Erica’s Comments (group member since Apr 05, 2019)

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

Overall I’m happy with the list because they’re different prompts. Some of these seem quite hard but this group’s listopias will get me sorted.

Good morning to you too.

I’m in double waiting mode here for the new list and to see if it snows.

@Bea I read the Dolly Parton Songteller book for the woman in rock n roll. That was a prompt I found challenging but the audiobook was short so I went with it. Dolly basically is interviewed about various songs so she’s just talking really fast. I guess that led to a high word count for the print version. :) I did enjoy the book so I hope it works for you.

Happy check-in and turkey day to those celebrating! I just finished my Goodreads reading challenge 275 books and I finished Popsugar earlier this week. 🥳

Finished Reading:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Doomsday Deck ⭐⭐⭐ (published in 2000)
Pretty average.

Perfect World, Vol. 2 - 8 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This series is cute and making me think about some things that never would have occurred to me.

The Woman in Me ⭐⭐
I feel bad rating it two stars but it's not well written. I'm really glad she got to say what she wanted to.

Klee Wyck ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
When Emily Carr became bed ridden in old age she started writing about her memories of travelling to Indigenous communities to paint. The book over the years had been censored before being published so it was good to read the original.

A Spark Within the Forge ⭐⭐⭐
An Ember In The Ashes prequel story. The artwork is great but this is a dark series.

Black Star ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sequel to The Door Of No Return. Great historical fiction middle grade poetry.

PS 50/50
ATY 52/52 Summer 36/36 Rejects 10/11
DBC 31/36
Goodreads 275/275

QOTW:
Family and friends of course. My library and reading challenge groups like this one.

I finished PopSugar. New list please!

Just on the app so I can’t post the links.

The Vinyl Cafe Christmas Stories by Stuart Mclain. He had a radio program on cbc and he was a phenomenal story teller so I recommend the audio. He created a family of characters and just told tales about their lives, but it was usually quite humorous in the process.

Happy check-in! Winter showed up this week and we got all the snow we got in a couple months last year in two days. Oh well you have to get back in shoveling shape somehow. ;)
I have started my last book for popsugar so I will finish before the new list. I'm so ready to be done with challenges and start planning for next year's!

Finished Reading:

Abbott: 1979 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A good ending to this comic series.

Perfect World, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cute manga about a woman reconnecting with her highschool crush and discovering he had a spinal cord injury in college leaving him using a wheelchair.

The World Will Follow Joy: Turning Madness into Flowers ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS blind author)
Alice Walker poem collection. It was hopeful.

The Wake-Up Call ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fun Christmas time rom-com. Although the hotel is not believable.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Just cause.

Filthy Rich Fae ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Good cliffhanger ending, I didn't see everything coming. Sequel publishes next year. :(

Tricks for Free ⭐⭐⭐
I got bored in the middle because the author spent too much time describing Not Disneyland instead of plot happening. Theme parks aren't an interesting setting to me I guess.

PS 49/50
ATY 52/52 Summer 36/36 Rejects 9/10
DBC 31/36
Goodreads 263/275

QOTW:
Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors and all the Shakespeare.
All the Can-lit and American-lit were awful.

Well reading is self care so this completely fits into a health and fitness brand. Not to mention reading audio books at the gym is much easier now.

Book three has an April publication date.

Nadine is the next Beth Revis on netgalley for you? It has a publication date and page I just noticed.

Happy check-in! I was all set to post and I saw the reminder about hidden books... So I'm still only at 11/20. Thank you Ellie!! I've got the panda, camera, clock, comedy books, music books, vampire, bee man, soldier, guy in office, map, and angel. I'm annoyed that (view spoiler)[ Tequila Mocking Bird and Emily Wilde's Guide to Fairies aren't the answers. (hide spoiler)]

So we had an election again this week with pathetic turnout that was an improvement?? Anyway it wasn't all negative results.

