Book Riot's 2015 Read Harder Challenge

As you have probably noticed, my reading selections as of late haven't been too diverse. I read what books from my personal shelves I can when I can (mostly holidays and breaks), but I have a constant list of middle school books to read, particularly as I try to tackle all 20 books that my Battle of the Books participants have to read before our school-wide competition in May.

Because I no longer have my beloved Idlewild book club to broaden my reading horizons, it's up to me now—I'm all on my own!

Luckily, I stumbled upon Book Riot's 2015 Read Harder Challenge. Their list of criteria is specific enough to ensure varied reading but broad enough to still allow me plenty of choice with the titles.

• A book written by someone when they were under the age of 25
• A book written by someone when they were over the age of 65
• A collection of short stories (either by one person or an anthology by many people)
• A book published by an indie press
• A book by or about someone that identifies as LGBTQ
• A book by a person whose gender is different from your own
• A book that takes place in Asia
• A book by an author from Africa
• A book that is by or about someone from an indigenous culture (Native Americans, Aboriginals, etc.)
• A microhistory
• A YA novel
• A sci-fi novel
• A romance novel
• A National Book Award, Man Booker Prize or Pulitzer Prize winner from the last decade
• A book that is a retelling of a classic story (fairytale, Shakespearian play, classic novel, etc.)
• An audiobook
• A collection of poetry
• A book that someone else has recommended to you
• A book that was originally published in another language
• A graphic novel, a graphic memoir or a collection of comics of any kind (Hi, have you met Panels?)
• A book that you would consider a guilty pleasure (Read, and then realize that good entertainment is nothing to feel guilty over)
• A book published before 1850
• A book published this year
• A self-improvement book (can be traditionally or non-traditionally considered “self-improvement”)

I've already covered a few of these so far in 2015, but those don't count; I'm starting this challenge today! I can't wait to get started brainstorming and building lists of options. [Please share any good recommendations that you have!]

If you're looking for a good challenge this year, I hope you will join, too!