Here are the books I read to complete each of the prompts.
1. Read a 2025 release by a BIPOC author. Messy Perfect, by Tanya Boteju.
2. Reread a childhood favorite book. The Real Boy by Anne Ursu (On the National Book Award Longlist in 2013, the year that I began working professionally in libraries).
3. Read a queer mystery. How to Have a Killer Time in D.C., Book 1 in Oliver Popp's Travel Guides to Murder series by Sam Lumley.
4. Read a book about obsession. Obsessed, by Allison Britz.
5. Read a book about immigration or refugees. Kareem Between, by Shifa Saltagi Safadi.
6. Read a standalone fantasy book. The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World, by J.R. Dawson. The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong. Green Teeth by Molly O’Neill. Tress Of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchett. Peter & Max, by Bill Willingham.
7. Read a book about a piece of media you love (a TV show, a movie, a band, etc). Harry Potter and the Problematic Author, a fanzine by Maia Kobabe.
8. Read literary fiction by a BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and/or disabled author. My Dear Henry, by Kalynn Bayron, a “Remixed Classics” retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow, a “Remixed Classics” retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. (Re)Living Mythology, a Collection of Black Magical Stories & Poetry, from the Voodoonauts Afrofuturist collective for Black science fiction and fantasy writers.
9. Read a book based solely on its setting. My Dear Henry, by Kalynn Bayron, a “Remixed Classics” retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde.
10. Read a romance book that doesn’t have an illustrated cover. My Dear Henry, by Kalynn Bayron, a “Remixed Classics” retelling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde. So Many Beginnings by Bethany C. Morrow, a “Remixed Classics” retelling of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women. (The books’ covers depict live models instead of characters who were rendered artistically.)
11. Read a work of weird horror. The Lonely Below by g. haron davis.
12. Read a staff pick from an indie bookstore. Learning to Fall by Sally Engelfried (among staff picks, City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco). Dungeons & Dragons Club #2: Time to Party by Molly Knox Ostertag, illustrated by Xanthe Bouma (among staff picks, Left Bank Books in St. Louis, Missouri). No Cats in the Library by Lauren Emmons (among staff picks, Changing Hands Bookstore with locations in Tempe and Phoenix). Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman (among staff picks, Pegasus Books in Oakland).
13. Read a nonfiction book about nature or the environment. Forecasts: A Story of Weather and Finance at the Edge of Disaster by Caroline E. Schuster, illustrated by Enrique Bernardou and David Bueno.
14. Read a comic in translation. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1, by Kousuke Oono. Cat Massage Therapy by Haru Hisakawa.
15. Read a banned book and complete a task on Book Riot’s How to Fight Book Bans guides. The Breakaways, by Cathy G. Johnson, which was challenged in 2021 in the Spring Branch, Texas, school district.
Tasks that I engage in include reading agendas and viewing recorded meetings of the local school board and library commission. I’ve also posted videos to YouTube, written letters to the editor, and submitted resolutions to my school board: affirming the value of libraries and uplifting the ability to read books that offer diverse perspectives.
16. Read a genre-blending book. Under the Whispering Door, by TJ Klune.
17. Read a book about little-known history. Neurotribes, by Steve Silberman.
18. Read a “cozy” book by a BIPOC author. Calvin, by J.R. and Vanessa Ford. My Rainbow, by DeShanna and Trinity Neal. Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope, by Jodie Patterson. Marley’s Pride, by Joëlle Retener. The Boy and the Bindi by Vivek Shraya. Discovering Elijah, by Rayona Lovely Wilson.
19. Read a queernorm book. Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee. Blades of Furry by Deya Muniz and Emily Erdos (can also be read on Webtoon).
20. Read the first book in a completed young adult or middle grade duology. Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer. Rainbow! by Sunny and Gloomy (can also be read on Webtoon).
21. Read a book about a moral panic. Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell, art by Mike Feehan. That Book is Dangerous: How Moral Panic, Social Media, and the Culture Wars are Remaking Publishing by Adam Szetela.
22. Read a holiday romance that isn’t Christmas. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell.
23. Read a wordless comic. Bow-Wow’s Nightmare Neighbors by Megan Montague Cash, illustrated by Mark Newgarden.
24. Pick a 2015 Read Harder Challenge task to complete:
No. 3: A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people). (Re)Living Mythology, a Collection of Black Magical Stories & Poetry, from the Voodoonauts Afrofuturist collective for Black science fiction and fantasy writers.
No. 18: A book that someone else has recommended to you: Final Strike, Book 3 in The Dresden Codex, by Jeff Wheeler. The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World, by J.R. Dawson.
20. A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind. No Cats in the Library by Lauren Emmons. Sons of Star Trek by Morgan Hampton. Cat Massage Therapy by Haru Hisakawa. The Breakaways, by Cathy G. Johnson. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1, by Kousuke Oono. Dungeons & Dragons Club #2: Time to Party by Molly Knox Ostertag. Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell. Exit, Stage Left!: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell, art by Mike Feehan. Rainbow! by Sunny and Gloomy. Fables by Bill Willingham.
https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2025/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Robust debate and even unusual opinions are encouraged, but please stay on-topic and be respectful. Comments are subject to review for personal attacks or insults, discriminatory statements, hyperlinks not directly related to the discussion and commercial spam.