Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2019 Challenge Prompt - Advanced
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46 - A book with no chapters / unusual chapter headings / unconventionally numbered chapters
Not that I would in any way recommend this despicable pile of bull (unless you like extremely poor writing and storytelling, a story where nothing happens [and the little that does happen makes no sense], a thinly veiled [if even veiled at all in the first place] Mary Sue for a main character, and a haughty author who scammed her way to the top of the NY Times bestseller list and clearly suffers from delusions of grandeur) ... but Handbook for Mortals has chapters corresponding to the tarot cards of the Major Arcana. Read it out of academic interest, if you will, just don't pay any money for it. Borrow it from someone or read it at the bookstore without taking it home ...
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LOL!!! (literally)
Nadine wrote: "Rachel wrote: "Did we ever decide whether a play would count? I'm not sure an act and scene number is really the same as a chapter, and it would open up a ton of options."No, no one ever said any..."
I think it definitely counts. In the drama word the script is called a book- You must be off book by this date means you have to have all your lines memorized by then. If they count it as book, I count it as a book.
BTW, I think this is a brilliant idea and I am going to read a play now.
Nadine wrote: "Oh boy. This is your opportunity to pick up the Illuminae series! Because I would say that book is unconventional chapters! Another option would be the Cormoran Strike series ([bo..."
Thank you so much for that last list, of the 8 unclassifiable books! I've got a bunch of them on my reading list now!
Interesting to see [book:The Mezzanine|247000] The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker, on this list! I read it in an earlier PopSugar challenge, for a book under a certain number of pages. It IS short, but it's a challenge to read, with so many footnotes, some of which take up almost the whole page. It was hard to decide if I wanted to read a footnote as it came up, or save it for after the paragraph, etc.
And the WHOLE book takes place in the course of an escalator ride, coming back from lunch, and going up just ONE floor! What a crazy book!
I was going to suggest this for a the prompt for a book that takes place in just one day, but now I remember it was a lot less than one day!
If you want it, you might want to ask your local library for a physical copy. It's a small paperback, that feels good in the hands.
Odd... that link only works if I enter it a 2nd time. Remove the first, and the link totally disappears!
Nadine wrote: "Oh boy. This is your opportunity to pick up the Illuminae series! Because I would say that book is unconventional chapters! Another option would be the Cormoran Strike series ([bo..."
Also on that interesting list of 8 hard to classify books, is one that I think I will read for "a book told from multiple POVs": The Familiar, Volume 1: One Rainy Day in May, Mark Z. Danielewski [book:One Rainy Day in May|23012473]
(Only 2 of 27 planned volumes have been published, with different fonts for each character's POV).
Someone commenting on that list, mentioned another Danielewski book, House of Leaves. House of Leaves I might have to buy a few books for myself for Christmas!
I wonder how many other prompts can be filled from that list?
I definitely recommend Someone Like Me for this challenge. Its chapter headers are pictures that are specific to the narrator of that chapter. (So this one also works for the multiple POV challenge)This just came out so you might not have heard of it yet.
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AWESOME!!!! Thank you for that. I love Mike Carey and this is already on my TBR, but I had no idea about the unusual chapter headings. This category just went from "very difficult" to "planning is complete!" :-)
nomadreader (Carrie D-L) wrote: "I'd recommend How to be both. It's a novel told in two parts and published in two different ways: half with half A first, and half with half B first. It's excellent!"I love this book!!! I suggest reading it with the modern section first. A friend almost gave up because she read the medieval section first and didn't understand what was going on.
I just finished Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin and it has no chapters. Really quick read and I liked it a lot. Also, the author's name has the same letters! And it sort of takes place in one day. The narrator is having a conversation, recounting what recently happened. So, the conversation happens in a single day, but she thinks back (and other characters think back) to different days.Also, there's a horse on the cover for the (Chinese) zodiac.
Awesome! I love mike Carey. Thanks for sharing. Nadine wrote: "Jennie wrote: "I definitely recommend Someone Like Me for this challenge. Its chapter headers are pictures that are specific to the narrator of that chapter. (So this one also works..."
Jennifer wrote: "My kindle copy of the The Cuckoos Calling has chapter numbers. I’m having trouble finding anything for this prompt besides house of leaves, which just looks like it will give me a headache.
[bo..."
