Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2021 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 1: 1/1 - 1/7
Mod
Yay, someone else who loved Forest of Hands and Teeth!!! I thought that whole series was just great and I don't know why it's not more popular.
Finished:Deeplight by Frances Hardinge (PS 2021, a TBR book you got for free from the library) 2 out of 5 stars
I was also reading this for a book club, or else I would not have finished it. None of the writing is objectively bad, but I did not like or care about the main character, and I absolutely hated his abusive "friend" Jelt. I should have been feeling triumph, relief, or some kind of emotion when the threat was ended, but I was mostly just glad to be able to move on to something else.
Currently Reading:
Memory Prime by Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens (reread)
The Green by Troon McAllister (PS 2021, a bestseller from the 1990s)
After reading a little over 100 pages, I am liking this so far. The author gets into a lot of technical golf details while explaining them well enough that even a relative novice to the game can understand what is happening. The psychology that the hustler uses is right up there with Grand Admiral Thrawn from Star Wars.
Question of the Week:
I would say Grace, Gold, and Glory: My Leap of Faith by Gabrielle Douglas was the last book I really disliked. It's hard enough to write sports books and make them interesting, since it is much more fun to watch what is being talked about most of the time. This book did not overcome the usual hurdles, plus it was written by a teenager in the way they would speak. I seem to remember it was also written under a tight deadline as part of a contractual obligation, so it really had a lot going against it from my perspective.
If you want a sports book, The Green from earlier in the post is working well for me. I also had a combo Joe Montana/Jerry Rice biography book when I was younger (probably written for juvenile readers) that was pretty interesting and that I reread multiple times.
Oh, one more thing to anyone considering Ivanhoe (again, I'm not trying to argue against those who disliked it--your opinions are completely valid and I'm not trying to convince you to like it): its critique of the gentry and the behavior of crusading knights is SO GOOD. Oh my gosh, Sir Walter Scott lays out the problems with how much power they had and how they abused it SO WELL. Okay, I'm done protecting Ivanhoe--you may continue to bash it as you see fit! :D
Mod
I was really disappointed in Winter Counts, too. The writing was really clunky and the story was so passe.
Have you read Cherie Dimaline? I thought both The Marrow Thieves (YA dystopian) and Empire of Wild (adult retelling of Little Red Riding Hood featuring a rougarou) were really well-written and interesting.
And of course Louise Erdrich, everything she writes is great; I especially liked Love Medicine and The Plague of Doves
If you like fantasy, Black Sun was one of my all-time favorite reads last year.
Nadine wrote: "And of course Louise Erdrich, everything she writes is great; I especially liked Love Medicine and The Plague of Doves"ooooh Louise Erdrich is on my list for this year!!
Mod
Solidarity! I REALLY didn't like that book!!
Ashley Marie wrote: "Nadine wrote: "And of course Louise Erdrich, everything she writes is great; I especially liked Love Medicine and The Plague of Doves"ooooh Louise Erdrich is on my list for this year!!"
Louise Erdrich is wonderful; Love Medicine was one of my favorite books last year. Also, for YA fiction, I hear Elatsoe is very good, though I haven't read it yet.
Nadine wrote: "And of course Louise Erdrich, everything she writes is great; I especially liked Love Medicine and The Plague of Doves."I read her book Future Home of the Living God last year, and didn't like the last third of it. Good to hear she's generally very good. I have The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse on my TBR shelf for this year for Read Harder and Reading Women. I'll have to look for the ones you mention too.
Nadine wrote: "Charlotte wrote: "Some YA horror that I've enjoyed are the Fear Street books, The Forest of Hands and Teeth, and Sleepwalk (maybe not the most recent reads). ..."Yay, someone else who loved Fore..."
I think it was overlooked because it came out in the midst of the vampire/werewolf craze but before zombies became super popular. So it kind of missed the window of opportunity for it to get the recognition it deserves.
Mod
Duly noted :-)
First checkin! I did the challenge last year, but didn't join any of the communities. This year I'm going to try to actually talk to more humans, even if the only way to do that safely is online.I'm juggling several challenges (with overlaps) so a lot of my books aren't for PS prompts. I'm not worried, there's a lot of time.
Finished:
Artemis Fowl (4/5 stars) (No prompt)
I don't know why but I couldn't get into this series as a kid. I think I was just slightly too old, so the 12-year-old genius anti-hero was more annoying than fun. Now that I'm an adult it's looped back around to fun again!
The Silent Patient (3/5) (No prompt)
It was fine, but overall meh. More thoughts in QOTW.
