Book Riot's 2020 Read Harder Challenge - April Update: I Am Malala & Queer There and Everywhere

I don't know about you, but April has really dragged by nearly as slowly as March did with everything that's been going on.  I hope everyone's been staying healthy.  On the plus side, I've had more time to read while the library has been closed.  Anyway, I've now completed 8 out of 24 books of Book Riot's 2020 Read Harder Challenge!  The tasks I completed required me to read a memoir by someone from a religious tradition (or lack of religious tradition) that is not your own and a YA nonfiction book.  For the tasks, I selected  I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb and Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager.  Read on to see my mini reviews and what's next for May: 

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I am Malala: The Story of the Girl Who Stood Up For Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai and Christina Lamb is an absolute must read autobiography. It's a great opportunity to hear Malala's story directly in her own words. It's quite refreshing and inspiring to learn more about her early life and what she's done since then, more than just the blurbs you might have heard about her story on the news. I learned so much about her and her culture. I must learn more about her life since this was released in 2012 and I hope to read more of her work including We Are Displaced in the future.

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Queer, There, and Everywhere: 23 People Who Changed the World by Sarah Prager is a more than worthwhile collection of short biographies. I learned quite a bit about people I wasn't familiar with from the start and learned more about some figures I already knew a bit about. I hope the author in the future will focus on more queer people from other places in the world that are barely touched upon here. The conversational tone and style kept me invested from the start.

Next Up For May:

Read a retelling of a classic of the canon, fairytale, or myth by an author of color

My choice: Pride by Ibi Zoboi - I was really impressed with American Street so I'm really intrigued by what she's going to do with this Pride and Prejudice retelling.

Read a historical fiction novel not set in WWII

My choice: Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - I loved The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I can't wait to finally read this.


Are you taking part in this reading challenge?  Have you read any of these books?  As always, thanks for visiting my blog and perhaps even commenting down below!