I've ordered a copy of House of Leaves for this prompt. It's looks really intriguing to me!
And I'm thinking I'll read Long Way Down, for my book that takes place in one day (in this case, an elevator ride).
Maja wrote: "This, I fell, is a difficult prompt because you have to actually have the book in your hands to really know if it would work..."I feel that way about the prompt to read A book you feel should be made into a movie! But for this kind of prompt, that's what's so great about having discovered this Goodreads PopSugar community! Someone always has a great recommendation. Maybe they can't use a book, because they've already read it (unless they want to re-read a favorite), but they always come up with such good titles for the rest of us to try.
Seanan McGuire's Ghost Roads books are great for this prompt. Each section is divided by dates. Also tombstones. Plus the books have an intriguing narrator in the ghost of Rose Marshall.Linking to Sparrow Hill Road bc I don't know html:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
I’m reading The White City by Karolina Ramqvist for this year’s Nordic noir prompt- it has chapters but no chapter numbers or titles.
Rachel wrote: "Would a play work for this? It's divided into acts and scenes, but not chapters. I'm trying to reread the Harry Potter series, and I was thinking of using Cursed Child for this."I was struggling with this a little so THANK YOU for this idea! I'm going with An Ideal Husband.
"Disappearance at Devil's Rock" is fantastic and has strange chapter headings.
I'm going to go with Everyday by David Levithan
I mentioned this in the Multiple POV thread but Into the Water fits here. No numbered chapters, each header is a different date and character. And there are lots of them. Like a lot. Good luck keeping it straight LOL.I've seen quite a few people slamming the book for this, I'm loving it though.
Tracy wrote: "I mentioned this in the Multiple POV thread but Into the Water fits here. No numbered chapters, each header is a different date and character. And there are lots of them. Like a lot..."Here's the character map (without spoilers) that I made for it after the fact (because the list of characters at the start of the book was in no way adequate and you can't just refer to it as much as you want if you're doing the audiobook. I posted it in that thread too but just incase someone comes across it here:
If this book is on your TBR/on your radar....SAVE THIS LIST (you'll thank me later)!
Nel (Danielle) Abbott - the person who dies at the start, the subject of the main investigation. Before her death she was researching the deaths at the drowning pool. (mom of Lena, sister of Jules/Julia). The drowning pool deaths she was looking at were: Libby (an accused witch from the 17th C), Anne Ward, Lauren Townsend & Katie Whittaker.
Lena Abbott - Nel's daughter. Friends with Katie & Josh Whittaker who attend(ed) the same school. Her mom & Katie (her best friend) have both drowned in the drowning pool.
Jules/Julia - Nel's sister who was estranged due to past events which are a spoiler so I won't say. She is now Lena's guardian although they don't really know each other.
Louise Whittaker - Josh & Katie's mom. She is suspicious of Nel and pretty much blames her for her daughter Katie's death. She's married but I can't remember her husband's name and he's not a very important character.
Katie Whittaker - Lena's best friend until she died in the drowning pool. Josh's sister, Lousie's daughter.
Josh Whittaker - Katie's brother who is an acquaintance/friend of Lena & a fellow student.
Erin Morgan - Detective from out of town helping Sean (local policeman) investigate the drowning of Nel Abbott.
Sean Townsend - Local policeman investigating Nel's death (also, his mother died at the drowning pool which nobody really considered before he was put on the case)
Helen Townsend - Sean's wife (although they have issues so she is often spending more time with her Father-in-law: Patrick). She is also the school principal.
Patrick Townsend - Sean's father, Helen's father-in-law. His wife (Lauren Townsend) passed away at the drowning pool and was one of the deaths there that Nel had been looking into before her own death.
Mark Henderson - A teacher at the local school (to reveal his main connection to the plot is a spoiler so I won't say what it is). He knows Helen & all of the teenagers of course (being their teacher): Lena, Josh (& he knew Katie).
Nickie Sage - A local lady who is considered the town's crazy lady but who considers herself a psychic. She tends to know about the town secrets.
Deaths at the drowning pool that Nel was investigating: Libby Seeton, Anne Ward, Lauren Townsend, Katie Whittaker
Stacey wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I mentioned this in the Multiple POV thread but Into the Water fits here. ..."Stacey You gotta put the list of deaths at the drowning pool behind a spoiler.....I just reached an OMG no!! part and now I know LOL 😏
(view spoiler)
SarahKat wrote: "I just finished Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin and it has no chapters. ...... Also, there's a horse on the cover for the (Chinese) zodiac."But... the prompt is "A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in title" so that book wouldn't work.
