Reading Challenge: Read Harder 2020

For 2019, I did two reading challenges: Historical Fiction and Read Harder.

Read Harder changed my reading life.

I had initially rolled my eyes at about a fourth of the requirements, but in the end, every book I was "forced" to read was ultimately really wonderful. I ended up learning something, enjoying more than I anticipated, and was introduced to new authors and ideas. Many of my favorite reads for 2019 were due to Read Harder -- now I feel like I 'get' reading challenges and I'm hooked!

So I'm pretty excited for Read Harder 2020. If you can recommend anything that fits one of these 24 options, let me know! I'm still developing my list.

Read Harder 2020

1) Read a YA nonfiction book

An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People

2) Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color

Beloved by Toni Morrison
One Thousand and One Nights by Hanan al-Shaykh
Tender by Sofia Samatar

3) Read a mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman

A Trace of Deceit
A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder
Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
The Other Americans
Thus Was Adonis Murdered

4) Read a graphic memoir

March: Book One
Becoming Unbecoming

5) Read a book about a natural disaster

Outrun the Moon
The Wildlands
The Children's Blizzard
Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883
Sudden Sea: The Great Hurricane of 1938
The Great Hurricane: 1938

6) Read a play by an author of color and/or queer author

SongCatcher: A Native Interpretation of the Story of Frances Densmore by Marcie R. Rendon (finished 6/28/2020)

7) Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII

8) Read an audiobook of poetry

Other Words for Home
The Poet X

9) Read the LAST book in a series

Sangu Mandanna's final book in her Celestial Trilogy

10) Read a book that takes place in a rural setting

The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope by Rhonda Riley (finished 6/9/2020)

11) Read a debut novel by a queer author

Gideon the Ninth

12) Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own

We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir
Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots
Outlaw Christian: Finding Authentic Faith by Breaking the 'Rules'
Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again
Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint
Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun

13) Read a food book about a cuisine you’ve never tried before

The Island Kitchen: Recipes from Mauritius and the Indian Ocean
The Food of a Younger Land: The WPA's Portrait of Food in Pre-World War II America
tawâw: Progressive Indigenous Cuisine
Kaukasis: A Culinary Journey through Georgia, Azerbaijan Beyond

14) Read a romance starring a single parent

Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon (finished 2/1/2020)

15) Read a book about climate change

Goldilocks by Laura Lam (finished 5/15/2020)

16) Read a doorstopper (over 500 pages) published after 1950, written by a woman

The Priory of the Orange Tree
The Luminaries
Romantic Outlaws
Barkskins
The Paying Guests
The Starless Sea
The Secret History

17) Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages)

The Ballad of Black Tom
Binti
All Systems Red

18) Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community

Sofia Valdez, Future Prez by Andrea Beaty (finished 1/12/2020)

19) Read a book by or about a refugee

The Sympathizer
Do Not Say We Have Nothing
Salt Houses
Americanah

20) Read a middle grade book that doesn’t take place in the U.S. or the UK

The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
Amal Unbound
The Turtle of Oman

21) Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non)

What Is Visible: A Novel by Kimberly Elkins
So Lucky by Nicola Griffith

22) Read a horror book published by an indie press

23) Read an edition of a literary magazine (digital or physical)

24) Read a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author