The Two Faces of January (4/5) (No prompt)
I was expecting more of a murder mystery and this was a straight-forward crime novel (the reader never doesn't know what is happening, we see all the action and crime in real-time and know who is doing it). I enjoyed it! There's apparently a movie and I'm excited to watch it because I can see where this would translate to film well.
A Ruin of Shadows (4/5) (PS #42 - Shortest TBR book)
I love this prompt for giving me an excuse to read something short and bump my reading count up quickly at the beginning of the year! Also though this was just an enjoyable read; I sat down and finished it without realizing what I was doing. For anyone who has read some...let's say "complicated" fantasy books, you'll appreciate what I mean when I say this book was very "clean". Solid world-building with just enough information, action scenes laid out to be very readable, and all character motivations were clear. I don't think this would fit any other PS prompts, but for anyone doing a different challenge where this may fit it's a fantasy book by a Black author with a fully Black cast, and I know a lot of you are looking for BIPOC rep in particular this year.
Dear Edward (4/5) (PS #27 - Fresh start)
Pretty good! I'll save any other thoughts for the discussion board.
Currently reading:
A Curse So Dark and Lonely (No prompt)
I love retellings, and I like the way the main character's Cerebral Palsy is integrated as important to the character but isn't her singular trait, letting her be a fleshed out person. I did glance at the sequel description (whoops) and looks like the series gets a bit YA silly after this, so I may stop here.
Into the Drowning Deep (No prompt)
General consensus seems to be read this one before the prequel, Rolling in the Deep , which I want to read for the song title prompt. Not deep in yet but good so far!
QOTW:
I'm pretty good at picking books I at least won't hate, and I don't want to cast too far back just to hunt one down, so I'll talk about The Silent Patient. I didn't hate it, but it's labeled as a shocking thriller and it just...wasn't. I was not thrilled at any point. Mostly I was bored. The twist was clever, but by the time I got to it I didn't care. Instead I would recommend Fingersmith , which is a completely different genre, but does great twists. There were some things I wasn't expecting at all, which made me gasp, and some things which I figured out before-hand, but it that "now I feel smart and the author laid out the information well" way.
My reading time today is shot. I've spent most of last night and this morning in shock and disgust. I can't even right now. Lord have mercy on our nation. Currently Reading
The Fifth Season for "an Afrofuturist book". It's REALLY dark so far. I like it but it's a heavy read.
The Idiot (not for challenge). My church book club needs to meet so I can keep reading this, lol. Holidays threw us off.
QotW
Everything Is Illuminated. Oh my word this was awful. It tried to be deep, but it came off as grotesque. I'm not sure what genre this is? Just a random fiction with a bit of WWII in it? I'd recommend The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society for the WWII feel and The Solzhenitsyn Reader: New and Essential Writings, 1947-2005 if you want to get deep on the evils of society without trudging through really disturbing sexual imagery every other page (including child molestation).
Mod
LOL I ALMOST mentioned Elatsoe as a book I really despised last year. I had really been looking forward to it and I was SO deeply disappointed. It's a middle-grade book being marketed, for some inexplicable reason, as an adult book. If I'd known going-in that it was so juvenile, I might not have been so disappointed.
And if I had to recommend an alternate urban fantasy with a Native protagonist, I'd say Trail of Lightning is the way to go.
Mod
I haven't read that one yet, but it's gotten mixed reviews and you're not the only one to be disappointed.
I started the year awake. We had the most brilliant idea to start bingewatching The West Wing again (3rd time, I've worked 15 years in politics until 3 years ago so that explains). What a timing that turned out to be… As a European (I’m Dutch) I had the honour to visit the Capitol about 10 years ago. It impressed me that all Americans in our tour were walking there like they were walking in a sacred house. And so proud they all were on ‘their house of democracy’ and their democracy. I still can’t believe what happened yesterday… Did not finish a book yet due to The West Wing (the series, not reality) and CNN.
Currently Reading
The Light Years. There’s a family tree in it, so I’ll probably use it for that prompt.
QOTW
I really hated The Silent Patient. It bored me. I just hate thrillers, sorry. Except Spanish ones, like The Silence of the White City. O, and I also hated One Hundred Years of Solitude...
The week has been crazy but on a positive note, I got to spend like 6 hours watching Steve Kornacki on MSNBC Tuesday night at the big board. I hope they give that guy a nice long vacation. Finished:
This Is How You Lose the Time War for the shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list. I really enjoyed this. It was such an interesting read.
