2015 Read Harder Challenge

Book Riot Read Harder Challenge

The word eclectic is not used anywhere but this is very similar to the Eclectic Reader Challenge in that it is meant to help broaden what one reads.  I am definitely attracted to these kinds of challenges though they don't seem like a natural fit.  I'm a mood reader and have trouble forcing myself to read anything.  But it's good to push oneself, right?  I am overlapping books on this challenge and the Eclectic Reader Challenge as much as possible which makes me feel like I am kind of defeating the purpose but there are a number of categories that don't overlap so it does end up being 26 books overall between the 12 categories for the ERC and the 24 categories for this challenge. 

Here are the tasks and what I intend to read for each category, subject to change on a whim of course.  I left one category open, #18 A book that someone else has recommended to you, because I know I will get a lot of recommendations over the next year and want to go with the flow. I didn't double up within either challenge - each task/category gets its own book.  When possible, I've tried to overlap the list with books I already own and with my 100 Books Project.  I am organized this year, y'all! It may all go horribly, delightfully wrong:0)!

One final comment  - if there are links within the task text those are Book Riot's links that provide ideas for that particular task so check those out if you are interested.  Also, book links go to Goodreads.

24 Tasks

1. A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25 
• St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves by Karen Russell
2. A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65
• Our Endangered Values by Jimmy Carter
3. A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people
• The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson
4. A book published by an indie press
• Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon (Angry Robot - I have no idea if they count but they are smallish)
5. A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ
• Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
6. A book by a person whose gender is different from your own
•  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
7. A book that takes place in Asia
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
8. A book by an author from Africa
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
9. A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.)
• Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
10. A microhistory 
• Gulp by Mary Roach
11. A YA novel
• A Separate Peace by John Knowles
12. A sci-fi novel
• The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons
13. A romance novel
• Kiss and Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
14. A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade
• The Round House by Louise Erdrich (National Book Award, 2012)
15. A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)
• Winter by Marissa Meyer
16. An audiobook
• The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
17. A collection of poetry
• Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
18. A book that someone else has recommended to you
• OPEN
19. A book that was originally published in another language
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
20. A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind (Hi, have you met Panels?)
• Fables, Vol 20 - Camelot by Bill Willingham
21. A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)
• The Girl that Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Cathrynne Valente
22. A book published before 1850
• Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe
23. A book published this year
•  Mr. Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham
24. A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)
• Real Food: What to Eat and Why by Nina Planck

Right!  Better get reading.  I think I'm going to curl up with Mr. Kiss and Tell - some tawdry pseudo-noir mystery sounds lovely.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!