Rebecca’s Comments (group member since Nov 21, 2016)

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

Date you finished: December 30th
Message number of your list post (if you've got one): Message 460
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A Book with a Family Tree Anna of Kleve: The Princess in the Portrait
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): The Great Alone - A book set mostly or entirely outdoors
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Hamnet - For the Book that has Won the Women's Prize in Fiction
Least favorite prompt: Book from an author who shares your zodiac sign
Prompt you hope to see again: Pretty much any of the Advanced prompts from this year
Last prompt you finished: A Book You Think Your Best Friend Would Like -Lore Olympus: Volume One
Were you overall satisfied with your Challenge reading?: Yes and no. I only finished 49 out of 50 categories, not having enough time to do one of the advanced prompts, but I'm still pretty pumped I read as much as I did this year.
Did you like the TBR theme for the "advanced" prompts?: Yes! Please do it again in 2023. I have a LOT of books in my TBR that I need to clear out and read!
Finally, are you in for 2022? In like Flynn! My message is #179.

5/50

REGULAR
1. A book published in 2022 - Sea of Tranquility
2. A book set on a plane, train, or cruise ship - Falling
3. A book about or set in a nonpatriarchal society
4. A book with a tiger on the cover or "tiger" in the title - Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
5. A sapphic book - The Space Between Worlds
6. A book by a Latinx author
7. A book with an onomatopoeia in its title
8. A book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid - All the Light We Cannot See
✔️ 9. A book about a "found family" - Anthem
10. An Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner - The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
✔️ 11. A #BookTok recommendation - American Royals
12. A book about the afterlife - The Afterlife of Holly Chase
13. A book set in the 1980s - One Day
14. A book with cutlery on the cover or in the title
15. A book by a Pacific Islander author
16. A book about witches - The Witches: Salem, 1692
17. A book becoming a TV series or movie in 2022 - The Nightingale
✔️ 18. A romance novel by a BIPOC author - The Heart Principle
19. A book that takes place during your favorite season - One Italian Summer
20. A book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read
21. A book about a band or musical group - The Storyteller
22. A book with a character on the ace spectrum The Catcher in the Rye
23. A book with a recipe in it
24. A book you can read in one sitting
25. A book about a secret
26. A book with a misleading title - Their Eyes Were Watching God
27. A Hugo Award winner - All Systems Red
28. A book set during a holiday
29. A different book by an author you read in 2021 - Ringer
30. A book with the name of a board game in the title
✔️- 31. A book featuring a man-made disaster - Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
32. A book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page
33. A social-horror book - Beloved
34. A book set in Victorian times
35. A book with a constellation on the cover or in the title The Comet Seekers
36. A book you know nothing about
37. A book about gender identity
38. A book featuring a party - Anna Karenina
✔️ 39. An #OwnVoices SFF (science fiction and fantasy) book - Light Years From Home
40. A book that fulfills your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge


Advanced

41. A book with a reflected image on the cover or "mirror" in the title - She Wouldn't Change a Thing
42. A book that features two languages - Project Hail Mary
43. A book with a palindromic title
44. A duology (1) - The Circle
45. A duology (2) - The Every
46. A book about someone leading a double life - The Humans
47. A book featuring a parallel reality - The Ten Thousand Doors of January
48. A book with two POVs - 84, Charing Cross Road
49. Two books set in twin towns, aka "sister cities" (1)
50. Two books set in twin towns, aka "sister cities" (2)

Just got done with A History of What Comes Next and really enjoyed it. I thought it would be more science fiction, but it was definitely fantasy with some historical fiction mixed in. I've read Slyvain Neuvel's previous sci-fi series, The Themis Files, and enjoyed it but I have a feeling that I'm going to like this new series more. It definitely ends in a way that demands more books, and it's subtitled "A Take Them to the Stars Novel" so I expect there will be more soon.

I used The Flight Attendant because the main character doesn't quite remember at first what happened the night before she wakes up next to a dead man. Her forgetting is alcohol-fueled, but I figure that would work regardless, right?

