2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge announced

I Googled it for over a month, and it finally arrived!

What, you might ask, could I possibly be so excited about? No, not the latest Star Wars film but the 2016 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I’ve created my spreadsheet and started filling in options. Heck, while I’ve been on my winter break I’ve already finished one book and started two more.

Even though this year’s task list does not require a recommendation from a friend, I’m open to suggestions for any of the tasks listed below. I’m especially anxious about finding a horror book that I can stomach. I used Frankenstein to fulfill one of last year’s tasks, so I need something equally cerebral as opposed to visceral. I’m a big fat chicken.

Are you up for the challenge? I know that Sabina from Victim to Charm is undertaking the challenge once more, plus I convinced a coworker to give it a try. Look, I understand how much fun it is to stick with the genres you love. I’ve been indulging in familiar mystery and suspense novel series ever since I finished the 2015 tasks. But I don’t regret setting my favorites aside to explore authors I would not otherwise meet. So what if you don’t complete every task? Each one attempted will open you up to new authors, styles and perspectives.

1. Read a horror book
2. Read a nonfiction book about science
3. Read a collection of essays
4. Read a book out loud to someone else
5. Read a middle grade novel
6. Read a biography (not memoir or autobiography)
7. Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel
8. Read a book originally published in the decade you were born
9. Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie Award
10. Read a book over 500 pages long
11. Read a book under 100 pages
12. Read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender
13. Read a book that is set in the Middle East
14. Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia
15. Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900
16. Read the first book in a series by a person of color
17. Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years
18. Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie. Debate which is better
19. Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes
20. Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction)
21. Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction)
22. Read a food memoir
23. Read a play
24. Read a book with a main character that has a mental illness

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