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Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge discussion

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2021 Read Harder Challenge > Task 1: Read a book you’ve been intimidated to read

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message 1: by Book Riot (new)

Book Riot Community (book_riot) | 457 comments Mod
Use this space to discuss books you're reading or that might fit the 1st Read Harder task.


message 2: by Laura Cort (new)

Laura Cort | 18 comments Les Miserables by Victor Hugo! it's so long!


message 3: by Maryam (new)

Maryam (ardvisoor) | 66 comments Laura Cort wrote: "Les Miserables by Victor Hugo! it's so long!" haha same here


message 4: by BookWormBen (new)

BookWormBen (profben10) | 50 comments Priority of the Orange Tree is what I'm choosing for this one.


message 5: by Leona (new)

Leona (mnleona) | 13 comments Sarum. It is taking me forever. I read some and then put it aside.


message 6: by Stephen (new)

Stephen | 40 comments My first thought was an anti-racism book, but that's category 2.

Maybe The Tale of Genji?


message 7: by Anna (new)

Anna (annaholla) | 80 comments If the book you're intimidated to read is a classic that's freely available, I can recommend the Serial Reader app.

It breaks down novels into chunks of 10-20 minutes of reading time, and tells you how long it will take to read the whole thing. (If I start Anna Karenina today, I'll finish on May 15.)


message 8: by Milena (new)

Milena (milenas) | 104 comments I will finally read War and Peace.


message 9: by Kelsey (new)

Kelsey Landhuis (kelsey_landhuis) | 24 comments I'm doing this right now with 2312--so long and the plot is a little tenuous but very immersive. Will have to think more about what else I think of as "intimidating" for 2021


message 10: by Maryam (last edited Dec 07, 2020 06:58AM) (new)

Maryam (ardvisoor) | 66 comments Kelsey wrote: "I'm doing this right now with 2312--so long and the plot is a little tenuous but very immersive. Will have to think more about what else I think of as "intimidating" for 2021"
I'll go with this one from the Red Mars from the same author, on my TBR for a long long time now


message 11: by [deleted user] (new)

Finally time for Ulysses!!


message 12: by Sean (new)

Sean | 12 comments 1Q84 has been staring me down from my TBR pile for years now.


message 13: by Amy J. (new)

Amy J. | 81 comments Laura Cort wrote: "Les Miserables by Victor Hugo! it's so long!"

This will probably also be what I end up using


message 14: by Larry (new)

Larry (liblarrian) Is this the year I finally read In Search of Lost Time? Maybe...


message 15: by Karen (new)

Karen Witzler (kewitzler) | 173 comments Eames wrote: "Is this the year I finally read In Search of Lost Time? Maybe..."

I may just go with Swann's Way for the challenge.


message 16: by T.M (new)

T.M (honeyingreentea) | 1 comments I think I will finally go past chapter 1 of Lolita


message 17: by Karen (new)

Karen Witzler (kewitzler) | 173 comments Also considering The Anatomy of Melancholy which could work for Task 23 - A book demystifying a common mental illness.


message 18: by Elizabeth (new)

Elizabeth Cruikshank (ecruikshank) A few friends want to buddy read War and Peace, so that seems like a pretty obvious choice for me.


message 19: by Carrie (new)

Carrie (carriele1216) | 4 comments House of Leaves
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
by
Mark Z. Danielewski

This book has such great reviews. I bought it went it came out and have let it sit for years without reading it. Over 700 pages!


message 20: by Emma (new)

Emma | 1 comments A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wild

I think I'll pick this one since I've always wanted to read this book, but have always been intimidated by it.


message 21: by Dustyloup (new)

Dustyloup another for les Misérables- in French !


message 22: by Fourevver (new)

Fourevver | 5 comments The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. It's almost as long as Les Miserables.


message 23: by Heather (new)

Heather (hganshorn) Maryam wrote: "Laura Cort wrote: "Les Miserables by Victor Hugo! it's so long!" haha same here"

I read this in high school when the musical was big, and I'm here to tell you now, as a professional librarian, you can get an abridged version and still get the full story, and you should. Maybe not Jean Valjean - that cuts out too much. But there are other abridged versions and presumably they just cut out all the rambling off onto tangents about French politics.


message 24: by Jessica (new)

Jessica (jessicaappel) | 26 comments T.M wrote: "I think I will finally go past chapter 1 of Lolita"

I might go with this one also... I have never even started it!


message 25: by Elise (last edited Dec 07, 2020 09:42AM) (new)

Elise | 3 comments Anyone else thinking about tackling Infinite Jest?


message 26: by Kimberly (new)

Kimberly | 1 comments I don’t know how to reply to another users comment but I immediately thought of Infinite Jest for this one!


message 27: by Kerresa (new)

Kerresa | 2 comments I'm thinking The Hobbit!


message 28: by Viggo (new)

Viggo (erandir) | 9 comments The Fall of Gondolin Tolkien's writing is super dense, and I know I'm gonna cry about Glorfindel, but it had to happen sooner or later.


message 29: by Rachel (new)

Rachel (moonlightlibraryy) | 8 comments I'll either read Infinite Jest or 1Q84.


message 30: by Brandy (new)

Brandy B (bybrandy) | 42 comments Sean wrote: "1Q84 has been staring me down from my TBR pile for years now."

