Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Here is a thread to discuss books you’re considering or suggesting for Task 20: Read a book about books (fiction or nonfiction).

The Midnight Library or Ink Blood Sister Scribe

Lots of options for this one! Some fiction I've read are The Last Chance Library and The Reading List.

I've had How to Read Now by Elaine Castillo on my list since it came out, and this seems like a perfect time to read it!

The Book Thief, The Paris Library, or Spells & Shelves

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa

Might go with Bookshops and Bonedust

I have Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books down for this one.

I have a few in mind for this one. For novels I'm considering The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean, and Murder by Page One by Olivia Matthews. For nonfiction, I'm thinking maybe Monster, She Wrote: The Women Who Pioneered Horror and Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kröger and Melanie R. Anderson, Black Love Matters: Real Talk on Romance, Being Seen, and Happily Ever Afters edited by Jessica P. Pryde, and Paperbacks from Hell: The Twisted History of '70s and '80s Horror Fiction by Grady Hendrix.

I wonder if The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern counts - it's more a book about stories, but sometimes those stories are in books.

I read it this year, so I can't count it for 2024 BRRH, but I can highly recommend What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, by Michiko Aoyama - about book's transformative power.

Confessions of a Bookseller

Jaimi wrote: "I have Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books down for this one."
This is such a good book! I hope you enjoy it!

I have Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller on my TBR pile for this one

I feel like I read a lot of books about books, but for this one I'm going to read The Wishing Game - just ordered it!

I recommend The Eyre Affair and seconding The Book Eaters.

For those who like memoirs: “Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller” by Nadia Wassef

Thinking that I'll try The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary.

I'm reading The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. I regret that this one lingered on my TBR for so long--I'm loving it!

A nonfiction option: Penguin by Design: A Cover Story 1935-2005

I read “The Reading List” for this task. A heartwarming story about a widower, trying to understand his late wife’s love of books, and the young part time librarian who share the same mysterious reading list.

I think I might do The Parliament, since it is on my holds list at the library. But so many good ideas here to add to my TBR!

I read Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

I listened to The Lost BookshopThe Lost Bookshop by Evie Woods and liked it. The narrators I think did a great job in the audio version and made the experience lovely.

Others on my list for this prompt:
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa (that would work for the book in traslation prompt too if you haven't been to Japan)
Bodyminds Reimagined: (Dis)ability, Race, and Gender in Black Women’s Speculative Fiction by Sami Schalk (if you are looking for a non-fiction option)

I loved Christopher de Hamel's "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2..." if manuscripts are books which I think counts! I read this for a previous challenge for a year and category I can't now recall :-)

I read The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

I listened to Yellowface by R.F. Kuang and I couldn't stop listening, I finished it in 2 days.
I really loved it.
It is about writing and the publishing industry, so it is definitely about books!

Kumiko wrote: "The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa"

Thank you for this recommendation! I read it for this prompt and really enjoyed it.

Yellow face!

I'm thinking of reading "What a Library Means to a Woman" about Edith Wharton's book collection.

I’m wondering if I could fit A Room of One’s Own here, seeing as it’s an extended essay based on two lectures about “Women and Fiction” that Virginia Woolf gave. Any thoughts?

Rachel wrote: "I’m wondering if I could fit A Room of One’s Own here, seeing as it’s an extended essay based on two lectures about “Women and Fiction” that Virginia Woolf gave. Any thoughts?"

Rachel, I love this idea. I think it would fit, since it's an essay essentially about what's essential in order to write books. Some might say it's a stretch, but I personally think it's perfect.

I read The Cat Who Saved Books. 5 stars

My daughter just recommended The Book Thief as she is listening to it so I'm going to switch up my books for this one from what I originally planned.

So far, for this challenge I've read The Cat Who Saved Books, which is a 3-for me, as I've not been to Japan, and it's cozy fantasy. And This Book Won't Burn which is YA novel about a teen battling book banning in her community.

I read The Journals of Katherine Mansfield. She writes a lot about the process of writing her no seminal short stories, along with other anecdotes about life and love. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for something outside of the contemporary page turner arena.

Just finished Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books for this one!

I read Why We Read: On Bookworms, Libraries and Just One More Page Before Lights Out by Shannon Reed.

Anyone know of any books about Christmas books? I know there are some about Christmas films or TV episodes, but I don't know if there are any about the books, and I think it would be a really interesting subject!

Jenny wrote: "Anyone know of any books about Christmas books? I know there are some about Christmas films or TV episodes, but I don't know if there are any about the books, and I think it would be a really inter..."



It's a bookshop, not sure if that's what you meant