How to start?

[Eden]

I've never planned a reading list for a year before, and I'm feeling overwhelmed. Would love ideas on how to get started?

[Bonnie G.]

Eden wrote: "I've never planned a reading list for a year before, and I'm feeling overwhelmed. Would love ideas on how to get started?"

Everyone approaches this differently. I list book ideas for each prompt rather than planning the exact book I am going to read. I have several options for each prompt, and often I come across things during the year and change from there. Because of all the great ideas here on these threads, and the results of searches I do on Overdrive, I find I generally end up reading more than one book for most prompts. That is what I love about this challenge. It makes me research books in areas I would likely never have considered. So, for example, my plan for prompt #1 currently looks like this (and I will likely read one or more of these. Notably I am not a YA reader at all, and I found all of these books that sound really interesting that I would never have considered but for Read Harder.

1. Read a YA nonfiction book
Rapture Practice: A True Story About Growing Up Gay in an Evangelical Family
Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids
Bad Girl: Confessions Of A Teenage Delinquent
Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek
Die Young with Me: A Memoir

[Jennifer]

This has a tendency to shift somewhat, but I try to plan to read 2 challenge books per month, and usually give myself a rough idea at the beginning of the year of which challenges will be which month, based on when I'm busy and time of year and other things. For instance, I always make sure to read some Native writers in November for Native American Heritage Month, so challenge 24 will probably be a November pick for me, and I set aside time for poetry in April for National Poetry Month so that's task 8. Horror for October, Romance for February, pick a historical fiction novel that's focused on Black History for Black History month, or a historical fiction novel focused on a woman for women's history month, etc.! Once I have a few of those pinned down I think about what categories might pair well together/complement each other (maybe it would be interesting to read the two memoirs together and compare which format I like better! maybe I want to read a YA nonfiction and a historical fiction set in the same period so I know I have some context!), or if I have a really long book (like doorstopper) I'll pair it with a short book (novella or children's book).
I also list several book ideas for a prompt and sometimes end up reading something different as the year goes on.
I've always been a person who has her next 3 reads on dock because planning what to read is exciting for me, but I'm sure this sounds super restrictive and terrible for some people so it definitely depends on your reading style!

[Ariel]

I know some people plan out their whole reading list right at the beginning, but I prefer to take it one book at a time. I know what I'm going to be reading for task 1, but I probably won't plan my book for task 2 until I'm a solid chunk into task 1. That being said, I always feel like I need to go in order, but you definitely don't have to.

[〰️Beth〰️]

I stumbled upon this challenge last year. I was looking to add more translated works from around the world for 2019. The list gave me more ideas for potential reads. Did not finish the read harder but found lots of good books I never would have read.

This year I am looking at the challenge and will see which task match things in my TBR or reads in my other groups and do those tasks first. I switch often from literary fiction to lighter genres. I found looking at different group bookshelves and lists helped. Again if I finish, great. If not at least I will read some interesting books.

As a side note even though I did not finish the 2019 challenge tasks I did read over 30 books this year that I would never thought to try previously and probably have more than 50 on my TBR that I found in my random searches that I hope to read.

Ultimately don’t stress. Enjoy the search. Find something different that seems interesting to you and read it. Hope you will like it and find new authors or genres to read in the future.

[Eden]

Thank you ladies. I appreciate the help.

[Mya]

Eden,

I already have a list of books to read, so I start by looking at the prompts and seeing if they bring to mind anything from my list. I can usually fill in several of the prompts this way.

If not, I read the book riot suggestions, skim the goodreads discussion for that prompt, and I look at titles that goodreads shows as being “similar to” books that are being discussed. I am a huge fan of the ldouble dipping” discussion. By starting there I can check off more tasks early in the year. Then as the year allows I will read additional titles for those tasks.

Once I have ideas for ~20 or so of the 24 prompts I dive in. I don’t read in order and I expect to have all my plans change as the year goes on - sometimes I am just not in the mood for a choice I made months ago!

The point is to stretch yourself, to be aware of different genres and authors, and understand that the publishing industry has made it harder for authors of color and white women to be published. Ideally you end up trying new things and reading outside your comfort zone. However there are no “read harder” police so it’s okay to do it however works for you! :)

[Laura]

Eden,
I sometimes go to my local library and roam the shelves just looking for random books to read that fit the prompts. I’ve found some fantastic books that I’ve thoroughly enjoyed by doing that over the past couple years.
Really, there’s no “right” way to do this challenge. Just whatever works best for you.

[Marie]

You can also use the Goodreads navigation bar. Go to browse > all genres, and check out the books in the genres needed for this challenge. I'll also google "LGBTQ authors" or "African American playwrights" to find options.

