It’s not that I don’t read; I actually read quite a bit, but at least for the past three or four years, I don’t read anything very demanding. Plus, it’s all straight-up, novel-length fiction.

Enter Book Riot’s 2016 Read Harder Challenge. They’ve provided a list of reading challenges, 24 total, averaging 2 per month. I’m hoping this will give me a framework for varying my book consumption a bit. My mother-in-law Helen is doing this with me, so I have company. The purpose of this post is only to keep track of which of the challenges I’ve already completed, and to share the information with her.

Read a Horror Book. Complete
“Slade House” by David Mitchell

Read a nonfiction book about science. Complete
“Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers” by Mary Roach

Read a collection of essays. Complete
“The Opposite of Loneliness” by Marina Keegan

Read a book out loud to someone else. Complete, every single day.
To Maya: “Mog and the Baby” by Judith Kerr
To Ian: “Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell

Read a middle grade novel.

Read a biography (not a memoir or autobiography). Complete
“Joss Whedon: The Biography” by Amy Pascale

Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel. Complete
“The Fifth Season” by N. K. Jemisin

Read a book originally published in the decade you were born.
Goodreads Best Books of the Decade: 1970’s

Listen to an audiobook that has won an Audie award.
Maybe Sandman by Neil Gaiman

Read a book over 500 pages long.
“The Obelisk Gate” by N. K. Jemisin

Read a book under 100 pages.
“The Grownup” by Gillian Flynn

Read a book by or about a person that identifies as transgender.
“Nevada” by Imogen Binnie

Read a book that is set in the Middle East.

Read a book that is by an author from Southeast Asia.

Read a book of historical fiction that is set before 1900.

Read the first book in a series by a person of color. Complete
“Half-Resurrection Blues: A Bone Street Rumba Novel” by Daniel Jose Older

Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years. In-progress
“Bitch Planet, Book 1: Extraordinary Machine” by Kelly Sue DeConnick and Valentine De Landro

Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie. Debate which is better.
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” by John le Carre

Read a nonfiction book about feminism or dealing with feminist themes.

Read a book about religion (fiction or nonfiction).

Read a book about politics, in your country or another (fiction or nonfiction).

Read a food memoir. Complete
“A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from My Kitchen Table” by Molly Wizenberg

Read a play.

Read a book with a main character that has a mental illness.