Brown Girl Dreaming for Buzzwordathon's January Dream prompt. I listened to this on audio and didn't realize until it was done that it was told in verse. I thought it was just short vignettes...yeah I'm not the brightest bulb all the time. I did really enjoy it and thought it was beautifully written.
Convenience Store Woman for Read Harder's non-European novel in translation. At first I thought this was just going to be a fun/funny quirky novella. It was so much more than that. It is quirky but it's so much deeper than what I was expecting. I highly recommend.
PopSugar - 1/50
Read Harder - 1/24
Buzzwordathon - 1/12
Currently Reading:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for the longest book (by pages) on your TBR list. I've been working on this one since the middle of December and most of it has been fine but I'm really liking part three the best. I've been doing a combo of audiobook and reading it. It's really helped me actual make progress in it. I have around 200 pages left and really am looking forward to being done with it.
Anna Karenina for the book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time. I'm not far into this one since I'm actually participating in the subreddit r/yearofannakarenina. I'm only four chapters in but I'm finding it very interesting so far.
Spoiler Alert for a book that discusses body positivity. I started this one this morning before going into work. I'm only a chapter in but I'm really looking forward to digging in tonight...as long as I don't get distracted by the news again.
Open Water - I got the ARC for this from NetGalley and started it during lunch. It's really interesting so far. The author has made the decision to make the reader be the main character or at least put you in his shoes. The second person narration was a little odd at first but I got used to it in a few pages. It's really well written.
QOTW:
I DNF'd a few books toward the end of December. The last two were The Duke and I (Bridgerton 1) and The Roommate. I was actually pretty bored by The Duke and I and just wasn't into it. For The Roommate I just thought the main female character felt far too much like a caricature of the good girl east coast prudish socialite. The main guy was supposed to be her opposite but he never felt as cartoonish as her. I read a lot of romance but this and outlandish miscommunication I just can't stand.
Harmke wrote: "I really hated The Silent Patient. It bored me."Feeling vindicated!! It felt like all of my friends loved this one and it's just so dull. I actually love thrillers but this was not thrilling.
Mary wrote: "Reading is going to take on a whole new significance for me as this point. They say that children become readers in the laps of their parents, or in my case, my grandmother, who passed away yesterd..."I'm sorry for your loss.
Right, starting fresh with the Popsugar checkins this year. Fell out of the habit 'cause the backlog of books I would have had to list got so overwhelming.Read this week:
The Quiet Music of Gently Falling Snow - This was just... nice. I love Jackie Morris's artwork but the little stories to accompany each piece felt quite lacking.
The Last Wish - I got really into The Witcher on Netflix lately. I guess it was a pretty faithful adaptation, because this felt just like the show in book form. I would say book-Geralt is a bit boring, not as cool or intimidating as show-Geralt. Translation was slightly clunky in parts as well. Definitely want to move onto the next book soon though - which is good as I got the boxset for Christmas lol.
DNFed The City of Brass at about 10%. It's a shame, I was really looking forward to it, but it really wasn't for me - at least not right now. Felt a little too YA-ish and I did not take to the main character. She was interesting at first, a healer and con artist hustling to get by, but then as soon as the fantasy elements came into the picture seemed to undergo a personality transplant and became this bland, smirking, "snarky" a.k.a. "bitchy" dime-a-dozen protagonist. I think maybe there's meant to be a hate-to-love romance angle but the hatred for the other character seemed to come out of nowhere and didn't feel like how anyone would actually act in that situation / towards that person.
Currently reading The Dutch House - don't quite understand where it's going or what the plot is meant to be yet, but I like it.
Also a big project that I'm hopefully going to keep up all year: reading Complete Poems of Christina Rossetti at a rate of 3 poems per day. I am already slipping 😬
QOTW: Last one I really and truly disliked. Hmm. *goes trawling through shelves*
I guess The Midnight Library and Do You Dream of Terra-Two?.
Midnight Library just felt unbearably pretentious and its message totally backfired - I think it was going for an "you only get one life"/"it gets better" idea but it ended up coming across as exactly the opposite - "even if you had everything you ever wanted, you wouldn't truly be any happier than you were on the day you attempted suicide". WOW.
As for Terra-Two I just wanted to slap every little teenage ignoramus of a character across the face and throw them out the airlock. Although they were having a pretty good attempt at that themselves.
As for alternative recommendations: for Terra-Two, read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet instead. Don't know what I'd rec for Midnight Library.
