40 - Your favorite prompt from a past Popsugar Reading Challenge

[Sara]

This one's a repeat, but it's a nice way to fit in something you love.

Nadine put together a great list last year of the 2015-2018 past prompts which you can find here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

And if you are new to the challenge you may want to check here to see what was on the 2019 list: https://www.popsugar.com/entertainmen...

[Deborah]

I’m using a book a stranger is reading in public - I think from 2018. I love creeping on other people’s books to see what they’re reading!!!

[Milena]

Deborah wrote: "I’m using a book a stranger is reading in public - I think from 2018. I love creeping on other people’s books to see what they’re reading!!!"

Me too. I loved that prompt.

[Linda]

I generally use this one to fit something that I read for a book club or just that I really want to read, but doesn't easily fit another prompt.

I feel like literally any book would work for this category... Which gets me thinking, could there be one that doesn't? Could there be a book that wouldn't fit any of the prompts in any of the past years?

Hmm.. it'd have to be one author who is male, over 30, my ethnicity, but not a person of color. (So right there it wouldn't work for some readers!)

The book would have to be between 150-500 pages, fiction (but not sci fi, mystery, graphic novel, a debut or about a family), set (for me) in the US but not my state, set in winter, fall or spring unless I'm reading it in that season. The title would have to have 3+ words, and there would be a huge list of words it could not have in the title. As well as many other restrictions.. I'm pretty sure it couldn't be done.

[Sandra]

Linda wrote: "I generally use this one to fit something that I read for a book club or just that I really want to read, but doesn't easily fit another prompt.."

This is what I do! I will also read a book for a prompt from each of the past challenges.

[Pam]

I think I will go with 2015’s “a book you started but never finished” since I have quite a few of those collecting dust on my shelves.

[Jackie]

I'm going with 2016's "a book with less than 150 pages" because it's always nice to get a quick easy checkmark on the list.

[Sarah]

Deborah wrote: "I’m using a book a stranger is reading in public - I think from 2018. I love creeping on other people’s books to see what they’re reading!!!"

I'm so opposite! I hated that prompt. No-one ever seemed to be reading anything interesting (to me)

[Darci]

Like others have said, this is one of those prompts I use to shoehorn in a book I want to read that didn't really fit anywhere else this year. I'm going with 2018's prompt 'book with an animal in the title' and The Lost City of the Monkey God.

[Cheryl]

I'm almost certain to use the bought at a book sale prompt because most of what I own was purchased this way.

[The Chapter Conundrum (Stacey)]

I'll likely use this one for The Next Book in a series you've started! I always love finding excuses to continue on with series that I've enjoyed so far :D

[Karin]

Sara wrote: "This one's a repeat, but it's a nice way to fit in something you love.

Nadine put together a great list last year of the 2015-2018 past prompts which you can find here: https://www.goodreads.com/t..."

Thanks! I know for sure I have done one or more of those, but can't remember which years. Not for at least two, though.

[Amy]

I think I'll be doing 2015’s a book you own but never read. I've got lots of options so can pick something I fancy at some point throughout the year. Right now I'm looking for a place to fit The Buried Giant so it may well just be that. I'm trying not to buy anything new for this challenge and I'm debating doing a book buying ban year so this also helps those aims!

[SadieReadsAgain]

In 2019 with this prompt I did one for each year of the challenge. I think I'll do that again this year! I'm not doing well at double-dipping with Reading Women, so hopefully this will give me more chances for that.

[Jamie]

ugh... I’ve already failed at this prompt: “a book you started but never finished”! Had a book I wanted to give a second chance but, attempting to press on with it, I remember how badly bogged down it got about halfway through. Skimming ahead a bit, it only looks to get worse. :(
Now I’m trying to decide if I want to attempt a different book or - an entirely different prompt. Phooey!

[Pam]

Jamie- That’s the prompt I was thinking about since I have numerous half-read books in my house! It’s not that they weren’t good but, rather, I got distracted by something more interesting and never picked the book back up. (Yes, I’m looking at you Don Quixote!)

[vanshika]

Jamie- yes! that's definitely a prompt that fits right for me since I end up DNFing tons of books, especially when I'm in a reading slump. I might go with Isla and the happily ever after by stephanie perkins. it's a great book, but just something that I ended up not finishing because I found another book I really wanted to read XD

[L.]

Using last year's prompt for a debut novel I just finished reading Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris and loved it!
Behind Closed Doors

[Lindsey]

From last year's prompt "a book written by an author from Asia, Africa, or South America" I read My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite - 3/5 stars!

