Read Harder is presented by the fab folks at Book Riot. These 24 tasks deliberately aim to break readers out of their comfort zone.
2. Read a book set in a bookstore.
3. Read any book from the Women’s Prize shortlist/longlist/winner list: A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
4. Read a book in any genre by a POC that’s about joy and not trauma.
5. Read an anthology featuring diverse voices: We Are the Baby-Sitters Club: Essays and Artwork from Grown-Up Readers, edited by Marisa Crawford and Megan Milks
6. Read a nonfiction YA comic: Dancing at the Pity Party: A Dead Mom Graphic Memoir by Tyler Feder
7. Read a romance where at least one of the protagonists is over 40: The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite
8. Read a classic written by a POC.
10. Read a political thriller by a marginalized author (BIPOC, or LGBTQIA+): While Justice Sleeps by Stacey Abrams
11. Read a book with an asexual and/or aromantic main character.
12. Read an entire poetry collection.
13. Read an adventure story by a BIPOC author.
14. Read a book whose movie or TV adaptation you’ve seen (but haven’t read the book).
15. Read a new-to-you literary magazine (print or digital).
17. Read a memoir written by someone who is trans or nonbinary.
20. Read an award-winning book from the year you were born.
23. Read a book by a disabled author: Paradise Lost by John Milton
24. Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat!
Completed:
1. Read a biography of an author you admire: Sometimes You Have to Lie: The Life and Times of Louise Fitzhugh, Renegade Author of Harriet the Spy by Leslie Brody (8/9)
9. Read the book that’s been on your TBR the longest: An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science by Edward J. Larson (1/26)
16. Read a book recommended by a friend with different reading tastes: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
18. Read a “Best _ Writing of the year” book for a topic and year of your choice: The Mysterious Bookshop Presents The Best Mystery Stories of the Year: 2002, edited by Lee Child (7/12)
19. Read a horror novel by a BIPOC author: The Hunger by Alma Katsu
21. Read a queer retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, folklore, or myth: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (2/11)
22. Read a history about a period you know little about: Spies of No Country: Secret Lives at the Birth of Israel by Matti Friedman (9/1)