Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2017 Challenge prompts
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A book recommended by a librarian (see also the Ask-a-Librarian folder)
Hi, I want your suggestions on what book I should read for this task. I hardly read any book other than Indian author's. So can you suggest me a book you think I should absolutely read. Genre's doesn't matter. It can be from any genre.
Tami wrote: "Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "Sooooo I wasn't going to do this because I was afraid it would make me seem really arrogant, but...I'm a part-time librarian, and if anyone is having trouble coming up..."Have you tried A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson? It is along the same lines Wild, he is walking the Appalachian Trail instead of the PCT. I actually like A Walk in the Woods better.
Sukanta wrote: "Hi, I want your suggestions on what book I should read for this task. I hardly read any book other than Indian author's. So can you suggest me a book you think I should absolutely read. Genre's do..."
Wow, that is a wide open question, but so much fun. Due to the winter holiday I was only able to ask one of my coworkers to add to my list, but here it is.
Science Fiction
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Nightfall by Isaac Asimov
Classic
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Horror
The Stand by Steven King
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
Non-Fiction
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner (Could also be used for the Book with a Subtitle Prompt or Book with Two Authors Prompt)
The Atomic Times: My H-Bomb Year at the Pacific Proving Ground by Michael Harris.
My librarian suggested me that I should read The Home and the World by Rabindranath Tagore. Last year, I read Final Poems by the same author and loved it. She remembered this and told me to read Tagore's prose.
Chani wrote: "Tami wrote: "Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "Sooooo I wasn't going to do this because I was afraid it would make me seem really arrogant, but...I'm a part-time librarian, and if anyone is having trou..."I have that on my list to read this year. I am using it for the prompt "a book set in the wilderness."
Tami wrote: "Chani wrote: "Tami wrote: "Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "Sooooo I wasn't going to do this because I was afraid it would make me seem really arrogant, but...I'm a part-time librarian, and if anyone ..."I hope you love it. I have my mom reading it for the ask a librarian prompt, and she is reading another one of his books for a book involving travel.
Chani wrote: "Sukanta wrote: "Hi, I want your suggestions on what book I should read for this task. I hardly read any book other than Indian author's. So can you suggest me a book you think I should absolutely ..."
Thank you so much for your recommendations. I have never read a classic, so I am going for Pride and Prejudice to begin with. Thanks again.
Sukanta wrote: "Chani wrote: "Sukanta wrote: "Hi, I want your suggestions on what book I should read for this task. I hardly read any book other than Indian author's. So can you suggest me a book you think I shou..."
I hope you like it. Pride and Prejudice is my very favorite book, I read it about once a year.
Asked a friend who is a librarian and she gave me a few recommendations that I thought I'd share: I'm eagerly wait for Kelley Armstrong's new Casey Duncan book, A Darkness Absolute. The first book in the series is The City of the Lost. Love anything by Rainbow Rowell and am currently listening to Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Lisa Lutz's The Spellman Files series is a lot of fun.
Today I read The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson, which was recommended by my sister (a librarian), and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy, steampunk, mysteries, YA fiction, or interesting/unusual magic systems. This magic system is based off of chalk, art, and math. SUPER interesting.
Aida wrote: "Today I read The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson, which was recommended by my sister (a librarian), and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fan..."I read this a couple years ago after buying it on a whim. I got through it SO FAST. I wish he'd publish more in this series!!
Aida wrote: "Today I read The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson, which was recommended by my sister (a librarian), and I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves fan..."A lot of his books are really good. I'm plodding my way through his Mistborn series. The Well of Ascension is on my list- somewhere
My book of the month club sent me a surprise free copy of -Grownup by Gillian Flynn. since that is where I get most of my books I figure it fits in this category.
I will be reading The Alchemist
for this prompt. I am a librarian (here at GR and in my own home), so I recommended I read this and I have accepted that recommendation. I own a paperback copy of this book, which I made an effort to buy from fishpond.com.au (my favourite online bookseller). I did a lot of buying of the 'classics' when I had my library built a few years ago and this was one of the many that I bought because I thought it would be a good one to have on my shelf (then I wouldn't have to worry about it not being available at the library). It has been languishing on its shelf (occasionally being shuffled along as other books get added and removed from around it) ever since, so it will be good to finally read it.
I don't know if other public libraries do this, but every year our library system promotes a "One Book One Community" read with special events scheduled for several months related to that year's chosen book. This year's read is Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi. So I'll be participating in this year's chosen Big Read for this prompt.
Mod
In Onondaga County, NY, we have "CNY Reads" - this year's book is The Double Bind (to be honest, I don't think I've ever read the chosen One Book for the year! it's just never my thing. I have at one time or another read 5 of the past books chosen, and I only liked 1 of them!)
Nadine wrote: "(to be honest, I don't think I've ever read the chosen One Book for the year! it's just never my thing. I have at one time or another read 5 of the past books chosen, and I only liked 1 of them!) ."I've never read any of ours either because they just didn't interest me, but since I live in Baton Rouge (which is on the Mississippi River), I thought it would be fun to read of the changes in the past 150 so years.
I started reading more classic novels last year and they have quickly become my go to read. I am going to use a recommendation I received on twitter #findmeaclassic for this one. On the basis that I really enjoyed North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot was recommended. I hope to read it later this week.
I asked the librarian at my local library for a fantasy recommendation, and she suggested Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris. It was okay...pretty similar to the Sookie Stackhouse novels, and I wasn't crazy about it. But there was a talking cat at the end, so that alone may convince me to read the second book in the series.
