Taking On Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge in 2024? Here Are Suggestions for Each Category

By Carrie McBride, Communications
December 28, 2023

It's the 10-year anniversary of Book Riot's yearly challenge to read outside your comfort zone. The Read Harder Challenge asks you to "explore settings, characters, formats, genres, and perspectives that might be outside of your reading norms" with a set of 24 reading tasks to complete in the upcoming year. To help you along, we've put together four suggestions for each of Book Riot's categories, all available to borrow from The New York Public Library. Good luck and have a great year of reading!

Don't have a New York Public Library card yet? Anyone who lives, works, or attends school in New York can apply for one now.

collage of four book covers

1. "Read a cozy fantasy book"

collage of four book covers

2. "Read a YA book by a trans author"

collage of four book covers

3. "Read a middle grade horror novel"

collage of four book covers

4. "Read a history book by a BIPOC author"

collage of four book covers

5. "Read a sci-fi novella"

collage of four book covers

6. "Read a middle grade book with an LGBTQIA main character"

collage of four book covers

7. "Read an indie published collection of poetry by a BIPOC or queer author"

collage of four book covers

8. "Read a book in translation from a country you’ve never visited"

We don't know where you've traveled! But here are a few ideas:

  • Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree (India); translated from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell
  • Abyss by Pilar Quintana (Colombia); translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman
  • Heart Sutra by Yan Lianke (China); translated from the Chinese by Carlos Rojas
  • No One Prayed Over Their Graves by Khaled Khalifa (Syria); translated from the Arabic by Leri Price
collage of four book covers

9. "Read a book recommended by a librarian"

These titles come from NYPL's Best Books for Adults 2023, but we also invite you to come in and see us for personal recommendations.

collage of three book covers

10. "Read a historical fiction book by an Indigenous author"

collage of four book covers

11. "Read a picture book published in the last five years"

collage of four book covers

12. "Read a genre book (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) by a disabled author"

collage of four book covers

13. "Read a comic that has been banned"

collage of four book covers

14. "Read a book by an author with an upcoming event (virtual or in person) and then attend the event"

collage of four book covers

15. "Read a YA nonfiction book"

collage of four book covers

16. "Read a book based solely on the title"

collage of four book covers

17. "Read a book about media literacy"

collage of four book covers

18. "Read a book about drag or queer artistry"

collage of four book covers

19. "Read a romance with neurodivergent characters"

collage of four book covers

20. "Read a book about books (fiction or nonfiction)"

collage of four book covers

21. "Read a book that went under the radar in 2023"

collage of four book covers

22. "Read a manga or manhwa"

collage of four book covers

23. "Read a 'howdunit' or 'whydunit' mystery"

24. "Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat!"

Good luck completing Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge this year! If you want to track your progress, head over to their site for a downloadable PDF of this year's challenge.