Your Favorite Books of the Read Harder 2024 Challenge So Far
To celebrate being halfway through 2024, I sent out a survey to see how you’re all doing in the Read Harder Challenge so far. I already shared some of the results about how many books you’ve all read on average, how many tasks you’ve finished, and which tasks you found the most difficult and the easiest. Now, I’m here to let you know about the new favorite books you’ve all read so far this year that check off tasks!
But first off, one of the survey questions was “How is your reading year going so far?” This is a broad question, and everyone had different answers with their own reasoning, but I split them roughly into great, good, neutral, and bad. Here are the results. I’m glad to see that the vast majority of people are having a good to great reading year so far! I hope it gets even better in the second half.
I also asked you for feedback on the newsletter. The majority of the feedback was about the paywalled content, and I want to give you a little peek behind the curtain for why the newsletter has gated content. The truth is, digital media looks very different in 2024 than it did even a year ago. Changes like AI recommendations in search engines or social media algorithm changes have really upended the industry. Being entirely dependent on advertisers can also mean chasing pageviews, and that has gotten even more unpredictable recently. The Read Harder Challenge newsletter this year was an experiment. Our old model for it was no longer sustainable, so we wanted to try to see if focusing our attention on paid subscribers could fix that. The newsletter being funded mainly by paid subscribers means that there’s no middleman between our content and audience: if enough of you like it to the extent that you’re willing to pay for it, we are able to keep doing it, regardless of how algorithms and advertising changes. We’re so grateful for the paid subscribers who have made this experiment a success: it opens up a lot more possibilities for us, including being able to make content that prioritizes quality and our values (like promoting diverse books) over chasing pageviews.
I hope that gives you a little more insight into why the newsletter is structured the way it is. I appreciate all of the feedback you gave, and we’ll be discussing your suggestions for the future. I also got some comments about errors with subscriptions, but this was an anonymous survey, so I’m not sure who it was. Please email us (or reply to Read Harder emails) so that we can fix that for you!
And now, the question that generated the most fun and interesting replies: “What’s your favorite book you’ve read for the 2024 Read Harder Challenge so far, and which task does it check off?” I really loved that almost all of the books you mentioned were unique: only five titles were given as answers by two people. I’ve included those five titles below, but I’ll also be sharing more of your favorite books for each task bit by bit — I almost included all of them here, but that would be a very long list, so I’m spreading it out!
Below is a graph of which tasks lead you to your favorite read of the challenge so far. I like that almost every task was mentioned at least once! The tasks that were named the most are #20: Read a book about books (fiction or nonfiction), #5: Read a sci-fi novella, #8: Read a book in translation from a country you’ve never visited, and #1: Read a cozy fantasy book.
Now, here are the five books that were mentioned by two different Read Harder Challengers as new favorites they discovered this year, and which task(s) they complete.
Your Favorite Books of the Read Harder 2024 Challenge So Far
Babel by R. F. Kuang
The two people who answered Babel read it for different tasks. One was #9: Read a book recommended by a librarian, and one was #14: Read a book by an author with an upcoming event (virtual or in person) and then attend the event. R. F. Kuang has an event coming up in Edinburgh — along with Samantha Shannon — on August 14th, so there’s still time if you’re nearby! This title is a Book Riot favorite. Rey Rowland called it one of the most thought-provoking fantasy books ever written: “One of the reasons I loved Babel so much is because of how thought-provoking it is. It’s constantly talking about language and translation — and how they can be used as tools of oppression. It also poses an amazing question: is violence necessary in order to enact change?”
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
Two people read this for task #1: Read a cozy fantasy book, but I think you could also sneak it into task #20: Read a book about books (fiction or nonfiction). This is a personal favorite of mine. After I read Legends & Lattes, I had a lot of hope and skepticism about this prequel — how could it recreate the magic of the first book, especially when I know how this one will end? I ended up liking it just as much, though. It’s such a cozy read, featuring a lot of scenes set at a bookstore as well as excerpts from different books that the main character reads. Plus, look at that ridiculous little gryphet on the cover! His name is Potroast!!
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The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa
Here’s another one that can check off two tasks, depending on whether you’ve been to Japan. It was used for task #8: Read a book in translation from a country you’ve never visited, and #20: Read a book about books (fiction or nonfiction). I’ll admit, it’s pretty easy to sell readers on picking up a book about books, which is why task #20 is generally one of the easiest to complete, but this is a great choice for it. Rachel Brittain agrees, including it in this list of 10 Books About Books for Serious Bibliophiles.
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Louise Erdrich is a beloved, Pulitzer Prize-winning Chippewa author, so it’s no surprise that one of her historical fiction books was chosen by several readers for task #10: Read a historical fiction book by an Indigenous author. It was also one of Laura Sackton’s picks for must-read Indigenous historical fiction books. I haven’t read this one yet, but the book I have read by Erdrich, The Sentence, was excellent, so I can’t wait to read more from her. The Sentence could also work for task #20!
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
Two people read this for task #2: Read a YA book by a trans author, and I would add my recommendation to that! I normally don’t read a lot of horror, but while this is one of the most gruesome books I’ve read, it’s also one of the most memorable and effective. It follows Silas, a trans, autistic teenage boy in a fantasy version of Victorian England. He has been studying to be a surgeon his whole life, but instead, he’s sent to a finishing school and sanitorium, where ghosts of former students beg him for help to prevent more deaths at this school.
Those are all the books that were named by more than one person, but I couldn’t keep all the rest for myself, so here are a few more, organized by task.
Task #1: Read a cozy fantasy book.
Can’t Spell Treason without Tea by Rebecca Thorne
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater
Keeper of Enchanted Rooms by Charlie N. Holmberg
Tower of London (Kindred Spirits #1) by Jennifer C. Wilson
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
Task #2: Read a YA book by a trans author.
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix by Gabe Cole Novoa
Do any of these results surprise you? Let’s chat in the comments!
Check out all the previous 2024 Read Harder posts here.
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