2016 Book Challenges are in the books...

I am posting my 2016 challenges today. Still some reading to do but my ten grands and their various parents will begin arriving tomorrow. I have no illusions about my ability to post anything of significance after the onslaught! I must say that these lists forced me out of my reading comfort zone. So here I go:

Read Harder 2016

*A horror book~The Last American Vampire by Seth Grahame Smith (delicious and horror-able)
*A non-fiction book about science~An Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (kicking and screaming,   probably will not finish)
*Read a collection of essays~Drown by Junot Diaz (highly recommended)
*Read a book out loud to someone else~Little Moon Dog to Emma
*Read a middle grade novel~The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (Ivy and Lila, eleven and twelve year old     grands, recommended this raw coming of age story to me)
*Read a biography or autobiography~Not my Father's Son by Alan Cumming
*Read a dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel~Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (read along with my  15 year old grandson for his freshman English class)
*Read a book originally published in the decade you were born~Fahrenheit 451 does double duty  here, I still want to reread Catcher in the Rye
*Listen to an audio book that has won an Audie Award~The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah (I did  not vote for this book, tho)
*Read a book over 500 pages long~Barkskins by Annie Proulx (700+page saga. My husband is  French Canadian. A character in the book, Jacques Nadeau, has the name of my hubby's great  grandfather!)
*Read a book under 100 pages~Animal Farm by George Orwell (Humans nor pigs will ever get it  right)
*A book by or about a person that identifies as transgender~The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff
*Read a book that is set in the Middle East~The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (eye-  opening)
*A book by an author from Southeast Asia~Malinky Robot Collection: Preview by Sonny Liew (It  was easy to find Asian authors, not easy to narrow the field to actual Southeast Asian)
*Read a book of historical fiction set before 1900~Virgins (Outlander) Diana Gabaldon
*Read the first book in a series by a person of color~The Round House by Louise Erdrich (I don't  think this is the first in a series, maybe the second in interconnected novels. Best book I read this  year)
*Read a non-superhero comic that debuted in the last three years~Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu (I  am too old for this)
*Read a book that was adapted into a movie, then watch the movie~The Shawshank Redemption by  Stephan King (How is this King?)
*Read a non-fiction book about feminism or dealing with a feminist theme~We Should All be  Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche (Tip:  read everything she writes)
*Read a book about religion, fiction or non-fiction~Lila by Marianne Robinson (Maybe there is a  God)
*Read a book about politics, fiction or non~The Orphan Master's Son (quit 1/2 way through-so  awful)
*Read a food memoir~Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J Ryan Stradal (Author e-mailed me back!)
*Read a play~The Cursed Child by J K Rowling (I finally know why Harry loved Ginny)
*Read a book with a main character that has a mental illness~The Girl in the Spider's Web by David  Lagercrantz (Recently~Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson)

I will have to do another post. Pop Sugar challenge next! I chose, to my enjoyment, very good books in 2016.