Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Hey guys!

Enjoyed reading the discussions on possible double dippers for last year's challenge. Any ideas for this year's tasks?

The World's Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette's, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family works for both #12 - A memoir by someone from a religious tradition that is not your own (Mormon) and #21 - A main character or protagonist with a disability (Tourette's)

I don't double dip, but if I did the following would work off my list

Salvage the Bones would work for #5 Natural Disaster and #10 Rural Setting

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women would work for #1 YA Nonfiction and #24 Book by an Indigenous Person.

Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me works for #21 Protagonist with a Disability and #4 Graphic Memoir

Brave Face could work for both the YA nonfiction and graphic memoir tasks.

Things to Do When You're Goth in the Country: and Other Stories works for the rural setting and horror book published by an indie press tasks.

I plan on reading I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World which fits multiple prompts:
-Nonfiction YA
-Memoir by someone from a religious tradition that is not your own
-Book by/about a refugee
-Middle grade book that doesn't take place int he US or UK

Though I should ask: Is there a limit to how many prompts a book can cover?

Bonnie G. wrote: "I don't double dip, but if I did the following would work off my list

Salvage the Bones would work for #5 Natural Disaster and #10 Rural Setting

[book:#Notyourprincess: Voices of ..."

I think Salvage the Bones also counts for #15 Climate Change.

@ProfBen10, I have one that covers four or five for another challenge, so I don’t think so.

No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison works for both the refugee and the religious tradition prompt.

- Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community
- Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own


- Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own
- Read a YA non-fiction book


- Read a graphic memoir (I also strongly recommend the first book if you haven't started this series!)
- Read the LAST book in a series


-Read a YA nonfiction book
-Read a book about climate change

ProfBen10 wrote: "I plan on reading I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World which fits multiple prompts:
-Nonfiction YA
-Memoir by someone from a religious tradition th..."

Entirely up to you I believe! I'm a bit of a stickler so I do like to have a unique book for each prompt even if there is some overlap - although I rarely end up reading them all!

The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State
Takes place in a rural setting (from the description it at least starts in her village)
Religious tradition
Refugee

Trail of Lightning is a book (1) by a Native American author that is (2) a retelling of a myth and is about (3) a natural disaster and (4) climate change

I'm still working on my list, but so far I'm thinking

Laughing at My Nightmare
1. Read a YA nonfiction book
21. Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non)

M. Butterfly
2. Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color
6. Read a play by an author of color and/or queer author

The Lost Man or Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead
3. Read a mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman
10. Read a book that takes place in a rural setting

A Matter of Life or The Complete Persepolis
4. Read a graphic memoir
12. Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own

Outrun the Moon
5. Read a book about a natural disaster
7. Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII

Tempest
9. Read the LAST book in a series
14. Read a romance starring a single parent

The Gilda Stories
11. Read a debut novel by a queer author
22. Read a horror book published by an indie press

The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen
13. Read a food book about a cuisine you’ve never tried before
24. Read a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author

The Fifth Season
15. Read a book about climate change
16. Read a doorstopper (over 500 pages) published after 1950, written by a woman

Lost and Found Cat : The True Story of Kunkush's Incredible Journey
18. Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community
19. Read a book by or about a refugee

I just wish I could find a middle grade book (not set in US/UK) that's also a sci-fi/fantasy novella...

Tempest by Beverly Jenkins qualifies as the Last book in a series and a romance starring a single parent. It could be read easily without reading the first two in the series.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Zoe wrote: "
- Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community
- Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religio..."
Cool, I'm planning to read Greta Thunberg for those 2 tasks too! Also planning to read The Complete Persepolis (graphic memoir; book by a refugee) and Tipping the Velvet (historical novel not set in World War 2; debut novel by a queer author).

A good triple dipper for the following

10) A book that takes place in a rural setting
19) A book by or about a refugee
20) A middle grade book set outside of UK or US

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

I love the double dippers thread. :)

Susan Laughs by Jeanne Willis
A picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community
A book with a main character or protagonist with a disability

We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time by José Andrés
A book about climate change
A food book about a cuisine you’ve never tried before (if Spanish cuisine fits that for you)
A book about a natural disaster

The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday
A retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color
A book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author

Good Seeds: A Menominee Indian Food Memoir by Thomas Pecore Weso
A book that takes place in a rural setting
A memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own
A food book about a cuisine you’ve never tried before
A book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author
(possibly?) A book about climate change (it's about man-made changes affecting traditional ways of gathering food. Not clear from the description if it addresses climate change specifically)

I was skimming books that have been on my list to read for a while and realized that Hild by Nicola Griffith meets multiple tasks. It’s historical fiction (7th century britain), and at 546 pages it is a doorstopper (over 500 pages) published after 1950, written by a woman.

Plus Griffith is queer, if that’s a criteria for anyone, and Hild is on my “get to it already” list. I put books on there after 4 years. If they are still there in 5-6 years I figure it means that I didn’t actually want to read them and cull them from my to-read list. Hild is getting close to that cutoff so this is good impetus to finally read it.