This is my longest book ala popsugar advanced prompt. Somebody is going to force me to read this book. :). It is supposed to be amazing.


message 31: by Elizabeth (new)

Elizabeth Puckett (elizabethpuckett) | 1 comments Does the Berne Brown books count? I get uncomfortable even thinking of reading self help


message 32: by Chrissy (new)

Chrissy I’m not sure about this one, because books aren’t intimidating to me. Maybe I’ll try to read something short in Spanish?


message 33: by Bonnie G. (new)

Bonnie G. (narshkite) | 1413 comments I am going with Mason & Dixon I think. I started it a couple months ago, but with US Election brain drain I gave up fairly early on. 2021 is a new year and I am hoping I regain enough brain function to read Pynchon again.


message 34: by Ange (new)

Ange | 1 comments For me, the book that intimidates me is The Queen of The Night by Alexander Chee. It sits on my shelf and watches me........


message 35: by Britt (new)

Britt Wilson (britt_wilson) | 21 comments The Second Sex - picked up a used copy a few months ago and have just been eyeing it - very excited to give a try!


message 36: by Quincie (new)

Quincie Ingram (qingram) | 1 comments Anna wrote: "If the book you're intimidated to read is a classic that's freely available, I can recommend the Serial Reader app.

It breaks down novels into chunks of 10-20 minutes of reading time, and tells y..."


Thanks for this tip. I hadn't heard about this app. It's perfect for those long, scary reads!


message 37: by Lauren (new)

Lauren Stoolfire | 38 comments Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Somehow I keep putting this one off. It's time!


message 38: by Alli (new)

Alli The Book Giraffe (allithebookgiraffe) | 11 comments I am going to try for Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse .


message 39: by Katie (new)

Katie | 2 comments Alli wrote: "I am going to try for Black Sun (Between Earth and Sky, #1) by Rebecca Roanhorse."

You should! I am an unapologetic stan for it.


message 40: by Rachel (new)

Rachel | 25 comments I'm going to attempt The Brothers Karamazov. The first reviews on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ are pretty intimidating: you need a solid month to get through it, it's heavy-duty philosophy disguised as a novel...


message 41: by Octavia (new)

Octavia Cade | 139 comments Milena wrote: "I will finally read War and Peace."

That was my exact same thought! War and Peace, I am finally coming for you.


message 42: by Milena (new)

Milena (milenas) | 104 comments Octavia wrote: "Milena wrote: "I will finally read War and Peace."

That was my exact same thought! War and Peace, I am finally coming for you."


Let me know if you need moral support. I am sure I will.


message 43: by Santiago (new)

Santiago (marthis) | 1 comments I will start reading the Earthsea Cycle by Ursula Le Guin here.


message 44: by Abbie (new)

Abbie (abbiedeacon) | 20 comments Carrie wrote: "House of Leaves
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
by
Mark Z. Danielewski

This book has such great reviews. I bought it went it came out and have let it sit for years wi..."


I was thinking about this one, too! It's long AND creepy, which I don't generally do very well with.

Or Anna Karenina because there's an "epilogue" by another author for in translation I'm considering.


message 45: by Tanu (new)

Tanu (tanu_reads) | 57 comments I might ignore my diverse authors rule for this one, and go with Gravity's Rainbow. My issue is that I tend to abandon books as soon as they lose my interest :(


message 46: by [deleted user] (last edited Dec 07, 2020 02:06PM) (new)

Sherri wrote: "Finally time for Ulysses!!"

i'm thinking i'm going with this one too because it's shorter than others which makes it less likely i will abandon it. will be using DailyLit to get through it in hopefully readable chunks too


message 47: by Natai (new)

Natai 'Tali' Topliff (talis-library) | 4 comments Carrie wrote: "House of Leaves
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski
by
Mark Z. Danielewski

This book has such great reviews. I bought it went it came out and have let it sit for years wi..."


I'm also planning on reading this!


message 48: by Kathryn (new)

Kathryn (kathrynlively) | 63 comments I will shoot for Ulysses by Joyce.


message 49: by superawesomekt (last edited Dec 07, 2020 05:58PM) (new)

superawesomekt | 10 comments For those reading Les Miserables or Anna Karenina, they are totally worth it!

Finally tackling Moby-Dick or, the Whale by Herman Melville Moby-Dick


message 50: by Alice (new)

Alice | 2 comments My copy of IQ84 has sadly never been read. Thinking I’ll finally tackle that one and glad to see others are thinking same.


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