Melissa’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2017)

Melissa’s comments from the Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge group.

I listened to the audio of Broken Horses by Brandi Carlile. I was already a big Brandi fan so I'm biased, but this was by far my favorite audiobook experience ever. Brandi sings a song at the end of each chapter, and then there's a bonus chapter at the end collecting all of the songs from throughout the whole book. I love her speaking voice and her singing voice, and it was so beautiful to listen to.

I read One Italian Summer for this - I didn't know much about it going in but enjoyed it. Not a five-star read for me but an easy one! (CW for parent death)

Nadine in NY wrote: "Sarah wrote: "I think I'm actually gonna go for The Hunger Games for this. The first book has the love triangle already, right? (I've never read the books and I think I've seen...2 o..."

How is this even a question?! 😂

I just read Good Enough. (Full disclosure, the author is a friend of mine.) "Good Enough" is also the title of a song by Sarah McLachlan, and the phrase is included in the lyrics.

The book is a middle-grade novel about a 12-year-old girl going through inpatient treatment for an eating disorder. The author is herself an eating disorder survivor and recovery advocate. I thought the book was beautiful and powerful, and also important. I'm glad it exists.

Rose wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane for this (and it fulfilled a prompt on another challenge for one of my favorite author's favorite books - [author:Ann Pat..." Oh I love that!

I read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane for this (and it fulfilled a prompt on another challenge for one of my favorite author's favorite books - Ann Patchett has talked about how much she loves it). It's a children's/middle grade novel and therefore a quick and easy read, but wow, what a gorgeous story. Highly recommend if this sounds like something you'd enjoy.

Ron wrote: "I'm trying to find nonfiction books with this prompt."
I did some Googling - maybe one of these will spark your interest.
Celebrating the Jewish Year: The Fall Holidays: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot (there are a few different versions with the history of various Jewish holidays)
Yule: Rituals, Recipes & Lore for the Winter Solstice
Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community and Culture
History of American Holidays: A Thought-Provoking Glimpse into America
How to Spell Chanukah: and other holiday dilemmas
Revolution Song: The Story of America's Founding in Six Remarkable Lives
Halloween: An American Holiday, an American History
Trick or Treat: A History of Halloween

23/50

✔1. A book you meant to read in 2022 - A Little Princess (should have finished on Serial Reader in 2022 but didn't finish until January)
2. A book you bought from an independent bookstore
✔3. A book about a vacation - One Italian Summer
✔4. A book by a first-time author- Broken Horses - could not recommend the audio of this more highly.
5. A book with mythical creatures
6. A book about a forbidden romance
7. A book with "Girl" in the title
✔8. A celebrity memoir - Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing
9. A book with a color in the title
✔10. A romance with a fat lead - Take a Hint, Dani Brown
✔11. A book about or set in Hollywood - I'm Glad My Mom Died
✔12. A book published in spring 2023 - Romantic Comedy
13. A book published the year you were born
✔14. A modern retelling of a classic - By the Book - modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast
✔15. A book with a song lyric as its title - Good Enough (there's a Sarah McLachlan song called "Good Enough" that also has those words in the lyrics)
✔16. A book where the main character's name is in the title - How the Penguins Saved Veronica
17. A book with a love triangle
✔18. A book that's been banned or challenged in any state in 2022 - Gender Queer: A Memoir
19. A book that fulfills your favorite prompt from a past challenge
20. A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2023
21. A book set in the decade you were born
✔22. A book with a queer lead - Light from Uncommon Stars
✔23. A book with a map - Let's Make Dumplings!: A Comic Book Cookbook (read this for the BookRiot Read Harder prompt to read a cookbook cover to cover, and it has a dumpling map!)
✔24. A book with a rabbit on the cover - The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
✔25. A book with just text on the cover - Bad Feminist
✔26. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Galatea
✔27. A #BookTok recommendation - The Anthropocene Reviewed
28. A book you bought secondhand
✔29. A book your friend recommended - Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story
30. A book that's on a celebrity book-club list
31. A book about a family
32. A book that comes out in the second half of 2023
✔33. A book about an athlete/sport - Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey and Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones
34. A historical-fiction book
35. A book about divorce
36. A book you think your best friend would like
37. A book you should have read in high school
38. A book you read more than 10 years ago
39. A book you wish you could read for the first time again
40. A book by an author with the same initials as you
✔41. A book written during NaNoWriMo - Legends & Lattes
42. A book based on a popular movie
43. A book that takes place entirely in one day
44. A book that was self-published
45. A book that started out as fan fiction
✔46. A book with a pet character - Lessons in Chemistry
✔47. A book about a holiday that's not Christmas - The Cruelest Month - this is the third in Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache series, and it takes place at Easter.
48. A book that features two languages
49. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list
✔50. A book with alliteration in the title - Call Us What We Carry