Thanks, Tracy and Stacey, for the prompt.. I wanted to read this for another challenge for the task 'Water in Title'. I will postpone reading this in 2019 for UPRC.
I'm reading Gone Girl right now and the chapters are titled with POV character and date (will also work for multiple POV), no numbers.
Tracy wrote: "Stacey wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I mentioned this in the Multiple POV thread but Into the Water fits here. ..."Stacey You gotta put the list of deaths at the drowning pool behind a sp..."
Sorry I wasn't super clear, at the top I just meant here's as much of the list as I can give you without spoilers kinda thing but I'll re-word that last bit to avoid that possible mishap for someone else! I didn't intend for it to mean this is the end all/be all list of them. The ones I listed I just meant were the ones that Nel was investigating but since... (view spoiler)
I fixed that in the other thread too.
Building Stories is a super-odd book/collection with a whole bunch of little booklets that you can read in any order to create a story about people who live in an apartment building together. I bought the box a while ago, and it's been collection dust for years. I think I'll read it for this one.I'd recommend 4 3 2 1, although someone above did not. I read it in 2017 for the long-book prompt, and it took a while to understand what was going on. Once I got three 5 chapters in though (but they're numbered 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4, and then 2.1....) I finally understood. Ingenious and interesting. Slogged a little, but I was affected by the book in a very thoughtful way.
There's also several other books (like Illuminae. In the English-teacher world, they're called multigenre books, which use letters and photos and ads and poems and transcripts and such to present the story. Others include:
- Where'd You Go, Bernadette
- The Collected Works of Billy the Kid
- Up the Down Staircase
- theMystery.doc
Also, I think most of Brian Selznick's books would count for this - The Invention of Hugo Cabret and Wonderstruck and The Marvels
Conny wrote: "Not that I would in any way recommend this despicable pile of bull (unless you like extremely poor writing and storytelling, a story where nothing happens [and the little that does happen makes no ..."Haha I don't intend to read this but I found all the outrage around it hilarious (in a 'that is so awful all I can do is laugh') How can someone be so audacious?
I'm thinking of reading Cujo for this one. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think it has any chapters? It has been sat on my shelf for a long time and would love to finally get rid of it!
Josie wrote: "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time would work for this as all the chapter numbers are prime numbers."SUCH a good book!
‘The Luminaries’ by Eleanor Catton is a good fit, I think. Each chapter has a 19th century- style intro. And the chapters get shorter and shorter as the book progresses - it’s like a spiral structure
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Cendaquenta wrote: "Most of Terry Pratchett's books don't have chapters, as I recall. At least the Discworld books."Oh thanks for this! I just picked up two at a library sale and you're right, they don't have chapters
- has anyone read this? Would it work? I know it's like an adult Illuminae.
Sarah E. wrote: " - has anyone read this? Would it work? I know it's like an adult Illuminae."I've read it and highly recommend it. I need to read its two sequels soon.
Yes, it would work. Each chapter is titled with a file name and number, if you find that unusual.
If this is an adult Illuminae, I guess I have to read Illuminae.
I'm trying a new cozy mystery series, starts with Curiosity Thrilled the Cat.The chapter headings are unusal, apparently designated by the cats. So you find yourself doing a little musing to translate the word choice into human vernacular and meaning.
Oh, and the cats are magical - must be little witch cats. Hahaha!
I'd highly recommend Monday's Not Coming for this one. The chapters are titled with things like "The Before" and "The After" or "Three Months Before the Before." Some people who have read it found that super confusing, but I didn't have much problem with it.
Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks (because I seem to be pushing Banks' scifi this year even though I haven't read that many) has two chapter streams. One goes quite conventionally upward Arabic numbers, but it alternates with chapters that go backwards in Roman numbers. (The plot of the second stream is similarly backwards)
The Luminaries is perfect for this category. Each chapter is associated with the zodiac and the focal character of each chapter has the character traits supposedly attributable to that star sign. Also, the lengths of each chapter reflect the waning of the moon, getting shorter and shorter. Can’t begin to imagine how difficult it was to write!
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