This year, I challenged myself to complete the Book Riot 2015 ReadHarder Challenge. The
goal, according to Book Riot, is “to inspire you to pick up books that
represent experiences and places and culture that might be different from your
own.” When I decided to become a
librarian, I knew that I would need to read more across the different
genres. It’s something that I’ve
been working on for years and for the most part I’ve been successful. This challenge, though, is introducing me
to different perspectives on reading than I had previously considered. There are 24 different tasks, so to
complete all of them, one would have to read two challenge books a month. I’ve read 13 so far, so I’m right on
track to complete the Challenge, and have a few more books planned out.
Here are the tasks and the books I’ve
read so far (the one with asterisks are ones I plan to read). If you have ideas or suggestions for
me, I’ll gladly take them and if you want to keep up with me, friend me on
Goodreads.
·
A book written by someone when they were under
the age of 25: The
Duff by Kody Keplinger (Keplinger was 17 when she penned The Duff)
A book written by someone when they were over
the age of 65: The Heart Goes Last* by Margaret Atwood (Atwood is 75; the book comes out this year)
·
A collection of short stories (either by one
person or an anthology by many people): I’m not positive what I’m going to read for
this* – Press Play to Start edited by John Joseph Adams, Zombies vs. Unicorns
edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier, or Grim edited by Christine Johnson
·
A book published by an indie press
·
A book by or about someone that identifies as
LGBTQ: Gracefully
Grayson by Ami Polonsky (Grayson is physically a male, but identifies as
female)
·
A book by a person whose gender is different
than your own: Feast
for Crows by George R.R. Martin
·
A book that takes place in Asia: Crazy
Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
·
A book by an author from Africa
·
A book that is by or about someone from an
indigenous culture
·
A microhistory: The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians
Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime* by Judith Flanders
·
A YA Novel: Half
Wild by Sally Green
·
A sci-fi novel: Ancillary
Justice by Anne Leckie
·
A romance novel: The
One that Got Away by Bethany Chase
·
A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize, or
Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade: Brown
Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (incidentally, we are also reading All the
Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, this year’s Pulitzer winner, for Book Club)
·
A book that is a retelling of a classic story
(fairytale, Shakespearean play, classic
novel, etc.)
·
An audiobook
·
A collection of poetry: Wind in a Box* by Terrance Hayes
·
A book that someone else has recommended to you
·
A book that was originally published in another
language: Like
Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel (was originally published in Spanish)
·
A graphic novel, graphic memoir or a collection
of comics of any kind: I
have read a plethora of these – Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona
Staples, Lumberjanes by Grace Ellis and Noelle Stevenson, Bitch Planet by Kelly
Sue DeConnick and Valentine de Landro
·
A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure
(Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over): The
Coincidence of Coconut Cake by Amy E. Reichert
·
A book published before 1850: Rob Roy* by Sir Walter Scott
·
A book published this year: I
Was Here by Gayle Forman
·
A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or
non-traditionally considered “self improvement”): Art
Before Breakfast by Danny Gregory (a book about including art every day, even
when you’re busy)
-Andrea Scherer, GF Book Club Coordinator
-Andrea Scherer, GF Book Club Coordinator
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