A friend of mine was posting about all of the books she’d read last year as part of the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. It’s a list of 24 “tasks” such as “Read a graphic memoir” or “Read a book by or about a refugee” meant to challenge you to read books you might not otherwise be inclined to seek out. There’s also a spreadsheet for tracking your reading that includes space to log whether you purchased or borrowed the title. I’m looking forward to seeing how much money the library saves me this year. <I>And</I> the spreadsheet generates charts and graphs about the titles you’ve read! I am only sorry I didn’t start the challenge sooner.

So far I’ve read:
“The Girl from the Well” by Rin Chupeco (Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairy tale, or myth by an author of color and Read a horror book published by an indie press).
“The Girl from the Well” is a young-adult horror story told largely from the perspective of an onryō, the vengeful spirit from traditional Japanese stories. Like the one from the movie “The Ring,” which scared me so badly I couldn’t close my eyes for a whole night. “The Girl from the Well” was creepy but not terrifying. I slept fine after finishing it.

“Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth” by Warsan Shire (read an audiobook of poetry
Shire wrote “Home” (no one leaves home unless / home is the mouth of a shark), which you’ve likely seen at least part of on Facebook. I have a hard time with audiobooks because they lull me to sleep, but this one was only around 30 minutes long. I enjoyed hearing the work in the poet’s own voice, and most of the other poems in “Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth” are at least as visceral as “Home.”

“Isaac’s Storm” by Erik Larson (Read a book about a natural disaster)
I was captivated by Larson’s “Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania” when I read it a few years ago, and so I was excited to see that he’s doing a reading for his new book at a local bookstore. The clerk at the store said she liked “Dead Wake,” too, but “Isaac’s Storm” was her favorite Larson book. It’s the story of the hurricane that devastated Galveston, Texas, in 1900. I didn’t find it as engaging as “Dead Wake,” but it is well-written and well-researched.

“All Systems Red” by Martha Wells (Read a sci-fi/fantasy novella (under 120 pages))
“All Systems Red” is the first in a series called “The Murderbot Diaries.” It’s about a cyborg security agent on assignment with a research team on a distant planet. I don’t think it really breaks a lot of ground in the “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” genre, but it is a very quick, exciting read. Regardless of whether or not it has anything unique to say, I’m a sucker for this kind of story. I think I have the second novella on hold at the library.

“Jubilee” by Margaret Walker (Read a doorstopper — over 500 pages — published after 1950, written by a woman)
I saw this described somewhere as a “non-racist alternative” to “Gone with the Wind.” The story is set in Georgia and Alabama and is based on the life of the author’s great-grandmother. It opens with the death of Vyry’s mother, a slave on Vyry’s father’s plantation, and follows her through the Civil War and Reconstruction. I expected the “doorstopper” challenge to be a slog, but “Jubilee” was so captivating it flew by.

I’m currently reading “Born with Wings: The Spiritual Journey of a Modern Muslim Woman” by Daisy Khan for the “read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own” category. It’s interesting, but it’s taking me awhile to get through. Probably because I keep forgetting to bring it in from the car so I’m only reading it while waiting for the kids to finish their activities. I’ve also started “The Witch Elm” by Tana French for the “read a mystery where the victim isn’t a woman” category. I know people who adore French’s books, but so far I’m finding it difficult to get into this one. I hope that changes, because it would also qualify as a doorstopper book.