Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2018 Challenge - General
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Where does this book fit?
Mod
I have not read it, but you could possibly use it for "problem facing society" since it involves misogyny, abuse (physical, sexual, and emotional), violence, and rape, as well as possibly mental illness, poverty and gun violence (I'm not sure about these last three). It was also a Goodreads Choice nominee, but not a winner, so it depends on how you interpret that category. And maybe a celebrity will choose it for their book club...
Tara wrote: "Hi! I was dying to finally read Me Before You this year and didn't get around to it. Any ideas as to where it could fit with this challenge? My list is near complete but I'd be willing to swap!"I'm reading this one as my "ugly cover" option. =)
I saw “Catch Me if you Can “ listed somewhere, but now can’t find it! Where would it fit? Heist? Anti-hero?
Melinda wrote: "I saw “Catch Me if you Can “ listed somewhere, but now can’t find it! Where would it fit? Heist? Anti-hero?"That fits the true crime prompt
So I have a few books on hold on overdrive that I'll definitely read when I get them but have found difficult to fit into the prompt The Last Black Unicorn- Tiffany Haddish (no idea)
Promise Me Dad- Joe Biden (ugly cover?)
Unbelievable- Katy Tur (maybe the song/lyric one)
It Ends With Us-Colleen Hoover (previous Goodreads winner)
Thanks in advance
@Melinda Catch Me If You Can was also a movie. So it also fits the “made into a movie you’ve already seen.” I’m assuming you’ve already seen it, because hey, Leo and Tom Hanks and Christopher Walken. But if you haven’t, please go watch it whether you decide to read the book or not. It’s one of my favorites! (And the book, I have read and is also excellent, so I guess you can also use it for “recommended by another challenge taker.”)@Kaitlyn
It seems like you might be able to plug The Last Black Unicorn into “book about a problem facing society today”? (She had a difficult childhood in a low-income neighborhood in Los Angeles.)
The wildcard category for me seems to be re-do a 2015,2016,2017 prompt. I’m sure it fits one of those if all else fails.
Nicole wrote: "Melinda wrote: "I saw “Catch Me if you Can “ listed somewhere, but now can’t find it! Where would it fit? Heist? Anti-hero?"That fits the true crime prompt"
Yes to these, plus it was a movie and a musical
I'm not really sure if this book would fit any category but well Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
I'm trying to use the book I have on my shelf but haven't read yet for the challenge before I acquire any new ones but I'm having trouble figuring out if the following would fit anywhere:Going Postal- I don't know if Discworld or other fantasy worlds would be considered another planet or if it needs to be an actual planet like Mars.
The Woman in White - No Idea
The Sword of Shannara - No Idea, I might use it for ugly cover but I feel like I own books with uglier covers.
If going postal is part of the discworld series could you use for a book from a series you’ve started? Maybe white could be your favourite colour this year? Lol I don’t know about the other.
Felicity wrote: "I'm trying to use the book I have on my shelf but haven't read yet for the challenge before I acquire any new ones but I'm having trouble figuring out if the following would fit anywhere:[book:Goi..."
The Woman in White and The Sword of Shannara could both be used for the alliteration prompt.
If white is your favorite color, you could use The Woman in White for that prompt too.
Discworld is definitely another planet - some fantasy series may not specify, by Discworld definitely does.
Mod
oi..."
Woman in White:
* It's is from multiple POVs, including some of the "villain" POVs, so you can use it for "from a villain or antihero POV." (Count Fosco is an awesome villain!)
* This is a huge stretch, but you MIGHT be able to use it for "novel based on a real person" (I mean, I wouldn't, but if you REALLY need to force it into a category, this can be a possibility!) because Collins based the character Marian Holcombe on Mary Anne Evans (aka George Elliot). So, the character is based on a real person, but the plot is completely fictional.
* It was made into a musical, so you can use it for "also a stage play."
* Alliteration, as already mentioned!
* And, if someone gave it to you as a gift, or you meant to read it in 2017, you can use that.
