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#2026 Read Harder Challenge Book Riot

  • Every year, Book Riot puts out a list of 24 tasks—that’s two per month—to expand your reading life.

  • It’s an invitation to diversify your TBR and pick up books you wouldn’t have discovered otherwise.

  • As for the nitty-gritty of the rules, feel free to use one book for multiple tasks.

  • And yes, as always, graphic novels and audiobooks count!

 

1. Read a microhistory.
2. Read a book featured on a “best book covers” list.
3. Read a YA book by a Latine author.
4. Read a novel with a main character who uses they/them pronouns.
5. Read a nonfiction book about resistance.
6. Read a gothic novel published in the last ten years.
7. Read a sports book by a woman, trans, or nonbinary writer.
8. Read a classic from the Zero to Well-Read Podcast.
9. Read a romantasy book with a queer and/or BIPOC main character.
10. Read a book recently adapted for film, TV, or musical.
11. Read a book by a d/Deaf author.
12. Read/try a recipe from a cookbook about a culture whose food you’ve never eaten.
13. Read a nonfiction comic.
14. Read a work of magical realism or fabulism.
15. Read a book by a librarian.
16. Read a queer picture book.
17. Read a book about a cult or cults.
18. Read a nonfiction book about AI or social media.
19. Read a book by an intersex author.
20. Read a book set in space.
21. Read a genre (SFF, horror, mystery, romance) book in translation.
22. Read a nonviolent true crime book.
23. Read a book by an African author.
24. Pick a challenge from any of the previous years’ challenges to repeat!