Read Harder Challenge

I really want to grow as a reader this year.  I toyed with doing the PopSugar 2015 reading challenge, but there are a lot of categories in that challenge and honestly two/thirds of them are not challenging.  Then Elizabeth mentioned the Read Harder Challenge from Book Riot.  After looking over the categories it seemed like the perfect fit.  I few are gimmies, a few are a stretch, and several are really outside my comfort zone.

There’s also a Goodreads group for this challenge and it’s helpful if you need help find examples for a certain category. IE – Which books were written when authors were under 25 or over 65.

Here are the Categories – I’ve arranged by level of challenge.

A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ
"The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by Emily M Danforth
"Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda" by Becky Albertalli

A book by a person whose gender is different from your own
"The Journal of Best Practices" by David Finch

A YA novel
"Pointe" by Brandy Colbert

A romance novel
"Flirting by Disaster" by Victoria Dahl

An audiobook
"The Cuckoo's Calling" by Robert Galbraith

A book that someone else has recommended to you
"Grave Mercy" by Robin LaFevers

A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)
"Stepbrother Dearest" by Penelope Ward

A book published this year
"My Heart and Other Black Holes" by Jasmine Warga

A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25
"The DUFF" by Kody Keplinger

A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65
"Gathering Prey" by John Sandford

A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)

A book published by an indie press
"The Carnival at Bray" by Jessie Ann Foley

A book that takes place in Asia

A book by an author from Africa

A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans,Aboriginals, etc.)

A sci-fi novel
"The Cage" by Megan Shepherd

A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)
"Daughter of the Forest" by Juliet Mariller

A book that was originally published in another language
"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up" by Marie Kondo

A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind (Hi, have you met Panels?)
"Friends with Boys" by Faith Erin Hicks

A microhistory
"When Books Went to War" by Molly Guptill Manning

A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade

A collection of poetry
"Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty" by Christine Heppermann
"Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson

A book published before 1850
"Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte

A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)
"Come As You Are" by Emily Nagolski