Book Riot Read Harder Challenge
I know that I have discussed the importance of following my own reading challenge last year. However even though I have been pretty good about sticking to sticking to books that I already own as much as possible I noticed that I have fallen into mostly reading my romance and fantasy novels this calendar year. I wanted a good tool to help me get back into reading more of a diversity of fiction. So I decided that I wanted to participate in the 2018 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge the books that I already own in mind. I realize that I have already done some reading that would count towards the challenge already this calendar year. In fact I already had a review of We're Going to Need More Wine which counts as a celebrity memoir. Other books that I have read this year that count towards this challenge are Impossible Fairy Tale which counts towards a book of genre fiction in translation and Hit Makers counts as a book of social science. And my addiction to Harlequin Romance books could help count towards the requirement for a one-sitting book and I decided to declare a Harlequin Desire book Little Secret Hot Scandal as my one sitting book because I want to go back and find more books by that particular author at my public library.
I was excited that looking through this challenge got me to dig through books I have been dying to read that had gotten just put to the wayside. I finally read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo because it counts as a book with a female protagonist over the age of 60. It was such a bittersweet tale and I was very mindful that I was doing most of my reading of that particular book in public spaces as an important plot twist made me want to cry.
I also finally read Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole because it counted as a romance novel by a person of color. I just started listening to the Book Riot podcast When in Romance and Alyssa Cole is a favorite author by one of the podcasts co-hosts. One of my mixed feelings about that particular challenge is that I have often been very critical of myself of falling into the habit of mostly reading romances by other white heterosexual authors. I know that I have alluded on other blog posts that romance is like a comfort food genre for me and that they are a fun genre to read at Christmas and I love following holiday themes. I have also voiced my concern that romance novels are often stigmatized, tropes that I am concerned about, an interest in the craft of the romance novel and finding it important to follow RITA awards. Naturally I am very conflicted about the criticism that I have heard about the RITA awards because I find that following award winning books can be helpful to find quality writing in a very commercially saturated genre and following award winning books is a great way to have a self guided education in the genre. But questions about representation in the awards should still be asked.
I do think that pushing for diversity is going to be important in any genre for the realities of where our world is at. I will agree that we need to continue to push in the direction of honoring a wider sea of voices in our world. However I am a white heterosexual woman who wants to be a published romance novelist. The step I can take in that complexity is in being mindful about pursuing my own writing in a way that is pushing for more sensitivity towards a variety of voices. I also could do an entire blog post on the issue of the complexity of trying to push for diversity in a genre that has a history of already being stigmatized primarily for being a genre that is for women and by women at a later date.
But for right now I will say that I really loved the book that I chose for this particular part of the challenge. I tend to prefer to read contemporary romances over historical romances. However I thought that this book had a very enjoyable story. Having an African American romance in the mix of the women's suffragette movement was a very fresh perspective. I actually enjoyed having a more politically charged love story but placing it in a historical context makes it easier to digest in our current presidential administration. I would definitely consider finding more books by this writer And if it weren't for this Book Riot challenge it might still be in my TBR (to be read) pile.
I really do appreciate that this reading challenge wants me to consider having a broader range of authors that I read. However when I am trying to follow my own reading challenge of reading more of the books I already own I become mindful that I have a stack of unread Agatha Christie books when I am supposed to be encouraged to read a mystery by a person of color or LGBT writer and that I have a stack of DC comics that I've fallen behind on reading and the challenge wants to encourage me to read a comic that is not published by Marvel or DC. If I use this as a tool to help me on the journey of reading more of the books that I own I realize I could read the books that I already own that I haven't read yet but then challenge myself on what I should look for next time I browse a library or used bookstore. For now I will start with the books I own that I haven't read. For example Americancah can count as a book of colonial or postcolonial literature and Pioneer Girl counts as a book published posthumously. I am sure that I will have things to report about as I put myself on this particular journey.
