Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2018 Challenge Prompts - Regular
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40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges
I am thinking of making this one just a little more difficult on myself and doing my favorite prompts from 2015, 2016, AND 2017, not or. It would make the challenge even out for me. It would make it 52 books instead of 50, so 1 book per week. Still debating.
Yvonne wrote: "I am thinking of making this one just a little more difficult on myself and doing my favorite prompts from 2015, 2016, AND 2017, not or. It would make the challenge even out for me. It would make i..."Oh, I hadn't thought about that. I was really surprised when I saw that there were only 50 prompts this year, and that makes it work out to a full 52, like you mentioned. I may have to do the same. Thanks for sharing your idea!
Sara wrote: "This is a great chance to revisit your previous challenges to get inspiration."Could you add links to the lists of the previous years' challenges to the first message? I think that would be appreciated.
Links to the challenges!https://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading...
https://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading...
https://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading...
I like the maximalist « and » version of this prompt! I was thinking of using the 800+ pages for this one, but now I might have to find two others!
Yvonne wrote: "I am thinking of making this one just a little more difficult on myself and doing my favorite prompts from 2015, 2016, AND 2017, not or. It would make the challenge even out for me. It would make i..."I like this idea!
For 2017, my favorite prompt was "A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long." The Kitchen House (Jan 26, 2014)
Yvonne wrote: "I am thinking of making this one just a little more difficult on myself and doing my favorite prompts from 2015, 2016, AND 2017, not or. It would make the challenge even out for me. It would make i..."Great Idea... I might join you in doing that.
Edit: So far with my wild cards.
40 - 2015: A book with a number in the title
The Seven Sisters
51 - 2016: Either Dystopian, Graphic novel or Blue cover (Think I will keep this one open)
52 - 2017: A family member in the title
The Shadow Sister
Copying Yvonne's idea just to pad the list out to 52. :)2015 -- The Book of Three (a book with a number in the title)
2016 -- Spindle's End (a book based on a fairy tale)
2017 -- Stranger in a Strange Land (a book you picked up at a used book sale)
I'm going to do "A book with more than 500 pages" from 2015.
It's kind of hard for me to separate the prompts themselves from the books I read as a result, but here goes.2015: A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
The funny thing was that I read a book mostly set in Wales, and I ended up having a last-minute opportunity to go about three months later. (I hated the book, but my personal experience has still affected my choice, because we had a magnificent time there.)
2017: A book recommended by a librarian
Like the best booksellers, many librarians are book experts. Getting a recommendation from a librarian I know, whose own reading taste is similar to mine (and they know this), has always resulted in an enjoyable experience for me.
Trina wrote: "It's kind of hard for me to separate the prompts themselves from the books I read as a result, but here goes.2015: A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
The funny thing was that I r..."
I was thinking the same thing just now, as I was going over the lists again. There are definitely some prompts I was not excited for at all (political memoir!!), but for the most part, my enjoyment of a prompt had more to do with the book I picked than the prompt itself.
2016 was my first challenge, so I might pick something from the 2015 list. That said, I really liked the "long meaning to read" prompt this year...
I'm going for the first book you see in a bookstore as it's almost guaranteed to be a genre I don't usually read!
For this one, I think I might do a book I haven't read since high school. I might use it as a chance to reread A Brave New World.
Yvonne wrote: "I am thinking of making this one just a little more difficult on myself and doing my favorite prompts from 2015, 2016, AND 2017, not or. It would make the challenge even out for me. It would make i..."Good idea! I'll do the same.
Mod
So I'm not going to bother coming up with any ideas here, I'll just fit something in when I end up reading a book that doesn't fulfill another open category.
It's kind of annoying. Why didn't Popsugar just admit the truth and call this category "WILDCARD"????
Yeah, this is pretty much a wild card category. But it is funny that in the 2015 challenge there is "a book with bad reviews" and just recently I borrowed The Bridges of Madison County PRECISELY because I noticed how many 1-star reviews there were on the first page. (It was mentioned in one of those lists about books set in certain states, and I, of course, remembered the movie but didn't know much about the book itself.) It's not very long one and I don't have a problem with the infidelity aspect like many seem to have, so I might try that one.
I think I might try one of these...(2015) A book your mom loves -or- a book you started but never finished.
