Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder Challenge

[Grumble]

On 5/5/2018 at 5:14 PM, scalyfreak said:

 

If only they weren't all audiobooks...  

 

Picky picky picky...

[CourtnieMarie]

oh hey y'all! just updating where i'm at with these bad boys. 7 out of 24 completed after just finishing song of solomon. I really enjoyed it! and it was actually super fun to read alongside watching '11.22.63' which I also wouldn't mind reading someday. Finishing up a couple books not on the list and then will get into Things Fall Apart (#9)

 

I also found some books to fill in my missing categories...

1. A book published posthumously - Beren and Lúthien (Read)
2. A book of true crime – Killers of the Flower Moon
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person - Touching Evil Vol. 1, written and illustrated by Dan Dougherty
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa) – Life of Pi
6. A book about nature – Life of Pi or The Book Of Simple Delights (if I can find it)
7. A western – Killers of the Flower Moon
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color - Runaways Vol. 1, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa 
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature - Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color - Let's talk about love, by Claire Kann
11. A children’s classic published before 1980 – A Spell for Chameleon
12. A celebrity memoir – Choose Your Own Autobiography, Neil Patrick Harris (Read)
13. An Oprah Book Club selection - Song of Solomon (Read)
14. A book of social science – Body Positive Power (Read)
15. A one-sitting book – Make Good Art or The Picture of Dorian Gray
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series – The Armored Saint
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: Bone Crossed (Read)
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Touching Evil Vol. 1 (published by Beardo Comics) 
19. A book of genre fiction in translation – Britt-Marie Was Here
20.  A book with a cover you hate - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author - The Last Place You Look 
22. An essay anthology - Nasty women, edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60 – Britt-Marie Was Here
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished) – I think I finished all my assigned books no matter how much I hated them…

[Chant]

Thanks to Scalyfreak's powers of persuasion, I will be joining the challenge! Since I just found out about it, I will be plugging in books I have already read this year (only 2018 books!) to fill in some of the categories. Sadly, a lot of the books I've read this year didn't fit, but that just means I've got a lot to look forward to for the rest of the year.

 

1. A Book Published Posthumously: The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath (Read)

2. A Book of True Crime: Killers of the Flower Moon (Read)

3. A Classic of Genre Fiction: A Wrinkle in Time (Read)

4. A Comic Written and Illustrated by the Same Person: Ghost World (Read)

5. A Book Set in or About One of the Five BRICS Countries: The Bonesetter's Daughter

6. A Book About Nature: Edible Wild Plants (Read)

7. A Western: Killers of the Flower Moon (Read)

8. A Comic Written or Illustrated by a Person of Color: Monstress - Vol. 1

9. A Book of Colonial or Post-Colonial Literature: Heart of Darkness (Read)

10. A Romance Novel by or About a Person of Color: Agnes Moor's Wild Knight

11. A Children's Classic Published before 1980: A Wrinkle in Time (Read)

12. A Celebrity Memoir: Wishful Drinking

13. An Oprah Book Club Selection: Love in the Time of Cholera (Read)

14. A Book of Social Science: Heart Berries: A Memoir (Read)

15. A One-Sitting Book: My Very End of the Universe (Read)

16. The First Book in a New-to-you YA or Middle Grade Series: The Armored Saint (Read)

17. A Sci-Fi Novel with a Female Protagonist by a Female Author: The Ages of Chaos (Read)

18. A Comic that isn't Published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Magekiller (Read)

19. A Book of Genre Fiction in Translation: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (Read)

20. A Book With a Cover You Hate: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy (Read)

21. A Mystery by a Person of Color or LGBTQ+ Author: The Unquiet Dead

22. An Essay Anthology: Radical Hope

23. A Book with a Female Protagonist over the Age of 60: Like a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun

24. An Assigned Book You Hated (Or Never Finished): The Orphan's Tale (Read)

 

[CourtnieMarie]

welcome! how'd you like the armored saint? i had it on my list then re-read the description and decided i didn't want to read it haha! i switched out the book for that category to The Knife of Never Letting Go

[Chant]

5 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

welcome! how'd you like the armored saint? i had it on my list then re-read the description and decided i didn't want to read it haha! i switched out the book for that category to The Knife of Never Letting Go

 

Thanks! OMG, I LOVED it. I loved it so hard. It was not at all what I was expecting, and I read it in one sitting on a day off. I literally couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the next one to come out.

