In order to help expand my horizons as a reader, writer, and editor, I’m going to attempt Book Riot’s 2015 Read Harder Challenge. I already have a substantial to-read backlog of books I own (tsundoku is the term in Japanese, I believe), so many of those are worked in, but I did find a number of books I might not have considered otherwise. Is anyone else doing this or another reading challenge for 2015? Be my reading buddy on Goodreads!
A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65: Lavinia by Ursula K LeGuin
A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people): Dangerous Women edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
A book published by an indie press: The Art of Subtext or Burning Down the House, both by Charles Baxter from Greywolf Press (a Minnesotan company!)
A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ: Stalking Darkness (Nightrunner #2) by Lynn Flewelling
A book by a person whose gender is different from your own: Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
A book that takes place in Asia: The Heike Story by Eiji Yoshikawa or Gempei by Kara Dalkey
A book by an author from Africa: The Map of Love by Ahdaf Soueif
A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.): The Trickster of Liberty: Native Heirs to a Wild Baronage
by Gerald Vizenor (a Minnesotan!)
A microhistory: The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson or Sex at Dawn: The Prehistoric Origins of Modern Sexuality by Christopher Ryan
A YA novel: Clariel (Abhorsen #4) by Garth Nix
A sci-fi novel: Neuromancer by William Gibson
A romance novel: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.): Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer (loosely based on the story Cinderella)
An audiobook: The Graveyard Book narrated and authored by Neil Gaiman
A collection of poetry: Them or Thin Snow by Omar Shapli (my late and beloved uncle)
A book that someone else has recommended to you: War for the Oaks by Emma Rose (takes place in Minneapolis!)
A book that was originally published in another language: 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life (Scott Pilgrim, #1) by Bryan Lee O’Malley
A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over): Love the One You’re With by Emily Giffin
A book published before 1850: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
A book published in 2015: The Lazarus Gate (The Apollonian Case Files #1) by Mark Latham
A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”): The New I Do by Susan Pease Gadoua and Vicki Larson
