Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion
Task Ideas/Resources/Discussions
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Introductions: Who are you and what about this challenge caught you eye?
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Hello :-) I'm Pamela. I live in Cedar Springs, MI, USA. I have set a book challenge of a number of books to read for years but last year is the first year I logged everything into goodreads. I am brand new to Book Riot. A teacher friends shared it with me. I am a HS policy debate coach and Academic Tools teacher. I am always looking for ways to read more widely and to help students become excited about reading. This challenge feels like a great way to do that. I am looking forward to hearing about all the wonderful books other people find to meet these challenges.
Hi all, I'm Jamie and live in North Carolina. I tend to read mostly mainstream fiction, but want to give my brain a good workout this year. As we age our brains need new stimuli, my certainly does. This will be a good challenge to try something new.
Hi!!! My name is Nessa, short for Vanessa, and I'm an avid reader. Even working full-time, I read anywhere from 1-5 books per day. The organizer invited me to this book challenge, and I'm always looking for new books to read and enjoy. Last teaser my life went completely crazy, so I'm trying to keep a handle on it this year, and am excited about this challenge. I'm also interested in other reading challenges as eel!
Hi all! I'm Candace. I'm in the DC area. I started this challenge to expand my palette and push myself to read more.
Pamela wrote: "Hello :-) I'm Pamela. I live in Cedar Springs, MI, USA. I have set a book challenge of a number of books to read for years but last year is the first year I logged everything into goodreads. I am b..."Hah, so far, this challenge had gotten me to chapter 23 of Anna Karenina and I'm pretty sure that book would have continued to be pushed aside for other options if it wasn't for this challenge.
Hey, All I'm Allison and I wanted to read more this year and a reading challenge seemed the best way to do that. Also, clear out the TBR pile.
Chrissie wrote: "My name's Chrissie, and I live in Western Australia. I've been a sometime fan of BookRiot for some time now (I tend to go for months without visiting the website, then I go and explore the site for..."Hi Chrissie! I'm Catherine in Melbourne VIC and I did this challenge for the first time last year - didn't finish it though - 3 books left. In my defence, I was very ill last year and my eyes weren't that great. I'm also the one who started a discussion about PoC (I skimmed that NPR article so didn't digest the last bit Bonnie). I still find the term offensive, even if it is trying to be inclusive. Why not just stick to non-European? Anyway, have fun with the challenge!!
Hi All, I'm Cindy from Boston, MA! I love to read and want to expand my repetoire this year to science fiction, mystery and science non-fiction, to name just a few of my interests. What I really look for is that book that swallows me up, that I can't stop reading, so I try to leave myself open to any genre these days!
Hi, My name is Denise. I am from Battle Creek, Michigan and now am a proud to be living in Greenville, SC. I hadn't heard of Book Riot until last year when someone mentioned your read harder challenge. Which is something I, very much want to do this year. Last year I ended up reading 238 of my 105 book pledge. I know I can read a lot of books I want to read books that have more meaning to me and still enjoy the serialize books I enjoy and discovering new authors.
Amy from Plymouth, Massachusetts here. I joined last year’s challenge too late to finish but enjoyed the variety of books AND the puzzle of finding books that work for more than one challenge. I know some people frown on double dipping but it’s fun for me!
Carol from NYC. A friend posted the challenge on her facebook page. I've made the decision to read more like I used when I was younger, in the days before social media, computers, smartphones etc. This challenge looked interesting b/c of the diverse range of books and it would force me out of my comfort zone re the types of books I usually read. I'm really looking forward to discovering new authors and books over the coming year.
Hi, I'm Pam from Toledo, and I'm a high school English teacher. My reasons for taking the challenge are two-fold: First, although I love reading, I tend to put it off during my hectic school year and then try to cram in all my TBR over the summer. I hope this structure will help to keep me on track during the school year. Second, and related to the first, is the fact that I can never make up my mind on what to choose. From friends' suggestions, to book lists, to award winners, to classics, to student recommendations, there are too many choices! This list enables me to whittle down my options.
Hi, Maureen from Norwood, NJ. I am a big fan of Book Riot and decided to take the plunge with their 2018 reading challenge. I like the mix of topics and books and I am looking forward to completing the tasks. I run a book club at my library and I am hoping to get my group to read along with me.
Greetings! I'm from Portland, OR. This challenge will help me explore genres or authors I wouldn't normally try. I tend to stick to one category (Sci Fi/Fantasy).