[Ashleigh]

I think I will be going with the Audiobook prompt because I plan on listening to a fair few of those this year, but I won't have to strain too hard thinking about what book!

[Tina]

I’m going with a retelling of a classic. I read Unmarriageable last year, which is Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan, and am hoping to find another book that’s equally as enjoyable!

[Jerrika]

Darci wrote: "Like others have said, this is one of those prompts I use to shoehorn in a book I want to read that didn't really fit anywhere else this year. I'm going with 2018's prompt 'book with an animal in t..."

I have read that! It is very good!

[Michelle]

I haven't participated in a few years, so I was taking a look at some prompts that I haven't done before. One that caught my eye was from last year - "A book with at least one million ratings on Goodreads". Is there a way to search or sort books in this way on Goodreads?

[Mahi]

Michelle wrote: "I haven't participated in a few years, so I was taking a look at some prompts that I haven't done before. One that caught my eye was from last year - "A book with at least one million ratings on Go..."

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...

There’s a list for it!

[Michelle]

Mahi wrote: "Michelle wrote: "I haven't participated in a few years, so I was taking a look at some prompts that I haven't done before. One that caught my eye was from last year - "A book with at least one mill..."

Perfect! Thank you so much!

[Kate]

For this prompt, I used the past prompt - Author you've never read before, and the book I chose was The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz.

I recommend this book and also recommend the following link to help with translating the Caribbean Spanish: The Annotated Oscar Wao: Notes and translations for The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz.
http://www.annotated-oscar-wao.com/

I cannot stress how much this helped me. Not only are there translations, but annotations on the many sci-fi, fantasy, Marvel, DC comics, RPG's, etc. All extremely helpful. It saved me an enormous amount of time.

Thanks to "Nadine" for providing the link. I am grateful!

[SadieReadsAgain]

I'm reading a book from each PS, and so this is book 1/5.

I read Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman for the 2016 prompt YA bestseller.

I'd heard a lot about this book over the years, and the concept is so simple but totally genius. What would the world and life for those in it look like if we lived in a black supremacist society rather than the white one we're all stuck in? And reading it was fascinating and threw up so many interesting points. It's crazy to me that so many people have shelved this as dystopian, when really it is so close to the lived experience of many people in our society even today. The reading of this book should really make that more than evident, and I'd question anyone who walked away from this book without pausing to think on that.

That this is a YA book really makes me happy, because it doesn't shy aware from such a real topic and instead makes it relevant to readers at an age where their opinions are hopefully still malleable. As an adult reader, the writing and characters didn't do a whole lot for me, but I don't think that matters. It was still an enjoyable read, one I feel is accessible enough for even reluctant readers.

The negative, for me, is the assumption that black people (Crosses) would be just as awful to white people (noughts) as white people have been (and sadly often still are) to black people if the tables of power were turned. Obviously, I understand why Blackman made that supposition - without it there would be no story. But it just made me sad to think like that, especially considering that in some ways the powerful Crosses are actually worse to the noughts - in this world, slavery lasted a lot longer and segregation still exists despite it being set in what I assume to be more modern times. But maybe that says more about my naivety regarding the corruption and malice that comes with power. Perhaps the very fact of gaining and holding power is a great equaliser, in that it makes those who have it act in disgusting ways to those who don't...I hope not, for all our sakes.

[Britany]

2015: Mystery or Thriller

Finished The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

MEH

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[SadieReadsAgain]

I'm reading a book from each of the past challenges, this was book 2/5.

I read Enduring Love by Ian McEwan for the 2015 prompt book from an author you love that you haven't read yet.

This book has to have one of the best opening scenes ever - a bizarre but horrifying incident where a group of strangers rush to save a child from an out-of-control hot air balloon, recounted in exacting detail by one Joe Rose. Scientific writer, happily living with his partner Clarissa, who through his involvement in the botched rescue attempt attracts the obsessive attention of one of the others involved. A fanatical loner, Jed Parry is convinced that Joe loves him and takes to stalking him, seeing every denial of romantic interest on Joe's part as further proof that their love is enduring and will lead atheist Joe to God.

There are some amazing scenes in this book (the drug dealers in a farm house was a standout for me), and I loved the build up to the conclusion whilst even as a reader I questioned what was reality and who really was suffering from a psychiatric turmoil. I think that was what I enjoyed about the book. Well, that and McEwan's prose, which I think I've enjoyed in all the books of his that I've read (I think about six now). This is no Atonement, but I enjoyed it more than some of his others. And that's even taking into account my loss of appetite for middle class characters...possibly because this isn't exactly a rich people problems story. The situation is so out there, and that is what really makes the book.

