Book Riot’s 2018 Read Harder Challenge

I finished Read Harder 2018! I put a little pink asterisk next to the ones I especially liked.

1. A book published posthumously: The Bright Hour by Nina Riggs * (2/28) 
2. A book of true crime: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 2/19, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean 2/9
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci-fi/fantasy, romance): City of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin 1/27, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula LeGuin 2/4
4. A comic written and drawn by the same person: Nimona by Noelle Stevenson * 2/22 
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa): Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy * 2/24
6. A book about nature: Cape Cod by Henry David Thoreau 3/1 
7. A western: Sackett's Land by Louis L'Amour 4/5
8. A comic written or drawn by a person of color: Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates 3/23
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie * 9/11
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color: Indigo by Beverly Jenkins 7/13
11. A children’s classic published before 1980: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery * 1/19
12. A celebrity memoir: Just Kids by Patti Smith 2/10
13. An Oprah Book Club selection: The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen, Becoming by Michelle Obama * 12/2
14. A book of social science: Evicted by Matthew Desmond * 1/12
15. A one-sitting book: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor 3/4
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle-grade series: The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima * 3/5
17. A sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author: Mem by Bethany C. Morrow 9/14
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image: Quantum and Woody by James Asmus (Goodreads Author) (Writer), Tom Fowler (Artist) 9/29
19. A book of genre fiction in translation: The Neverending Story by Michael Ende * 10/17
20. A book with a cover you hate: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess 9/27
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author: Shelter by Yun Li 10/15
22. An essay anthology: Freedom Is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis * 2/2,  Not that Bad by Roxane Gay 11/8 
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60: The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher 5/30
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished): Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck 7/10

Book Riot's 2017 Read Harder Challenge

Last year, I vaguely attempted Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge, but then I forgot about it. I just checked to see how I did (mostly by accident) and I got 19/24. I might try to get back to the ones I missed (highlighted below) after I finish tackling the 2018 challenge.

1. Read a book about sports. Forward by Abby Wamback
2. Read a debut novel. Lots- Chemistry by Weike Wang and Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnet were favorites
3. Read a book about books. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
4. Read a book set in Central or South America, written by a Central or South American author. Fail.
5. Read a book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative. Exit West
6. Read an all-ages comic. March I, II, III by John Lewis and Saga Vol. 1 & 2
7. Read a book published between 1900 and 1950. A bunch, but let's say The Voyage Out by Virginia Woolf
8. Read a travel memoir. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
9. Read a book you’ve read before. Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau (because Trump)
10. Read a book that is set within 100 miles of your location. A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
11. Read a book that is set more than 5000 miles from your location. Everything Belongs to Us by Yoojin Grace Wuertz
12. Read a fantasy novel.  A lot but my favorites were Dune by Frank Herbert and The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula LeGuin
13. Read a nonfiction book about technology. Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari
14. Read a book about war. Dispatches by Michael Herr
15. Read a YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+. Not sure. Fail?
16. Read a book that has been banned or frequently challenged in your country. Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence
17. Read a classic by an author of color. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass (best memoir ever)
18. Read a superhero comic with a female lead. Fail.
19. Read a book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
20. Read an LGBTQ+ romance novel (From Sarah MacLean, author of ten bestselling historical romance novels) Fail.
21. Read a book published by a micropress. Bad Feminist and Hunger by Roxane Gay
22. Read a collection of stories by a woman. What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky by Lesley Nneka Arimah
23. Read a collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love. (From Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of the Esa Khattak/Rachel Getty mystery series, including The Unquiet Dead, The Language of Secrets, and the forthcoming Among the Ruins) Fail
24. Read a book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color. (From Jacqueline Koyanagi, author of sci-fi novel Ascension) The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas