Book Riot's 2018 Read Harder Challenge

via GIPHY

Upping my reading game for the 2018 Read Harder Challenge 

1. A book published posthumously Persuasion by Jane Austen ★★★★★ (A lesser known, but utterly Austen romance of manners.)
2. A book of true crime The Wicked Boy: The Mystery of a Victorian Child Murderer by Kate Summerscale ★★★ (Meticulously researched tale of a murder and its aftermath.)
3. A classic of genre fiction (i.e. mystery, sci fi/fantasy, romance) City of Illusions by Ursula K. LeGuin ★★★ (Falk, an alien with amnesia is taken in by forest-dwelling humans until he's ready to find out the truth about himself. Part of the Hainish Cycle.)
4. A comic written and drawn by the same person Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel ★★★★ (In this graphic memoir, Bechdel chronicles her relationship with her closeted father and how his secret double life affected the family, as well as her own coming out journey.)
5. A book set in or about one of the five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, or South Africa) The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri ★★★★ (A beautifully written family saga.)
6. A book about nature The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate--Discoveries from a Secret World by Peter Wohlleben ★★★★
7. A western The Widow Nash by Jamie Harrison ★★★ (After her father dies owing a debt to Dulcy's violent ex-fiancé, she fakes her death and escapes to Montana to try to build a life of her own.)
8. A comic written or illustrated by a person of color The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui ★★★★ (A marvelous graphic memoir in which Thi Bui traces her family's escape from Vietnam. Upon becoming a mother herself, she sees her parents and their struggles in a new light.)
9. A book of colonial or postcolonial literature Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi  ★★★★★ (A gorgeous family saga about African half-sisters and the legacy of slavery on their descendants.)
10. A romance novel by or about a person of color: A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole (Naledi Smith is a graduate student in epidemiology struggling to make ends meet. Raised in foster care, she's slow to count on anyone but herself. Prince Thabisco thinks she may be his long-lost betrothed, who disappeared when her parents fled his kingdom. Loved it, as well as the next in the series, A Duke by Default.) ★★★★
11. A children’s classic published before 1980 Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers ★★★★★ (The magical nanny who inspired a Disney classic.)
12. A celebrity memoir We're Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union ★★★★⭑ (In a series of highly personal essays, Union is by turns outspoken, profane, hilarious, raw, and heartbreakingly vulnerable. A fantastic feminist read.)
13. An Oprah Book Club selection The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead ★★★★ (All the trigger warnings for this GRIM story of, Cora, a slave who escapes on a literal underground railroad in a desperate bid for freedom.)
14. A book of social science Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein ★★★ (Interesting look at pink princess culture and how aggressively it's marketed to girls.)
15. A one-sitting book Frontier Grit: The Unlikely True Stories of Daring Pioneer Women by Marianne Monson ★★★★★ (Profiles of twelve women who made a difference in their pioneer communities.) 
16. The first book in a new-to-you YA or middle grade series The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerrlizzi ★★★★ (Eva Nine has been raised in an underground bunker, cared for by a robot she calls MUTHR. She finally gets her wish to explore the wider world, but that world is not at all what she's imagined.)
17. A sci fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood ★★★★ (The God’s Gardeners have long predicted that a waterless flood will wash away all but the faithful. When that flood comes, Toby and Ren, former members, find a way to survive. Since this is Atwood, life is horrible for everyone in this post-apocalyptic future, but she also helpfully highlights the many ways in which women have it SO MUCH WORSE.)
18. A comic that isn’t published by Marvel, DC, or Image Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley ★★★★★ (A graphic memoir about cooking, eating, and the power of sharing meals with the people we love.)
19. A book of genre fiction in translation The Neverending Story by Michael Ende ★★★★ (A disappointing translation of an utterly imaginative fantasy about a boy who becomes part of a fantasy kingdom after stealing a mysterious book.)
20. A book with a cover you hate MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood  ★★★★ (The final installment in a trilogy in which a ragtag group of survivors begin the work of rebuilding civilization after a man-made pandemic. The cartoony cover was not a good fit.)
21. A mystery by a person of color or LGBTQ+ author Trouble is a Friend of Mine by Stephanie Tromly ★★★ (Digby, a young Sherlock type, draws new kid Zoe into the mystery of a young girl’s recent disappearance that may also be related to his sister’s cold-case disappearance.)
22. An essay anthology The View from the Cheap Seats by Neil Gaiman ★★★★ (A collection of nonfiction pieces including essays, introductions, album liner notes, and speeches covering a wide swath of topics. Especially good if you can listen to the audiobook, read by the author.)
23. A book with a female protagonist over the age of 60 The All-Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg ★★★★★ (After a surprising revelation, a well-mannered Southern lady embarks on a journey of self-discovery and finds links to female pilots who served during WWII.)
24. An assigned book you hated (or never finished) Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy  ★★★ (I can see why this is a classic and why so many people love it, but it's not one of my favorites. I can say I finally read it, though.)

Finished 9/27/18 YAY!

via GIPHY