Maria wrote: "I'm not really sure if this book would fit any category but well Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies"
It's not strictly a 'micro-history', but the way most people are using that prompt it could fit there.
Also, based on just the summary, I think it might be suitable for 'a problem facing society today' since it says it 'stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history'.
And, if necessary, you could use it for alliteration, since two of the three main words start with the same letter.
Kaitlyn wrote: "So I have a few books on hold on overdrive that I'll definitely read when I get them but have found difficult to fit into the prompt The Last Black Unicorn- Tiffany Haddish (no idea)
Promise Me D..."
The Last Black Unicorn has an animal in the title. (Hey, they never said it's couldn't be a fictional animal!)
Nicole wrote: "Does anyone know if Goodbye, Vitamin fits any of the prompts?"Depending on how seriously you want to interpret 'a problem facing society today' it looks like it might fit there, since I consider the dual problem of low-quality food (and the health and obesity issues it causes) and over-obssession with healthy eating to be an actual problem for society in the 'ditches on either side of the road' kind of way.
Leona wrote: "I have a "book" about Hubert Humphrey. It is not a "novel". Does that count as a book/novel based on a real person?Thanks."
I believe the use of the word novel was intentional, to seperate this prompt from just using any biography, but there's always some room for interpretation in how YOU want to use the challenges. I would say it depends on how strict you want to be about the wording, vs just using the challenge as a springboard for ideas.
Can anyone confirm for me that The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine and Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital are microhistories? Thank you!
Any idea where I could fit Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey? I read the first chapter at the end of last year and want to use it as one of my first books for the challenge but can't seem to find a prompt it would fit in to!
Mod
Nadine wrote: "Elizabeth is Missing deals with dementia so it could work for "mental health""Oh that's a really good point - I might go with that thank you!
Has anyone read “Every Day” by David Levithan? Saw a movie trailer for it today and want to fit it in, but don’t know where. What prompts would it fit?
I’m using everyday as a best seller from 2016
I didn’t explain that right, prompt from 2016 list, YA bestseller.
Danielle Spain wrote: "Has anyone read “Every Day” by David Levithan? Saw a movie trailer for it today and want to fit it in, but don’t know where. What prompts would it fit?"You could also use it for the time of day prompt, since many people are using "day" and "night" as times.
Danielle Spain wrote: "Has anyone read “Every Day” by David Levithan? Saw a movie trailer for it today and want to fit it in, but don’t know where. What prompts would it fit?"You could watch the movie in February and then read it.
Raquel wrote: "Maria wrote: "I'm not really sure if this book would fit any category but well Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies"
It's not strictly a 'micro-history', but the way ..."
Thanks!! :D
I wanted to see where you guys think this book might go, if anywhere. I'm currently learning Mandarin and I have a graded reader called Sherlock Holmes and the Curly Haired Company. It's based on The Red Headed League, but it's not an exact translation because it was rewritten to be in China with Chinese characters. I'd love to read it for this, if I can fit it in, so any ideas would be great.
Nikki wrote: "I thought I saw Peace Like A River recommended under one of the challenge categories, but can't find it now. Where would this book fit in for the 2018 categories? Peace Like a River"Books with song lyrics in the title--the words are in the hymn "It Is Well With My Soul."
Does anyone know if Paper Towns or The Cider House Rules fit any of the prompts?
Paper Towns is a movie you could watch then read for that prompt
Mod
or you could use it for "a previous Popsugar category" (which is effectively a Wildcard!) - in 2015 there was a "mystery" category.
Heather wrote: "I wanted to see where you guys think this book might go, if anywhere. I'm currently learning Mandarin and I have a graded reader called Sherlock Holmes and the Curly Haired Company. It's based on T..."Perhaps, 'a book involving a heist' or 'a book set in a country that fascinates you' or if you consider curly/company to count as enough alliteration you could use that.
