Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

In Cold Blood. This has been on my list TBR for a while now 👌🏻🤞🏻

I was thinking about reading Tomboyland: Essays, but all the recs for In Cold Blood might change my mind. I haven't read it since AP English class in high school...

I'd also rec Come Home, Indio by Jim Terry. Graphic memoir set in the Wisconsin Dells and Chicago.

I’ve already read Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal but that would be a good fit. He has a relatively new one too, Lager Queen of Minnesota that sounds fun too. Anyone have suggestions that fit the bonus LGBTQ+ author parameter?

If you're a reader who isn't familiar with the Midwest as a region, my advice as a lifelong Midwesterner is to ignore the detailed squabbles in this thread about which states count and use the wikipedia list. If it's one of those states it counts, please don't worry over it!

Wikipedia includes: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

I am planning to read Dream Country by Shannon Gibney.

If anyone is interested in reading a middle grade novel for this prompt, Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool is *excellent* and set in Kansas.

Rosyposie wrote: "I’ve already read Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal but that would be a good fit. He has a relatively new one too, Lager Queen of Minnesota that sounds fun too. Anyone have suggestion..."

If you have not read Middlesex it is pretty great. Check out Real Life, Prairie Silence: A Memoir, Northern Lights and Tomboyland: Essays. I am considering those. Also, any Samantha Irby book would work. If you are looking for YA Drum Roll, Please. If you want classic LGBTQ+ I recommend A Boy's Own Story

I'm going with Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917 for this one. It's set in Montana which I'm pretty sure qualifies as Midwest.

Sophie wrote: "I'm going with Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917 for this one. It's set in Montana which I'm pretty sure qualifies as Midwest."

Montana is most definitely not the midwest. The Dakotas barely qualify.

I'm Canadian but lived in Minnesota, Illinois, and Nebraska for grad school/postdoc, and I never understood the "Midwest" label...

The Cash Blackbear books by Marcie Rendon are set in Fargo-Moorhead and Minneapolis so they work here as well as the indigenous genre fiction category.

Midwest, also called Middle West or North Central States, region, northern and central United States, lying midway between the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains and north of the Ohio River and the 37th parallel. The Midwest, as defined by the federal government, comprises the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Actually composed of two regions, the Northwest Territory, or the Old Northwest, and the Great Plains, the Midwest has become more an idea than a region: an area of immense diversity but somehow consciously representative of a national average. (Encyclopedia Britannica)

I read Sucker Punch, the latest in the Anita Blake series. It starts in Illinois, then moves to Michigan for the bulk of the novel. I don't recommend it. Instead of 'show, don't tell' the author shows then tells and it was gratingly repetitious.

I read Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World by Vicki Myron for this. It's set in a small town in Iowa. I really enjoyed it, anyway.

I thought before reading that it might count for Task 24, the book about a beloved pet that does not die... but it doesn't. Still, 19 years of being spoilt rotten is a good run for any moggie.

Hi everyone! Our rec post for this task is now live. https://bookriot.com/read-harder-2021...

I just got my Jan Book of the Month club books and Outlawed is one of them and my pick for this prompt.

Some books I've already read that come to mind:
- The Death and Life of the Great Lakes (non-fiction)
- Driftless (fiction, set in WI)
- This Tender Land (fiction, set in MN)
- The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America (non-fiction, set in Chicago)

I'll probably read The Round House or Gilead since they're on my TBR list.

Alex wrote: "Some books I've already read that come to mind:
- The Death and Life of the Great Lakes (non-fiction)
- Driftless (fiction, set in WI)
- [book:This Tender Land|258139..."

The Round House and Gilead (plus the other 2 books in the trilogy) are among my favorite books. Great choices.

Karen wrote: "Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish is a possible nonfiction choice.

The suggestion o..."

Little Heathens was really good!

I've had Negroland on my TBR for a while. I'm looking forward to reading it for this challenge! (set in Chicago)

Nancy wrote: "Karen wrote: "Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish is a possible nonfiction choice.

Th..."

Oh, good to know -- this is such a rich prompt. Negroland and Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression have both been on my TBR for a while.

I just realized I never got around to reading the latest Harry Dresden book by Jim Butcher. So I'll definitely be reading Battle Ground for this task.

So Big by Edna Ferber. This Pulitzer Prize winner is set in Chicago and the surrounding area.

Elizabeth wrote: "I live in Michigan & wanted to read more about my state so I'm going with:
Black Bottom Saints - set in Detroit
The Women of the Copper Country - historical fiction ..."

Thanks! I was born and raised in Michigan. I left when I was 21, but I still like to read things based there, and these both look interesting.

I am having a hard time figuring out where this book is set if anyone can help me (I hope I can read it for this task)
Ziggy, Stardust & Me - James Brandon

I chose THE VIRGIN SUICIDES. I live in the Midwest...it’s not that awesome lol but it’s home..I saw the movie a long time ago. I liked the movie. The book has to be better.

Elizabeth wrote: "Bonnie G. wrote: "Elizabeth wrote: "I live in Michigan & wanted to read more about my state so I'm going with:
Black Bottom Saints - set in Detroit
[book:The Women of the Copper Cou..."

I hope you enjoy it. I left as soon as I could, it was not the right place for me, but I still have friends and relatives back "home" in Bloomfield Hills, Franklin, Birmingham and Farmington Hills.

Dewey, the Small Town Library Cat does not get all rave reviews in the goodreads reviews, but it was great for this task. Not only is it set in Iowa, squarely in the Midwest, but gives a lot of local color and history about the area as well. Isn’t that part of the point to reading something set in the Midwest/ to learn something about the area? Spoiler alert- the cat does die, but at the ripe old age of 19.

I read The New Me by Halle Butler for this one - it's set in Chicago, about a 20-something temp at a design firm. I'd recommend if you liked My Year of Rest and Relaxation.

Amanda wrote: "I am having a hard time figuring out where this book is set if anyone can help me (I hope I can read it for this task)
Ziggy, Stardust & Me - James Brandon"

Missouri, if I remember correctly. I really enjoyed that book!

I ended up reading Not Like the Movies by Kerry Winfrey and that's set in Columbus, OH so it fit for this prompt.

Traci wrote: "My immediate thought was The Lager Queen of Minnesota or Kitchens of the Great Midwest."

Enjoy! I loved them both!

Thank you Elizabeth!!!!!

Would someone know if 'Bury my heart at wounded knee, by Dee Brown', counts for this task? I think it does, but want to make sure, as I'm not from the US.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...

Kelly wrote: "Would someone know if 'Bury my heart at wounded knee, by Dee Brown', counts for this task? I think it does, but want to make sure, as I'm not from the US.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4......"

South Dakota is considered to be Midwest by the US government so it will work.

Bonnie G. wrote: "Kelly wrote: "Would someone know if 'Bury my heart at wounded knee, by Dee Brown', counts for this task? I think it does, but want to make sure, as I'm not from the US.

https://www.goodreads.com/b..."

Thank you Bonnie!!

For this category, I read Blankets by Craig Thompson. This book broke me open several times, and I wept at its beauty and its grace. That sounds dramatic, but I am serious. My heart hurt when I finished it, but I also felt relieved of some of my own inner pain.

Winter Loon

I read A Most Beautiful Thing by Arshay Cooper for this prompt. Chicago Illinois

Native Son Set in Chicago, IL

Jessica wrote: "I think Slay qualifies. Correct me if I am wrong. It definitely features a murder in KC"

I would count this, Jessica.

I realize this is such a specific ask so no worries if you guys can't think of anything, but I'm also doing the Free Black Women's Challenge also and one of their challenges is to read a book from your hometown. Do you guys know of any books set in Kansas/Missouri that are written specifically by black women/nonbinary people?

Soap wrote: "I realize this is such a specific ask so no worries if you guys can't think of anything, but I'm also doing the Free Black Women's Challenge also and one of their challenges is to read a book from ..."

