Try The 'Reading Without Walls' Challenge This Month

Books can take you anywhere and allow you to experience the world (or distant worlds, even) through new eyes. And that's why we're excited about a new event called , which challenges readers to explore beyond their usual literary comfort zones.
The rules of this challenge are simple. Just pick your next book using one of these suggestions:
1) Read a book about a character who doesn't look like you or live like you.
2) Read a book about a topic you don't know much about.
3) Read a book in a format that you don't normally read for fun (a graphic novel, a book in verse, or an audiobook).
Beginning this month, is planned as an annual event every April. It's meant to expand the range of books children read, but we think it's a great idea for readers of any age. You can check out the Reading Without Walls more information, reading lists, kids' activity books, and more. And if you want to follow along on social media, check out the hashtag .
began as a pilot program last year when author and comic book artist Gene Luen Yang was appointed (you can see Yang announcing the project in the video ). Yang is the author of American Born Chinese, Avatar: The Last Airbender, and many more graphic novels.
We'd love to know how you get out of your reading comfort zones and how that's helped you become a better reader. Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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Comments Showing 51-100 of 114 (114 new)

For anyone who wants to wet their feet in weird fiction written by a Japanese author, Strange Library is short and bizarre.


1. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not concerned with the race, gender, age, orientation, religion, or country of origin of the author, more the quality of the story and writing.
2. This tends to happen naturally anyways as every author tends to have their own wheelhouse.
3. This happens naturally too. I prefer audio books, but some stories just aren't available in this format. Might I recommend also adding certain types of Video Games (Visual Novels, Choose your own adventure text games, and some RPGS) or trying out a MU* (MUCK, MUSH, MUD, ext)?

It's an autobiography of a lesbian artist (check 1 and 2), and a biographical comic (while I read comics and occasionally biographies, rarely are the two combined). :)

1. Maybe it's just me, but I'm not concerned with the race, gender, age, orientation, religion, or country of origin of the author, more the quality of the story and writing.
2. This tends ..."
I'm not concerned about these things either, but I happen to like (for example) thrillers set in Scandinavia. More often than not, these books are written by Scandinavian authors. So boom, here you have me reading all those Scandinavian books, without sparing a thought for whether or not I'd like an African YA series or detective novel, or a Chinese sci fi novel... I'm not purposefully choosing books written by a certain type or nationality of author (except when I am, but more to the point), but maybe I could make the effort to go out of my way and choose something new.

I just did no. 3) in February, so I'll do no 2).
I thought about reading sci-fi book this year, a genre I've never read before.
Let's do it!
Karen M wrote: "Coincidently I'm reading A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood. Male, gay, British, college professor living & teaching in California, nope, I'm none of those so this on..."
You won't be disappointed Karen,The Kite Runner is fantastic in my humble opinion!!
You won't be disappointed Karen,The Kite Runner is fantastic in my humble opinion!!

I'm not a big manga fan, but if you like cats, I'd recommend Chi's Sweet Home, Volume 1. Or if you like steampunk, try Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 1.
I think I'm going to try Shrimp: The Endless Quest for Pink Gold for this. My knowledge of shrimp is pretty much that I'm allergic to them. I downloaded this as a Kindle freebie several years ago, but have never read it, so now looks like as good a time as any.

There was a time when almost all the books I read for pleasure were science fiction or occasional fantasy, as video games wete hard to find except building your own. That does not count newspapers, magazines, and schoolwork. These were school years. I dropped an American lit class because I could not get through The Sound and Fury, but one of the books was The Big Sleep. I developed a taste for crime fiction, my first major outreach, and also read every book in the class over the next decade.
For the last several years most books I read are by authors I have not read at book length before. I do repeat authors but not usually more than once a year. I find myself catching up on classics and mostly enjoying them.
The only stretch genre I have been disappointed is books by women for women. I just finished The Girl On the Train, and last year Wuthering Heights. Guys sometimes write crap for guys too, but I can do a better job of identifying this beforehand so I do not waate my time.
As for format I find that unimportant. I added ebooks a few months ago so I could read in the dark, and Project Gutenberg has more than enough. Audiobooks maake it too easy to claim a book without paying attention, or else getting into an accident, so I will pass as long as my eyes hold out.
Instead of format, I suggest categories for time and mood. Books for the the pooper, books for waiting lines, books for serious reading, books for falling asleep (but learn to avoid books that keep you awake when you need to sleep), books for hours of leisure. It is fine to keep several of these going at once. My bathroom books take months.


Reading or generally living without walls keeps your mind open on new ideas and I guess you will understand the world more after this challenge.
I am in, always was :)

Have read two dystopian novels this year (Fahrenheit 451 and The Handmaid's Tale) which were definitely outside my comfort zone. Think I have already done the challenge!