Two titles that double (and possibly triple) dip:

Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life by David Treuer

Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia by Anita Heiss

Both are memoirs outside my religious tradition, and by a Native/ Indigenous author. I haven’t read them yet but I suspect that they also take place (at least in part) in rural settings. It’s also possible that they discuss food/ diet, in which case they would quadruple dip.

A debut novel by a queer author and a work by an indigenous author. It has different titles depending on what edition/ language it’s in. The american title is Last Night in Nuuk.

Here’s more information. There are a bunch of articles about it.

https://electricliterature.com/how-gr...

Mya wrote: "A debut novel by a queer author and a work by an indigenous author. It has different titles depending on what edition/ language it’s in. The american title is Last Night in Nuuk.

H..."

I'm reading Last Night in Nuuk for a queer author debut and I'm glad to see it pop up on here! It's been on my TBR for a while and I'm excited to finally get around to it!

Do you have any links where Korneliussen mentions being Inuit? None of the searches I've been doing turn up her stating that she is Inuit. I always thought that she was of European descent with a bit of Inuit or other Indigenous ethnicity thrown in.

Mya wrote: "Two titles that double (and possibly triple) dip:

Rez Life: An Indian's Journey Through Reservation Life by David Treuer

[book:Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia|..."

I have read both of these, they are both great books. There is absolutely no discussion of religion in either. I have spent time on several of the reservations in Treuer's books, and I guess Red Earth at least could be counted as rural, though it certainly is not farmland or countryside for the most part. Growing up Aboriginal is a collection of personal histories, and takes place in cities, towns, rural areas. everywhere -- its part of the point of the book that there are indigenous people everywhere, living in every type of setting.

Victoria, the article I linked to strongly indicates it, but it doesn’t say so explicitly. Greenland, and the Indigenous people who lived there, were colonized by Denmark. When Korneliussen talks about that history, and the way the article discusses the racism expressed by the Danish toward Greenlandic people and how the book echoes the oral storytelling traditions of the Inuit. Combine that with the fact that 88% of the population of Greenland are Greenlandic Inuit (including mixed Danish Inuit), and looking at several photos of the author? My suspicion is that it’s so obvious to people in Greenland and Denmark that it doesn’t occur to them to say it explicitly. I think it’s not like America where white people try to pretend that the genocide of Indigenous peoples was completely successful and they are all past tense. (Not true, just how the subject is approached most of the time.) In Greenland, being Inuit is very present tense because most of the population are Inuit. There’s no reason to claim it because there’s nothing exotic about it when you are in Greenland.

I don’t know if this makes sense? I am trying to say that I feel comfortable assuming that Korneliussen is Inuit or Danish Inuit. She is from Greenland, she talks about experiencing racism, etc. when in Denmark, and she looks Inuit, or of Inuit descent. I will keep trying to learn more because I might be wrong, but for now I am going with my assessment.

Some Kind of Hero by Suzanne Brockmann is
1) the last in a series and
2) a romance involving a single parent.

I’ve read the series and this one will largely stand on its own. Characters from previous books show up as friends and colleagues in this title, and possibly more of them than necessary, but you don’t need their stories to read this book. :)


A note:
Brockmann writes romantic military suspense. She’s pro military, queer inclusive (her son is gay), and her books contain some strong characters of color, but she makes white people mistakes in how she describes them. As an example the female protagonist in this work is Black, and iIrc, Brockmann describes her as “exotically beautiful” of something along those lines. I value her work, especially what she’s done to push the conservative romance industry to accept gay male characters, but she isn’t perfect.

Victoria wrote: "Do you have any links where Korneliussen mentions being Inuit? None of the searches I've been doing turn up her stating that she is Inuit. I always thought that she was of European descent with a bit of Inuit or other Indigenous ethnicity thrown in."

Aha! Added to my response above, this interview clarifies the question. Korneliussen says-

“But the thing I’ve noticed when I’ve met with Inuit students in Montreal is that I felt like I was privileged somehow. They’ve been colonized very badly in comparison to us. They’re in danger. Their language is in danger. And their culture is very much in danger as well. I feel privileged that my colonizers weren’t that bad.”

If she were European the Danish wouldn’t be her colonizers. The people they colonized were the Inuit.


https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arct...

ProfBen10 wrote: "I plan on reading I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World which fits multiple prompts:
-Nonfiction YA
-Memoir by someone from a religious tradition th..."

I think this challenge might be more ... fun? if you do try to have one title meet multiple categories. I'm looking at these as what can I find at my library, vs what do I need to go out and buy, and realizing that my library is lacking in variety!

Shout could used for the YA nonfiction and poetry audio book tasks.

I’m planning on reading The Lake House by Kate Morton. It’s over 500 pages and the victim is male. It could potentially also be a historical novel since part of it is set in the 1930s.