Candace wrote: "Hi all! I'm Candace. I'm in the DC area. I started this challenge to expand my palette and push myself to read more."*waves from Glen Burnie, MD*
Hi everyone. I'm Cat, from Glen Burnie, MD--between Baltimore and Annapolis. I found this challenge through Booktube. I really like the challenges listed and it gives my something to work towards. One of my goals this year is read more diverse books and the categories for this challenge is awesome!
Kim wrote: "Pamela wrote: "Hello :-) I'm Pamela. I live in Cedar Springs, MI, USA. I have set a book challenge of a number of books to read for years but last year is the first year I logged everything into go..."I am going to struggle with this challenge. There are 2 books ever I haven't finished - Twilight, and Eat,Pray,Love. I have never not read a book I was assigned in school. Clint is mocking me endlessly for that one.
HI! I'm Lupe and I'm from Michigan. This will be my (3rd? 4th?) Read Harder challenge and hopefully the 2nd one I finish! I'm worried about not having time but I think I can do it. I love that it forces me to go outside of my norms for genres and it's how I've discovered many a great author!!! Can't wait to begin!
This is my first read harder challenge. I have degrees in English lit, so I am always looking to expand my reading experiences. Admittedly, I read a lot of romance and manga. But it's always nice to get out of my literary comfort zone.
Hi! My name is Charity and I'm from the Southern US. I've been wanting to not only get back into reading for pleasure, but also to expand my horizons by reading outside of my comfort zone. So this challenge sounds perfect! It's my first one.
Hi. Late joiner. *waves sheepishly*I was curious about this challenge because it seems to keep getting mentioned in the check-in threads for Popsugar, which I'm currently participating in. The tasks look pretty fun, so I might as well give it a try!
I wanted more than a quantity of books to my challenge. I read a lot of books and I wanted to challenge myself out of my normal genres.
I'm Jude, from Southampton in the UK. This is my third year (I finished last year but not in 2016). I was originally sent the challenge by my best friend, who knows I love reading and that I love lists - and ticking things off them!
I'm Beth and this is my first challenge. I'm a big reader, and i;ve started following Book riot when I stumbled across the challenge and I thought, why not? I have to say, I've started reading books I wouldn't have normally tried and I'm even getting a few of my friends in real life to try it out.
I'm Michele and this is my first challenge. I'm from the suburbs of Los Angeles. I am a big book trader and have lots of books on my shelf, and any I need for the challenge I can get by trading. (Paperbackswap and bookmooch) I have a chronic illness and for a year and a half I couldn't read, so I'm trying to make up time. This challenge helps me organize and choose books from my shelf I want to read anyway.
I’m Robin, recently retired, was an avid reader until I had to do a LOT of reading as part of my job and it just didn’t feel like fun anymore. I enrolled in the challenge as a motivator and it’s working. But the best part is that, instead of trying to return to the genres I used to read (mostly SSF with the occasional forensic mystery), I am exploring entirely new territory, as well as tackling some really long books (for me) and just loving it.
Hi I'm Milena, I grew up in Brooklyn, New York and now live on Long Island. Like Cendaquenta, I got curious about this challenge through PopSugar. The categories intrigued me, particularly the comic/graphic novel ones, which I have never read, so I decided to join.
Hi! Irene here from the Land Down Under. I've seen this challenge come up in Bookcrossing but never really got interested until now. Like everyone here, I love to read and am most happiest when reading. I tend to read more of the crime/mystery genre so I'm really looking forward to this.
Hello! I am Betsy. I am a chronic book buyer and reader. This year I am committed to buying fewer books and reading more books I own. When I looked as the challenge i realized that I actually have a lot of books that fall into the different categories. I have fallen into reading a lot of fantasy and romance novels this year. While owning that I love genre fiction has been liberating for me i want to expand my reading horizons.
Hi everyone....I'm DeeAnn! Betsy, I'm a chronic book buyer and reader too !! I'm obsessed with reading and books.....I love books, whether I buy them or check them out from the library! I might go to a library and bookstore in the same day. I also buy books on my kindle! I joined because I really wanted to step out of my comfort zone and so far it is working beautifully 🤗
Hi my name is Michele I read a variety of genre, there are only a couple that are just not my taste. I have a weird system for deciding what my next book to read will be so I very rarely know what my next book will be until I pick it. (If I could only speed read). Last year I didn't get as much time to read as I would have liked and hope it will be better this year. I've also been rereading books in order to leave a proper review for them. I have my favorites but the list it much to long to mention. Hopefully I'll be able to share books and authors I've enjoyed with everyone here.I like finding new ideas for picking a book.