There isent that many books that scream "me"(except fangirl by rainbow rowell off course).
Planning on reading

Ooh! That looks right up my alley and perfect for this challenge. Thank you so much for posting!

This is what I do when I get into a "reading rut" and it always brings new awesomeness! Enjoy all your wins :)

I love, and have read many, graphic novels so maybe comics won't be so bad. I did try to read them when I was younger but the fact that the stories are so short is not really to my liking.
As far as reading a book about a topic I don't know much about, as long as it is in a fiction format I know I can get into it. I find non-fiction tedious.
I am currently listening to two audiobooks and reading a physical book as well. (just wanted to brag a bit)
Here is a thought maybe I can find a non-fiction comic about a topic I don't know much about. Though I have been thinking about reading THE RUSSIAN PRIMARY CHRONICLE. It is a non-fiction book about a topic I am interested in. Hopefully it can hold my attention.

Lisa wrote: "When I read the title, I thought the challenge was to go read outside. Which, for a Norwegian like me, is quite a challenge indeed. ☺️"
Ha ha!!
Ha ha!!

"The Reluctant Fundamentalist" is a great choice. Read it last year, got some major chills from it.

“In the matter of reforming things, as distinct from deforming them, there is one plain and simple principle; a principle which will probably be called a paradox. There exists in such a case a certain institution or law; let us say, for the sake of simplicity, a fence or gate erected across a road. The more modern type of reformer goes gaily up to it and says, 'I don't see the use of this; let us clear it away.' To which the more intelligent type of reformer will do well to answer: 'If you don't see the use of it, I certainly won't let you clear it away. Go away and think. Then, when you can come back and tell me that you do see the use of it, I may allow you to destroy it.'"
Reading about "diversity" is easy these days, and fun too; it's reading about reason, history, and why the world is the way it is that's hard. And the wall keeping us from that is the diversity mindset itself. Maybe think about the use of Western civilization before dismissing it.


Try Rapunzel's Revenge. It's a steampunk/Wild West retelling of the Rapunzel story. /book/show/2...

Crap, I read everything... what's new?

For example if you like Shakespeare and something that LOOKS Shakespearean but may not be catches your eye, grab that one. A quasi example of that is: /book/show/2... ( William Shakespeare's The Phantom of Menace (William Shakespeare's Star Wars #1) )
Or if you think science fiction is ALSO about the PAST, try something like Jean M. Auel's The Clan of the Cave Bear ( /book/show/1... )

I can't say I want to do #3 though. I don't comprehend well when a book is read to me, and I hate reading books on an e-reader. (Kills my eyes.)

So true David, we should all be going out of our comfort zone and digesting all sorts of reading. I just read a book that took me back to Ancient Egypt on the back of a Sphinx, now that was cool. A little modern day mixed with the life of very old Egypt.


After a little research, I found the book for me. I typically don't read magical realism or romance, as a rule I don't read historical novels, and I don't think I've ever read a book that was originally printed in Portuguese. I'll be testing my boundaries with Baltasar and Blimunda.
I want to say this was a good idea, but I suppose time will tell.

I could recommend a graphic novel you might like, based on the favorites listed in your profile. I think the four-issue Dark Horse series, Billy the Kid's Old-Timey Oddities, might work for you. (view spoiler)
Failing that, you could try reading something in a different format, like a story told in verse (like Inside Out & Back Again) or maybe something in a diary or .




I don't think it gets better!

Wasn't it hilarious? I remember laughing out loud though the whole book!

I'm a Catholic woman living in Hawaii -- totally unlike the Afghani women in the first book and I almost never read graphic novels...
This is an excellent idea!

Then read something banal and unchallenging for once!
Thomas wrote: "I did this a week ago when I read Libba Bray's Beauty Queens. As a male who knows nothing about beauty pageants, it was pretty intriguing to learn about some of what they do. Plz keep in mind, I've..."
While you're at it, give Little Miss Sunshine a watch.



You can download public domain audiobooks for free from LibriVox.org. By using their advanced search function, you can select between solo and group readings (group readings allow the whole community of readers to each take a chapter, whereas solo readings are like conventional commercial audiobooks), and choose among any number of genres. If you find a reader you especially like, you can even use the advanced search to find out which other works this reader has read. If you speak a foreign language fluently, you can also choose books in languages other than English.
A further note: if you find a book you like and go to its page, you can use the "Internet Archive" link on the left to go to a page that will allow you to stream the book online, rather than downloading it. I do that sometimes when I know I'll be at the computer for a while.
Since LibriVox is a public domain resource, almost all the books included are older than 1923, but still they have many interesting works in a wide variety of genres and subjects.