Of course I will continue my own projects and I am currently finishing Maisey Yate's Copper Ridge series. It counts towards my own challenge that I have for myself of finishing series that I have started. I also have a Twin Cities Geek review on Circe that I will announce when it is published and will continue to look for good books for reviewing on that website because it is a fun gig. There is also reading books that my husband has strongly recommended like Fortunate Pilgrim and staying on top of my Book of the Month selections. So I still will follow my own book challenge. The hope in doing this particular read harder challenge is that it will get me to go into deeper corners of my bookshelf that I may have otherwise forgotten.
I was excited that looking through this challenge got me to dig through books I have been dying to read that had gotten just put to the wayside. I finally read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo because it counts as a book with a female protagonist over the age of 60. It was such a bittersweet tale and I was very mindful that I was doing most of my reading of that particular book in public spaces as an important plot twist made me want to cry.
I also finally read Let Us Dream by Alyssa Cole because it counted as a romance novel by a person of color. I just started listening to the Book Riot podcast When in Romance and Alyssa Cole is a favorite author by one of the podcasts co-hosts. One of my mixed feelings about that particular challenge is that I have often been very critical of myself of falling into the habit of mostly reading romances by other white heterosexual authors. I know that I have alluded on other blog posts that romance is like a comfort food genre for me and that they are a fun genre to read at Christmas and I love following holiday themes. I have also voiced my concern that romance novels are often stigmatized, tropes that I am concerned about, an interest in the craft of the romance novel and finding it important to follow RITA awards. Naturally I am very conflicted about the criticism that I have heard about the RITA awards because I find that following award winning books can be helpful to find quality writing in a very commercially saturated genre and following award winning books is a great way to have a self guided education in the genre. But questions about representation in the awards should still be asked.
I do think that pushing for diversity is going to be important in any genre for the realities of where our world is at. I will agree that we need to continue to push in the direction of honoring a wider sea of voices in our world. However I am a white heterosexual woman who wants to be a published romance novelist. The step I can take in that complexity is in being mindful about pursuing my own writing in a way that is pushing for more sensitivity towards a variety of voices. I also could do an entire blog post on the issue of the complexity of trying to push for diversity in a genre that has a history of already being stigmatized primarily for being a genre that is for women and by women at a later date.
But for right now I will say that I really loved the book that I chose for this particular part of the challenge. I tend to prefer to read contemporary romances over historical romances. However I thought that this book had a very enjoyable story. Having an African American romance in the mix of the women's suffragette movement was a very fresh perspective. I actually enjoyed having a more politically charged love story but placing it in a historical context makes it easier to digest in our current presidential administration. I would definitely consider finding more books by this writer And if it weren't for this Book Riot challenge it might still be in my TBR (to be read) pile.
I really do appreciate that this reading challenge wants me to consider having a broader range of authors that I read. However when I am trying to follow my own reading challenge of reading more of the books I already own I become mindful that I have a stack of unread Agatha Christie books when I am supposed to be encouraged to read a mystery by a person of color or LGBT writer and that I have a stack of DC comics that I've fallen behind on reading and the challenge wants to encourage me to read a comic that is not published by Marvel or DC. If I use this as a tool to help me on the journey of reading more of the books that I own I realize I could read the books that I already own that I haven't read yet but then challenge myself on what I should look for next time I browse a library or used bookstore. For now I will start with the books I own that I haven't read. For example Americancah can count as a book of colonial or postcolonial literature and Pioneer Girl counts as a book published posthumously. I am sure that I will have things to report about as I put myself on this particular journey.
Of course I will continue my own projects and I am currently finishing Maisey Yate's Copper Ridge series. It counts towards my own challenge that I have for myself of finishing series that I have started. I also have a Twin Cities Geek review on Circe that I will announce when it is published and will continue to look for good books for reviewing on that website because it is a fun gig. There is also reading books that my husband has strongly recommended like Fortunate Pilgrim and staying on top of my Book of the Month selections. So I still will follow my own book challenge. The hope in doing this particular read harder challenge is that it will get me to go into deeper corners of my bookshelf that I may have otherwise forgotten.
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