Corrigazing

It's uplifting, it's funny, it's wicked crass. Nerd Do Well gives insight into how totally happenstance success in the entertainment industry can be (the story of how he met Nick Frost being an excellent example), while also demonstrating the importance of perseverance and hard work. Plus, it's Simon Pegg, so it's self-deprecating and tinged with whimsy. This memoir features an entire alternate storyline in which Pegg imagines himself a super spy with a robot butler. It's delightful.

Between the World and Me | Ta-Nehisi Coates

Oof. This book is important. Trying to explain why everyone should read it feels futile. You have to read it to understand why you need to read it. What I will say is this: Coates has a way of articulating black consciousness and reality that is unmatched by nearly any other voice in 2016. 

Why Not Me? | Mindy Kaling

Mindy's first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, was alright. It had some good tidbits, including giving a name to the exit strategy I have used to avoid saying goodbye to people for pretty much my entire adult life ("the Irish exit"). Why Not Me? is a far better book. It's relatable and inspiring, and not in the typical Hollywood starlet memoir way, where for two weeks you think a juice cleanse, hot yoga, and the power of positive thinking will totally transform your entire life. Instead, this is a book about hard work, being honest about strengths and weaknesses, and knowing when you damn well SHOULD feel entitled.

United | Cory Booker

This is absolutely the book you write a decade or so before you run for President. It does all the things it politically should do in order to introduce him to people who have never heard of him and answer questions about his life for those who have been following his public image for a while. If you've read Barack Obama's books, you'll recognize a lot of the same techniques for painting a picture of a flawed, but overall good man. Booker casually confirms his oft-questioned heterosexuality with an anecdote about a woman he briefly and unreasonably fell for. He explains the ineffectiveness he showed on Newark's city council, as well as Mayor Sharpe James's vendetta against him (which is effing BANANAS, btdubs). He is appropriately critical of his own ego and shortcomings. He name checks God and the Bible. He accentuates his idealism, showing how it could be a weakness at times, but ultimately pointing to how much he cares about people.  Having followed Booker's life and career for a decade or so and not really needing to be persuaded of his politics and character, mostly, this was an interesting glimpse at the events and ideas that led a fairly privileged kid from the 'burbs to intentionally move to the wrong side of the tracks and become a politician. #CoryBooker4PresidentWheneverHeFeelsLikeRunning

I love reading. I love challenges. If you put the two of them together, I'm basically in heaven. This is why I set seemingly unreasonable goals on Goodreads every year. This year, I've set it at 60, because the scramble to hit 52 at the end of last year apparently wasn't harrowing enough. 

At the beginning of January, my friend Joy alerted me to the existence of the Read Harder Challenge from Book Riot, which is apparently in its second year, and which consists of 24 different reading tasks that you can either complete individually, or complete by finding books that meet multiple criteria at once. Natch, I feel the need to find a different book for each requirement. After all, I'll still be less than halfway through my yearly goal, so what they hey, right?

I like the idea of this challenge because, while I don't necessarily stick to a specific genre or type of book, I am always of the conviction that I have some rather glaring blindspots that could stand to be addressed. My reading in 2015 included, among others: