Rabbit Hole #17: Read Harder Challenge 2015 Update--July

Continuing through the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge 2015...

Here's my list so far:  
(This month's reads are in blue.)

1. A book written by someone when they were under 25: 

Purple Hibiscus by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

2. A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65: 

God Help the Child by Toni Morrison
Lucrezia Borgia by Sarah Bradford

3. A collection of short stories:

4. A book published by an indie press: 

The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (Open Roads Media Sci-Fi and Fantasy)
Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (Grey Wolf Press)

5. A book by or about someone who identifies as LGBTQ: 

We Are the Animals by Justin Torres
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

6. A book by someone of a different gender than you: 

Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy 

by Paul Thomas Murphy 
Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older

7. A book that takes place in Asia: 

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

8. A book by an author from Africa:

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo
Zarah the Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor

9. A book by or about someone from an indigenous culture: 

The Bone People by Keri Hulme

10. A microhistory: 

Desire and Disaster in New Orleans: 

Tourism, Race and Historical Memory by Lynnell L. Thomas

 Liar, Temptress, Soldier Spy: 

Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott

 Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity 
and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz

The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women 
Who Helped Win World War II by Denise Kiernan

11. A YA novel: 

Paper Towns by John Green
The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Page
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older

12. A sci-fi novel: 

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Neuromancer by William Gibson
MADDADDAM by Margaret Atwood

13. A romance novel:

14. A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer from last decade:

15. A book that is a retelling of a classic story: 

Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi (retelling of Snow White)

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman (The Jungle Book)

Cinder by Marissa Meyer (Cinderella)

16. An audiobook: 

Voices and Poetry of Ireland (a collection)

17. A collection of poetry: 

Once by Alice Walker

18. A book that someone else recommended to you: 

Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner and Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber

19. A book originally published in another language:

Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann (French)

20. A graphic novel, memoir or collection of comics: 

Captain Marvel, Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue Deconnick

Sandman, Vol. 1 by Neil Gaiman

Batgirl, Vol. 1 by Gail Simone

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore

Sandman, Vol. 2 by Neil Gaiman
Nevermore: A Graphic Novel Anthology of Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1 by G. Willow Wilson
Thor: Goddess of Thunder, Vol. 1 by Jason Aaron
Saga, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
Just So Happens by Fumio Obata
Griffin and Sabine: Book 1 by Nick Bantock
Sabine's Notebook: Book 2 by Nick Bantock

21. A guilty pleasure: The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (mainly because I didn't know where else to put this, and some people see Gilbert as fluff)

22. A book published before 1850:

23. A book published this year: 

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (Jan. 2015 release date)

 Find Me by Laura van den Berg (Feb. 2015 release date)
The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan (May 2015 release date)

24. A self-improvement book: 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

I also read: Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon, Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Lives for the Better by Clive Thompson, and Men We Reap by Jesmyn Ward. 

Rabbit Hole #16: June Reading Wrap-up

If you read my June Read Harder update, you'll know that while May was a rather lack-luster reading month for me, I finally came out of my reading slump in June. (Too be fair, I did move halfway across the country in May!)

I ended up reading 14 books last month, 5 of which were graphic novels/comic collections, which is a new avenue for me. I'm really enjoying Ms. Marvel, Thor: Goddess of Thunder and Saga. I also read one of the most disturbing graphic novels (or stories, period) I've read in a while in Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann. Think Pixar's Inside Out with a Stephen King flavor. Yep, that twisted.

A few other highlights from this month: (obviously I read more, these just rose to the top)

Half-Resurrection Blues by Daniel José Older: This is a fun urban fantasy novel. If you like mysteries mixed with the paranormal and a whole lot of sass, definitely pick this up. The main character is a partially resurrected human being who is basically a gun-for-hire for the ghost world, keeping the dead from interfering too much with the living. Older does a great job with world building, and his characters are smart and funny, with the requisite melancholy. This is the book that pulled me out of my reading slump; I highly recommend it.


All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: This novel follows two young children throughout World War II. One is a young blind French girl who becomes part of the Resistance; the other is a young German boy with a gift for electronics, radios in particular, who is trained by the Nazis to search out and destroy the underground networks. This shows a very human side to the war, and how even the young were pulled in to the conflict.


Citizen by Claudia Rankine: Read this. This is probably the most important book about our society and race relations that I have read in a long time. Rankine uses prose poetry, essays, and scripts from videos she and her husband produced to create a very real picture of how far we still need to come in this country. It's not an easy read by any means given the subject matter, but it is a necessary one.


The Wicked Will Rise by Danielle Paige: This is the second in Paige's YA reworking of the Wizard of Oz. In this novel, Amy has to regroup after failing to kill Dorothy. She has lost the other members of the Wicked, and finds herself being drawn into the dark side of magic. Paige adds to the Oz legend without compromising the original mythos, creating a fun, quick read.

If you want to know more about these or any of the other books I read, let me know--I'm more than happy to chat about them!