So much for 2021 being a better year. Continued family health issues, a major appliance breakdown, politicians being idiots, and then whatever it is that is happening down in the States.... I'll just go back to my books now please.Books I finished
Wilf Perreault: In the Alley / Dans la ruelle - I got this for Christmas and I love it. It's so pretty. And given the publishing company went out of business, this would have been hard to find. Perreault is one of my favourite artists, and I would love this if it was just a collection of his prints. But it's also a biography, a look at his process and then a collection of poetry inspired by his paintings. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PS - A book about art or an artist.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown - I really thought this was going to be picked for the January monthly read here, so I requested it and then Dear Edward was picked instead. But I had wanted to read it, so I let the hold stand. It was decent. Not the best romance I've read, nowhere near the worst. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PS - A book about do-overs or fresh starts.
ATY - A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read.
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories - Another book I got for Christmas. I loved this! I love the series in general and this was just so sweet and lovely. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PS - A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library).
Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 2 - I loved the show when I was a kid, so its been fun to go back and see where it came from. Still a bit difficult to get used to reading it back to front. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ PS - A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels). (Manga)
Where The Heart Is - My sister had borrowed this for a PS challenge read last year and then returned it and it was sitting out so I decided to reread it. I still enjoy it, but it's been so long I'd forgotten what was from the movie and what was from the book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Books I made progress on:
A Stitch in Time
Cry WolfQOTW
I have been better and simply DNF'ing books I'm not really into, but the most recent one that I pushed through and read anyways was The Grammarians. It wasn't terrible, but I just kept waiting for something to happen and it never did. It's like listening as someone tells you their life story and you don't want to be rude and stop them but the whole time you're thinking 'Why do I need to know this?'
Cendaquenta wrote: "As for Terra-Two I just wanted to slap every little teenage ignoramus of a character across the face and throw them out the airlock. Although they were having a pretty good attempt at that themselves."You have such a way with words--this made me giggle!
Also, glad you're back! :)
Hey guys!I am exhausted so will sadly not be able to read through all of the comments (you can tell it's a new year by the amount of it, haha!) but I do want to keep up with checking in!
Last night was a disaster (the USA going to new terrifying shitshow heights and Israel bombing Syria because everyone was watching said shitshow), and one of my bunnies wasn't eating so we had to give him meds every hour and I didn't get any reading done.
I had hoped to finish the 2020 challenge by my check in today, or to at least know I'd finish it before the day was over, but Tuesday I felt unwell at night, and last night didn't leave me time to read either, so I still have one book to go, which I am determined to at least start tonight!
Finished
The Great Gatsby for book set in the 20s, and Classic by a New to You Author (Back to the Classics 2021), and Short book by new to you author (ATY2021, assuming I won't need it for ATY2020 given I haven't checked yet haha). This was okay? I still don't really know what to think of it, but I'm glad it's public domain now so the women can get the stories they DESERVE! Jake did a lovely job narrating (though I adore him so I might be biased) but the story was just, alright? I dunno. Hard to put into words, haha! I'll watch the movie, I think that'll help me!
The Devil's Grin for medical thriller, and book involving an immigrant (ATY2021). I really enjoyed this! It wasn't anything outstanding or groundbreaking, but I still really liked it and added the rest of the series to my TBR! It's about a woman who has to pretend to be a man to be in the field she wishes to be (because while legal in the US and UK, it's not in Germany and she is German), and she gets called in by Scotland Yard to look at a body. Sherlock Holmes is also involved. Together they solve the mystery :D (sort of, the ending is open but it seems the next book continues on so! I am excited!)
Currently Reading
Technically nothing, but I am determined to start tonight so:
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea for 20 in the title, my final book for Popsugar 2020! It will also work for several Back to the Classics prompts! I loved Around the World last year so fingers crossed for this one, I've seen some wide ranging reviews so we'll see!
QOTW
I mean I didn't love The Great Gatsby, or True Grit, and I was majorly disappointed by Death on the Nile (it hasn't been great for me okay jlhsdkf these are all from the past 10 days)
But before that it was I Am a Cat. God I hated this. There was no point to it. The ending was awful (and spoiled in the introduction because why not) and pointless and you could tell it was ACD all over again. This book is satire, or supposed to be anyways, but I found it boring and actually disgusting at times. Everyone was horrible, basically. The Travelling Cat Chronicles is another Japanese classic I would recommend instead!
Well, 2021 is clearly refusing to be upstaged by it's older sibling. Egad.I like starting a new year and a new challenge binging some short, easy reads to get a few under my belt. Now I feel like I'm on my way to a great new reading year!