[turtleduck]

Joining halfway through the year, and therefore also counting the books I've read so far (the ones that count) - and am ok with one book counting for more than one category:

 

• A book published posthumously:
• A book of true crime
• A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance):
• A comic written and illustrated by the same person: The Prince and the Dressmaker (graphic novel and comic are interchangeable, yes? )
• A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa):
• A book about nature: Last Child in the Woods
• A western
• A comic written or illustrated by a person of color: Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (Part 2)
• A book of colonial or postcolonial literature
• A romance novel by or about a person of color
• A children’s classic published before 1980
• A celebrity memoir
• An Oprah Book Club selection
• A book of social science
• A one-sitting book: The Prince and the Dressmaker
• The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series: First Test (Protector of the Small Quartet)
• A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet
• A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (Part 2)
• A book of genre fiction in translation
• A book with a cover you hate
• A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author
• An essay anthology: The Geek Feminist Revolution
• A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60
• An assigned book you hated (or never finished)

Umm... not sure if this means I'm doing it wrong, but all these books are firmly within my comfort zone.

[CourtnieMarie]

nope! just means you have a varied taste. i just finished the picture of dorian gray which was (surprisingly) out of my comfort zone. i loved the importance of being earnest and did not expect what I got with Dorian.

 

here are my updates!

1. A book published posthumously - Beren and Lúthien (Read)
2. A book of true crime – Killers of the Flower Moon
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person - Touching Evil Vol. 1, written and illustrated by Dan Dougherty
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa) – Life of Pi (Read)
6. A book about nature – Life of Pi (Read) or The Book Of Simple Delights (if I can find it)
7. A western – Killers of the Flower Moon
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color - Runaways Vol. 1, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa 
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature - Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (Read)
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color - Let's talk about love, by Claire Kann
11. A children’s classic published before 1980 – A Spell for Chameleon or The Neverending Story
12. A celebrity memoir – Choose Your Own Autobiography, Neil Patrick Harris (Read)
13. An Oprah Book Club selection - Song of Solomon (Read)
14. A book of social science – Body Positive Power (Read)
15. A one-sitting book – The Picture of Dorian Gray (Read)
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series – The Knife of Never Letting Go (Read)
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: Bone Crossed (Read)
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Touching Evil Vol. 1 (published by Beardo Comics) 
19. A book of genre fiction in translation – The Neverending Story
20. A book with a cover you hate - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author - The Last Place You Look 
22. An essay anthology - Nasty women, edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding (Reading)
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60 – Britt-Marie Was Here
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished)

[Scaly Freak]

On 6/27/2018 at 12:32 PM, turtleduck said:

Umm... not sure if this means I'm doing it wrong, but all these books are firmly within my comfort zone.

 

There is nothing wrong with a large comfort zone. If there was, there wouldn't be a challenge about expanding on it.  

[Scaly Freak]

On 4/29/2018 at 5:13 PM, Gemma said:

For the "book of true crime" task - this just popped up in my Goodreads feed. I'm strangely intrigued. 

 

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36978075-conan-doyle-for-the-defense

 

 

I'm please to report I just collected this from my local library, and will start reading it this afternoon. The cover is much better looking in person.

[Gemma]

2 minutes ago, scalyfreak said:

 

I'm please to report I just collected this from my local library, and will start reading it this afternoon. The cover is much better looking in person.

 

Synchronicity 'r' us - my library just informed me that they have checked out the e-book to me - I will start reading it probably tomorrow as my current e-book is a quickie read. 

[Scaly Freak]

It still has the new book smell. It's the first I've ever found that in a library book... and the book itself is very interesting so far.  

