Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 2nd Read Harder task. Sign up for our new Read Harder newsletter to get recommendations for each task delivered straight to your inbox! https://bookriot.com/newsletter/read-...

I plan to read A Clockwork Orange. It's on Percival Everett's Top Ten List on TopTenBooks.net

If a favorite author is Kazuo Ishiguro, here is a list and his thoughts on some of his favorite books: https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/never...

I'm dithering between Villette by Charlotte Brontë and South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami.

Thank you for the Top Ten Books site. Extremely helpful.

I will re-read The Lord of the Rings from
https://theweek.com/articles/696465/f...

My favorite author is Celeste Ng, so I'll be reading one of her recs, probably Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures or Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Lois McMaster Bujold has The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle rated 5 stars, so barring getting up the courage to just ask her for a rec, I'll go with that!

My favorite author is J.R.R. Tolkien. He favored old and middle english writings, so I'm going to read Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition

He said in a letter that he enjoyed Issac Asimov, so I'm also going to read The Caves of Steel

Nick Hornby did an interview with The Week talking about his 6 favorite books. https://theweek.com/articles/472825/n...

From his list I'm leaning towards David Copperfield by Dickens (always meant to read it) and Pictures from a Revolution by Mark Harris.

KJ Charles is my favorite, and thankfully she just posted a blog of her favorite books of 2022: https://kjcharleswriter.com/2022/12/0.... There's lots of great options on there, so I might need to think about it.

I DM'ed my favorite author to see what her favorites are 😂, here's hoping she responds!

I don't know if I have a favourite author. I'm so haphazard with it now. So, I might just look up someone like Stephen King, or Neil Gaiman.

Elizabeth wrote: "KJ Charles is my favorite, and thankfully she just posted a blog of her favorite books of 2022: https://kjcharleswriter.com/2022/12/0.... There's lots of great options on there..."

That was perfect. Thank you for posting that. I only check on her blog every few months.

I was having a hard time finding the favourites of most of the authors I searched as potentials, but I do love Courtney Milan, and her website has its own page of her recommendations, so I'm going to read something off of that. I've read some of them already, but there are some that look like a lot of fun that I haven't read yet. https://www.courtneymilan.com/courtne...

Another resource for finding out your faves' faves: the New York Times has a series called "By the Book" where they ask authors about books they love: https://www.nytimes.com/column/by-the...

One of my favorite authors is Terry Pratchett. I found an article in The Guardian where he listed A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson as his favorite book of the 00s. I think I'm going to read that to fulfill this challenge.

In case anyone else loves Martha Wells, Naomi Novik, or Connie Willis:

Martha Wells:
"Early favorites that I re-read a lot were Mirabile by Janet Kagan, The Door into Summer by Diane Duane, and A Judgement of Dragons by Phyllis Gotlieb." (I think she meant The Door into Shadow or The Door into Sunset)."

and: https://www.ocregister.com/2021/04/25...

Naomi Novik:
"Favorite is a hard word for me, because there are so many books that I love and admire, but since you're asking about influence, there are a bunch of books that I first came across in childhood and middle school that I still re-read on a regular basis, (typically when I get sick) which I think probably collectively have the most influence -- Tolkien, LeGuin's Wizard of Earthsea, Robin McKinley's Damar books, Patricia McKillip's Forgotten Beasts of Eld and Riddle-Master trilogy, Pride & Prejudice, Georgette Heyer's Regency romances, the Nero Wolfe books, Sherlock Holmes, the Little House on the Prairie books."
and "Six Authors and Books I Keep Coming Back To:
Jane Austen, of course. I have many editions of Pride and Prejudice, because when I was traveling in the days before ereaders, I’d always run out of books and need a new one.
Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances. I’d probably go with Frederica if I had to pick one.
Rex Stout’s Nero Wolfe novels. I'm cheating and lumping these all in together, but they are not meant to be taken one at a time; these are the books I stack up by the dozen next to the bed when I’m really sick and need to lie around reading.
If I’m in that annoying place where I’m hungry, but I can’t figure out what I want to eat, I’ll reread Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and like magic, I’ll suddenly want something. There’s something amazing about the food descriptions in that book — I think her own deprived childhood and hunger are speaking to us through it.
The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley
“The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin"

Connie Willis:
Several books listed here: https://www.goodreads.com/interviews/...

Farmer In The Sky by Heinlein
Rumer Godden's An Episode Of Sparrows

and she apparently loves short stories best (no surprise!): ""Flowers for Algernon" and the "Quest for St. Aquin" and Ward Moore's "Lot" and Kit Reed's "Songs of War" and "The Light of Other Days" by Bob Shaw."

I adore Ann Patchett and she has loads of lists online of her favorite books that Google just turned up. This one in particular lists 75 of the best books of the last 75 years - something for everyone on here! https://parade.com/485659/annpatchett...

I also stumbled upon this website which seems to have lots of favorite lists. https://radicalreads.com/category/wri...

Sheila Heti is one of my absolute favorite authors and she has mentioned Anna Karenina as one of her favorite books, so I might do that since I'm embarrassed I haven't read it yet. Also Virginia Woolf mentioned Middlemarch by George Eliot as a favorite, so that has my interest piqued since I feel I should have read that one by now, too. I also really love the way Stephen King tells a story and he mentioned Underworld by Don DeLillo as one of his faves. I have started that one about 10 times but DNFed it each time... Do I double dip and decide this is this the year I finally finish it?

Fires by Raymond Carver (Kazuo Ishiguro); The City We Became by NK Jemison (Neil Gaiman); All The Days and Nights by William Maxwell (Alice Munro); or Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (Tana French)

Emma Watson has Heart Berries on one of her book club picks so I'll go with this one.

