Thursday, December 27, 2018

Still Trying to "Read Harder"

Previously I aimed to work on Book Riot's "Read Harder" challenges, not quite reaching the 24 goals for either 2015 or 2016. (2017 was a bit of a whirlwind year apparently and I never even looked at the list, let alone attempted it.) This year, I looked at the "tasks" list very late in the game (November!!), but decided to give it a go anyhow. Granted, my reading for 2018 was already constrained by running/belonging to three book clubs and being a reader for a children's book award nominating committee, but I figured all of that reading had to help meet some of Book Riot's tasks for this year! Granted, that may not be how the makers of this challenge meant for this to work, but that's how I'm making it work this year. :)

As always, my reading tastes include children's, YA, graphic novel, and audiobook titles. (Sorry not sorry if you think any of those aren't 'really' reading.) Several books could have fit in more than one category, but I tried to contain them to one 'best fit' category. For each book, I link to my LibraryThing review of it. Inclusion of a book here does NOT mean that I necessarily liked that book, only that it met the parameters of each task.

For the final tally, 19 out of 24 isn't so bad, especially considering that I've read books that met most of the other categories in the past. I will admit to a bit of a reach with some of my titles here, but I'm okay with that.

Hope you find something good to read here!

1. A book published posthumously

2. A book of true crime
The first is a graphic 'novel' about an unsolved murder committed in the 1920s around the area of New Brunswick, New Jersey. The second is part travelogue, part true crime as it concerns a murder that took places in the 1990s among the storied homes of Savannah, Georgia. 

3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance)
These are both mystery books written by the dame of the genre for her "Miss Marple" series.

4. A comic written and drawn by the same person
Several others fit this category but are listed in other categories already. 

5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa)
These two books are about a Chinese/Chinese-American family and take place in China, then the US, and then back in China again as we follow the family through the generations.

6. A book about nature

7. A western
  • Didn't make one in this year but have in the past.

8. A comic written or drawn by a person of color
This manga is written *and* drawn by Nana Yaa, who I think is of African origin (based on her name and her hand-drawn author's 'photo' in the book). 

9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature
Book Riot's definition of postcolonial literature is pretty broad, so I think this one fits. Full disclosure: I began reading this book in 2017 but finished it in 2018, so I'm counting it here.

10. A romance novel by or about a person of color
This book is many things (YA, adventure, scifi, etc.) but at the core is the romantic feelings the protagonist has towards his best friend, an English born man of African descent. It's a bit of stretch to put here, but I'm hoping better than nothing. Romance is really not my genre.

11. A children’s classic published before 1980
The Ghost of Windy Hill was published in 1968; I'm not sure if it's really a "classic" given how it's hard to find nowadays, but my sister and I both loved it growing up. 

I went through a Sendak phase this year and read several of his books (whether he was the author and/or the illustrator) that I never read as a child. There were some titles that were actually more recent than 1980. Then going backwards from that date, Some Swell Pup originates from 1976. In the Night Kitchen was originally published in 1970; Higglety Pigglety Pop! in 1967; Alligators All Around, One Was Johnny, and Pierre in 1962; The Sign on Rosie's Door in 1960; The Moon Jumpers in 1959; What Do You Say, Dear? in 1958; and A Hole Is to Dig in 1952. 

Katy No-Pocket is from 1973. Where the Sidewalk Ends was another childhood favorite and was originally published in 1974.

12. A celebrity memoir

13. An Oprah Book Club selection

14. A book of social science
With this title, the social science in question is political science.

15. A one-sitting book
Several others fit this category but are listed in other categories already. I chose not to include short children's books (e.g., picture books and early readers) here as that seemed self-evident. 

16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series
The adventures continue with The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy and The Gentleman’s Guide to Getting Lucky.

17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author
  • Didn't make one in this year but have in the past.

18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image
These are respectively published by: 
  • Graphix 
  • Dark Horse
  • Charmz/Papercutz
  • Archie Comics
  • Penny Farthing 
  • Graphix (again)
  • Dark Horse (again)
  • NBM Publishing
  • First Second
  • Boom! Box
  • Top Shelf Productions
  • Boom! Box (again)
  • Z2 Comics
  • Flying Eye Books
  • Great Beast Comics
  • Action Lab Entertainment 
  • Oni Press
  • Graphix (for the third time)
  • Dark Horse (for the third time)
  • KaBOOM!
  • Roaring Brook Press
  • Knopf Books for Young Readers
  • NBM Publishing (again)
  • Dark Horse (for the final time)
  • NBM/Papercutz
Several others fit this category but are listed in other categories already. 

19. A book of genre fiction in translation
This is a work of historical fiction in translation (from Spanish to English). 

20. A book with a cover you hate
  • There are covers that don't seem to match the book and there are covers that disappoint by whitewashing, but this seems more arbitrary than "harder." I think the challenge's architects were trying to get readers outside of their comfort zone and to actually not judge a book by its cover, but this one struck me as silly and I had no interest in doing this one.

21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author
  • Did not get to this one, which is particularly unfortunate because I do love mysteries.

22. An essay anthology
These are both less of an "anthology" and more a literary criticism, but I'm going to call it as a "close enough."

23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60

24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished)
  • Again, I wasn't thrilled with this prompt. The idea I assume is to re-visit something you didn't like originally and see how you feel about it now. I just don't have the time or interest anymore to tackle something I already disliked once. Plus, I've done this in the past when books like A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man that showed up in both my high school and college curricula. 

Book Riot has posted the 2019 challenge, and I'm honestly not that thrilled by many of the prompts. Again, there seems to be an arbitrariness to some of them (Why is 2014 a magic date? Who cares about the number of Goodreads reviews?) that I dislike. With so many other things on my plate (book-wise and otherwise), I think I'll probably end up skipping next year's challenge.

*Began in 2018 but did not finish before year end
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