I have seen it mentioned by many other readers and some bloggers throughout the past 3-4 years and never really considered it until I had committed to both the Popsugar and ATY challenges for this year and figured, why not?!?
hi everyone! I'm April. I've been getting the Book Riot emails for a few years, and followed along with the challenge, mostly to get news recs! I decided to finally commit to doing it this year. I'm also doing the popsugar challenge, and the 52 Books in 52 Weeks, 'cause why not? I'm a netgalley member, and I'm trying to use my e-arcs for the prompts as much as possible, and not buying anything new (acquiring new, yes, just not buying xD ). I'm a former bookseller, and finding just the right book is in my blood! Plus, I'm really enjoying trying new books :)
Hey everyone. I'm Ryan. I see many of you are avid readers who look on various blogs for great books. I would love to hear which blogs you all find most influential for fiction and non-fiction.I'm interested in this challenge because it fits into another challenge I was doing. I decided to try reading 365 books this year. Since I wanted to develop myself during this time as well, I looked towards books like Josh Kaufman's "The Personal MBA" and his 99 recommended books related to the personal MBA. I was interested in this challenge because it helped me expand my interests and reduced the amount of time that it would take to look for books in a given month, so it made my challenge easier.
Hello, everyone! I'm Aniket from India. I feel like I'm really late to this as it is already October. Somehow I've been completely out of loop about this and just got to know about it today. I don't think I'll be able to complete the challenge in less than 3 months but I do hope that there will be a 2020 Read Harder Challenge.Hope everyone's doing great. :)
Hi Aniket, the challenge isn’t a chore you have to do it’s a way to just discover new books, formats of reading, and to challenge yourself. Do what you can. Welcome! Denise
Denise wrote: "Hi Aniket, the challenge isn’t a chore you have to do it’s a way to just discover new books, formats of reading, and to challenge yourself. Do what you can. Welcome! Denise"
Hey, thanks for the reply. That makes sense. I should do what I can even if I can't complete it. Perhaps I was thinking about it the wrong way.
Thanks. Have a great day. :)
I love this idea! You better be doing a 2020 challenge!
I'm a librarian and needed a little motivation this year to read outside my comfort zone. It makes it so much easier to recommend books to library patrons if you've read a variety of genres, but also I've been pleasantly surprised by some new things I've tried. I totally forgot how much I love space operas, and that there is some poetry I really do enjoy!
I first discovered the read harder challenge in December 2017. At the time I was in a reading rut and thought this might help me to try new things and branch out from the same-old-same-old that was boring me. I didn’t finish the 2018 challenge but I tried a bunch of new things and discovered a few books and authors I really enjoyed so I decided to do it again this year.
I’m Tanvi from Australia. I haven’t been reading as much as I’d like to in the past few years, so I thought I’d do a triple decker of a challenge - Popsugar, ATY and RH, with the aim of reading at least 52 books in 2020.
Hello everyone. San Diego reader looking forward to seeing what everyone’s reading and perhaps dipping a toe or two in a reading challenge this year.
Hello! I am Navya. This is my first RH challenge (actually, first reading challenge at all), and I got very interested by some of the prompts. Some of them involved forms and genres I hadn't thought of exploring before, so this looked like a good way to expand my reading tastes ^_^
I'm Steven, moved to the Baltimore area from being a lifelong Florida resident: last of impatient drivers, fantastic light hiking and plentiful public parks, city jazz, the early B&O railroad, Benjamin Banneker, H.L. Menken, Edgar Allen Poe, Harriet Tubman, the only stateside Guinness brewery, Enoch Pratt city public library system, Johns Hopkins hospital system. I mostly seek to find challenges in order to have planned thematics on hand from which to choose my reading and selections from the little free street libraries strewn around my town---something for every ocassion, outing, interest, and mood. I dont usually intend to read through the challenges or complete them.
Hello, I am Tay. I am a senior in college. I joined the challenge to force myself to expand what I am reading. I have been reading nothing but paranormal romance. So now I am forcing myself to expand my reading options.
This is my 4th year of doing this challenge. When I was about to retire, my daughter-in-law sent me a link to the Read Harder challenge... and I have been participating ever since. I like that it encourages to read outside my normal comfort zone. In doing so, I have discovered new authors, new genres and learned a lot.
I've been doing the challenge this year, but haven't introduced myself. I'm Kris. This is my first year completing challenges or really participating on Goodreads in any meaningful way. I have a pretty big reading goal this year, so I'm relying on challenges to help with that!
This is my 2nd year doing a challenge and I set it to 100 books. I’m at 68. I’m would love to do more but we’ll see how it goes???
Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Origin of Species (other topics)Cuba: A New History (other topics)
Frankenstein (other topics)
I feel a bit more motivated to try and complete the 2018 challenge, the prompts seem really interesting.