Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you’re reading or that might fit the 24th Read Harder task. Sign up for our new Read Harder newsletter to get recommendations for each task delivered straight to your inbox! https://bookriot.com/newsletter/read-...

This is my first Read Harder challenge. Where would I find previous years' challenges so that I can fill this prompt?

Barbara wrote: "This is my first Read Harder challenge. Where would I find previous years' challenges so that I can fill this prompt?"

I believe the first year was 2017. Just Google "Read Harder Challenge" and the year.

If you click this link, you can scroll down a bit and find their discussions for the yearly challenges.
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

I chose 2020’s Read a Book By or About a Refugee. I'll be reading Refugee by Alan Gratz.

I think I'm going to go with #3 from 2018: "A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance)" and read The Left Hand of Darkness.

Considering:

2016: 4. Read a book out loud to someone else

2017: 9. Read a book you’ve read before. (Where Things Come Back)

2018: 11. A children’s classic published before 1980
15. A one-sitting book
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished)

2019: 2. An alternate history novel (River of Teeth)
9. A book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads
12. A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character (Roxy)

2020: 18. Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community

My options....

2015: A microhistory - Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World, Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird, Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, One Day: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in America,Salt: A World History

2016: Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist theme - (I have a whole bookshelf of options)

2017: Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location. Red X, The Grimoire of Kensington Market, Reclaiming Hamilton: Essays from the New Ambitious City, The Amateurs, Beautiful Scars: Steeltown Secrets, Mohawk Skywalkers and the Road Home

2018: A book of true crime - (I have a whole bookshelf of options)

2018: A one-sitting book – Between the World and Me, Fever Dream, The Blind Owl

2019: A translated book written by and/or translated by a woman - Beowulf: A New Translation, An Elderly Lady is Up to No Good, Fever Dream, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories, Penance, Where the Wild Ladies Are, The Aosawa Murders

Some from my TBR that I had tagged in previous years but didn't get to...

2016:
#2: Read a nonfiction book about science- Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void
#6: Read an all-ages comic - Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy
#15: Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900 - The Dovekeepers or The Secret Chord
#22: Read a Food Memoir - Cooking as Fast as I Can: A Chef's Story of Family, Food, and Forgiveness

2018:
#9: A book of colonial or postcolonial literature The Strangler Vine,
#17: A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author - All Things Rise

2020:
#7: Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII - Remarkable Creatures

Heather wrote: "Barbara wrote: "This is my first Read Harder challenge. Where would I find previous years' challenges so that I can fill this prompt?"

I believe the first year was 2017. Just Google "Read Harder C..."

Thank you! The first one was in 2015 but the first one with a downloadable checklist is 2017.

There are so many good ones that it was hard to decide. I chose a book I've had on my tbr for a couple of months.

The topic I chose was from 2020, "Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non)."

Given that mental illnesses are considered disabilities I went with The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays

For previous Read Harder Challenges & suggestions, in addition to the GR group suggestion, NYPL does a list each year.

It does not appear they did a list for 2015's Challenge.
2016: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2015/12/15/...
2017: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2016/12/22/...
2018: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2017/12/29/...
2019: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2018/12/28/...
2020: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/01/06/...
2021: https://www.nypl.org/blog/2021/01/07/...

I think I'm going to do last year's "Indigenous Author" over again. I own The Only Good Indians and Moon of the Crusted Snow, but this is also a good excuse to buy more books...

I decided to change mine and instead chose one from this past year, 2021, which I didn't get a chance to do: nature poems.

Robert Frost has always been one of my favorite nature poets so I discovered this one, Selected Poems of Robert Frost: Illustrated Edition

I'm going to do one challenge from 2021: Read a book that demystifies a common mental illness.

I'm very slowly working on Worry. So it'll be finished in 2022.

I'm using a challenge from our current year. Going to do "Read a middle grade mystery" because it gives me an excuse to read the sequel to The London Eye Mystery. I really enjoyed this book and am hoping that The Guggenheim Mystery is as good.

I started A Blade So Black by L.L. McKinney as the selection for 2020's challenge: "Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color." I keep meaning to go back and finish it! It's a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, the main character is a young Black woman who identifies as bisexual, and the author is also a Black woman. I'm looking forward to reading it from cover to cover.

Going to Read A Little Life for 2021 Challenge: Read a book with a cover you hate. This cover is the WORST and it drives me crazy when I see it on a bookshelf. Ha ha!

One of the first books I've started in 2022 actually meets a few previous challenges, but I'm starting Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen and I'm counting it for the 2020 tasks "read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII" (it's set in the 1890s) and "read a middle-grade book that doesn’t take place in the U.S. or the UK" (it's MG and set in Lithuania). I've only just started it, so I'll see how it is.

This one was easy. I finished Selected Poems of Robert Frost: Illustrated Edition which fit a previous prompt called 'Nature Poetry'.

2019 #4 - A Humor Book - The Princess Bride, I've been meaning reread and this gives me another reason..

2019, task 8: an own voices book from Oceania. I read Sharks in the Time of Saviours by Kawai Strong Washburn for this, and it was absolutely outstanding, I loved it.

