Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2018 Challenge Prompts - Regular
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6. A novel based on a real person
It doesn't look like anyone has recommended books by Peter FitzSimons (apologies if they have, I read the first few pages then skimmed over a lot of the thread.) His books are more novels, rather than a factual biography, and I find them more enjoyable to read (I was given a biography for Christmas and took me a while to adjust to that format as i'm so used to novel-ish style with artistic licence allowing for dialogue etc). Nancy Wake, Ned Kelly: The Story of Australia's Most Notorious Legend Batavia, all about real people. Also a lot set in Australia so if that country fascinates there's another tick.
I loved The Cry and the Covenant when I read it ages back and would definitely recommend it for this prompt!Any of the Irving Stone books would work too, I'm personally going to read The Origin by him, have a copy lying around since ages.
Oh Candice, your comment made me think of The hundred-year-old.... by Jonas Jonasson. He meets a lot of historically prominent people.
What are your opinions on reading “The Art Forger” for this category?
I read The Alice Network for this one; it's based off a real network of female spies during WWI. It was one of the first books I read this year and still one of my favorites!
I just finished Caroline: Little House, Revisited for this prompt. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 only because I wanted to love Ma a little more like I did in the tv show. It was not the author's fault. She portrayed her with the mannerisms of the period which are more stuffy and stern than today's mannerisms (if any still exist). I recommend it to all of the Little House lovers out there.
I read Dr Mutter’s Marvels by Christin O Keefe Aptowicz. It was supposed to be a novel based on a real person but turned out to be a biography. I will leave it for now. Awesome book of a medical mastermind
Would Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov work for this? I just started it and in the foreword it seemed like it is based on a real person/events. I Googled it but I'm scared to keep digging and end up spoiling it for myself.
Lolita is not based on a real person. Please don't read it that way, for your own sake. (not saying more, because spoilers).
okay I looked a bit more into it, and some theories say Nabokov may have been inspired by real events, but I wouldn't say it's strong enough reason to use it for that. It fits well in antihero if you haven't used that prompt.
But I may be wrong. Someone else know more about this?
I thought it was fiction but like I said the foreword threw me off. I did have it slotted as antihero at first and I’ll use it for that if I have to.
Just read The Zookeeper's Wife, which is a great book and I think nicely satisfies this prompt
I will be reading Room by Emma Donoghue for this prompt. I know this book does not technically satisfy this prompt but it was inspired by a real case of similar sorts. Plus, I've been meaning to read this book since last year.
I just finished reading The Twentieth Wife based on an empress of the Mughal Empire called NurJahan.
I have read Fever by Mary Beth Keane, based on Typhoid Mary.
I am currently reading "Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald." Obviously about Zelda and F.Scott Fitzgerald. It's incredible so far!
Tracy wrote: "Would The Girls by Emma Cline work for this prompt?Has anyone read it? Is it good? Thanks"
I read it and didnt love it but I think it was the content that was disturbing to me.....
I read "The Last Days of Night" by Graham Moore, based on the battle between Thomas Edison and George Westinghouse to see whose company could control use of the then-new technology of electricity, with one of them advocating direct current and the other alternating current. Other historical figures in the book include Nikola Tesla, J.P. Morgan, the lawyer who was hired by Westinghouse to handle the legal aspects of this struggle (Paul Cravath, certainly not a household name), a young woman named Agnes Huntington, a singer with the Metropolitan Opera who assisted Cravath and later married him, and Alexander Graham Bell.
Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"I don't think so because that's a memoir. A novel implies fiction
Jess wrote: "Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"I don't think so because that's a memoir. A novel implies fiction"
Oh yes! You're right. Lincoln in the Bardo would do right?
Swathi wrote: "Jess wrote: "Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"I don't think so because that's a memoir. A novel implies fiction"
Oh yes! You'..."
Yep definitely :)
Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"Even though it doesn't count for this category, you could count it for a book by an author of a different ethnicity. :)
Christina wrote: "Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"Even though it doesn't count for this category, you could count it for a book by an author of ..."
Or you can read it for a book recommended by someone else doing the Pop Sugar challenge. I heartily recommend it.
Jess wrote: "Swathi wrote: "Jess wrote: "Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"I don't think so because that's a memoir. A novel implies fiction"..."
Yay😊
Christina wrote: "Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"Even though it doesn't count for this category, you could count it for a book by an author of ..."
Oh yes that would do!! I had previously considered Britt-Marie Was Here for that prompt. Since Backman is Swedish. Will that count? I am Indian.
Eujean2 wrote: "Christina wrote: "Swathi wrote: "Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood Does this count?"Even though it doesn't count for this category, you could count it for a boo..."
Yay thank you!! Now i can count this book for the recommendation prompt🤗
Arthur & George by Julian Barnes is about Arther Conan Doyle (the creator of Sherlock Homes.
None of these are biographical fiction,so if that's what you're looking for with this prompt, they won't be up your alley - BUT they are all based on a real person who it will be VERY EASY to recognize:Public Relations
The Idea of You
Grace and the Fever
For this prompt, I chose Lincoln in the Bardo. I am currently reading it and I was wondering if anyone else is reading it. It's definitely a book that I need to talk about and discuss with someone.
Thanks to whomever suggested Mrs Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn. I had never heard of it before. While this wasn't great fiction by any means, I got a kick out of it anyway. Love Queen Elizabeth!
There are some wonderful suggestions here, but wondering if When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife can qualify for this prompt?I am sure it is based on a real person if not about the author herself.
I love her writing and highly recommend it
I just completed Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, which is based on Georgia Tann. It's a heartbreaking story.
I read A Double Life which is based on Lord Lucan and that mystery. I had never heard of him or the mysterious and horrible circumstances surrounding his disappearance.
Lyor wrote: "Does "Before We Were Yours" count?"I haven't read it, but it is a novel based on real events, so I would presume that there are characters that really existed.
“Before We Were Yours” does not include real life children that were affected by Georgia Tann and her kidnapping scheme, but it does include her and her Tennessee home for children that she ran for years. The events that the characters go through in the novel echo events that Tann’s victims would have endured.
Lyor wrote: "Does "Before We Were Yours" count?"That's what I read for this prompt, since as others mentioned, the woman really existed.
Lyor wrote: "Does "Before We Were Yours" count?"Lyor wrote: "Does "Before We Were Yours" count?"
I have read it and think it does count. Georgia Tann was a real person and the fictional book is based on true events great read
By novel, do they mean it must be fiction?Would a non-fiction or true crime count?
I am reading The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer
but not sure if this can work for this prompt because it's not fiction based one someone real.
Olivia wrote: "By novel, do they mean it must be fiction?Would a non-fiction or true crime count?
I am reading [book:The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer|2316877..."
A novel is by definition fiction, so a non-fiction or true crime wouldn't work for the prompt. But it's your challenge to do with as you will. I'm pretty sure the PopSugar police will not arrest you.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Dracula (other topics)White Houses (other topics)
The Summer I Met Jack (other topics)
The Hours (other topics)
The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Amy Bloom (other topics)Lisa Wingate (other topics)
Vladimir Nabokov (other topics)
Lyudmila Ulitskaya (other topics)
Peter FitzSimons (other topics)
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If not, I am also reading What happened by Hilary Clinton right now."
It doesn't seem like these fit this prompt since they aren't novels, but Fire and Fury would definitely work for the book with an ugly cover prompt. :)