49/50

REGULAR
✅ - 1. A book that published in 2021 - Klara and the Sun
✅ - 2. An Afrofuturist book - How Long 'til Black Future Month?
✅ - 3. A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover - The Bride Test
✅ - 4. A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign - Moon Knight, Vol. 1: Lunatic
✅ - 5. A dark academia book - Dear Committee Members
✅ - 6. A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title - Salt to the Sea
✅ - 7. A book where the main character works at your current or dream job - The Invisible Library
✅ - 8. A book that has won the Women’s Prize for Fiction Hamnet
✅ - 9. A book with a family tree - Anna of Kleve: The Princess in the Portrait
✅ - 10. A bestseller from the 1990s - Message in a Bottle
✅ - 11. A book about forgetting - The Flight Attendant
✅ - 12. A book you have seen on someone’s bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.) - Crazy Rich Asians
✅ - 13. A locked-room mystery - Station
✅ - 14. A book set in a restaurant - Before the Coffee Gets Cold
✅ - 15. A book with a black-and-white cover - Exhalation: Stories
✅ - 16. A book by an indigenous author - 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga
✅ - 17. A book that has the same title as a song - We Could Be Heroes
✅ - 18. A book about a subject you are passionate about - Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity, and Our Life Beyond
✅ - 19. A book that discusses body positivity - A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
✅ - 20. A book on a Black Lives Matter reading list - Homegoing
✅ - 21. A genre hybrid - City of Girls
✅ - 22. A book set mostly or entirely outdoors - The Great Alone
✅ - 23. A book with something broken on the cover - Master of the Revels
✅ - 24. A book by a Muslim American / Muslim British author - Leave the World Behind
✅ - 25. A book that was published anonymously - Beowulf: A New Translation
✅ - 26. A book with an oxymoron in the title - A History of What Comes Next
✅ - 27. A book about do-overs or fresh starts - The Vanishing Half
✅ - 28. A magical realism book - The Midnight Library
✅ - 29. A book set in multiple countries - The Gown
✅ - 30. A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021 - Tales from the Loop
✅ - 31. A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality - Idiot: Life Stories from the Creator of Help Helen Smash
✅ - 32. A book whose title starts with “Q,” “X,” or “Z” - Quo Vadis
✅ - 33. A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child) - The Family of Jesus
✅ - 34. A book about a social justice issue - The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
✅ - 35. A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels) - Talking to Strangers: What We Should Know About the People We Don’t Know
✅ - 36. A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads - So This is Love
✅ - 37. A book you think your best friend would like - Lore Olympus: Volume One
✅ - 38. A book about art or an artist - The Silent Patient
✅ - 39. A book everyone seems to have read but you - The Four Winds
✅ - 40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - Using the "next book in a series" to read China Rich Girlfriend

ADVANCED
✅ - 41. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Cloud Cuckoo Land
✅ - 42. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Lake of the Ozarks: My Surreal Summers in a Vanishing America
✅ - 43. The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover - Replica
✅ - 44. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover - Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
✅ - 45. The book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time - Marvel 1602
46. A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn’t - A Beginning at the End
✅ - 47. A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing - Assassination Vacation
✅ - 48. A book from your TBR list chosen at random - The Dream Daughter
✅ - 49. A DNF book from your TBR list - Dreamland Burning
✅ - 50. A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library) - The Ickabog

25/50

2020 Challenge - Regular prompts
✔️1. A book that's published in 2020 - Oona Out of Order: A Novel
2. A book by a trans or nonbinary author
✔️3. A book with a great first line - Allies
4. A book about a book club
✔️5. A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics - The Fallen Architect
6. A bildungsroman
✔️7. The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed - A Horse Walks into a Bar
✔️8. A book with an upside-down image on the cover The Perfect Wife
✔️9. A book with a map - They Called Us Enemy
10. A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club -
11. An anthology
✔️12. A book that passes the Bechdel test - The Power
13. A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it
14. A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name
✔️15. A book about or involving social media - All We Ever Wanted
16. A book that has a book on the cover
17. A medical thriller
18. A book with a made-up language
19. A book set in a country beginning with "C"
✔️20. A book you picked because the title caught your attention - Here and Now and Then
21. A book published the month of your birthday
✔️22. A book about or by a woman in STEM - The Only Woman in the Room
✔️23. A book that won an award in 2019 - Educated
✔️24. A book on a subject you know nothing about - Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883
✔️25. A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics - The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11
✔️26. A book with a pun in the title - Wine, Water, and Song: Original Text
27. A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins
✔️28. A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character - An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
✔️29. A book with a bird on the cover - The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O.
30. A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader
31. A book with "gold," "silver," or "bronze" in the title
32. A book by a WOC
✔️33. A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads - The Feather Thief
✔️34. A book you meant to read in 2019 - I Still Dream About You
35. A book with a three-word title - In Five Years
✔️36. A book with a pink cover - Where the Crawdads Sing
37. A Western - Simon the Fiddler: A Novel
✔️38. A book by or about a journalist - Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving
39. Read a banned book during Banned Books Week
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

