Read Harder Challenge 2016

Jan 5, 2017 |

In 2016 some dear friends and I participated in the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. Overall, it was a positive experience, encouraging me to read some truly fabulous books that I otherwise might have skipped. (Who’d have guessed I’d so enjoy a food memoir?) Thought you might like to see the list.

Horror book: Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
Nonfiction book about science: Sniffer Dogs by Nancy Castaldo
Collection of essays: This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, by Ann Patchett
A book read outloud to someone else: Finding Winnie, by Lindsay Mattick & Sophie Blackall
Middle grade novel: Summerlost, by Ally Condee
Biography (not memoir or autobiography): Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life, by Ruth Franklin
Dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel: The Girl with all the Gifts, by M.R. Carey (EXCELLENT audiobook)
Book published in decade I was born (actually published year I was born): Enquiry, by Dick Francis
Audiobook that won an Audie: Echo, by Pam Muñoz Ryan
A book over 500 pages long: South Riding, by Winifred Holtby (re-read)
A book under 100 pages: Tiny Stitches: The Life of Medical Pioneer Vivien Thomas, by Gwendolyn Hooks
Book by or about person that identifies as transgender: George, by Alex Gino
A book set in the Middle East: Persepolis, by Marjane Satrapi
A book by an author from Southeast Asia: Ghost Bride, by Yangze Choo
A book of historical fiction set before 1900: The Blackthorn Key, by Kevin Sands
The first book in a series by a person of color: The House of Dies Drear, by Virginia Hamilton
A non-superhero comic that debuted in last three years: Nimona, by Noelle Stevenson
A book that was adapted into a movie–watch movie afterwards and debate which was better:
Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë (A re-read, of course. I watched the Toby Stephens/Ruth Wilson adaptation. The book is better, duh.)
A nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes: A Serious Endeavour: Gender, Education and Community at St Hugh’s, 1886-2011, by Laura Schwartz
A book about religion (fiction or nonfiction): Celebrating Christmas with Jesus: An Advent Devotional, by Max Lucado
A book about politics in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction): The Prince, by Machiavelli
A food memoir: My Life in France, by Julia Child
A play: The Weir, by Connor Macpherson
A book with a main character that has a mental illness: We Have Always Lived in the Castle, by Shirley Jackson

I’m taking this year off, but here’s the 2017 challenge in case you’re interested.

Other favorite reads of 2016:
Morpho Eugenia, by A.S. Byatt (re-read)
I Capture the Castle, by Dodie Smith (re-read)
The Radiant Road, by Katherine Catmull
The Summer Book, by Tove Jansson
The Lie Tree, by Frances Hardinge
Astercote, by Penelope Lively
The Brontë Cabinet, by Deborah Lutz
The Wild Hunt of Hagworthy, by Penelope Lively
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Daddy Long-legs, by Jean Webster
The Girl on the Train, by Paula Hawkins
Excellent Women, by Barbara Pam
Gaudy Night, by Dorothy Sayers (re-read)
Amberwell, by D.E. Stevenson
The Crossover, by Kwame Alexander
The Moving Finger, by Agatha Christie
No Holly for Miss Quinn, by Miss Read

Here is my Goodreads Year in Review (which leaves out the re-reads, argh).

Please share your favorite reads of 2016 in the comments, or link me to your own “Goodreads Year in Review” or blog post!

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