Pop Sugar's Annual Ultimate Reading Challenge discussion
A book recommended by someone else doing the Challenge
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Thanks for getting this thread started.I don't have time to put my suggestions up right now (but will do so soon).
Total long-shot; don't suppose anyone can 'recommend' Joel and Cat set the story straight by Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow?
Already I can't make it fit into any category I haven't yet completed, but it looks too cute to let go.
Hi! Thanks for getting us started. I like your method of giving different options, so here are mine, mostly selected by browsing through the books I read in the last few years and picking out my favorites:For something sweet, easy, and a little romantic, I recommend Major Pettigrew's Last Stand. It's a great mix of funny, cute, and serious. Nice and non-stressful.
If you'd prefer your books with a little more bite, Suite Française is a beautifully written (although incomplete) book about occupied France during WWII. One of the best WWII books I've read and I read a lot of WWII books last year. Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster is also an amazing collection of voices of a tragedy that I didn't know nearly enough about.
For something fantastical, I recommend The Blue Fox. It's beautifully simple even in translation. The magic is subtle and feels like an old fairy tale in a good way. Also! It's short, so if you're at the end of the year and just need to finish up, this will get you through in no time.
For more recent releases, I'd recommend Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine and The Light We Lost for a more light-hearted feel.For books with an African American perspective, try An American Marriage or The Hate U Give.
For more intense reads, try Never Let Me Go or The Orphan Master's Son.
For good detective/mystery stories, I liked The Dark Lake and The Good Daughter.
I highly second the recommendation for The Hate U Give.
And I second Never Let Me Go. Such a great read!
Hi. for something you cant put down I recommend The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Schaffer. It has just been made into a movie so it ticks another box on the list as well.Jo :)
I just finished Little Fires Everywhere which I enjoyed. I also love the entire Discovery of Witches series (would work for recommended and next in a series if you kept reading...). I also really liked 11/22/63 by Stephen King. Time travel and thought provoking all at the same time.
I love this thread! Thank you so much for starting it, and I will probably try the Hate U Give or the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society for this challenge. Some books that I have absolutely loved recently:
Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance kept me absolutely intrigued and was just lovely.
American War I haven't been able to stop thinking about since I read it.
The Queen of the Night is written in the style of the opera and made me realize that I love historical fiction.
A Study in Scarlet Women is the best Sherlock retelling that I've ever read. It's gender swapped taken place in the same time period as the original stories as if this main character was Sherlock all along. The second story in this series is just as good as the first.
Some of my top reads for the year that I would definitely recommend! The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Dress Codes for Small Towns by Courtney Stevens
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
London Belongs to Me by Jacquelyn Middleton
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertali
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas has been recommended by several people on this thread, but it's is a great read so I'm recommending it again. Hopefully you'll read it just to see what all the fuss is about. I listened to the audio version and it had me in tears by the time it was over. Little Monsters by Kara Thomas is another good one - especially the audio version.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern I've read multiple times and I love it more with each read.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling (the entire series) can't be read enough times.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen - this would also be a great choice for a few other of the prompts this year.
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis the book is fascinating and the movie has Brad Pitt so this is clearly a home run.
Hi allI'm taking a 3 minute coffee break at work, so thought I'd provide a few recommendations other than the ones I've given elsewhere.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I've enjoyed both of the novels I've read by Adichie, but I particularly appreciated her insight into the concept and perception of race in this novel.
Nevermor: the trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
Oh my goodness, I'm totally fan-girling over this novel since picking it up earlier in the year. I don't want to say too much in case I over-hype it, but if you're a fan of Alice in Wonderland, Roald Dahl, and/or David Tenannts'Doctor Who you should enjoy this.
Your fathers, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever? by Dave Eggers
I felt this was a rather timely novel for a lot of things that are being reported in the media at the moment; a significant proportion of a generation who feel lost.
The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
I appear to have had a bit of a North Korea fascination last year, and this novel was fascinating with the depiction of so many different levels of living within that country. Johnson interviewed NK defectives for the novel and even managed to get permission to visit the country for a short time.
Roll of thunder, hear my cry by Mildred D. Taylor
This is a classic that has always stayed with me. I constantly find myself recommending it to anyone who will listen.
