Cassandrah’s Comments (group member since Nov 18, 2019)

Cassandrah’s comments from the PopSugar Reading Challenge 2020 group.

Only got one fit in, however I am currently reading through 2 simultaneously so that's why I haven't gotten one finished!

I read 'The Silent Patient' by Alex Michaledies, which was phenomenal! The twist ending was written so well! It was my February book club book, so when we talked about it yesterday, half of us loved the ending and half didn't like it at all. This book fits into a book that's a medical thriller, so if you read it let me know how you like the ending!

Brandi wrote: "Okay I think I missed the part about check ins before so here goes. I’ve read a total of 5 books out the 50 challenge so far. I’ve not picked a book for every prompt yet, but I have another 11 pick..."

Totally up to you! I sometimes like to put blurbs if I liked a book so it may make others interested, and it helps me keep accountable when I can list my books because I'm trying to stay on track for my goals, and to say which book I used for which category, but you don't have to!

I am reading 'The Silent Patient' by Alex Michaelides, which is also for my book club for the month of February, so 2 birds 1 stone!

Currently reading 'Eragon' by Christopher Paolini and it has a map in it! Haven't read this book for about a decade, and forgot how much I loved it! Recommend for any dragon and magic lovers out there!

For the week of Jan 26-Feb 1.

Still chugging along doing 2 books a week, which I'll take as a win because with a 2 hour commute (total) everyday and working it's hard to fit in time to read!

I finished my audio book 'Lord of Shadows' by Cassandra Clare. OMG IT WAS SO GOOD. I liked The Mortal Instruments series BUT her writing really took off and this trilogy is amazing. I won't give anything away because it's the second in the series but if you're interested in these books AT ALL, you should totally read them.

I also finally finished 'The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest' by Steig Larsson. Wow what an amazing ending. I will admit it takes a bit to get into these books, but they are so artfully written and all the twists and turns it takes you on have been slightly hinted at throughout books.

Hopefully I can continue two books a week to keep me on track!

Summer wrote: "I’m considering reading Becoming by Michelle Obama for this challenge.. I’m basically wondering if y’all think this counts?"

I really enjoyed this book so far, haven't quite finished it yet lol

For the week of Jan. 19-25.

For this week, I read 'Moana's Big Leap' by Suzanne Francis which is part of the Disney Princess Beginnings series. I love this series, it's super cute, and my students love it as well!

I also read another book from my classroom, 'Escape from Lucien' in the Amulet series (#6).

I'm 1 book ahead for my Goodreads challenge and right on track for my Popsugar so I'm optimistic about this year!

I read 'Captive: A Mother's Crusade...' by Catherine Oxenberg in which I learned about the Cult Nxvim.

For the week of Jan. 12-18.

I read 2 books this past week, which keeps me just one book ahead of schedule on my 100 book goodreads challenge!

I read ‘Captive: A Mothers’s Crusade...’ by Catherine Oxenberg. This was about the cult Nxvim, and I read it for my January book club. It was very interesting, especially since I didn’t know anything about the cult, but the writing could’ve used a little work.

I also got an ARC of ‘Insatiable’ by Helen Hardt which is book #12 of the Steel Brothers Saga, and I enjoyed it for the most part. It was a tad flashing back and forth from the characters too much for me and it felt like almost too many twists and turns, but still well written and a nice ending for this saga! (Besides the prequel coming out this summer!) this book will be published later this month.

How’s everyone else doing the first full week??

For the week of Jan. 5-11.

'Bratfest at Tiffany's' by Lisi Harrison (Clique #9). I loved this series in middle school and read it multiple times.

'It's Not Easy Being Mean' by Lisi Harrison (Clique #7).

'Best Friends for Never' by Lisi Harrison (Clique #2).

Most of her books have some sort of pun.
I looked here https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3... and just recommended the ones I've read, but it looks like there's a lot of good ones there? Anyone else read one on this list and loved it?

'The Glass Castle' by Jeanette Walls tells about her childhood. I loved this book and highly recommend it!

My favorite genre of books are dystopian novels (my handle on instagram is @dystopiannovelsfanatic), fantasy, and fairytale. I especially love any combinations of these.
One of my favorite authors is Sarah J. Maas. I love both series she has, and plan to read Catwoman for this challenge and fit it in somewhere! She's also releasing a new series this year since she's finished 'Throne of Glass' which is supposed to be a good read as well!
An all time favorite series of mine is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas. If you haven't read it and love beauty and the beast retellings, pick this up!
I read 110 books last year, and I did not quite finish my Popsugar 2019 challenge by 14 books.
I chose this challenge because I did the 2019 Popsugar Challenge and loved the topics as they help me branch out with my books!
And yes I came over from the 2019 group :)

Are you allowing yourself to re-read books for the topics? Or are you choosing to do all new books you haven't read before? And are you allowing one book to fill multiple categories?

Hi! My name is Cassandrah Woyak, and Christi created this group to help with finding books to fulfill the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2020, because we can search the internet, but we don't know if anyone actually would recommend any of the books we find! I also thought it would be fun to see how others are doing with this challenge, and see how everyone else if fulfilling the topics, so we have the weekly check-ins as well. So I thought we'd answer a few questions to get to know everyone :)

What is your favorite genre of books?
Who is one of your favorite authors?
What is one of your all time favorite series?
How many books did you read last year, and did you do a challenge?
Why did you join this group and choose this challenge?
Did you come over from the 2019 group?

'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbonsky, which was an interesting read. The format the story is told and the view the narrator has of the world makes it a new perspective (for me) and it was a quick read. It can also be compared to the movie (which for me is frustrating because no movie can ever match a book lol).

'The Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini, which is a harrowing story of friendship between a wealthy merchant's son and his servant in Afghanistan when it is no longer safe to be there, even with protection.

'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows' by J. K. Rowling, which is my personal favorite of the series (I tend to like the last book in series generally I've found).

'To Kill a Mockingbird' by Harper Lee, which I'm sure a lot of you read in High School. Scout's town is wrapped up in the trial of a black man that her father, Atticus, is representing and she is becoming fascinated with someone called Boo Radley, the town "weirdo". (very broad description here lol)

'The Thirteenth Tale' by Dianne Setterfield has books on the cover, as it is about an author who, now at the end of her life, wants to tell the truth about her life. She's always lied in interviews about how she grew up, but is now telling one biographer the truth, even though the truth seems too far fetched to believe...