If you're really stuck, you can always go with one of the books Bookriot suggests in their articles.

[Candace]

I love making a "plan" and picking books to read for each task. It often changes as I search more books and that's fine too. I also put any popular books on hold at the library, so by the time they're available I'll be ready to read them.

I usually start with a book I want to read the most or the book that's the easiest to find.

[Eden]

Candace wrote: "I love making a "plan" and picking books to read for each task. It often changes as I search more books and that's fine too. I also put any popular books on hold at the library, so by the time they..."

I totally understand the planning thing. I do that in most of my everyday life, but for some reason, I hadn't done it with book reading before, so it's just new. I'm enjoying finding different books that meet the prompts.

[Eden]

Mya wrote: "Eden,

I already have a list of books to read, so I start by looking at the prompts and seeing if they bring to mind anything from my list. I can usually fill in several of the prompts this way.
..."
I have a large tbr list (like 400+) so I'm having trouble doing this. Do you organize your Goodreads bookshelves to help you find stuff easier? I'm running into the issue of not being able to find stuff easy since there are so many. I need to re-organize my tags or tag things.

[Marie]

It helps when you tag things, although that can be a bit of a project if you haven't done so already. One easy tag is "author-woman." It's usually clear from the name if the author is a woman or not, so you can go through your TBR list and easily add that tag.

Other tags I use are:
author-poc
t-lgbt
t-(various genres)
^ I use the "t" because the shelves sort alphabetically unless you mark them "sticky" to be at the top of your list, and I like my genres grouped together.

One easy thing you can do is add the page count and date published columns to your TBR list. Go to your TBR list, click on "settings" at the top, check "num pages" and "date pub" and click "save current settings." Then you'll be able to click on these new columns to sort by number of pages or the date published. Pages and dates published come up regularly in the Read Harder Challenge, so it's helpful to have those features.

[Eden]

Marie wrote: "It helps when you tag things, although that can be a bit of a project if you haven't done so already. One easy tag is "author-woman." It's usually clear from the name if the author is a woman or no..."

Brilliant suggestions. I appreciate you sharing that wisdom. I need to spend some time in my tbr list anyway so might as well get organized. If you think of anything else, do let me know. Thanks!

[Marie]

Candace wrote: "I love making a "plan" and picking books to read for each task. It often changes as I search more books and that's fine too. I also put any popular books on hold at the library, so by the time they're available I'll be ready to read them.

I usually start with a book I want to read the most or the book that's the easiest to find."

Same here! :) Although I usually start with the "fast" books (novellas and children's books) so I can knock out a big chunk of the tasks in the first month. Then I go to the books I want to read, and save the tough ones for last, when I'm motivated to sprint for the finish line.

[Jane]

I put books into an Amazon wish list as I learn of them. It allows me to make comments describing the category it fits in to.

[Tamara]

For a couple of morning coffee sessions, I go through the pdf list of challenges, inputting options from my TBR or others' recommends. Then head to my local library online and create a 'save for later' list, so that when the book becomes available and I get an alert, I can decide then if it's what I want to read.

I didn't finish RH 2019 but I did 2018. In the end, for me it's really about opening up my reading list. I've found so many new favourite writers this way.

[Stacey]

I am a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out how to accomplish this challenge. I am not sure how to look up some things to research titles. For example: read a debut novel by a queer author. Why do I care about their sexual preference or lifestyle? I just wanna read a good book! Good for them if they are or not... just not sure why it matters. That’s just an example. It does cover a variety of things like a person of color, disability, native. But why not an Irish person? Just seems like it’s a too politically correct list. But it’s my first time and it does open up some ideas.. so I am game. I’m glad I found the goodreads topics though.. to help me find some book ideas!

[Marie]

Stacey wrote: "Why do I care about their sexual preference or lifestyle? I just wanna read a good book! Good for them if they are or not... just not sure why it matters."

I hear ya. I feel weird every time I google an author, trying to figure out their sexual orientation. Like, why is it my business?

But the idea behind the challenge is to expand readers' worldview. I was the same way before I started doing the challenges...I just wanted to read good books! But the challenge opened my eyes. I looked at my bookshelves, and 95% of my books were written by white men. Weird coincidence, huh??

That's one of the benefits of the challenge: to read books that are harder to find, that maybe aren't as promoted by their publisher as they should be because they're a "risk," that don't show up in some libraries because they're challenged. I know it feels odd to research the backgrounds of authors, but believe me, there's a segment of the population that is *very* aware of which authors are people of color or LGBTQ, and they're working to prevent those books from reaching readers. With some tasks, Read Harder attempts to counterbalance that.

Anyway, when it comes to queer authors, I usually just google "lqbtq author" or "lgbtq novelist" and work from there. There are a lot of lists posted. It's easier than going through your TBR list and researching every author.