2020 Challenge - Advanced prompts
1. A book written by an author in their 20s - The Immortalists
2. A book with "20" or "twenty" in the title
✔️3. A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision) - Becoming Mrs. Lewis
✔️4. A book set in the 1920s - The Great Gatsby
5. A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics
6. A book by an author who has written more than 20 books
✔️7. A book with more than 20 letters in its title - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek
✔️8. A book published in the 20th century - Murder on the Orient Express
9. A book from a series with more than 20 books -
✔️10. A book with a main character in their 20s - The Memory Weaver

2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge

1. A book becoming a movie in 2019
2. A book that makes you nostalgic
3. A book written by a musician (fiction or nonfiction)
4. A book you think should be turned into a movie
5. A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads
6. A book with a plant in the title or on the cover
7. A reread of a favorite book - Watership Down
8. A book about a hobby
9. A book you meant to read in 2018 - Exit West
10. A book with POP, SUGAR, or CHALLENGE in the title
11. A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover
12. A book inspired by myth/legend/folklore - Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
13. A book published posthumously
14. A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie - Watership Down
15. A retelling of a classic
16. A book with a question in the title
17. A book set on college or university campus
18. A book about someone with a superpower
19. A book told from multiple POVs -
20. A book set in space - The Martian
21. A book by two female authors
22. A book with SALTY, SWEET, BITTER, or SPICY in the title
23. A book set in Scandinavia
24. A book that takes place in a single day
25. A debut novel
26. A book that's published in 2019
27. A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature
28. A book recommended by a celebrity you admire
29. A book with LOVE in the title
30. A book featuring an amateur detective
31. A book about a family - Dad Is Fat
32. A book author from Asia, Africa, or South America - The Three-Body Problem
33. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in title
34. A book that includes a wedding
35. A book by an author whose first and last names start with the same letter - The Kiss Quotient
36. A ghost story
37. A book with a two-word title -
38. A novel based on a true story
39. A book revolving around a puzzle or game
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading challenge
41. A "cli-fi" (climate fiction) book
42. A "choose-your-own-adventure" book
43. An "own voices" book
44. Read a book during the season it is set in
45. A LitRPG book
46. A book with no chapters / unusual chapter headings / unconventionally numbered chapters
47. Two books that share the same title - Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
48. Two books that share the same title -
49. A book that has inspired a common phrase or idiom
50. A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent

7/50

1. A book made into a movie you've already seen
2. True Crime - American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst
3. The next book in a series you started
4. A book involving a heist
5. Nordic noir
6. A novel based on a real person - See What I Have Done
7. A book set in a country that fascinates you
8. A book with a time of day in the title
9. A book about a villain or antihero - Nimona
10. A book about death or grief - The Book That Matters Most
11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym
12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist - Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography
13. A book that is also a stage play or musical
14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you
15. A book about feminism
16. A book about mental health
17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift
18. A book by two authors - March: Book One
19. A book about or involving a sport
20. A book by a local author
21. A book with your favorite color in the title - Blackout
22. A book with alliteration in the title - Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape
23. A book about time travel
24. A book with a weather element in the title
25. A book set at sea
26. A book with an animal in the title - The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
27. A book set on a different planet
28. A book with song lyrics in the title
29. A book about or set on Halloween
30. A book with characters who are twins
31. A book mentioned in another book
32. A book from a celebrity book club - The Underground Railroad
33. A childhood classic you've never read
34. A book that's published in 2018
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner
36. A book set in the decade you were born
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn't get to - News of the World
38. A book with an ugly cover - A Clockwork Orange
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library - Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks: A Librarian's Love Letters and Breakup Notes to the Books in Her Life
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges - Read a Book Written by Someone Under the Age of 30 (From 2015) - Imagine Wanting Only This

2018 Popsugar Advanced Reading Challenge

1. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school
2. A cyberpunk book - Neuromancer
3. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place
4. A book tied to your ancestry
5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title
6. An allegory
7. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you
8. A microhistory
9. A book about a problem facing society today Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
10. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Hi folks!