[turtleduck]

4 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

 

There is nothing wrong with a large comfort zone. If there was, there wouldn't be a challenge about expanding on it.  

I guess so : ) maybe it's also that I've started with books I read this year before discovering this challenge, and then read books I had at home but hadn't read yet, an am therefore reading books of least resistance first - maybe it'll get tougher when I have to choose a romance novel and a western, etc.

But also, is it "cheating" if,  within a genre, I choose a book that I think I'm more likely to enjoy  than others in that genre (like when I saw Neil Patrick Harris as someone's celebrity (auto)biography  pick - I bet I would love it, so maybe that's too easy a choice, and I should try harder by picking the autobiography of a celeb I dislike or have no feelings about either way)?

I mean, I know everyone will have their own answer to this - just musing on the "harder" in this Read Harder Challenge.

[Scaly Freak]

1 minute ago, turtleduck said:

 

But also, is it "cheating" if,  within a genre, I choose a book that I think I'm more likely to enjoy  than others in that genre (like when I saw Neil Patrick Harris as someone's celebrity (auto)biography  pick - I bet I would love it, so maybe that's too easy a choice, and I should try harder by picking the autobiography of a celeb I dislike or have no feelings about either way)?

 

No such thing as cheating, as long as the effort is genuine.

 

I've never understood why so many people seem to equate "get out of your comfort zone" with "do something really unpleasant that you don't actually want to do".

 

For example, if let's say someone has a fear of heights. That person wants to try and get out of their comfort zone a little bit and face that fear, in the hopes of overcoming some of it. Would you recommend bungee jumping or sky diving? Or would you recommend travelling to the top of a tall mountain somewhere, where this person can watch the Perseid meteor shower without any light pollution from large cities nearby (something you know this person would love to do), while enjoying a beautiful vista from up high?

 

Staying firmly inside our comfort zones makes our worlds very small, but if leaving that small world isn't pleasant and rewarding in some way, we would all eventually stop trying. 

 

The point of this challenge is not to read books you don't expect to enjoy. It's to give a fair chance to books it would never occur to you try to read, if this challenge hadn't suggested them to you.

[Scaly Freak]

6 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

It still has the new book smell. It's the first I've ever found that in a library book... and the book itself is very interesting so far.  

 

i am two thirds into the book, it's midnight, and I am incapable of putting this down. 

 

Thank you, @Gemma  

[turtleduck]

On 7/1/2018 at 12:24 AM, scalyfreak said:

The point of this challenge is not to read books you don't expect to enjoy. It's to give a fair chance to books it would never occur to you try to read, if this challenge hadn't suggested them to you.

 

I guess I do have to try harder, then, because most of the categories are ones that I am interested in - so it has occurred to me to read books from them (ok except romance novels and westerns - unless space westerns count). All of the books I've read for this so far are ones I would have read - eventually - even if I hadn't found out about the challenge. So in order to get added value from it, I will need to choose books that I don't already have an interest in reading, which means I feel neutral/apprehensive about them. I'm not talking about choosing something I think will be a slog - I'm not going to give precious time to authors whose views I find morally repulsive or anything - but if the category is celebrity memoir, and there are a bunch of people whose memoirs look interesting enough that I'd read them challenge or no (authors, actors, scientists), then "expanding" would only happen for me if I chose another celebrity memoir (by an Olympic athlete, say, or a country singer). I wouldn't particularly expect them to be thrilling, but I don't doubt that I would learn things from them and be glad I read them.

[turtleduck]

Have finished another two:

 

Britt-Marie Was Here, for A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60

 

Discount Armageddon, for A book with a cover you hate

I... don't hate the cover anymore. It's not great, but I'm used to it.

[CourtnieMarie]

I'm really freaking anxious to get Britt-Marie was Here! still on hold for it from the library.