I *almost* feel like you could use it for 'childhood classic you've never read' since Sherlock Holmes is a classic, I had a picture book version of Red Headed League when I was a kid, and even if you've read it before, you probably haven't read the Mandarin version... but with all those elements, it gets to be a bit of a stretch. :-)
Megan wrote: "Does anyone know if Paper Towns or The Cider House Rules fit any of the prompts?"I seem to be looking at the 'problem facing society' prompt more broadly than most people, but in my opinion, Paper Towns with the cancer themes could qualify for that.
Ramona wrote: "Nikki wrote: "I thought I saw Peace Like A River recommended under one of the challenge categories, but can't find it now. Where would this book fit in for the 2018 categories? [book:Peace Like a R..."It could go as a book set in the decade you were born (1960's) or as a book recommended by someone taking the popsugar challenge (I recommend it). You could also look into using it for a favorite prompt from a past popsugar challenge.
Megan wrote: "Does anyone know if Paper Towns or The Cider House Rules fit any of the prompts?"Cider House Rules is a movie and a play.
Raquel wrote: "Leona wrote: "I have a "book" about Hubert Humphrey. It is not a "novel". Does that count as a book/novel based on a real person?Thanks."
I believe the use of the word novel was intentional, to s..."
I will stay with the word "novel". Someone mentioned The Great Prince Shan and I downloaded it for free onto my Kindle. I will use that book.
Appreciate the suggestion.
Thanks.
Would you all consider this book The Girl with Seven Names: A North Korean Defector’s Story to fulfill the feminist prompt?
Hi, I was hoping to pick up Cinder this month but I am not sure if it matches any prompts. Any ideas? :)
Saida wrote: "Hi, I was hoping to pick up Cinder this month but I am not sure if it matches any prompts. Any ideas? :)"75 people have shelved Cinder as cyberpunk. I think you could count it for that.
Nikki wrote: "I thought I saw Peace Like A River recommended under one of the challenge categories, but can't find it now. Where would this book fit in for the 2018 categories? Peace Like a River""Peace Like A River" is a very sweet song by Elizabeth Mitchell, so this would definitely fulfill the "book with song lyrics in the title" prompt.
Carla wrote: "I have a book checked out on my overdrive called The Secrets She Keeps. Has anyone read it and can you recommend a prompt it would fulfill? Thanks!"It could fulfill:
A book about death or grief
A book about a villain or antihero
A book about mental health
However, it definitely does *not* fulfill "A book recommended by someone else taking the challenge" because ugh I hated it so much.
Sarah wrote: "Saida wrote: "Hi, I was hoping to pick up Cinder this month but I am not sure if it matches any prompts. Any ideas? :)"75 people have shelved Cinder as cyberpunk. I think you could count it for t..."
Thank you! For some reason I thought that the advanced section was only after you read the first forty but I guess I was incorrect lol
Anyone got any ideas where Frankenstein would fit? I’m teaching it this year and will be reading it this weekend anyway so if I can fit it to one of the prompts that would start me off nicely.
Saida wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Saida wrote: "Hi, I was hoping to pick up Cinder this month but I am not sure if it matches any prompts. Any ideas? :)"75 people have shelved Cinder as cyberpunk. I think you could ..."
A book about a villian or anti-hero?
Or maybe a book mentioned in another book. It's a classic so I'm sure it will be mentioned in another book somewhere even if its a non-fiction book about the history of Sci-Fi or something
I'm pretty sure there is a play of it too
Lucy wrote: "Anyone got any ideas where Frankenstein would fit? I’m teaching it this year and will be reading it this weekend anyway so if I can fit it to one of the prompts that would start me off nicely."A book made into a movie you´ve already seen (if you´ve seen it)
A book about a villain or antihero
Lucy wrote: "Anyone got any ideas where Frankenstein would fit? I’m teaching it this year and will be reading it this weekend anyway so if I can fit it to one of the prompts that would start me off nicely."I'm pretty sure it can be considered to be an allegory too, if you're doing the advanced prompts.
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I have not read it, but I think it would work for mental health since it deals with Alzheimers. It might also fit "category from a previous year (eccentric character)" or "author of a different ethnicity" (depending on you, of course!) or "ugly cover" (again, this one is in the eye of the beholder).