Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2020

Even though it was published in December 2019, summer reading season is a great time to revisit Book Riot’s “Read Harder Challenge 2020.” What is the Read Harder Challenge? Every year, Book Riot publishes a list of 24 reading tasks for readers who want to expand their reading habits and challenge themselves. However, these aren’t just any tasks. There are 24 specifications on genres, authors, and tropes of books that are usually not super mainstream. For example, this year some of the challenges are to “Read a doorstopper (over 500 pages) published after 1950, written by a woman” and “Read a horror book published by an indie press.” 

While the list is usually geared towards an adult audience, teens can easily participate in the challenges too! For more information and the detailed list of challenges, as well as book recommendations, visit Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge 2020 page. And of course, you can get all the books (and audiobooks) you will need for the challenge for free through the library!

1. Read a YA nonfiction book
2. Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color
3. Read a mystery where the victim(s) is not a woman
4. Read a graphic memoir
5. Read a book about a natural disaster
6. Read a play by an author of color and/or queer author
7. Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII
8. Read an audiobook of poetry
9. Read the LAST book in a series
10. Read a book that takes place in a rural setting
11. Read a debut novel by a queer author
12. Read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own
13. Read a food book about a cuisine you’ve never tried before
14. Read a romance starring a single parent
15. Read a book about climate change
16. Read a doorstopper (over 500 pages) published after 1950, written by a woman
17. Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages)
18. Read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalized community
19. Read a book by or about a refugee
20. Read a middle grade book that doesn’t take place in the U.S. or the UK
21. Read a book with a main character or protagonist with a disability (fiction or non)
22. Read a horror book published by an indie press
23. Read an edition of a literary magazine (digital or physical)
24. Read a book in any genre by a Native, First Nations, or Indigenous author

Use this fillable PDF to track your progress: https://bookriot.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/ReadHarderChallenge2020_checklistForm.pdf