Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge 2023 - June Update: Lawn Boy & The Men With The Pink Triangle

Happy Saturday everyone!  I hope everyone's been doing well.  How is this year already half way over?  Anyway, I've now competed the twelve tasks of Book Riot's 2023 Read Harder Challenge.  The tasks I completed this month required me to read book that’s been challenged recently in your school district/library OR read one of the most-challenged/banned books of the year by a queer and/or BIPOC author and a nonfiction book about BIPOC and/or queer history and I selected Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison and The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in Nazi Death Camps by Heinz Heger respectively.  Read on to see my mini reviews and my plans for next month:

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Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison is a coming of age novel that came to my attention thanks to book bans and book challenges.  Otherwise, it probably wouldn't have been on my radar.  It's a solid read, but It's not quite my style.  Honestly, that comes down to Mike himself.  When the description compares him Holden Caufield, I say that's an apt description and it's an annoying as well.

My review is also on Goodreads.

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The Men with the Pink Triangle: The True Life-and-Death Story of Homosexuals in Nazi Death Camps by Heinz Heger is an incredibly tough to read and it will stick with you.  This lesser known part of history must be known.  I actually cried several times while reading it.

My review is also on Goodreads.

Next Up For July: 

Read a novel about a trans character written by a trans author.

My choice: Peter Darling by Austin Chant - This fantasy retelling has been on my tbr since 2018.  It's time I finally pick it up!

Finish a book you’ve DNFed (did not finish).

My choice: The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward - I wanted to love this but I couldn't get into it.  I think I'll give it a shot on audiobook - maybe that will work for me.

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