Reading Glasses On: Complete Two Reading Challenges at Once With These Books!
In addition to working full-time at Book Riot and running my own book blog in my free time, I also follow countless bookish creators across different platforms, including several podcasts. What can I say? I never get tired of thinking about books. One of my favorite bookish podcasts is Reading Glasses, hosted by filmmaker Brea Grant and author Mallory O’Meara (The Lady from the Black Lagoon, Daughter of Daring, and more). They give advice, recommend books, and review reader-relevant gadgets. One other thing they do is host a yearly reading challenge.
Since I know many Read Harder Challengers also participate in other reading challenges throughout the year, I thought I’d provide some recommendations for books that complete both Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder Challenge and Reading Glasses 2025 Reading Challenge tasks. Five of the Reading Glasses tasks are activities, like “subscribe to a library newsletter,” and one is to read the oldest book on your TBR—I’ve skipped those since I can’t really recommend titles for them. For each of the other four tasks, I’ve included recommendations for two titles that also complete at least one Read Harder task.
Honker (500+ Pages)
Homeseeking Karissa Chen (512 pages)
Read Harder Task #1: Read a 2025 release by a BIPOC author.
This book started 2025 with a buzz. In it, Suchi’s and Haiwen’s childhood friendship sweetens into teenage love in 1940s Shanghai, and it seems like their futures are laid out in tandem. But then Haiwen secretly signs up for the army to spare his brother from the draft, and that shared future is fractured. Their lives diverge for decades, except for one day when Haiwen is grocery shopping in L.A., looks up, and sees Suchi. It feels like they have a second chance at what should have been, but all of the living they’ve done weighs on them, and it’s not clear that they will be able to make something new and worthwhile. —Erica Ezeifedi
Babel by R. F. Kuang (560 pages)
Read Harder Task #6: Read a standalone fantasy book.
This delectable volume follows the orphaned Robin Swift from his birthplace in Canton to London. It’s 1829 and this London is similar to ours except that Oxford’s Royal Institute of Translation (a.k.a. Babel) is focused on both language and magic. The wealth and power of the British Empire come from the magical silver bars composed of meanings lost in translation. Given this premise, it’s no wonder the novel delves into global power dynamics. After all, in the 1800s, the sun hadn’t yet set on the British Empire, so colonization was in full swing. Robin can’t avoid these dynamics as he becomes more and more enmeshed in the perilous power struggles undergirding Babel. —Anne Mai Yee Jansen
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Are you attempting any other reading challenges this year? And which bookish podcasts do you recommend? Let’s chat in the comments!
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