Joel and Cat set the story straight by Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow
This is simply a light and fun story that captivated me for some reason. It was just "cute". I'm trying to get into the #LoveOzYa this year and this really got me off to a great start. It was also fascinating to hear how the authors didn't actually collaborate in the writing but had to write a chapter after reading the previous one from the other person.
The Hate U Give Best I’ve read in a long time.
I've just finished Fingersmith by Sarah Waters and it's great so I would recommend that. Also, I've read Mend the Living by Maylis de Kerangal.And I second Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. :)
P.S. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See. One of my favorites this year and you can also use it for the prompt 'A book with an animal in the title'.
Some books from my Top 100 list:Shannon by Frank Delaney
Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer
Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork
The Wonder by Emma Donoghue
Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
You by Caroline Kepnes
Some great recommendations already! I would recommend: Lord of the Flies by William Golding - my favorite book, Truth and Bright Water by Thomas King - a good Native American novel, The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien - just an amazing classic, One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus - a YA book with quite a bit of intrigue
The Rook by Daniel O’Malley. It grabs you from the first sentence and doesn’t let you go.
Sam wrote: "Hi allI'm taking a 3 minute coffee break at work, so thought I'd provide a few recommendations other than the ones I've given elsewhere.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I've enjoyed both..."
You had me at David Tennant's Doctor Who. Looks like I'll be reading Nevermor for my book recommended by another challenger. Thanks!
Lindsey, I'm so pleased to hear that. I just adored the novel and am really looking forward to the sequel release in October. Though there has been a bit of controversy; while Nevermore has won a bunch of awards it didn't even make it to the shortlist for the Children's Book Council of Australia's "Book of the Year" awards in any category. A number of librarians are threatening to boycott the awards this year because of it; I'm a tad in that camp myself.
Jesse wrote: "The Rook by Daniel O’Malley. It grabs you from the first sentence and doesn’t let you go."I completely agree with The Rook! I loved it and its sequel, Stiletto.
And while I'm back in this thread, here's another one if you're into the surreal: Vassa in the Night - a fascinating retelling of a traditional Russian folktale, but with a YA twist. It's quite grotesque and incredibly surreal, though, so not for the faint of heart. But it's one of my standouts, so give it a try!
Just read a great book and it ticks off 2 items on the challenge list, debut novel and A book inspired by mythology, legend or folklore.Check it out, was a great read.
The Spaewife's Secret
I recommend Heartless by Marissa Myer. It is the background story of the Queen of Hearts, from Alice in Wonderland. Also The Kiss of Deception by Mary E. Person is amazing. It is about a princess who runs away on her wedding day. The prince (whom she has never met) and an assassin are trying to find her. Both catch up with her and you are guessing who is the prince and who is the assassin the whole book.
Pop Sugar's Annual Ultimate Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Spaewife's Secret (other topics)Vassa in the Night (other topics)
The Night Circus (other topics)
One of Us Is Lying (other topics)
Lord of the Flies (other topics)
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I just joined this group - super excited to find one about the challenge I've been attempting for the past 4 years! I saw there's a prompt this year for 'a book recommended by someone else doing the challenge,' so I figured I'd start a book recommendations thread so we can all get some ideas for that one.
So here goes - a few of my favorites from the past few years:
- If you like unusual Sci-Fi, I recommend Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson. Set on a distant planet colonized by New Orleans Creole people, the whole book is in dialect, what's called 'Anglopatwa.' A fascinating read, and you tend to forget you're reading science fiction as you get immersed in the world.
- If you like YA, steampunk, geopolitical thrillers, or dystopias, I highly recommend the Lotus War series by Jay Kristoff. First book is Stormdancer, and it's just about the most intriguing and complex fantasy world I've read in the past few years.
- Speaking of dystopias, I just read Make Room! Make Room! and I highly recommend it to fans of classic dystopia. It's the book that inspired the movie 'Soylent Green,' though they changed the plot quite a bit to make the movie so it's basically a different story.
- And finally, if you like fantasy and are a fan of things like D&D, I recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora. Another great and detailed fantasy world, and a fun story about a priest of the god of thieves, who gets into ever more complex cons and has to pull out all his tricks to get out of them. Fans of the TV show Leverage will love this one!
How about you? What are your favorite recommendations?