Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Here is a thread to discuss books you’re considering or suggesting for Task 16: Read a book based solely on the title.

Tell the Wolves I'm Home

I might go with How To Sell A Haunted House

Liza wrote: "I might go with How To Sell A Haunted House"

That book is *sooo* good! Very creepy.

One I read just for the title in 2023:

I Abducted My Second Chance Alien Rock Star: A Sci Fi Alien Enemies to Lovers Romance



it was just as silly as expected ;)

I haven't totally decided yet, but I went through some of my tbr (over 2k titles, so I don't remember details of all of them lol) to find some titles that jumped out at me without thinking of anything I know about them. I'm considering Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns, The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate, The Mad Women's Ballby by Victoria Mas, and Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen.

I'm also considering a few great-sounding nonfiction titles for this. Run Home If You Don't Want to Be Killed: The Detroit Uprising of 1943 by Rachel Marie-Crane Williams, People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present by Dara Horn, From the Folks Who Brought You the Weekend: A Short, Illustrated History of Labor in the United States by Priscilla Murolo and A.B. Chitty.

I always like to try for two prompts a month, and this one will definitely work for December next year! I'm always buying cheap kindle copies of Christmas books just from the title!

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

I read this one a few years ago because it's one of my favorite Shakespeare quotes, but it's a really good book. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I recommend you check trigger warnings before you read it though.

If you want to put in some effort, try The Criminal Prosecution And Capital Punishment Of Animals.

Mary Roach used this as a source in her Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, and I was curious. It was written in 1906, and is an expansion of two original essays the author wrote to cover previous court cases against animals. The language is dense with a lot of latin and theological arguments, but the absolutely weird but true content makes up for it all.

This feels like a tricky challenge. There are a lot of books with good titles on my TBR list... but did I add them because the titles were good? Probably not.

* Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
* Chain-Gang All-Stars
* The Secret to Superhuman Strength
* The Ladies of the Secret Circus

... just to name a few.

Feral:Losing Myself and Finding My Way in America's National Parks
or perhaps Pirate Hunters

I think Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese's sounds good for this.

I randomly picked up a copy of Bimboland by Erin Taylor at my local bookstore last year. It was definitely the title that drew my attention, lol, so I figure it fits the bill.

I can't resist Leslie F*cking Jones!

I read Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers as my first read of the year for this prompt and really enjoyed it. The characters were fun, and I wound up liking them better than the plot. Nothing too deep here, but a very nice read, and a good way to start the year.

I finished The Problem with the Other Side and it was amazing. Discussing major social issues in the US but obviously has a trickle effect in Canada (although the author doesn't say that, but as a Canadian I know it doesn)

I was going to use I Married My Best Friend To Shut My Parents Up by Kodama Naoko for the manga prompt, but then I realised all the information I'd got about it had been from the title, so I'm using it for this instead

I just bumped into Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines on our new books cart at the library and am thinking of going with that one. It is a follow up to Naked Statues, Fat Gladiators, and War Elephants: Frequently Asked Questions about the Ancient Greeks and Romans, which is also a fun title.

That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon because who WOULDN'T read this with this crazy title!

I've been taking this a bit too literally, so will do what some others recommended and pick from my Goodreads TBR or books I own but don't remember much about, just going by titles. These are ones I have so far:

Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of Seashells by Helen Scales

Burnt Toast Makes You Sing Good: A Memoir of Food and Love from an American Midwest Family by Kathleen Flinn

Navajos Wear Nikes: A Reservation Life by Jim Kristofic

Undocumented: A Dominican Boy's Odyssey from a Homeless Shelter to the Ivy League by Dan-el Padilla Peralta

Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet by Ben Goldfarb

I read Murder Your Employer: A McMasters Guide to Homicide and was highly entertained! This title might also or alternately work for the "howdunit" category.

Amelia wrote: "I read Murder Your Employer: A McMasters Guide to Homicide and was highly entertained! This title might also or alternately work for the "howdunit" category."

I've been avoiding this book solely because I hate the Piña Colada song with the passion of several solar systems' worth of suns, but I keep seeing people posting good things about it! I am very torn :D

haha, I was completely shocked to find out he had written that song after I read the book! it's completely different (and several decades have passed) but each work does completely commit to it's tone lol

I picked The Long Road to a Small Angry Planet just because of the title and it was a total delight. Another contender is the oldie but goldie Bimbos of the Hot Sun.

Also Steven Graham Jones' My Heart is a Chainsaw. Warning- it's for horror fans.

I read Leap In: A Woman, Some Waves and the Will to Swim

I read and loved People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present nonfiction by Dara Horn.

I loved it so much I borrowed Eternal Life from my library system, and I bought the rest of her novels from Better World Books, which weren't in the system.

I've found several on Mount TBR which might fit and will probably go with The Bread the Devil Knead

In the past, if I've picked up a book because of the title I've been disappointed - except for Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I loved. Inspired by this task I've gone back through my read books on GoodReads and created a "I-love-the-title" shelf

Wow, so many amazing titles! All so tempting...
Here's my contribution:
How to Talk to Your Cat About Gun Safety: And Abstinence, Drugs, Satanism, and Other Dangers That Threaten Their Nine Lives

This is where I fit in Right at Home: How Good Design Is Good for the Mind: An Interior Design Book by Queer Eye's Bobby Berk.

I ended up going with one of the ones I had singled out before, Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead by Barbara Comyns. Despite being very of its time in a lot of ways, it was still an enjoyable read, and I'm glad I went with it. I may check out more from the author.

Lupe wrote: "That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon because who WOULDN'T read this with this crazy title!"

Thanks for the suggestion!

I am going to read The Persian Pickle Club because I found it at an indie store used during the San Diego book crawl 2 weeks ago and I was immediately drawn to the name. Probably because I love pickles!

I read The House of Hidden Meanings 5 stars

They Can’t Kill Us Until They Kill Us
Hanif Abdurraqib
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

I read the Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Fleury-Feret

I read The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky It was really moving and I liked it a lot. TW - disordered eating and grief.

I will use Piglet by Lottie Hazell for this task. Absolutely loved the book. Pleasant surprise.