So I seem to have accomplished the reverse of this task: I just picked up The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Volume 1: Squirrel Power at the library. The librarian giggled and said, "Excellent. I'm adding this to my TBR."#winning
At the front of my library, they have a shelf of books they recommend so I picked one from this. Swimming in the Sink: An Episode of the Heart. Definitely not a book I would normally read, but was definitely interesting!
So, based on a lot of comments on here and checking online at what librarians recommend, I read The Girls at the Kingfisher Club and was not that impressed. I thought there could have been so much more excitement. I felt it dull and repetitive. I do feel the story would make a good movie if done right. Anyone else read it and feel this way?
Jennifer wrote: "So, based on a lot of comments on here and checking online at what librarians recommend, I read The Girls at the Kingfisher Club and was not that impressed. I thought there could ha..."I'm sorry you didn't enjoy it, but thanks for giving it a try!
Asked my local librarian tonight for a recommendation. She shocked me and told me she doesn't read!!!!! But she did tell me that she loved the book I chose which is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (the one book she has read recently!). Not to be judge-y but ???!!!! I'll switch professions with you so I could be surrounded by delicious book smells all day!
Mod
I read The Emerald Atlas: Books of Beginning by John Stephens. A nice, easy read to start the year. Plus I can share it with my kids.
My Father-in-Law is a librarian. He's been recommending the Longmire series to me for years so I finally borrowed the first book from him for this category!
I read Cranford for this one. I had seen the show before and loved it. They did a good job sticking with the book.
The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared was on display at the library, so clearly recommended by a librarian. :) I own it and it's been in my TBR for awhile. This challenge (and my other 2) are helping me clear my shelves (and my "shelves" ie. Kindle!).
Amy wrote: "Asked my local librarian tonight for a recommendation. She shocked me and told me she doesn't read!!!!! But she did tell me that she loved the book I chose which is The Guernsey Literary and Potato..."This hurts my soul so much because I'd kill to be a librarian and hate that you have to have a Library Sciences degree now and that woman doesn't even read?! AHHHHH!
My mother was a librarian, so could I just read any of the books she recommended to me before she passed away? It seems like that's not really the point of the prompt, but it would be fun/sentimental for me to poke through the books she left me again.
Christy wrote: "My mother was a librarian, so could I just read any of the books she recommended to me before she passed away? It seems like that's not really the point of the prompt, but it would be fun/sentiment..."I think that would be a nice idea!
Christy wrote: "My mother was a librarian, so could I just read any of the books she recommended to me before she passed away? It seems like that's not really the point of the prompt, but it would be fun/sentiment..."That's a wonderful idea!
Hello, group! I read The Silver Lining's Playbook by Matthew Quick. Highly recommend it! I found it recommended by a librarian to NPR. I'm blogging about my experience working through the challenge. Come visit me at augustajusticewrites.wordpress.com.Happy reading!
I'm library staff sooo can I read what I recommend to myself? :P
The Girl on the TrainI am in a book club headed by a Librarian and this was one of the books on last year's list that I read this year.
Lydia wrote: "I'm library staff sooo can I read what I recommend to myself? :P"Ask one of your co-workers?
I read Twee vrouwen by Harry Mulisch. It's Dutch literature and I understand why librarians recommend it. It was really good. Two Women
I asked a bunch of librarian friends on FB and got a long list of recommendations. I'm going to try to get to most of them, but then efforts I read was Economix: How and Why Our Economy Works (and Doesn't Work), in Words and Pictures and I really enjoyed it. A good reminder of the economics classes I've mostly forgotten and a nice base to read some of the more financial current events books I've been eyeing.
#17 - A book recommended by a librarian, It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover. It could be used for "a difficult topic" but I already have a book in mind for that and needed to fill this space.
Does a starred book from School Library Journal and a winner of a Canadian library's book award count for this? Or a book I recommend to myself?If not, I'm going to need somebody to recommend The Truth Commission to me because I can't make it fit anywhere else.
I'm listening to The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine based on Thegirlintheafternoon's recommendation. Thanks for the help with this one :)
Jenn wrote: "I'm listening to The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine based on Thegirlintheafternoon's recommendation. Thanks for the help with this one :)"Oooh, I'll be interested to hear what you think of the audio version! A library patron listened to it and really liked it that way, while I preferred the written version.
Just wondering if any librarians out there could recommend some graphic novels? At my local library branch, they're not a popular subject so I haven't gotten any good ones yet.
Meghan wrote: "Just wondering if any librarians out there could recommend some graphic novels? At my local library branch, they're not a popular subject so I haven't gotten any good ones yet."Hi Meghan! Some graphic novels I've read and loved:
March: Book One - The three-book March series by John Lewis is stunning.
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal - Love the Ms. Marvel series! Volume 7 was just published, and they're all good.
Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? - A sad, funny memoir about the author's experience caring for her aging parents.
Here - This book looks at what's happening on one spot on earth through millenia, layering the images so that they speak to each other. Very moving.
Through the Woods - A collection of original and extremely creepy horror stories. Read this in the daytime, preferably with a cuddly pet nearby.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 1 (other topics)The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes (other topics)
Here (other topics)
March: Book One (other topics)
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 1: No Normal (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Colleen Hoover (other topics)Elizabeth Gaskell (other topics)
George Eliot (other topics)
Mark Twain (other topics)
Brandon Sanderson (other topics)
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Be sure to also post this in the Ask a Librarian folder: Nonfiction thread. (But it's OK to do so here as well.) ;-)
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