Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Any suggestions for the single parent prompt for someone who does not like children or hearing about parenting?

Nicole wrote: "Any suggestions for the single parent prompt for someone who does not like children or hearing about parenting?"

I think I might do Jasmine Guillory's new book, Royal Holiday. It is about a woman falling in love while overseas for her daughter's wedding. I'm assuming there is parenting involved (like supporting her daughter at the wedding), but not little kid parenting. I don't know if that makes a difference. I'm not at all into romance, so this one isn't going to be my favorite prompt either. At least they are usually quick reads!

Nicole wrote: "Any suggestions for the single parent prompt for someone who does not like children or hearing about parenting?"

There are plenty of romances with single parents as main characters that are not at all about parenting. I recommend The Bride Test which I loved, and the child is thousands of miles away from her mother -- aside from her serving as her mother's motivation for doing certain things, and a couple phone calls, you won't even know she is there.

Thanks Bonnie G. I hardly read romances, so I was wondering what to do for this prompt:

The Complete Maus works for the graphic memoir prompt, and depending how strictly you stick to the prompts, it also works for 'read a picture book with a human main character from a marginalised community' - the book follows the story of the author's father, a Jew through the Holocaust, but the reason you might not fully think it counts is because the author draws all the characters as animals rather than humans, but it is based on real life human events, so that one is up to you!

Tanvi wrote: "Thanks Bonnie G. I hardly read romances, so I was wondering what to do for this prompt:"

I like romances a lot -- I don't always want to think too hard at the end of the day. I can post a list of single parent romances later, but I really did love the Bride Test. My review is here https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For #13 - A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before:

The Temporary Bride: A Memoir of Love and Food in Iran (Iranian)
Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an American Kitchen - I Loved this one! (Persian/Iranian)
Monsoon Diary: A Memoir with Recipes (Indian)
Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing (Russian)

for The cook book one I’m thinking of The Cooling Gene: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C.... But I’m not sure if it counts considering that I’m black and have had Jewish and European foods before. Thoughts?

Andrea wrote: "For #13 - A food book about a cuisine you've never tried before:

The Temporary Bride: A Memoir of Love and Food in Iran (Iranian)
[book:Maman's Homesick Pie: A Persian Heart in an ..."

Definitely have had all of those. Its really hard to think of something I haven't had. Someone mentioned finding a book about historical foods that are not served anymore, and I think I am going to try to find something along those lines. If not maybe Russian. I have had it many times, there are 3 Russian restaurants and 2 Uzbeki within walking distance, but I don't love it and tend to eat the same things over and over so my knowledge of the cuisine is limited.

I'm probably more excited about this year's than last years, mostly because I like to find books by browsing at local used bookstores and there's a less independent research on author's personal lives to figure out if a book works. That is, assuming I ignore the bonus task for LGBTQA authors, which I think I will. I've always felt squicky pulling out my phone in a bookstore to scour the internet to figure out if the author of a neat looking book is queer and out and public about it.

Richard wrote: "I'm probably more excited about this year's than last years, mostly because I like to find books by browsing at local used bookstores and there's a less independent research on author's personal li..."

I kind of do too.

Richard wrote: "I'm probably more excited about this year's than last years, mostly because I like to find books by browsing at local used bookstores and there's a less independent research on author's personal li..."

I have found that other folks doing the challenge provide lots of suggestions for authors that could be read for a prompt like this.

Edie wrote: "I have found that other folks doing the challenge provide lots of suggestions for authors that could be read for a prompt like this."

The suggestions can be good, but I prefer browsing for books rather than hunting down specific books (in these cases, almost uniformly hard-to-find underrepresented books). In a typical year there are two or three tasks where I have to go to multiple stores and check for a dozen or so authors in order to find even a single book that would work. If I did the bonus task, I'd have to do that with practically every one.

Jamie Ghione I've just come across this reading challenge tonight though the book Roits email I get in the email it had a link to the book Roit blog where I was able to download a pdf copy of the Challenge list

Kathryn wrote: "I fizzled out of the 2019 Challenge. Going to give this one a try."

Me, too. New year, new start!

Ignorant question: Is it "okay" to start early? I realize that it's really only a challenge for myself, rather than one based truly on the calendrical system. But do other people "start early?" Is that an accepted norm within the challenge community?

I'm very close to finishing a book that would count for one of the prompts.

Elise wrote: "Ignorant question: Is it "okay" to start early? I realize that it's really only a challenge for myself, rather than one based truly on the calendrical system. But do other people "start early?" Is ..."

I'm also starting a little early because a hold from the library came available for one that would fit perfectly. I don't think it's a big deal, it's only a little early :)

I may be posting at the wrong discussion but I saw that the Popsugar Reading Challenge group has made listopias for every prompt and I thought that was a good idea to help those who do not know where to start. Maybe it could something to consider for this group as well.

I have started some books within the last few days, but I plan to finish them in the new year. But that's just me.

Ira wrote: "I may be posting at the wrong discussion but I saw that the Popsugar Reading Challenge group has made listopias for every prompt and I thought that was a good idea to help those who do not know whe..."

They are really helpful!