Finished Reading:

The City in Glass ⭐
Too lit fic not enough plot. The premise was cool and there were some really pretty lines but I have no idea what happened. I really like Nghi Vo's Singing Hills series but I think I should stay away from her other stuff.

Abbott: 1973 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
One more in the series to go. Gorgeous artwork and good fantasy/horror set in 70s Detroit.

One Last Word ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great rom-com I wish was nominated for a good reads choice award. Anyway the mc creates an app to have one last word after you die. Her messages get sent by accident and it forces change in her life.

Into the Uncut Grass ⭐⭐⭐⭐
New Trevor Noah. Actually quite hopeful and comforting to read after a disappointing election. An illustrated book for all ages that subtly talks about conflict.

Throne of Secrets ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This was better plotted than the first in this spinoff series. This counts as the romantasy a lot of you don't like to read. :)

Something is Killing the Children, Vol. 8 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
My favourite of this and the spinoff series. It goes back 5 years so one of my favourite characters isn't dead.

PS 48/50
ATY 52/52 Summer 36/36 Reject Lists 10/11
DBC 31/36
Goodreads 256/275

QOTW:
First thought was westerns. That said I don't really read non fiction, cozy mysteries or anything labelled cozy, self-help, and Christian fiction. There's always going to be some good books in any genre but it's just harder to find them.

Once this list drops I’ll allow myself to go pick books for prompts for it and the aty challenge which was finalized last month.

So basically you swipe sideways to look at images of what you read through the year, but you can't look at all of them. So not a fan of that.

Then they have bookmarks you can earn by reading books that have been listed/recommended in the goodreads news articles. They call these reading challenges.

The questions are disagree, neither, agree responses. Whether you like the new reading challenges, do they make you want to read more, does it look like fun, will you recommend it, I can't remember what the fifth question was. Then at the end you can actually write feedback for them to ignore. ;)

It showed up for me when I went to my reading challenge in the app. The goodreads 2024 reading challenge.

Hey anybody else see the beta reading challenge thing? I made sure to do the survey and leave comments. It has potential but I dislike the layout.

I guess I have to finish PS24 quickly now. ;) I’ve got two prompts left so it’s not a worry. It’s nice that they collected feedback from our group.

@Ashley Marie Banned Book Club looks really interesting thanks for adding to my tbr. :)

Two week check-in! Another disappointing election but this one I couldn't vote in. This is not a good outcome for Canadian trade with our biggest trade partner among many other things.
Anyway I'm still fighting a cold that I thought I was over great times. Next week will be better.

In book news I've actually made progress on popsugar. Has there been any mention of the new challenge in FB Nadine? Also I'm ready for the Goodreads Choice Awards to start.

Finished:

A Reign of Rose ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Good ending to the series.

The Diary of a Young Girl ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS incarcerated author)
Finally got to this. She would have been a good writer as an adult. I see why it gets banned and thus it's more important for people to read.

Since I Could Die Tomorrow, Volume 1 ⭐⭐ (PS 42 mc)
Depressing and ridiculous. A manga following a 42 year old who has a mid life crisis.

Neon Gods ⭐
Not even my love of all things Greek Mythology could make this enjoyable.

The Break-Up Pact ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Great rom-com. Two old friends are publicly dumped and play into fake dating for instagram. Be prepared to need scones.

Oshi No Ko , Vol. 1 ⭐⭐
Such a long wait for this library hold and it majorly disappointed me. The synopsis does not explain this book at all. For those that don't like Kpop and have that prompt left this would be perfect because it comments on the dark side of Kpop.

Flamer ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (PS queer memoir)
This is the closest I'm getting for this prompt. I just don't read a lot of nonfiction and I'm ready to be done the challenge. Upsetting subject matter but it does end hopeful. I loved the author's use of colour in the book.

PS 48/50
ATY 52/52 Summer 36/36
ATY rejects lists 10/11
DB 30/36
Goodreads 250/275

QOTW:
I do enjoy a theme specific to 2025. I don't need all the prompts to fit but some would be nice.

@Ron try a book made from a blog. Awkward Family photos is a good series.