I live in Massachusetts, in the greater Boston area, where we thankfully don't really have to deal with many if any book bannings - but I was volunteering in my daughter's elementary school library class on Friday and chatting with her librarian who told me she'd gotten a call from an older woman last spring who "just wanted to know" if they had Gender Queer: A Memoir in their library. She said no, but not because there's anything wrong with the book - it's just not a K-4 book. (She can't keep her copy of Melissa on the shelf :) ). I'd already wanted to read Gender Queer, but that conversation solidified it as my pick for this prompt. I just finished it this morning.

Andrea wrote: "After ignoring the books that are short stories or comics, I picked Galatea!"

I just read this too! What a lovely little story.

Ron wrote: "Karen wrote: "Ron wrote: "Question would the book Left Behind be considered historical fiction? The book is based off the Revelations chapter in the Bible but I think I may be stretchi..."

I see historical fiction as set in a specific time/during a specific period, in a real place, with events that could plausibly have happened. It should strive to be as accurate a depiction as possible of that time and place. I hope that helps!

I can't decide if I'm going to reread something I loved as a teenager (like Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird, or Brave New World) or a favorite from childhood that I'll read to my 6-year-old who's just getting into chapter books.

I also read everything I was assigned. There were definitely some "classics" that I didn't get assigned, either because they weren't read in my school or a different teacher taught them and mine didn't. These include Diary of Anne Frank, East of Eden, Catch-22, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Walden, and As I Lay Dying. Or I could go a different route and read something I wish had been taught, like An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I was pleasantly surprised with the options I found for MM:
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Madeline Miller - I still haven't read The Song ..." Cinder is on my list too!

I was pleasantly surprised with the options I found for MM:
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Madeline Miller - I still haven't read The Song of Achilles or Circe
The Milky Way: An Autobiography of Our Galaxy by Moiya McTier
There were more but these are the most likely ones I'll choose from.

My two favorite readers in my life are my mom and sister. My sister loves anything science, nature, etc, so something in that genre would be an easy choice. I bought her a book about beavers on a whim once which she ADORED. And my mom loves period pieces, Jane Austen-type film adaptations, etc, so maybe I'll pick a classic I haven't read yet or reread an Austen I haven't read in years.

Milena wrote: "Stormie ~ Book Dragon ~ wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Ahh! I see that Bono just put out a memoir! Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. I love U2! If I'da known he had a memoir out, I would ..."

I'm listening to it on audio. Highly recommend.

Jeanne wrote: "Melissa wrote: "My longest is Les Miserables - GoodReads lists the paperback as over 1300 pages. I plan on reading it throughout the year with the Serial Reader app."

I love that s..."

It's so great for the longer books!

StefanieFrei wrote: "question: my understanding as a non-native speaker would be that a memoir relates to something that comes from the very person (maybe with ghostwriter)? The listopia has a lot of stuff I'd rather c..."

Yes! A memoir is written by the person it's about, about some aspect of their life experiences. Any of the books you put there absolutely qualify.

Nona wrote: "Is Tara Westover a celebrity? Or is this prompt referring to actors, musicians etc.? I have a plan to read Educated next year and I'm wondering if it fits this cat..."

I wouldn't personally consider her a celebrity, as she just became known for her book. I'd consider actors, musicians, that sort of thing as celebrities. Prince Harry's memoir comes out this year as well.