I had "A Man Called Ove" down for my Eccentric Character category because I had a few people recommend it, but I found myself hating it about half way into the book. I'm reading "The Storied Life of AJ Fikry" now and loving it. I could use it for the "character's name in the title" category, but I'm thinking both AJ and Amelia are pretty eccentric. Has anyone read the book and would they agree?

The last couple of years, whenever I've done a reading challenge that requires me to reread something I've read before, I will grab the audiobook and listen to it in my car to and from work. I've done both I, Robotand Animal Farm and I think I'm going to do Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone this year since all of the talk about it in this thread has inspired me. I think listening to the book rather than reading it gives the story a whole new perspective.

Nadine wrote: "Kirsten *Don't Be A Grinch* wrote: "Jamie wrote: "What are some best-selling western books? That's a genre I hardly ever read (only once so far), so I think that will be my choice for this category..."

I was thinking of westerns too, since I never read anything in that genre. News of the World is #5 on the Amazon Bestseller lists, and a National Book Award finalist, which I bet put it in the regular bestselling lists for a while there. Also, at my library, there's still a bit of a hold on the book, so it'll be a while before I get to it. Amazon does classify the book as a western, even though my library calls it historical fiction. I think I'm going to go for it.

Folks, I just read Dark Matter and let me just tell you that it's the best book I've read in a long time. I highly recommend for anyone who loves thrillers, edge-of-your-seat, "OMG what's going to happen next?" type books. I bought the book. I'm a librarian. I never buy books because I work in a place where there are thousands upon thousands of them. I bought this one, though, because I loved it that much.

Judi wrote: "If anyone's trying to slowly add sci-fi to their reading list, try The Age of Miracles. There are sci-fi concepts in the book, but it reads more like fictio..."

But, oh my gosh, this is definitely a three hanky book. I've read this book twice now, and it's like a gut punch each time. Read this only if you're like Sally Sparrow from Doctor Who, who said, "Sad is happy for deep people."

Here's a couple of other books that I haven't seen mentioned. It seems my book club reads a lot of books that fall in this sub-genre -

Orphan Number 8 by Kim van Alkemade goes back and forth between the 1910s and the 1950s - where an orphaned girl was experimented upon in NYC in the 1910s and finds out she has cancer in the 1950s.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline - where another orphan girl in the 1920s is shipped out to the midwest to try to find a family to adopt her, based on a true story. It jumps to present day where the elderly woman ends up befriending a teenager in the foster home system.

The Aviator's Wife by Melanie Benjamin is about Charles Lindbergh's wife, but although the majority of the story takes place in the past, it also jumps forward in time every few chapters to just before Charles Lindbergh's death.

I also saw The Girl You Left Behind mentioned and would recommend that as well.

Elizabeth wrote: "Sorry it took me so long to respond, busy with holidays. Anyways, I enjoy all kinds of things really. My favorite authors are Charlaine Harris and Jodi Piccoult. I enjoy a lot of young adult, supernatural, and mystery books."

Have you tried Laurell K. Hamilton yet? I think she is very similar to Charlaine Harris and she's from St. Louis, like me!

I have to admit that I hated Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld and couldn't read the whole thing because I thought Elizabeth went completely against type and was nothing like her character in Austen's novel. However, I did love The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet because it fleshed out a character who was sorely lacking in Austen's original novel.

Laura wrote: "Kindred by Octavia E. Butler"

I second this nomination. I've already got this down as my book for that challenge.

Judi wrote: "Winter Town by Stephen Emond"

I second this nomination. I have this down as my book for this category.

The Ice Queen and The Rejected Writers' Book Club both feature librarians as the main character.

I highly recommend Red Queen as it is a nice twist to the whole "girl saves the dystopian world" trope. My favorite YA series of all time is The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Start with Cinder. Her newest, Heartless is a stand-alone but it is even better than I expected it to be and it has me on a total Alice in Wonderland kick now. If you don't mind a lot of bloody violence in your books, I'd suggest the Red Rising trilogy by Pierce Brown, but be prepared for SO MUCH DEATH in the last book.

Becca, SCCCLD Librarian