At the beginning of 2026, I joined This Story Ain’t Over’s Anti-Brainrot Challenge, where we challenge ourselves to read more diversely and critically. In this post, I wanted to go through each of the 23 categories to see which books I read that fulfilled the prompt and which ones I have left.
Anti Brain Rot Challenge | The StoryGraph
Prompt 1 – a literary fiction book
Status: FULFILLED!
- Big Swiss
- Open Throat
- Disorientation
- Yesteryear
- Enter Ghost
- Freshwater
- Hunchback
- She Who Remains
- On Earth As It Is Beneath
- Flesh
- Taiwan Travelogue
Prompt 2 – a historical fiction book
Status: FULFILLED!
- Taiwan Travelogue
Prompt 3 – a fantasy book
Status: FULFILLED!
- An Academy For Liars 3.75 stars
- Gideon the Ninth 5 stars
- The Poppy War (50% through)
Prompt 4 – a science fiction book
Status: FULFILLED!
- Project Hail Mary 5 stars
- Of Monsters and Mainframes 5 stars
- The Kaju Preservation Society 4.75 stars
Prompt 5 – a horror book
Status: FULFILLED!
- Bat Eater 5 stars
- Model Home (80% through)
- We Love You, Bunny 3.75 stars
- An Academy For Liars 3.75 stars
Prompt 6 – a romance OR thriller book
Status: FULFILLED!
- The Wrong Sister 4 stars
Prompt 7 – a classic
Status: FULFILLED!
- Stoner 3.75 stars
Prompt 8 – a non-fiction history / politics book
Status: IN PROGRESS
- Mouth Full of Blood by Toni Morrison (43% through)
- The Fire This Time by James Baldwin (just started)
Prompt 9 – a non-fiction science book
Status: IN PROGRESS
- Everything Is Tuberculosis by John Green (20% through)
Prompt 10 – a memoir/biography
Status: FULFILLED!
- Half Arse Human by Leena Norms 4 stars
Prompt 11 – a play OR poetry collection
Status: NOT STARTED
- Reserved CLIMATE by Whitney Hanson from my library to collect
Prompt 12 – a graphic novel
Status: FULFILLED
- After the Rain, 4 stars
Prompt 13 – an anthology / short story collection / essay collection
Status: IN PROGRESS
- Januaries by Olivie Blake (33% through)
- Mouth Full of Blood by Toni Morrison (43% through)
- The Fire This Time by James Baldwin (just started)
Prompt 14 – a translated book
Status: FULFILLED!
- Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated from Japanese by Ginny Tapley Takemori, 4 stars
- Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton, 4 stars
- She Who Remains by Rene Karabash, translated from Bulgarian by Izidora Angel, 5 stars
- On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan, 5 stars
- Taiwan Travelogue by Yang Shuang-zi, translated from Chinese Mandarin by Lin King, 4 stars
Prompt 15 – a book with a Queer/LGBTQIAP+ main character
Status: FULFILLED!
- Big Swiss, 4.75 stars
- We Love You, Bunny, 3.75 stars
- She Who Remains, 5 stars
- Queen B, 3 stars
Prompt 16 – a book with disability rep
Status: FULFILLED!
- Hunchback by Saou Ichikawa, 4 stars
- Theodora’s Teashop by Christy Anne Jones, 4.5 stars
Prompt 17 – a book by an author NOT from North America
Status: FULFILLED!
- 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak, 4 stars
- Enter Ghost by Isabella Hammad, 4 stars
- My Friends by Friedrik Backman, 5 stars
- Anxious People by Friedrik Backman, 5 stars
- Taiwan Travelogue
- Earthlings
- She Who Remains
- On Earth As It Is Beneath
Prompt 18 – a book by a Black author who is ALIVE
Status: FULFILLED!
- Soon Come by Kuba Shand-Baptiste, 3.5 stars
- James by Percival Everett, 5 stars
- After the Rain by Nnedi Okorafor, 4 stars
- Model Home by Rivers Soloman (80% through)
Prompt 19 – a book by an Indigenous / Native American author
Status: FULFILLED!
- The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham-Jones, 4 stars
Prompt 20 – a book by a SWANA author (Southwest Asia and North Africa)
Status: FULFILLED!
- 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak, 4 stars
- Fundamentally by Nussaibah Younis, 5 stars
Prompt 21 – a book by a Latinx author
Status: FULFILLED!
- On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated from Portuguese by Padma Viswanathan, 5 stars
Prompt 22 – a book by an East Asian OR South East Asian author who is not Chinese, Japanese or Korean
Status: FULFILLED!
- Taiwan Travelogue (technically Taiwan, not Chinese!)
Prompt 23 – a book by a South Asian author who is not Indian
Status: IN PROGRESS
- The Tempest of Tea by Hafsah Faizal (52% through)
That’s a completion of 18 prompts, 78%, with 5 left! Wish me luck.
Sincerely,
S. xx
