Rabbit Hole #65: Hi! Remember Me? A Reading Update

Yeah. . . it's been a while. Five months. Gulp. Let's just ignore that little hiatus, shall we?

2017 Read Harder Challenge Update

A book about sports: Tales from the New Orleans Saints Sideline by Jeff Duncan

A debut novel: Bright Lines by Tanwi Nadini Islam

A book about books: A World Between Two Covers by Ann Morgan

A book by an immigrant or with a central immigration narrative: The Love Wife by Gish Jen

An all-ages comic: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur by Amy Reeder

A travel memoir: Alibis--Essays on Elsewhere by André Aciman

A book you've read before: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery; trans. from the French by Alison Anderson 

A book that is set within 100 miles of your location: The Grandissimes by George Washington Cable

A book set more than 5000 miles from your location: Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

A book about war:  The Monuments Men by Robert M. Edsel and Bret Witter

A YA or middle grade novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+: Ash by Malinda Lo

A book that has been banned or frequently challenged: Grendel by John Gardner

A classic by an author of color: Quicksand by Nella Larsen

A superhero comic with a female lead: Ms. Marvel, Vol. 4 by G. Willow Wilson

A book in which a character of color goes on a spiritual journey: Boxers and Saints by Gene Luen Yang (both books)

A collection of stories by a woman: Operation Monsoon by Shona Ramaya

A collection of poetry in translation on a theme other than love: Rilke Shake by Angelica Freitas; trans. from the Portuguese by Hilary Kaplan 

A book wherein all point-of-view characters are people of color: Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi


I'm currently reading The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell for the fantasy novel challenge, so that leaves the following (books chosen and on my shelf!):

A nonfiction book about technology: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

A book set in Central or South America by a Central or South American author: I, Rigoberta Menchu by Rigoberta Menchu

A book published between 1900-1950:  Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston

An LGBTQ+ romance novel: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin

A book published by a micropress: ??? (Anybody have any ideas? Anyone?)

That's 18/24 completed with five months left. Think I've got this. 

Rabbit Hole #62: 2017 Reading Goals

Time for the new year's reading resolutions. Just as with regular resolutions, it's tempting to want to fix/do/change ALL the things. However, I want to keep this manageable (and realistic), so I've limited myself to five.

1. Read 85 books--I read 87 last year, so I'm optimistic that this is doable. (I'm still amazed that my reading has increased since moving; I would have thought the opposite would be true.

2. Complete the 2017 Read Harder Challenge--Last year I tried to complete three different challenges, but I think it was just too much. This year's challenge also includes some tasks submitted by authors and not just the Book Riot staff, so that's a fun change. If you're interested, the link is here.

3. Read 30% non-American/British authors--This was one of my goals last year, and I failed miserably. Looking at my reading pile so far, I'm not sure if I'm going to hit it this year either, but I'm going to give it a shot!

4. Read my 12 Reads for 2017 books--I've already picked up 7 of these; now I just have to read them!

5. Do an author re-read--One thing that I used to do that I hardly do anymore is reread books. I've been looking at my shelves lately and realized that there are a lot of stories I'd love to dive back into, and while I'm not sure which author I'm going to choose for this, Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Marion Zimmer Bradley and Gregory Maguire are all top candidates at the moment.


I really want to recommit to reading this year; I found myself sucked into endless Facebook and Twitter browsing, which ended up depressing me more than anything. So here's to a new year, new challenges, and new reads!