I just realized Assassin's Quest works as a double-dipper for me. It is:
1) the last book in a series
2) a book over 500 pages published after 1950, written by a woman

If you're already mid-way through a series written by a woman, take a look at the page count for the last book - you might be able to double-dip as well.

The most recent issue of McSweeney's is about climate change, so it fits tasks #23 - Read an edition of a literary magazine (digital or physical) and #15 - Read a book about climate change. https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products...

Cindi wrote: "I'm looking at these as what can I find at my library, vs what do I need to go out and buy, and realizing that my library is lacking in variety!"

Cindi,

I’ve been really pleased by my library’s collection, but it does have gaps. They allow 3 recommendations for titles to purchase from each cardholder, each month. I have been using those to suggest authors of color, indigenous authors, and books for queer kids (LGBTQIA). Sometimes they buy them, which is exciting! :)

It’s worth finding out how your library handles suggestions and any guidelines they have. I think a lot of people don’t know or bother, and it’s one way to expand the world for your community. For my library I can do it at home, online, making it super easy.

(Of course libraries in some communities don’t have funds to expand their collection, but that’s a thing worth finding out, too.)

Another approach is to talk to your library about the read harder challenge. Librarians are readers, too. They may join in, and so help make sure the library has options, or check what’s available through inter-library loans.

I’m reading The Last to Tudo by Philippa Gregory it works as #7 and #16.

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story works for three:

18. Picture Book with Main Character from Marginalized Community
24. Book by Native Author
13. Book About Cuisine You’ve Never Tried Before

I just realized that listening to Brown Girl Dreaming on audiobook, which I'd always planned to do anyway, means it's a thriple-dipper:
-YA nonfiction book
-audiobook of poetry
-a memoir by someone from a religious tradition* (or lack of religious
tradition) that is not your own (*Christian and Jehovah's Witness)

Unraveled, by Courtney Milan is a romance with a single parent plus it’s the last book in her Turner series. I didn’t think of it earlier because it’s a custodial situation rather than a biological parent, but book riot’s recommendations include several like that.

I think it’s most enjoyable if you have at least read the middle book, if not the series, but that’s not essential. Be warned that Milan’s books are simultaneously really funny, and cover quite serious topics (class and gender privilege, abuse, mental illness, racism, medical malpractice, etc.). She’s one of my favorite authors.

Just finished The Girl from the Well from the list for 2 (below) but pretty sure it also counts as horror from an indie press (22). Young adult and spooky without being gory so a fun quick read.

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

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood fits the graphic memoir and possibly a memoir from someone from a religious tradition unlike your own (unless you are Muslim, of course). Same could be said of The Complete Maus, unless you are Jewish.

Bleeding Earth works for both the climate change challenge and the rural setting challenge.

If you listen to the audiobook of Tommy Pico's IRL, it could work for:

#8: Read an audiobook of poetry
#24: Read a book in any genre by an Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author

The audiobook is free and available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kkbzb... (He tweeted out the link to it himself, so it's totally legit!)

American War
It's a book about a civil war in America in the near future.

15. Read a book about climate change. The civil war in the book is caused by climate change.
19. Read a book about refugees. The book is about refugees in a fictional world.

Moon of the Crusted Snow

10. Rural Setting
24. Book by an indigenous author

Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light

18) A Picture book with a human character from a marginalized community.

21) A book with a main character with a disability

24) by a Native, First Nations or Indigenous author

Also takes place in a rural setting.

Any book in the Outlander series would qualify for:

7. Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII
10. Read a book that place in a rural setting
16. Read a doorstopper published after 1950, written by a woman

And if you read the last book in the series, it counts for that one, too.

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

11. Read a debut novel by a queer author
19. Read a book by or about a refugee

I read The Outside by Ada Hoffmann. It covered debut book by a queer author(11) and a book with a main character wit a disability(21).

The Snow Child would fit:
10. rural setting
2. retelling of a fairy tale or myth

Possibly historical fiction - it takes place in Alaska in 1920
Also, I'm not trying to get into a debate here, but depending on how you term "disability," the main character has PTSD. I've seen people using books that have that "disability" in them, but it's on an individual basis.

The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui

Works for Graphic Memoir and Book by or about a refugee

Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties is kind of a double dipper in that it contains a story or two that count as #2 (retelling of a myth by an AOC) as well as #17 fantasy novella.

The Best We Could Do (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...) fits both graphic memoir (#4) and by or about a refugee (#1). I’m not sure what qualifies as a middle grade book but much of it happens in Vietnam (#20). It’s very good, one of the best books I have read in a while.

Richard wrote: "Carmen Maria Machado's Her Body and Other Parties is kind of a double dipper in that it contains a story or two that count as #2 (retelling of a myth by an AOC) as well as #17 fanta..."

What myth does this retell? I am not great on mythology so I am sure I missed that. Also, though some of these short stories were on the long side, I don't think any are novella length. Loved the book though, and counted it for horror from an indie publisher.

Jonny Appleseed: Book by a Native author and debut novel by a queer author