Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

Here is a thread to discuss books you’re considering or suggesting for Task 13: Read a comic that has been banned.

The Complete Maus or The Complete Persepolis

Speak: The Graphic Novel

Apparently Bone has been banned a few times, which is ludicrous. I never finished it in single issue form, so I'm going for this one. The CBDLF is a great resource to find other banned comics.

Highly recommend Flamer by Mike Curato.

Highly recommend Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe!

Edited to add - Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey is cute and gay and a light read. I actually read it for 2023s challenge but it fits here too!

Any of the volumes of Saga work here as well. Other obvious choices (at least to this comic book fan!) are Persepolis and Y the last man

Gonna read This One Summer because apparently the county I live in started the hullabaloo about it.

My son-in-law is going to let me borrow Watchmen.

This task has a disturbing amount of excellent options. Highly recommend Saga, Volume 1, The Complete Maus, The Complete Persepolis, Gender Queer: A Memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, New Kid, and Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World. Genuinely too many great things to read.

I am taking this as my chance to finally read This One Summer, which I have been meaning to get to since it came out.

This is going to be hard for me because (1) I already read a lot of graphic novels and (2) when one has been challenged, I tend to grab it from the library FAST and read it.

So, I visited Comic Book Legal Defense Fund's Banned & Challenged Books to see what, if any, I have not read. Blankets looks good and The Color of Earth is also manwha if someone wants a book that will count for two challenges. {Unfortunately, we cannot put links in comments otherwise I'd have linked to CBLDF's website.}

I highly recommend Maus, Persepolis, Gender Queer, Saga, and New Kid.

Brian Vaughan – Saga, vol 1 doubled off the manga prompt.

I am excited to read The Sandman Omnibus, Vol. 1 for this prompt. Volume 1 has been banned, but I can't read just one volume!

Gender Queer. I think it's on top of the most banned list, and it's such a good book.

I read Pride of Baghdad, about 4 lions who escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during the bombing and were later killed by invading soldiers. I don't usually read graphic novels so I don't know that I'm a great judge for the medium but I felt pretty neutral about this book; it was fine overall, I rated it three stars.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and They Called Us Enemy by GeorgeTakai. Both have been challenge in the U.S., not sure if either has been actually pulled from shelves.

I just have to finish The Watchmen and I will be finished with the 2024 challenge. Ugh reading a 400 page comic is definitely a challenge!

I read Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History & Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began.

I read Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi. Research indicated it's been banned

I read Watchmen for this task. I have not seen the film adaptation so the ending was a big surprise. And with this book I have completed the challenge.