There is always In Cold Blood, which is amazing and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. I am sure others can think of more recent books.

I regularly include graphic novels in with my challenges and read Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf for this prompt.

Mandie wrote: "I regularly include graphic novels in with my challenges and read Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio by Derf Backderf for this prompt."

I had no idea that this guy wrote other books! He was one of Jeffrey Dahmer's friends in high school. I read the graphic "My Friend Dahmer" and then watched the movie.

Zorrie, by Laird Hunt. (Historical fiction, Indiana)

Okay, this thread seemed way too straight, so here are a couple posts with bunch of queer options. I did this for you all out of the bottom of my queer midwestern heart! :-)

FICTION

Real Life
Iowa? Novel. Highly-lauded coming-of-age story about a young gay Black man from Alabama who's now living in a predominantly white Midwestern town for grad school.

Things to Do When You're Goth in the Country And Other Stories
Centered around Illinois. Short stories (some verging into absurdist/sci fi/horror-ish). "Paints a vivid image of people living on the fringes in America, people who don't do what you might expect them to. Not stories of triumph over adversity, but something completely other."

This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples (Ojibwe)
Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota. Novel. About an Ojibwe man in a secret relationship with a closeted white man, and the ways they're both haunted and cursed (both literally and figuratively). Main character "reckons with love, tribal lore, and a decades-old murder." Double ups: maybe #5 (genre novel by an Indigenous author)? Not sure how strong the mystery/horror/fantasy elements are.

Jam on the Vine
Missouri (though it starts in Texas). Historical fiction about a young Black woman in the early 20th century who starts a newspaper with her female lover. Part I is about her childhood in Texas. Double ups: #19 (historical fiction w/POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist).

Her
Michigan. Historical fiction (pub. 1990). "This rowdy, irreverent novel explores relationships among a community of black women-mothers and daughters, friends and lovers-who came to Detroit in the late 1950s to work the lines at the Ford Motor plant." Double ups: #19 (historical fiction w/POC or LGBTQ+ protagonist).

More queer Midwestern options:

NONFICTION

In the Dream House
Indiana/Iowa. Innovative memoir (using horror themes and narratives tropes) about domestic abuse in a queer relationship. Double ups: #15 (memoir by a Latinx author).

Wow, No Thank You. by Samantha IrbySamantha Irby)
Michigan. Humor/essays. In her latest book, Irby, who's Black and grew up in Chicago, writes about her new life with her wife in small-town Michigan (as well as her new work as a TV writer, plus her bouts with depression and a number of chronic illnesses). Double ups: #23 (book that demystifies a common mental illness) and #16 (own voices book about disability--Crohn's, degenerative arthritis, depression).

Tomboyland: Essays
Wisconsin. Essays. "Compelled by questions of girlhood and womanhood, queerness and class, and how the lands of our upbringing both define and complicate us even long after we’ve left."

POETRY

More Than Organs
Illinois. Poetry. "A love letter to Brown, Queer, and Trans futures" by Kay Ulanday Barrett, a "poet, performer, and educator navigating life as a disabled pin@y-amerikan transgender queer in the U.S. with struggle, resistance, and laughter." Double ups: #16 (own voices book about disability).

Soap wrote: "I realize this is such a specific ask so no worries if you guys can't think of anything, but I'm also doing the Free Black Women's Challenge also and one of their challenges is to read a book from ..."

Jam on the Vine is set partly in Texas and partly in Kansas City, and LaShonda Katrice Barnett is a Black woman from KC.

Are we allowed to double barrel prompts? I read in the dream house for the Latinx memoir challenge, can I also mark it for this one

Oyinda wrote: "Are we allowed to double barrel prompts? I read in the dream house for the Latinx memoir challenge, can I also mark it for this one"

Many people double dip, its totally up to you!

I don't know if anyone else saw the newsletter today, but there's a Goodreads article with books from all 50 states. There's a whole lot of variety in the choices, so it seems like a really good place to start.
https://www.goodreads.com/gp/r.html?C...

Thanks for sharing ;-)