Octavia wrote: "2019, task 8: an own voices book from Oceania. I read Sharks in the Time of Saviours by Kawai Strong Washburn for this, and it was absolutely outstanding, I loved it."

Is Hawaii considered part of Oceania?

According to Wikipedia it is.

The first two books I've finished this year fit a prompt from 2019: #14 Read a Cozy Mystery!

The cover of A Little Life is a lab photo of a man taken at the moment of orgasm. It looks painful.

Barbara wrote: "This is my first Read Harder challenge. Where would I find previous years' challenges so that I can fill this prompt?"

The challenges go back to 2015 and you can find them on the BookRiot website by googling "read harder challenge 2015" or any year after that. Someone mentioned the discussion groups on GoodReads already, but they only go back to 2016 (I think).

Here is the complete 2015 list:

A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25

A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65

A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)

A book published by an indie press

A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ

A book by a person whose gender is different from your own

A book that takes place in Asia

A book by an author from Africa

A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.)

A microhistory

A YA novel

A sci-fi novel

A romance novel

A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade

A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)

An audiobook

A collection of poetry

A book that someone else has recommended to you

A book that was originally published in another language

A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind (Hi, have you met Panels?)

A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)

A book published before 1850

A book published this year

A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)

This is my first year of doing the Read Harder Challenge. I went out and looked at last years prompts and chose "A Book Set In the Midwest". I just finished Sharp Objects. It is set in a small town in Missouri and the main character also resides in Chicago.

Bobby wrote: "Barbara wrote: "This is my first Read Harder challenge. Where would I find previous years' challenges so that I can fill this prompt?"

The challenges go back to 2015 and you can find them on the B..."

I only started Read Harder last year. I'm surprised just how broad the prompts used to be compared to now.

Kelli wrote: "This is my first year of doing the Read Harder Challenge. I went out and looked at last years prompts and chose "A Book Set In the Midwest". I just finished Sharp Objects. It is set..."

Me, too! I picked The Four Winds for a book set in the midwest, since it was already on my to read list, and this was my first year doing the challenge. :)

2019 #23 - Self Published Book:
Bloodlender by Zoé Perrenoud

Strongly recommend if enjoy a good mystery, curses, a dash of fantasy, and a strongly written female lead

Barbara wrote: "This is my first Read Harder challenge. Where would I find previous years' challenges so that I can fill this prompt?"

They're all in the discussion forums for this group. It's my first year, too. :)

This is my first year but I looked at the 2021 list and decided to go with "Read a children’s book that centers a disabled character but not their disability" - I work in the youth dept of a public library so I'm literally surrounded by kids' books. :)

I chose King for a Day by Rukhsana Khan. There is no textual mention at all of a disability, but the illustrations show the protagonist/narrator in a wheelchair.

Valery wrote: "This is my first year but I looked at the 2021 list and decided to go with "Read a children’s book that centers a disabled character but not their disability" - I work in the youth dept of a public..."

I love that book!

I'm going with this one, for now:
Read a food memoir by an author of color

I have a book for this. I can see the cover, I just can't remember what it's called.

I'll be doing from 2021, "Read a book you've been intimidated to read", and going with Jane Eyre or Emma! Classics have always intimidated me so it's time!

Valery wrote: "This is my first year but I looked at the 2021 list and decided to go with "Read a children’s book that centers a disabled character but not their disability" - I work in the youth dept of a public..."

I feel like that one came up a lot in last year's discussion thread for this topic.

Book Riot wrote: "Use this space to discuss books you’re reading or that might fit the 24th Read Harder task. Sign up for our new Read Harder newsletter to get recommendations for each task delivered straight to you..."
https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021/
https://bookriot.com/2020-read-harder...
https://bookriot.com/2019-read-harder...
https://bookriot.com/book-riots-2018-...
https://bookriot.com/book-riots-2017-...
https://bookriot.com/2016-book-riot-r...
https://bookriot.com/book-riot-2015-r...

I used the 2016 prompt a book with a main character that has a mental illness. Group: How One Therapist and A Circle of Strangers Saved My Life by Christie Tate.

I'm in the mood to read some romance for Valentine's Day so I am going to read Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid. It fits last years "fat positive romance" topic.

I read The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab for the 2020 prompt to read a debut novel by a queer author. It's YA fantasy and clearly shows some themes that have carried through her later work.

Just finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which fits the 2017 task of an LGBTQ+ romance.

I read Convenience Store Woman which meets the 2021 challenge of read a non-European book in translation (it's Japanese). I really enjoyed it! It can be a bit heavy handed at times, but it was a great piece to do literary analysis (particularly Marxist, Foucauldian, feminist, disability, and queer theory). It was so short, I was able to read it in a day!

I chose

2020 # 21. Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non).

Charlie & Frog—Karen Kane
This is a young reader book about two friends: one deaf and one hearing. Frog is a girl who is deaf and is determined to solve a local mystery. Charlie is a young boy who is hearing, so they communicate primarily by writing, and Frog teaches him some ASL signs.

The author describes the signs very well and includes illustrations at the beginning of each chapter.

I read A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall for the LGBTQ+ Romance challenge.