(2017) A book about an interesting woman - I've been meaning to read "The Diary of a Young Girl"
(2017 advanced) - a book you picked up at a used book sale - plenty on my to-read list
My favourite prompt in 2017 was "A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long"So for this I'll go with either of these:
The Immortals of Meluha
1984
The God of Small Things
Malgudi Days
This one is going to be a total free read for me. It would be harder to find a book that *didn't* fit any of the old prompts.
I have chosen the following 3 prompts:2015 - A graphic novel
2016 - A YA bestseller
2017 - A book you bought on a trip
For 2015, I will probably read Road to Riverdale.
For 2016, I still haven't chosen a book but I know it will be an easy one!
For 2017, I have a lot of options as I love buying books whenever I travel. Some of my options are:
Alex and Eliza
Carry On
The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend
Geekerella
I am also expanding my list to 52 prompts using a prompt from each of the past three years.40. 2015 - A book set during Christmas OR A book with antonyms in the title. I love Christmas, and I have a few books on my Kindle and at home ready to read for this one, but I will probably add more between now & then, too. But, I saw a lot of good choices for the antonyms in the title book when I looked at listopia, and quite a few are on my TBR list.
51. 2016 - A book you can finish in a day. Honestly, I really like this one because it gives me a little freedom to give myself a break & help catch up on my list if I need to. Plus, I may not read just a very short book, but may find a longer one I expect to not be able to put down until I finish it.
52. 2017 - A book you got from a used book sale. I just went to my library's used book sale last month & loaded up on books. I bought some of them specifically for the Around the World challenge since I already had that list when I went to the book sale. I have found some others that I bought will readily fit this challenge, as well, but I still have plenty of books that don't have a prompt home, so I will fit one of them here.
It would be easy to use this one as a 'gimme' since the vast majority of books I read come from either the library or used book sales, but I'm trying to look for fun/intriguing prompts instead. These are the ones that have grabbed me so far:a book written by someone under 30 (I could finally read Eragon)
a graphic novel (Outside my normal range, but it would be fun to pick up some of the Joss Whedon TV-sequel graphic novels.)
a book of poetry (I have several on my TBR, but very rarely choose to read poetry.)
I LOVE the idea of choosing a prompt from 2015, 2016 and 2017 to get to 52 total prompts! I think I'm going to go with:
2015 - A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
2016 - A book where the protagonist has the same occupation as you
2017 - A book with a title that is a character's name
I have several options for the 2016 same occupation prompt. I'm a lawyer, and I already have Rogue Lawyer, Soulmates, and Bonfire at home, and all three have lawyer protagonists.
And, for the 2017 prompt, I received The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo from Book of the Month and have been dying to read it, since it's been praised by many members of this group!
Just need to find something to fit the 2015 prompt, but that shouldn't be too hard to do over the course of the year.
UPDATE 8/9 I finished these three challenges, below is what I actually read.
2015 - A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit: The Heart's Invisible Furies (Ireland) - Such a fantastic book. I'm recommending it to everyone I know!!
2016 - A book where the protagonist has the same occupation as you: Bonfire (lawyer)
2017 - A book with a title that is a character's name: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - another fantastic book!
Two of the books I read for these prompts are my fav. reads of the year.
There's some good ones. I'm choosing from years I didn't take part in:2015 - written by someone under 30 // a book your mum loves
2016 - based on a fairy tale // self improvement
Rogue Lawyer is really good. Just finished it the other day!
Love this prompt! I am going with a prompt from 2015, "a book with a number in the title." I have many TBR books to choose from for this one, but I think I'm going to go with NOS4A2 by Joe Hill.
So 2015 I can read A Book by a Female Author? Darker (E L James) 2016 I can read ?
(Is this blue enough)2017 I can listen to an Audiobook? Hidden Bodies
Trina wrote: "It's kind of hard for me to separate the prompts themselves from the books I read as a result, but here goes.2015: A book set somewhere you've always wanted to visit
The funny thing was that I r..."
As a librarian, I'm glad you liked the prompt so much and I'm glad your librarian is good at Reader's Advisory!
Phew - just so happened, the next book on my list anyway was Lolita, which is the "one word title" prompt from 2015. Will be an interesting read!
Decided to go for The Book of Lost Things, as I believe it would suit "based on a fairy tale" from the 2016 challenge.
