Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Would “Rosewater”/ “Then They Came For Me” by Maziar Bahari count? I’m not sure how much (if any) of the book was written while he was imprisoned in Iran.

My sister suggested Guantánamo Diary and the audiobook is on Hoopla (a library app).

I think I'll read No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison.

Thanks for the interesting suggestion!
Lindsey wrote: "I think I'll read No Friend But the Mountains: Writing from Manus Prison."

Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson.

I'm going to read De Profundis, which was written by Oscar Wilde while he was in prison for, essentially, being gay.

If you haven't read Guantanamo DiaryGuantánamo Diary: Restored Edition yet you absolute must! Cannot recommend this highly enough for this task.

Patty wrote: "Would “Rosewater”/ “Then They Came For Me” by Maziar Bahari count? I’m not sure how much (if any) of the book was written while he was imprisoned in Iran."

I read Then They Came For Me last year and I don't think he wrote any of it while he was in prison. I'm not sure about Rosewater.

I'll be reading "The Enormous Room" by e.e cummings for this one.

I’ll be reading Wrestling with the Devil by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o.

Hi there! I'm compiling lists of everyone's suggestions for the challenges, in case that's easier for some people (I know it is for me!) c:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Ali wrote: "I’ll be reading Wrestling with the Devil by Ngugi Wa Thiong’o."
I read a Ngugi book for my final year of high school - Petals of Blood. His name brings back bad memories for me haha :P

Emilia wrote: "If you haven't read Guantanamo DiaryGuantánamo Diary: Restored Edition yet you absolute must! Cannot recommend this highly enough for this task."

Oh, thank you for posting this--I had no idea there was a restored version now available!

Lucia wrote: "Hi there! I'm compiling lists of everyone's suggestions for the challenges, in case that's easier for some people (I know it is for me!) c:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1......"

That's a fantastic idea! Thanks!

“Letters from Prison” - Bonhoeffer

"Letter from a Birmingham Jail" comes to mind, but I might swap it out with something a bit longer, idk.

I am stretching this one and going with an author who has been in prison. Oscar Wilde I've read several of his books, so I'll just pick another.

would "conversation with myself" by Mandela count? only part of the book is from his diaries from prison.

Raphael wrote: "would "conversation with myself" by Mandela count? only part of the book is from his diaries from prison."

I've chosen "The Prison Letters of Nelson Mandela", released back in July. This also fulfills #1, a collection of letters.

I'm worried that this task may be triggering for me as I have some trauma related to prisons that I'm still working on. However, I also think it's truly important to hear the voices of people speaking to us from within the carceral system. That being said, if anyone has a recommendation for a book written by a person who was experiencing incarceration that is not actually about being imprisoned, I would welcome it.

Lucia wrote: "Hi there! I'm compiling lists of everyone's suggestions for the challenges, in case that's easier for some people (I know it is for me!) c:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1......"

Thank you!

Lucia wrote: "Hi there! I'm compiling lists of everyone's suggestions for the challenges, in case that's easier for some people (I know it is for me!) c:

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1......"

I LOVE this! Thank you !!

Kelly wrote: "I'm worried that this task may be triggering for me as I have some trauma related to prisons that I'm still working on. However, I also think it's truly important to hear the voices of people speak..."

Kelly, perhaps Le Morte d’Arthur (Sir Thomas Malory) or Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes)?

I haven't picked one yet, but here's a helpful list for anyone else looking for books written by women: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...

Cheryl wrote: "I am stretching this one and going with an author who has been in prison. Oscar Wilde I've read several of his books, so I'll just pick another."

De Profundis was written in prison

I'm trying to fulfill these prompts with books for my Around-the-World Reading Challenge. So, I'm choosing Papillon.

I'm thinking about reading Live from Death Row by Mumia Abu-Jamal.

Tamara wrote: "I'll be reading "The Enormous Room" by e.e cummings for this one."

Thanks for this suggestion. If I read this I can also tick of another book on one of several 1001 books lists!

Some others to consider: Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman, and Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. Oh, and In the Belly of the Beast by Jack Abbott.

I'm reading From the Inside: Life in a Women's Prison - By the Charity Worker Who Should Never Have Been There because it is the story of a charity worker in the city I live in who was wrongly imprisoned and I only know about it because I read Stuart: A Life Backwards last year. So far it is almost unbearably sad....

I think I will read Dopefiend by Douglas Goines for this challenge

Maureen wrote: "Some others to consider: Orange is the New Black, by Piper Kerman, and Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver. Oh, and In the Belly of the Beast by Jack Abbott."

OITNB was not written *in* prison. She wrote it after she got out, IIRC.

Ah. here:

"The woman I shared a cube with for many months turned to me one day and said 'You go home and write a book about this, bunkie,'” Kerman said in a 2013 interview with Mother Jones. "I was not necessarily planning on writing a book, but when I came home, almost every single person I knew wanted to hear about my experience. I had a sense that it would interest people who would not otherwise pick up a book about prison. I wasn’t writing for the choir."

https://www.bustle.com/p/when-did-pip...

I'm going to read The Russian Revolution by Rosa Luxemburg.

I read Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

FYI: if you're still looking for something, Amazon has Doing Time: 25 Years of Prison Writing-A PEN American Center Prize Anthology on sale today for $1.99 (Kindle edition).

I just read Letters to My Younger Self: An Anthology of Writings by Incarcerated Men at S.C.I. Graterford and I am deeply glad I did. It is powerful, moving, and incredibly touching. It's also a collection of letters, which addresses task #1. Thanks to Holly Genovese for the recommendation on the Book Riot Post. I also very highly recommend it.