2022 Pop Sugar Reading Challenge- Update!

For the past 8 years, Pop Sugar has put out their annual reading challenge. The challenge provides 40 prompts that you have to find books to fit (i.e. a book with silverware on the cover). It is up to you to decide how the book fits.

It is a great way to connect with other readers and people who love books! This year’s challenge is up! You can find it here.

A book about a secret: Dear Mrs. Bird by AJ Pearce
4 Stars

During WWII in London, Emmeline Lake takes a job as a reporter. When she starts, she finds out she is actually working as a writer for an advice columnist. Her new boss, Mrs. Bird, only writes back to those she finds “morally upstanding.” In secret, Emmy writes back to women she thinks are in most need of help.

A book set during a holiday: Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
5 Stars

This is book 3 in the Winternight Trilogy. Moscow has been struck by disaster and looking for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone. The Bear returns, determined to spread chaos. Vasya must decide if she will fight with the Bear or reunite with the Winter King to save Russia and the magical world she treasures.

A book set in “Sister Cities”: Listless in Turkey by Onia Fox
2 Stars

Jessica’s personal life unravels in the spring of 2016. To put some order to her chaotic life, she writes a list of what she plans to do with her future and sets off to travel the world.

A book with Tiger in the Title: The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
4 Stars

A historical novel about a dancehall girl and orphan boy whose fate entangle over an old Chinese superstition about men turning into tigers. Ren must find his master’s missing finger before 49 days pass. Ji Lin finds a mummified finger in the pocket of stranger at work.

A book about the afterlife: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
3 Stars

Willie Lincoln dies in February of 1962. He finds himself in a strange purgatory, where ghosts mingle, gripe, commiserate, quarrel, and enact strange acts of penance. Within this transitional state a struggle erupts of Willie’s soul. He must learn to accept his death in order to move on.

A book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid: The Witch Elm by Tana French
3 Stars

Toby has lived a charmed life until he is attacked by burglars, leaving him struggling to recover. He takes refuge at his family’s ancestral home to care for his dying uncle. While there, a skull is found inside the elm tree. And Toby must face the fact his past may not be what he always believed.

A book by a Latinx author: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
5 Stars

After reading a frantic letter from her cousin, begging for rescue, Noemi heads to High Place, unsure of what she will find. Noemi is an unlikely rescuer as a glamorous debutante, more interested in the next party than the family business. As she becomes more entranced by High Place and the people inside, she may find it impossible to ever leave this house behind.

A Hugo Award Winner: The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
5 Stars

On a cold night in 1952, a huge meteorite falls to the earth and obliterates much of the east coast. The ensuing climate disaster will soon render the earth inhospitable for humans. This threat calls for a radically accelerated effort to colonize space. Elma York is experienced as a WASP pilot and mathematician makes her an ideal candidate to be an astronaut. But an she convince everyone she is suitable?

A social-horror book: Lovecraft County by Matt Ruff
3 Stars

In Chicago 1954, Atticus Turner discovers his father missing. He embarks on a road trip to New England to bring him home. During the journey, they encounter both mundane terrors of white America and malevolent spirits that seem straight out of Lovecraft stories.

A book that takes place during your favorite season: The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
3 Stars

In horror movies, the final girl is the one who is left standing. But after the sirens fade and the audience moves on, what happens to her? These girls have their support group. But when one of them go missing, Lynette’s fears are realized. Someone knows about the group and is determined to take their lives apart again. Piece by piece.

A Sapphic book: Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
4 Stars

Grace Porter has done everything in her life to be perfect. After completing her PhD in astronomy, she lets her hair down with a trip to Vegas to celebrate. But there she drunkenly marries a girl whose name she doesn’t know. After that her life is up in the air. Should she try to get to know her new wife? Should she continue on her father’s rigid plan?

A book about witches: Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury
4 Stars

After years of waiting for her trial to gain her powers, Voya fails. But she is given a second chance. If she kills her first love, she will gain her magic. If she fails, everyone in her family will be stripped of their power. The only problem is Voya has never been in love. So she needs to find the perfect guy, fast.

A book with cutlery on the cover: Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
4 Stars

When Lila Macapagal moves home, her life seems to be following all the typical rom-com tropes. She is tasked with saving her aunt’s restaurant and fending off well meaning aunties. But when someone dies in her family restaurant, she becomes the prime suspect. Can she figure out the real killer before it is too late?

A #OwnVoices SFF book: Riot Baby by Tonchi Onyebuchi
3 Stars

Ella and Kev are siblings gifted with extraordinary powers. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by structural racism. But their futures may alter worlds.

A book with an onomatopoeia in the title: A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
3 Stars

Zinnia Gray is afflicted with a rare condition and most people don’t live past 21 years old. Her best friend is determined to make her last birthday special with a full Sleeping Beauty experience. When Zinnia pricks her finger, she finds herself transported into another world with another princess, just as desperate to escape her fate.

A #BookTok recommendation: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
5 Stars

In a moment of desperation, Addie makes a deal with the devil to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. That is until 300 years later, she stumbles into a bookshop and meets a young man who remembers her name.