 

here's my updates from last time! a few changes and more books read  

1. A book published posthumously - Beren and Lúthien (Read)
2. A book of true crime – Killers of the Flower Moon (Read)
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person - Touching Evil Vol. 1, written and illustrated by Dan Dougherty
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa) – Life of Pi (Read)
6. A book about nature – Silent Spring (Reading)
7. A western – Killers of the Flower Moon (Read) or Twelve Years a Slave or True Grit
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color - Runaways Vol. 2, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa 
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature - Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (Read)
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color - The Burning Sky (Reading)
11. A children’s classic published before 1980 – A Spell for Chameleon or The Neverending Story or A Wrinkle in Time
12. A celebrity memoir – Choose Your Own Autobiography, Neil Patrick Harris (Read)
13. An Oprah Book Club selection - Song of Solomon (Read)
14. A book of social science – Body Positive Power (Read)
15. A one-sitting book – The Picture of Dorian Gray (Read)
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series – The Knife of Never Letting Go (Read)
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: Bone Crossed (Read)
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Touching Evil Vol. 1 (published by Beardo Comics) 
19. A book of genre fiction in translation – The Neverending Story
20. A book with a cover you hate - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author - The Last Place You Look or A Study in Scarlet Women
22. An essay anthology - Nasty women, edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding (Read)
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60 – Britt-Marie Was Here
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished) – Not sure what to do here

[CourtnieMarie]

Almost coming to the end of the year! Not sure I'll finish but got closer than I imagined! I put in bold the ones that are duplicates or that I haven't got to yet. I really loved doing this and expanding my horizons though.

 

1. A book published posthumously - Beren and Lúthien (Read)
2. A book of true crime – Killers of the Flower Moon (Read)
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person - Something New: Tales from a Makeshift Bride, written and illustrated by Lucy Knisley (Read)
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa) – Life of Pi (Read)
6. A book about nature – Silent Spring (Read)
7. A western – Killers of the Flower Moon (Read) or Twelve Years a Slave or True Grit
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color - Monstress Vol. 2 written by Marjorie Liu and illustrated by Sana Takeda (Reading)
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature - Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (Read)
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color - The Burning Sky (Read)
11. A children’s classic published before 1980 – A Wrinkle in Time (Read)
12. A celebrity memoir – Choose Your Own Autobiography, Neil Patrick Harris (Read)
13. An Oprah Book Club selection - Song of Solomon (Read)
14. A book of social science – Body Positive Power (Read)
15. A one-sitting book – The Picture of Dorian Gray (Read)
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series – The Knife of Never Letting Go (Read)
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: Bone Crossed (Read)
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, published by Mariner Books or Relish: My Life in the Kitchen published by Macmillan Children's Publishing Group
19. A book of genre fiction in translation – The Neverending Story (Reading)
20. A book with a cover you hate - The Dragon Reborn (Read)
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author - A Study in Scarlet Women (Read)
22. An essay anthology - Nasty women, edited by Samhita Mukhopadhyay & Kate Harding (Read)
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60 – Britt-Marie Was Here (Read)
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished) – Not sure what to do here

[Gemma]

Somehow just realized that I have not updated here in a long time. I felt like I was keeping up ... turns out I was just reading y'alls updates as they came through my e-mail. Here is today's update. 

 

On 3/29/2018 at 7:26 PM, Gemma said:

 

1. A book published posthumously - Beren and Lúthien READ
2. A book of true crime - Conan Doyle for the Defense READ
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) - The Haunting of Hill House READ
4. A comic written and illustrated by the same person - Touching Evil Vol. 1, written and illustrated by Dan Dougherty READING NOW
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa) - One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich READ
6. A book about nature - Seeds of Hope READ
7. A western - A Man Called Outlaw 
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color - Runaways Vol. 1, illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Takeshi Miyazawa READ
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature - Insurrecto  ON HOLD FROM LIBRARY 
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color - A Bollywood Affair READ
11. A children’s classic published before 1980 - A Swiftly Tilting Planet  READ
12. A celebrity memoir - Crazy is My Superpower, A. J. Mendez Brooks READ
13. An Oprah Book Club selection - Song of Solomon READ
14. A book of social science - Rising Strong READ
15. A one-sitting book - Catwings READ
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series - Fablehaven READ
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: The Ship Who Sang, Anne McCaffrey READ
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Touching Evil Vol. 1 (published by Beardo Comics) READING NOW
19. A book of genre fiction in translation: Out in the Open (dystopian fiction translated from Spanish) READ
20. A book with a cover you hate - Out in the Open READ
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author - The Last Place You Look  READ
22. An essay anthology - Nearly Fifty READING NOW
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60 - Britt-Marie Was Here READ
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished) - Gulliver's Travels  READ