[Genesis]

My book club read Invisible Citiesby Italo Calvino, and I used the 2019 prompt "A book with unconventionally numbered chapters" to make it work for the challenge.

[Jen K]

Tina wrote: "I’m going with a retelling of a classic. I read Unmarriageable last year, which is Pride and Prejudice in Pakistan, and am hoping to find another book that’s equally as enjoyable!"

Have you read Ayesha at Last? Very similar and a fun read.

[Pam]

I'm focusing on reading more non-fiction this year so I used the Non-fiction prompt from 2015. I read American Heiress: The Wild Saga of the Kidnapping, Crimes and Trial of Patty Hearst by Jeffrey Toobin. Very interesting and well written!

[K.L.]

I've really been in the mood for science fiction lately, so I decided to go with "a book set in space," from the 2019 challenge. I ended up reading The Loneliest Girl in the Universe, which is a YA novel written by Lauren James. It was very good!

[Anshita]

My pick for this prompt would be "A book you think should be turned into a movie" from Popsugar Reading Challenge 2019. Since I didn't participate last year, this was the prompt for which I was the most excited. The book I've chosen is Krishnakant's Will by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.

[SadieReadsAgain]

This is my 3rd of 5 books I'm reading for this prompt (one for each past challenge).

I picked the prompt book about mental health from the 2018 challenge, and read Yellow WallPaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, which is a short story.

I am so glad this story wasn't any longer, because I couldn't have taken much more of it. I don't think I've ever read such a razor sharp, terrifying depiction of a mind caving in on itself. Any more, and I'd have been clawing at that yellow wallpaper myself, desperate to rescue the narrator in order to save us both. The claustrophobia and detachment from reality is suffocating as you observe this highly articulate and self-aware narrator fall deeper into her illness. The wry comments on how she is treated allows you to see just how those around her and the general mindset of the time facilitate her plunge into psychosis. The whole thing just comes together as a true horror story of just how close any of us could be to that invisible (at least to the sufferer) line between sanity and mental illness. I was so thoroughly creeped out by the end that I haven't even been able to organise my thoughts on how this is also such a brilliant statement about the rights of women... What an incredible story.

[Tracy]

I decided to read a mystery or thriller (didn't mark down which year it was from on my plan... oops). I was planning on using Every Last Lie, but I ended up finishing The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone on audio for another group, soI counted it here. It was just meh for me, but most audio books are. I'm just not an auditory person I guess :/

[Kim]

I love books with twins in it, so I'm using the 2018 prompt, A book with characters who are twins - for .

[Lilith]

Samantha wrote: "Prompt: A book that takes place in a single day
The Dinner by Herman Koch (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15...)"

Such a powerful book! I read this in 2014, and I still think about this, one character in particular. In fact I was thinking of him last night.

[Arunimaa]

This is my first time taking part in this challenge, so I wouldn't really have a favourite prompt from past years. I was going through last year's prompts and I really liked "A book with POP, SUGAR, or CHALLENGE in the title" so I think I'll go along with this one.

[Courtney]

I seem to always need a push to finish series that I start, so I went with the prompt from 2018, The next book in a series, and read Winter Solstice.

[Shelley]

I went with 2019's "About a Hobby" Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It

I'm not sure if his method would actually help, but it did push me to sign up for language lessons.

[E.R.]

I'm doing 2019's "a book set in space" so I can fit in The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers!

[Renee]

Plan to read "a book with 1 million+ ratings on GR"

[Virginia]

I read Strange Planet, which I am using for the 2019 prompt, two-word title.

[Arunimaa]

I chose the prompt from the 2016 challenge - A book that takes place in the summer.

I just finished The Bride Test by Helen Hoang and it fit this prompt so just gonna go with this one.

[Lilith]

NightbirdA gorgeous story by Alice Hoffman, with a beautiful small town Western Massachusetts setting and all the magical realism we love in her writing.
Did you LOVE Practical Magic? If so, this should be your next book

[Evil Secret]

I read The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

[Ashleigh]

I used 'A book published in 2015' and read The Fifth Season

[Heather L]

I applied Northanger Abbey here — reread of a favorite book (2019).

[Cornerofmadness]

I chose the prompt A ghost story and read The Haunted History of the Trans Allegheny Lunatic Asylum by Sherri Brake