2019 Reading Challenge

[Kerry]

This was my first year doing the challenge and am so glad I chose to read my least favorite prompts first. It was so nice to read books I knew I would like last. Like book about your favorite country...Outlander...etc.

[Lindsay]

https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen...

[Jen]

Summer wrote: "Hi, all. This is my first time looking into the Popsugar challenge and I'm thinking about giving it a go next year. I'd appreciate any tips, tricks, or recommendations you experienced folks have!"

Give it a go. The lovely people on here who share a love of books have been able to suggest books for pretty much any reason going and have helped me get through a pretty rubbish year just by having a Thursday chat/read about books to look forward to.
My main tip is don't put pressure on yourself, enjoy the ride and enjoy the company of others who feel as you do about books.

[Jen]

Lindsay wrote: "https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen..."

Hells yes!

[Jen]

Hmmm I am going to need suggestions for lots of those. Think ATY will be easier for 2019.

[SadieReadsAgain]

Just to chime in with the challenge tips, don't be scared of the prompts you don't like the sound of. They can bring you to books you end up loving (or at least liking). I wasn't crazy about the cyberpunk of halloween prompts, but actually enjoyed the books I chose for them.

[Thomas]

Okay has anyone read Elizabeth is Missing. If so would you count it as a book with anametuer detective?

[Denise]

Yay, it's out! And there are also suggestions/examples for the prompts. Very nice.

[Arielle]

So excited the list is out!

I do have two questions, so far:

1: Do the Hunger Games books qualify as LitRPG, if not, does anyone have any good suggestions for that category?

2: Does anyone have good suggestions for the "cli-fi" category?

Thanks!

[Sara]

Arielle, we now have individual discussion threads open for each prompt. You can check there for ideas!

[Arielle]

Sara wrote: "Arielle, we now have individual discussion threads open for each prompt. You can check there for ideas!"

Thanks, Sara!

[Theresa]

I have been toying with the idea of trying to complete PS challenge by only reading books from genres I love - mysteries, thrillers, occassional classics, romance, and contemporary fiction. For some prompts that could be tricky, LOL. I do love a challenge!

But then I feel that I am falling back into the deep rut my reading had been for years before PS came into my life.

Maybe I will do 2 PS challenges ... one pushing for diversity in my reading, and a parallel one that is fave genres only. I was not thrilled with 2019 ATY, so perhaps this is how I do 2 challenges.

Whatever I do, I will once again strive to pull as many as possible from my personal massive library! Nothing makes me happier than seeing those TBR piles and shelves diminish.

[Alyssa]

Psych movie recommendation: I had a similar assignment in my High School psychology class. My teacher used The Breakfast Club.

[Jen]

Alyssa wrote: "Psych movie recommendation: I had a similar assignment in my High School psychology class. My teacher used The Breakfast Club."


Oh I'm sure I have that somewhere. Must dig it out and have a rewatch. Love Judd Nelson in that. An assignment for the kids and me drooling, good plan!

[Ruth]

Here's how I do it:

I have my computer list of all the prompts. I read books that interest me, and then see which prompts they'll fill. Sometimes I have prompts that will fit more than one, so I list them as "maybes" under all the possible prompts, and then finalize it when I get enough other books to fill all the prompts. I still sometimes rearrange things later in the year.

As the prompts get filled in, I start specifically looking for books to fill them. Sometimes that means wandering the library shelves for a book that fits. Most of the time it means reading the threads on here for book ideas. My trips to the library involve picking up reserved books (or having another family member pick them up for me) rather than wandering around looking for interesting things.

I usually fly through most of the prompts and then really struggle with a few. I've used children's books for some prompts if I just didn't think I'd be able to manage it with something longer. But I only do that several months into the year when I find myself completely unable to do that prompt "properly."

I usually finish the reading challenge around August. Sometimes I still read through the threads about specific prompts to find book suggestions- especially last year, when several prompts were specific to your age (a book published the year you turned 18 or that was set the decade you were born) - those threads contained lots of book suggestions that fulfilled the prompts for others but not for me. They were still great suggestions and gave me some good ideas of things to read when I was out of prompts and didn't know what to read next.

In the future, if I find myself too busy to read so much, I'll allow myself to use the same book for 2 or 3 prompts. Right now, it works better for me to use one book per prompt, and I still have a lot of time to read books that aren't part of the challenge. Part of what makes it fun is that I'm doing this every year, but I've been done for 4 or 5 months when it's time to restart it.