 

 

 

 

I am pretty excited about Insurrecto as my "book of colonial or post-colonial literature." I had "Wide Sargasso Sea" in mind for that slot, which totally would have worked - but I was really ambivalent about reading it, and therefore procrastinating, because I was afraid it would ruin Jane Eyre for me.  Wut? Yeah.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯  

 

So when I saw this book review on NPR I immediately ran and put it on my library waitlist. Hope it comes available before the end of the year! 

[CourtnieMarie]

I'm curious as to why you hated the cover of Out in the Open haha! looks pretty mild to me. 

[Gemma]

33 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

I'm curious as to why you hated the cover of Out in the Open haha! looks pretty mild to me. 

 

Random blobs of garish colors, no indication at all of genre, subject, theme, just looks like absolute zero effort was put into it - if one of my Goodreads friends had not recommended it to me, if I was just browsing library stacks or bookshop shelves, it would never occur to me to pick this up. "Hate" is maybe too strong a word, but I really do look at it with an "ugh," every time.

 

I just went through my Goodreads list of books I've read this year to see if there were any others that I had the same visceral reaction to - and the only other one that tripped my ugh-o-meter was this:

 

See a theme, here? (By the way this was a GREAT book, @MikeW recommended it to me and I loved every word of it, but apparently I have issues with bright color splotchies?) 



I thought about using literally any of the books in Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom series, because their covers are all pretty cringe-worthy, but I read those last year and was not going back to do any of them again. Fun, but not read-more-than-once fun.

[Mike Wazowski]

Haha @Gemma, I personally loved the Big Magic cover, but I see how it could be polarizing. I also like blotchy colorful things, and have a giant 5-panel print in my living room as proof of that fact.

[Gemma]

I just finished 'Insurrecto' so I am now done!

 

I really liked this. A lot of the books I read were ones that I would probably have read anyways, but there were many books that I enjoyed that I would never have even thought about picking up without this challenge:

• Insurrecto
• Britt-Marie was Here
• Conan Doyle for the Defense

There were also a few that I did not particularly enjoy, but it still felt good to be doing something outside of my normal (and I mostly managed to pick very short works for the categories that didn't thrill me, so I didn't spend much time on these):

• A Bollywood Affair
• Seeds of Hope
• The Saddle Daddy Rode

 

How about everyone else? What did you read because of this that you would never have read otherwise? Did you like it?
 

 

The 2019 challenge list is here: https://bookriot.com/2018/12/12/2019-read-harder-challenge/  - I started a new thread about it, so anyone who is interested, c'mon along for the ride!

 

 

[CourtnieMarie]

I really liked this too! A few books i never would have picked up if not for this challenge but REALLY glad I did:

• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Life of Pi
• Silent Spring
• A Study in Scarlet Women
• Nasty Women
• Britt-Marie was Here (@Gemma more than halfway done with A Man Called Ove by the same author which you might also like!)

 

Some I could have done without... but still glad to have tried!

• A Wrinkle in Time
• Beren and Luthien
• The Picture of Dorien Gray

[CourtnieMarie]

1 minute ago, CourtnieMarie said:

Some I could have done without... but still glad to have tried!

• The Picture of Dorien Gray

 

Though apparently i liked it enough to have highlighted a quote. who doesn't love a good oscar wilde quote?!

 

"The only excuse for making a useless thing is that one admires it intensely.

  All art is quite useless."