Good luck with the challenge! I'm happy to hear you're finding the forums helpful!

[Maelia]

Does anybody else regularly read three or four books at once (i.e. a few pages or chapters of at least two different books each day), and if so, which categories of books for this challenge might you want to read simultaneously? I like to have a good variety going so that I don't get bored (for example, I might read one pre-1900 book/classic, one fantasy, one historical fiction, and one literary fiction novel, all at the same time).

[Milena]

Maelia wrote: "Does anybody else regularly read three or four books at once (i.e. a few pages or chapters of at least two different books each day), and if so, which categories of books for this challenge might y..."

I do this all the time. I currently have a library paperback, a Kindle for reading in bed, and an audiobook. It's more enjoyable and less confusing if they're different kinds of books.

[Mya]

Eden wrote: "Mya wrote: "Eden,

I already have a list of books to read, so I start by looking at the prompts and seeing if they bring to mind anything from my list. I can usually fill in several of the prompts..."

I have about 600 titles on my list of books to read. I’ve got a couple dozen shelves for organizing and try to put books on as many are appropriate when I add them. I have separate shelves for mysteries, romances, speculative fiction, nonfiction, biographies/memoirs, etc.

I also have shelves for author categories. Some examples: auth-anglo, auth-of-color, auth-international, auth-indigenous, auth-queer, auth-neurodiverse. “Anglo” is for American, British, Canadian, and Australian authors. Mostly white authors, but not always.International is for people like Japanese authors in Japan, or any work where I’m reading a translation. I use author of color for Black and brown authors living and being published in countries that are generally controlled by white people.

I already had a lot of these shelves. I added some after I started doing the read harder challenge a few years ago.

[Mya]

Stacey wrote: "I am a bit overwhelmed trying to figure out how to accomplish this challenge. I am not sure how to look up some things to research titles. For example: read a debut novel by a queer author. Why do ..."

Because historically, the publishing industry has been run by straight white men, and all the good books we could have been reading by everyone else weren’t allowed to be published. The book riot challenge is trying to help people be aware of the vast array of other options that are now more available. The fact that it’s still hard to find some of these categories is their point.

If an author is an out queer person, too often it’s assumed anything they write is only of interest to other queer people, and that it couldn’t possibly just be a good book that everyone might want to read. What many call “politically correct” is being respectful and inclusive, instead of requiring silence from those who are different from the supposed norm.

[Bonnie G.]

Maelia wrote: "Does anybody else regularly read three or four books at once (i.e. a few pages or chapters of at least two different books each day), and if so, which categories of books for this challenge might y..."

I always do this! Generally I have an audio, a Kindle and a print book all going, and different genres. If I am reading something heavy I will generally have something very light (a romance or mystery or humor book) going at the same time. I also often have a mix of fiction and non-fiction. Right now I am reading On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous and Timbuktu - I just last night finished The Paying Guests and am about to also start Brazen and the Beast. Like I said, its really varied!

[Marie]

Maelia wrote: "Does anybody else regularly read three or four books at once (i.e. a few pages or chapters of at least two different books each day), and if so, which categories of books for this challenge might you want to read simultaneously?"

I'm reading several of the "fast" books (picture book, YA, play, romance) at the same time as the "over 500 pages" book. Sometimes I get impatient to finish with a doorstopper, and finishing a bunch of fast books helps ease that feeling.

[Cheryl]

I don't know why, but I have some sort of obsession with finish the challenge as soon as possible. January isn't even over and I've already completed 5 of the 24 tasks. Help! I need to slow down!

[Bonnie G.]

I do that every year. I have already completed prompts 2, 7, 11, 16, 18. 19. 21. and 24 (there are some double dips here, and I always read at least one unique book for each prompt). It wears off after a couple months and I read tons of stuff that doesn't fall into the challenge or which duplicates prompts I already covered (with all the good suggestions here I always end up reading a number of books in some of the categories) Then I remember in around September that I still have prompts left.

[Eden]

Is that so bad? :) I'm about to 5 too. heheh

Bonnie G. wrote: "i do that every year, it wears off aftet a couple months and I read tons of stuff that doesn't fall into the challenge or qhich suplicates prompts I already covered (with all the good suggestions h..."

[Milena]

I was going to say essentially the same thing as Bonnie. This is my third year, and I always get really excited at the beginning and fill a lot of prompts. It slows down.

[Bonnie G.]

Eden wrote: "Is that so bad? :) I'm about to 5 too. heheh

Bonnie G. wrote: "i do that every year, it wears off aftet a couple months and I read tons of stuff that doesn't fall into the challenge or qhich supli..."

Thanks Eden and Milena, good to know I am not alone!