In the spirit of Book Riot's annual Read Harder Challenge, the Urban Herbst Library invites you to read books from the following categories over the next few months.
If you read 3 challenge-category books by June 1, you'll be entered in to win a prize! If you read 7 challenge-category books, you'll be entered to win the prize twice. If you read over 10 books in the challenge between now and June 1, you'll be entered to win 5 times.
How It Works: We have 15 categories of books as well as suggestions for each category. All you have to do is pick a book that works for each category (if you can't think of a book that fits and none of the suggestions seem appealing, come to the library and ask Sarah or Katie for a recommendation). Read a book from as many of the categories as you can, join us for monthly check-ins, book talk, book suggestions (optional, but there will be snacks).
Categories and Suggestions:
1. 1,000 Words: read a graphic novel (fiction or nonfiction)
2. The 415: read a book about or set in San Francisco
3. Blue(s) Pride: read a book authored by someone in the Urban Community
4. Diverse History: read a historical novel by an author of color
5. Fight for Your Right: read a book about a social justice issue (fiction or nonfiction)
6. Funny Ha-ha: Humorous essays, a book authored by a comedian, anything that makes you laugh
7. Happy Teachers: read a book for your English class (or elective)
8. Library Goals: read a book recommended to you by a librarian
9. Love is Love: read a book with an LGBTQIA protagonist/narrator
10. Make Beyonce Proud: read a nonfiction book about feminism or a novel with feminist themes
11. Nostalgia: re-read a favorite book from your youth
12. Passport: read a book primarily set in or about a non-European country
13. Robots and Magic: read a book from either the fantasy or sci-fi section of the library
14. True Stories Well Told: read a memoir
15. Up Late: read a thriller or suspenseful novel
Bonus: Attend a Booksmith Event
To keep track of the books you are reading: Save a copy of this spreadsheet to your Google Drive and then follow the instructions below (if you enter the information according to the instructions, you'll have snazzy graphs and whatnots when you click on the "results" tab at the bottom).
To track publication date: Enter date in either “mm/dd/yyyy” or “Month Day, Year” format.
To track prose vs. comics: Enter “prose” or “comics.”
To track fiction vs. nonfiction: Enter “fiction” or “nonfiction.”
To track format: Enter “audio,” “digital,” or “print.”
To track audiobook length: Enter the length of the book (i.e. 9 hours, 8 mins) in the hh:mm:ss format (in this case, 09:08:00).
To track author gender: Enter M or F. If you have a male/female author/artist team or male/female co-writers, enter “M, F” (separated by commas) and one each will be marked.*
To track authors/artists/main characters of color: Enter “artist,” “author,” or “MC.” When there are multiples (i.e. the author and the main character are both POC), enter their respective roles separated by commas (i.e. “author, MC”).
To track LGBTQ+ authors/artists/main characters: The same rules apply as for POC. Enter “artist,” “author,” or “MC.” When there are multiples, enter their respective roles separated by commas.
For any field where the category doesn’t apply (for example, page count on an audiobook), leave it blank. If there are columns you don’t want to include, you can just delete them, and the formulas will adjust appropriately.