Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2015: Final Outcome
My 2015 reading challenge has come to an end. While I didn't complete every category on the list, my goals for the challenge have been pretty successful, and 88% isn't bad. My intentions were to break out of my typical habits and pick up things I probably wouldn't have otherwise. Since the three categories I didn't fulfill were not necessarily outside my comfort zone (a poetry collection, an award winner from the last decade, and a book published before 1850), I'm not terribly concerned about missing them. This particular challenge functioned as a way to highlight my weak areas, and force me to concentrate on them as a way to be a more well-rounded reader. My weakest areas tend to be around international and indigenous writers, so I want to focus more on them in the coming years.
I don't have a new challenge lined up for 2016. I've been thinking about not doing one, and just reading in whatever direction I want, but it's still early in the year and I have some time to decide.
2015 Challenge:
A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65
Bookmarked: Reading My Way from Hollywood to Brooklyn by Wendy W. Fairey
A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)
Get in Trouble by Kelly Link
A book published by an indie press
Jane Austen: Cover to Cover by Margaret C. Sullivan (published by Quirk Books)
A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ
Blue is the Warmest Color by Julie Maroh
A book by a person whose gender is different from your own
A Few Words of Jane Austen by Stuart Tave
A book that takes place in Asia
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
A book by an author from Africa
We Should All Be Feminists by Chimimanda Ngozi
A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.)
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
A microhistory
The Library: An Unquiet History by Matthew Battles
A YA novel
Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
A sci-fi novel
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
A romance novel
Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie
A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade
A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)
Uprooted by Naomi Novik (it doesn't retell a specific story, but is heavily influenced by Eastern European folklore, specifically Baba Jaga)
An audiobook
Doctor Who: A History by Alan Kistler
A collection of poetry
A book that someone else has recommended to you
Salsa Nocturna by Daniel Jose Older
A book that was originally published in another language
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan
A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind
Saga Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples
A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)
Adventure Time Volume 1 by Ryan North, Mike Holmes, Pendleton Ward, et al
A book published before 1850
A book published this year
Spinster by Kate Bolick
A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)
Tiny, Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar by Cheryl Strayed
*(Original Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: Read Harder Challenge 2015)*