I have so many favorite authors it was hard to choose, but I found a handful of picks from favorites that I want to read so I think I will read all of these.
All Quiet on the Western Front (Dylan fave)
American Pastoral (Judy Bloom fave and a reread)
Seize the Day (Franzen fave)
White Noise (Franzen fave)
Old Filth (Meg Wolitzer fave)
Dispatches (George Saunders fave)
Dead Souls (George Saunders fave)

This took me a lot to decide on. So many distractions. My faves are James Baldwin, Maggie Nelson, Teju Cole, Sally Rooney... and Henry James seems to come up a lot???? Ugh.

I'm going to reread The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as Fredrik Backman has it in his top six books...and I LOVE HIM!

This will be my Feb book (I read very slowly so will probably only get through about half the prompts unless I’m able to double-dip on some): Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber, which is one of Sarah Waters’ top ten books of all time.

My favourite is Tamora Pierce and I've asked on her 'unofficial' fan group on Facebook, which she's actually a member of, but chickened out of asking her directly!

Marisha Pessl and Emily St. John Mandel have both mentioned The Executioner's Song as favorite books or books they were very influenced by so I think I’m finally going to tackle that tome 😵‍💫

Dani wrote: "Marisha Pessl and Emily St. John Mandel have both mentioned The Executioner's Song as favorite books or books they were very influenced by so I think I’m..."

I hope you like it. It's a tough read, but I still remember it after 40 years. I read it after a flight cancellation delayed by holiday plans. Now that I see how long it is, I'm kind of proud of my (young) self for sticking with it. (Tbh, I'm not sure I could do it now.)

It's also memorable because it kept me from a scientology meeting. I was so engrossed in the book I turned down a dinner invitation from a neighbor who saw I was home alone. (Which was unlike me.) I didn't learn until later what their guest of honor discussed, or what it meant.

Melissa wrote: "I adore Ann Patchett and she has loads of lists online of her favorite books that Google just turned up. This one in particular lists 75 of the best books of the last 75 years - something for every..."

She discussed Kevin Wilson in one of her memoirs (which I liked even more than the novels!). Also Kate DiCamillo - who writes children's books that many adults love too. I have books by both of them on my TBR now because of her. Thanks for the link!

ETA - I found this from Ann Patchett:

"The book that changed my life:
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. I only read it a year ago, but it made me completely rethink what literature for children is capable of and what it means to have a full, complex and deeply satisfying novel that can be read in two hours. I’ve since read all of DiCamillo’s work and believe she has no equal."

I don’t really have a favorite author, but I have a few friends who have books out so I think I’m going to stalk their Goodreads profiles and see what they’ve rated highly 😁😁

Nancy, I saw that too! I’ve read some of DiCamillo’s books with my kids and loved them but that one somehow flew under my radar. It may be my pick too.

If anyone else’s favorite author is Neil Gaiman his favorite book is The 13 Clocks. He responded to me on Twitter today.

Melissa wrote: "I also stumbled upon this website which seems to have lots of favorite lists. https://radicalreads.com/category/wri..."

What a great resource. My #1 favorite author, Lawrence Block, isn't included there, but so many others are! Thanks for sharing.

I stumbled across this list: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/th...

If anyone else is choosing Elena Ferrante, found this list of her recommended reading: https://bookshop.org/lists/elena-ferr...

Well nuts. I did this a few years ago already with Niel Gaiman Gonna have to look a bit closer at his notes for more ideas.

If you haven't read it yet and like Gaiman, Something Wicked This Way Comes is great read.

Jenny wrote: "My favourite is Tamora Pierce and I've asked on her 'unofficial' fan group on Facebook, which she's actually a member of, but chickened out of asking her directly!"

Jenny, did you get an answer from Tamora Pierce in the FB group? I love her as well and years ago I actually did a deep dive into her Goodreads to see which books she gave 5 stars to, and added many to my TBR. So if you don't hear back from her directly you could see if any of her 5 star reads look good to you: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Oh, thank you! I was given a link to some of her curated lists by another member of the group, but this looks like a good resource, too!

For both Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman, P.G. Wodehouse came up, so I will give that a go!

Samantha Irby is one of my favorite authors and I found Emergency Contact on a favorites list so that's my pick.

I've always loved Anne Rice, so I Googled her fave books and I think I'll be trying to read The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter.

I plan to read Ursula K LeGuin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" for Becky Chambers.

https://lithub.com/how-the-left-hand-...

Ann wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I also stumbled upon this website which seems to have lots of favorite lists. https://radicalreads.com/category/wri..."

What a great resource. My #1 favorite author..."

Thanks for this list!
-K

I found a list of the books Oscar Wilde had with him in prison, so I'm just going to choose one of those....

https://radicalreads.com/oscar-wilde-...

Probably The Well-Beloved by Thomas Hardy because I've never read any Hardy but I feel like I should have!

Listening to one of Stephen King’s favorite novels on my daily walk/ride - George Orwell’s 1984.

Kay O'Neill is one of my favorite graphic novel authors. In an interview with Christchurch Library, their favorite authors mentioned are Tove Jansson, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Diana Wynne Jones.

Interview: https://my.christchurchcitylibraries....

Maybe this is the year I finally read Howl’s Moving Castle.

So many author's read fiction that I have a hard time finding nonfiction books from many of them.

If anyone has any ideas that would be great. So far the only one I've been able to find is a poetry book that Barack Obama recommended but I want to look for others.

This is nonfiction I am reading now for my local library challenge. It is really interesting if you are into birding and nature: National Geographic Birding Basics: Tips, Tools, and Techniques for Great it Bird-watching by Noah K Strycker. I won the book from Goodreads.

I am reading The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters. She is one of my favorite authors.