Reading List

Here is my reading list for the 2019 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I’ll be linking reviews for each book as I read them. I look forward to seeing how many I read this year.

2019 Book Riot Read Harder Reading List

The Book Riot Read Harder List

  1. An epistolary novel or collection of letters – The Martian by Andy Weir OR The Habit of Being: The Letters of Flannery O’Connor OR The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows OR Daddy-Long-Legs by Jean Webster
  2. An alternate history novel – Age of Aztec by James Lovegrove OR Clash of Eagles by Alan Smale OR The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
  3. A book by a woman and/or AOC (Author of Color) that won a literary award in 2018 – The Art of Death by Edwidge Danicat or Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
  4. A humor book – The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish OR Forever, Erma by Erma Bombeck
  5. A book by a journalist or about journalism – Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News by Kevin Young
  6. A book by an AOC set in or about space – Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space by Margot Lee Shetterly OR Binti by Nnedi Okorafor OR Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee OR The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin, translated by Ken Liu
  7. An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America – Blood of the Dawn by Claudia Salazar Jiménez, trans. by Elizabeth Bryer OR Leaving Tabasco by Carmen Boullosa
  8. An #ownvoices book set in Oceania – The Bone People by Keri Hulme OR The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera 
  9. A book published prior to January 1, 2019, with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads – The Diamond: A Novel by Julie Baumgold
  10. A translated book written by and/or translated by a woman – The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson
  11. A book of manga – A Bride’s Story by Kaoru Mori OR The Ancient Magus’ Bride by Kore Yamazaki
  12. A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character – The 101 Dalmatians by Dodie Smith OR The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
  13. A book by or about someone that identifies as neurodiverse – The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
  14. A cozy mystery – What Child is This?: An Ellie Kent Mystery by Alice K. Boatwright OR Hollywood Homicide by Kellye Garrett
  15. A book of mythology or folklore – Circe by Madeline Miller OR The City of Brass by S.A. Chakraborty
  16. A historical romance by an AOC – In The Midst of Winter by Isabella Allende OR The Beautiful Ones by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
  17. A business book: Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
  18. A novel by a trans or nonbinary author – The Black Tides of Heaven by J.Y. Yang
  19. A book of nonviolent true crime – Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury OR Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History by Ben Mezrich OR The Library Book by Susan Orlen
  20. A book written in prison – De Profundis, The Ballad of Reading Gaol & Other Writings by Oscar Wilde OR Letter From Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King, Jr.
  21. A comic by an LGBTQIA creator – Strong Female Protagonist by Molly Ostertag OR Black Panther: World of Wakanda by Roxanne Gay OR Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
  22. A children’s or middle grade book (not YA) that has won a diversity award since 2009 – Tales of the Mighty Code Talkers, Vol 1 edited by Arigon Starr
  23. A self-published book – The Martian by Andy Weir
  24. A collection of poetry published since 2014 – Wade in the Water: Poems by Tracy K. Smith