Reading Harder in 2017
Author: Asandra al'Terra, July 2017
It’s the halfway mark of 2017, which means it's time for me to take stock of my progress in the Read Harder Challenge from Book Riot – one of my favourite ways to diversify my reading every year. In short, the Read Harder Challenge presents you with 24 tasks with which to shake up your reading life.
You can count one book in many categories, but I’m a bit of a purist, and I try to read a different book for each task. Here’s my list so far – now, to focus for the rest of the year! I’ve finished 11/24 tasks, and have a bunch of books lined up to fill the rest.
It’s not too late to start, especially if you use one book for multiple points.
- Read a book about sports.
Oof. I’ve been putting this one off (I’ve been tempted to go with Quidditch Through the Ages, but I think that might be cheating!). I suspect I’ll end up reading League of Denial, which details the coverup of concussions in the NFL.
- Read a debut novel.
Done! For this one, I read Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. It was a sweet little novella about a woman who has lost her grandmother and is taken in by a male friend and his mother. It also came with a short story at the end that also dealt with unexpected loss.
- Read a book about books.
I’m not sure what to do for this one, but I might end up going with If On a Winter’s Night a Traveller by Italo Calvino, which has been on my TBR shelf since I received it the day I turned 18. I guess a decade of waiting is long enough, huh?
- Read a book set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author.
This is another category that will be completed with the help of a book I’ve owned for close to a decade: Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
- Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative.
Done! For this, I ended up reading The Mortifications by Derek Palacio – which could also count for “Person of colour goes on a spiritual journey.” It’s about a mother and two children who immigrate from Cuba to Connecticut, and how their lives move forward. It’s a touching book about the meaning of family, love, and religion.
- Read an all-ages comic.
I have yet to decide what to do for this – maybe Miss Marvel?
- Read a book published between 1900 and 1950.
Done! I went back to a classic love for this: The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. It was wonderful to remember why she’s called the Queen of Crime – I loved the twist!
- Read a travel memoir.
Running theme: books dusty from being on the TBR. This one will be Travels with Herodotus, by Ryszard Kapuścinski.
- Read a book you’ve read before.
Done! And how – I re-read the entire Harry Potter series by the inimitable J.K. Rowling.
- Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location.
Done! (although I might change this book) Rather than picking from the hundreds (thousands?) of books set in modern New York City, I ended up choosing Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov, set in a very futuristic NYC. It’s a sci-fi-meets-whodunnit kind of book, and it was an absolute riot to read.
- Read a book that is set more than 5000 miles from your location.
Done! … and I kind of cheated on it. I picked A Quiet Place by Seicho Matsumoto, about a man whose wife dies of a heart attack. That’s not unexpected – she had a heart condition – but she passed away in an unusual part of town, near a bunch of love hotels. The book details his attempts to understand what happened to her. That being said, it feels like cheating because I read so many Japanese mysteries, it’s not really a challenge to get to it!
- Read a fantasy novel.
Done! Another gimme category. Here, I chose The Call by Paedar O’Guilin. Think of it as The Hunger Games set in Ireland with vindictive faeries.
- Read a nonfiction book about technology.
I have no idea what I’ll do here, but I suspect it will be by Kevin Mitnick, hacker extraordinaire.
- Read a book about war.
This is another uncertain one. I'm currently reading The Sympathizer by Viet Thangh Nguyen, but it start at the fall of Saigon, which marks the end of the Vietnam War. I’ll have to read more to see if it seems like a good fit.
- Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+.
Done! I chose Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. Although it’s not listed as YA, the main characters are all children between the ages of – I believe – 12 and 17. These children all have one thing in common: they went through a door they shouldn’t have, and found new worlds. Now, they’re back “home,” and can’t readjust. It’s a wonderful concept, and I highly recommend the book, although it tries to do a little too much for such a short novella.
- Read a book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country.
There are so many to choose from, I don’t know where to start!
- Read a classic by an author of color.
Since I’m not American, I missed a lot of classics. I suspect the choice for this will, therefore, be The Color Purple by Alice Walker.
- Read a superhero comic with a female lead.
I haven’t done this yet, but it will definitely be Miss Marvel!
- Read a book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey.
Another American classic: Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin. Parenthetically, I’m waiting for the day I don’t start singing the hymn whenever I see the title.
- Read an LGBTQ+ romance novel.
Done! – kind of. I chose Passing Strange by Ellen Klages, although it’s a fantasy featuring a LGBTQ+ romance, rather than a romance book in particular. It was a lovely read, though, and I highly recommend it.
- Read a book published by a micropress.
This one is proving to be a challenge, since most of what I’m finding from the micropresses I looked at is poetry, which is just not my kettle of fish.
- Read a collection of stories by a woman.
Done! The Mistletoe Murder by PD James. I’d never read her before, and I have to say, I liked really enjoyed these several little mysteries.
- Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love.
I haven’t done this yet, but it will probably be Rumi.
- Read a book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color.
Done! – Again in letter, but not in spirit. For now, I’ve chosen Six Four by Hideo Yokoyama – yes, yet another Japanese mystery. Still – it was an excellent book, both procedural and mystery and family drama, and I recommend it highly to fans of mystery.
Have you done the challenge? Do you have any recommendations for any section? Tell us in the comments!
