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Completed!: Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2015


One of my 101 in 1,001 goals was to complete a reading challenge. I started out working on a couple of my own devising, picking my way through a couple of top 100 and recommended favorites list, without much success. I was getting pretty discouraged until the Book Riot Read Harder challenge popped up at the end of last year. This was something I could do; twenty four books in a year and a half was more than doable, even with the couple of categories I had added. It started out so well in fact I decided to try and finish it within the year. Things slowed down a bit midsummer, and ultimately I've discovered I like projects a little more open ended like the Seasonal Reading challenge on Goodreads, but I finished and I'm so glad I did. I read a lot of books I wouldn't have read otherwise. I picked up books I ended up loving instead of watching them fall to the bottom of my TBR list. Much like my 100 book goal for the year (something else I'm planning on revising), it pushed me to pick up books when I was feeling a bit ambivalent about reading; it got me excited about books.

I read a lot more diversely this year, in part due to this project and in part due to the fact that I'm a lot more conscience of what I read. I've been picking up more diverse reads at book sales and bookshops and I love that. I've also been more interested in nonfiction, in part because of this project, which has been amazing. I've always loved reading nonfiction but I've struggled with finding books that had the right style and tone for me. I do most of my nonfiction reading at the end of the day so I'm generally worn out by that point. Exposing myself to more nonfiction as I tried to pick out the books I needed for this challenge taught me a lot about what I will and won't read and what I'll actually finish.

While I won't be completing the challenge again next year since I'm planning on focusing on my physical TBR (and reading for the random whimsical joy of it), the Book Riot Read Harder challenge is definitely something I would like to revisit, And that idea lasted a whole week. Stay tuned for my 2016 Read Harder posts, including a list of recommendations and a potential (aka multi book per category) TBR. So as I was saying, but for now, here is my 2015 edition in all its glory.

A few notes: Categories are labelled to meet my changes and specifications for the original challenge categories check out the Book Riot intro post. I've included only the first book I read that falls into each category, not my favorite, nor what I feel is the best representation of each (for example I would prefer a book written by an indigenous person to one written about an indigenous person). Asterisks mark categories where only one book was read. I'm currently working on a post with reviews for some of my favorite books from this challenge so check my reading challenges or book review tags for that.

A BOOK...
Written by an Author Under the Age of 25* || What is Left of Me by Kat Zhang
Written by an Author Over the Age of 65* || A Mercy by Toni Morrison
By or about an LGBTQ person || Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson
Written by an African Author || Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
By or about an Indigenous Person || The Queen of Water by Laura Resau
Translated into English || The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Written by a Transgender Person* || Stuck in the Middle with You by Jennifer Finney Boylan
Set in Asia || How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
By or About a Person with a Disability || The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith
Published before 1850* || Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Published this Year || Hausfrau by Jill Alexander Essbaum
Published by an Indie Publisher || The Cold Song by Linn Ullman

A BOOK THAT IS A/AN...
Collection of Short Stories || Across the Wall by Garth Nix
Audiobook || The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
Poetry Collection || Urban Nature edited by Laure-Ann Bosselaar
Graphic Novel or Comic Bindup || My Japanese Husband Thinks I'm Crazy by Grace Buchele Mineta
YA Novel || The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett
SciFi Novel || Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
Romance Novel || The Summer Prince by Alaya Dawn Johnson
Microhistory || Sarum by Edward Rutherford
Guilty Pleasure || Paper Towns by John Green
Self Improvement Book || Rising Strong by Brené Brown
Nonfiction Book || Coming Apart by Charles Murray
National Book Award Winner || The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Man Booker Winner || The Inheritance of Loss by Karin Desai
Pultzer Prize Winner || Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
Retelling of a Classic || Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
Recommendation Given to me || The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Schaffer and Annie Barrows
Is on my Physical TBR || Crow Lake by Mary Lawsom
Is on my Ebook TBR || From Good Luck Farm by H. Russell Eastman


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