I'm doing 3 prompts for this one, and I've picked the 2015 and 2016 prompts already.2015 - A book you started but never finished (because I have a ton of unfinished books I'm trying to finish)
2016 - A murder mystery (because I just finished Merry, Merry Ghost and was having a hard time slotting it anywhere)
For 2017, I guess I'll just see what comes in handy. There are so many gimmes that this truly is a wildcard prompt!
A book based entirely on it's cover (2015 prompt). I'm going with
. I haven't read the synopsis or anything. I just looked at a listopia about good covers and liked this one, lol.
I'm doing the 3 year challange so this is my 2016 prompt: a book by someone with your occupation. I work on an electricity trading floor and read Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story about Enron. I have coworkers who worked for Enron when it collapsed, so I only knew a small part of it (I was in high school and didn't know what was going on). It was fascinating to read all of the loopholes that they created to be "creative". It was infuriating that I just went through a massive auditing process and could see why my life was a nightmare because of mistakes that Enron made.
Tytti wrote: "Yeah, this is pretty much a wild card category. But it is funny that in the 2015 challenge there is "a book with bad reviews" and just recently I borrowed The Bridges of Madison County..."I read this as a hormonal teenager and sobbed the whole time!
I read The Picture of Dorian Gray for this prompt. It falls under the book with a color in the tile from the 2015 list. I would recommend because I think the story line was interesting but be aware it takes place during the victorian era and is therefore very verbose.
TBH I picked one to fit the book I wanted to read next and not vice versa. I went with "about someone with a disability" since I wanted to read Too Big to Die (and had already fulfilled the "next book in a series" prompt) and one of the main characters is paraplegic.
So I have turned this prompt into 3. I am doing one for each year to make in 52. From the 2016 Challenge I chose the prompt Self-Improvement.
I generally avoid non-fiction but this book caught my eye and this prompt fit it perfectly.
Completed 1/24/18
Kenya wrote: "Links to the challenges!https://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading...
https://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading...
https://www.popsugar.com/love/Reading......"
Did anybody ever type up the 2015 list? I started doing these challenges in 2016, and typed them up myself so I could print them out legibly and also to have a computer copy to edit with the books I was thinking of to fulfill each prompt.
I've found that those pretty graphics PopSugar puts together do NOT print out fully from my computer- either the printer cuts off half the lines, or it's shrunk to fit the page and too small to read.
Or I could just pick " a banned book" as my prompt from 2015 and not bother looking at all of them. I was briefly considering doing both the 2018 and the 2015 prompts this year,but I don't really want to read a book that scares me, and there WEREN'T any books I was supposed to read in school but didn't- I read everything assigned in all my English classes, plus extra books!
I still might do it, though I'm not sure how to fulfill that prompt about school.
I am using a prompt from the 2015 challenge which is "A book that is over 500 pages long" and for that I'm reading La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
I read The One Man by Andrew Gross for this prompt based on the 2017 #9 espionage thriller prompt. Highly recommended. WWII a young man escaped from the Krakow ghetto and ends up in the US Army as an intelligence officer. He lets it be known that he wants to do more for the war effort. Be careful what you wish for - the Army asks him to break into Auschwitz and escape with The One Man.
The prompt I choise was " A book from a genre you don't normally read". The book I chose was Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - great read and great for book club discussion too!
A book recommended by a librarian! This gave me an excuse to talk to the people in my favourite places in the world (I talked to people who work in my local bookshop as well, because I was really curious😄) I picked Dudeljo!, which is a Dutch book. They also recommended The Book Thief and Me Before You but I have already read those:) I recommend them too!
I picked the prompt "a book guaranteed to bring you joy" from 2016, because it's lovely. :) Haven't chosen or read a book for it yet, though!
I've decided to split this one into three books, one for each of the previous years. So far, I've read Requiem for 2015 (a book with a one-word title) and I recently finished Crossed for 2016 (a YA bestseller).
"Set in Another Country"Finished
by E.M. Forster -- 2 StarsMy Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Dry (other topics)Mao's Last Dancer (other topics)
Dark Rivers of the Heart (other topics)
My Absolute Darling (other topics)
The Heart's Invisible Furies (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
E.M. Forster (other topics)Joe Hill (other topics)
For anyone who is NEW to the challenge this year, you don't have to have participated in previous challenges. You can always look through the archives in the group to find prompts from previous years.