometimes are, but I still noticed a lack of translated books. So I looked around to see what I could find:

While some of the goodreads lists either focus heavily on fantasy or on books older than ten years, World Kid Lit has some nice recommendations, for example here (scroll down for YA):
https://worldkidlit.wordpress.com/202...
https://worldkidlit.wordpress.com/201...

I might read one of the following books:

Lucas Rocha: Where We Go From Here (Brazil)
Vitor Martins: Here the Whole Time (Brazil)
Fatima Sharafeddine: Ghady & Rawan (Lebanon and Belgium)
Sara Lövestam: Wonderful Feels Like This (Sweden)

I chose CITIES OF SAINTS AND THIEVES.

I’m in the middle of Love From A to Z and enjoying it. It’s set in Qatar.

If You Could Be Mine looks good.

Pam wrote: "What about Patron Saints of Nothing? Isn't most of the novel set in the Phillipines?"

Yes, this book fits the prompt. It is also an amazing read.

I read and loved Randy Ribay’s Patron Saints of Nothing. Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram is mostly set in Iran and is fantastic as well. I’m leaning toward pushing a little harder for a book that doesn’t start out in the United States and feature an American.

I feel like I cheated a little bit with this question because I read Zwarte vijvers it's a book about a near future Belgium, but a realistic near future so I feel that it counts. I do highly recommend it if you are able to read Dutch.

I am going to read this one

If You Could Be Mine (Set in Iran, LGBTQ Author)

Maybe a bit of a cheat, but I counted Clap When You Land even though it was partly set in New York, because it was also set in the Dominican Republic. It's a fantastic book

I read Furia by Yamile Saied Mendez. 5 stars. It is a Reese's YA Book Club read. Very good. It's set in Rosario Argentina.

I read “When Stars Are Scattered.” It was great.