Finished:
Mac Cracks the Code - This kid's series cracks me up.
First Among Sequels - This series is getting weird.
X-Ray: See Through the World Around You - X-rays of lots of things, like a bus, flowers, and toys. Beautiful, and it starts with an X
Franklin and Luna Go to the Moon - I couldn't enjoy this one much because I was that person going BUT YOU CAN'T DO THAT THERE IS NO ATMOSPHERE ON THE MOON. A little girl riding her dragon friend is apparently fine, as long as she doesn't take off her helmet on the Moon.
Franklin and Luna and the Book of Fairy Tales - Franklin and Luna are written by a YouTuber
Well-Read Women: Portraits of Fiction's Most Beloved Heroines - Lovely watercolors and quotes from fictional women
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: The Poetry of Mister Rogers
The Haunted Tea-Cosy - A Gorey I got for my birthday
Fleabag: The Scriptures - A format I do not normally read, scripts! All of both seasons.
Currently Reading:
One of Our Thursdays Is Missing - Not loving this one
Accidentally Wes Anderson - How can you not want to pick up a book with that title? hahaha
Why You Should Read Children's Books, Even Though You Are So Old and Wise - It's so tiny and cute!
QOTW:
I don't feel like starting the year thinking about books I really dislike. Ask me on another day.
Mod
LOL this makes me want to read it!!
I didn't care for Long Way to a Small Angry Planet at all, so I don't' know if that means I'll like Terra Two more, or less ...
Shannon wrote: "You have such a way with words--this made me giggle!Also, glad you're back! :)"
Aww, thank you on both counts. ^_^
Mod
The sections about the old mystery are in a very different tone to the modern main story. I didn't think the opening pages were that great either."
Thanks for that information. Perhaps I'll pick it up again sometime this year. I am trying to include more mysteries since I miss those! :)
Mod
Your story gave me goose bumps and I teared up. That is absolutely amazing and such a treasure to have and hold! No one in my household (neither my mother nor grandmother) was truly a reader and my mother read to me some, but not much. I became a voracious reader anyway, but I am a bit envious of your special attachment to books!
"On a more direct note, it was a productive reading week for me. I am 5/50 for the challenge."
Way to go! :)
"Scream: Chilling Adventures in the Science of Fear: A book your best friend would love. I enjoyed this one and then had the pleasure of telling her some of the spookier stories from the book (she scares really easily)."
You made me laugh! I also scare easily and would not appreciate a friend sharing such things with me, but I trust your best friend was okay with it. :)
"The Book of Two Ways: A gene hybrid: Definitely not my favorite by this author, but she still, in my opinion, writes in a special way that you don't find too often."
I have yet to read a PIcoult book and have a copy of Mercy that I received in a gift exchange 2 years ago that I just placed on my "to read in 2021" pile! :)
"The Half Sister: A DNF book from your TBR. There was a reason I didn't finish it the first time and I wish I hadn't wasted valuable reading time on it again.
QOTW:
I really did not enjoy The Half Sister. My review was, " Did you ever read a book and wonder if the author has ever met actual human people and observed how they talk and behave? That's how I felt for most of this book. The characters acted so nonsensically that I just could not enjoy it. I found the book almost intolerable for the first 300 pages and then I found myself wanting to know what happened, which turned out to be exactly what I assumed happened early on in the book. I would not recommend this book." There are so many good books in that genre. I would recommend The Night Before or Pieces of Her instead.."
And the premise seemed so compelling to me! It's a shame it didn't turn out to be enjoyable for you. :(
Mod
So true! My husband stated last night that he avoided the news all day yesterday after seeing the initial reports from DC. It helped keep his anger tamped down somewhat! :)
"1. The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Fulfilling Prompt No. 8: A Book that won the Women's Prize for Fiction.
A retelling of the Greek legend surrounding the Trojan War. I absolutely loved it and it has great characters."
I am not into mythology, but this is one of my favorite reads! She is amazing, IMO! I also loved Circe
"2. To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Fulfilling Prompt 40: Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge:A book about or by a woman in STEM
Another new favorite of mine. Becky Chambers perfectly weaves science and fiction together in this beautifully written story."
One of my absolute favorite authors!
I further plan to read:
Dear Edward"
Oooh...I hope you'll join us in the monthly group read discussion! :)
Cendaquenta wrote: "Right, starting fresh with the Popsugar checkins this year. Fell out of the habit 'cause the backlog of books I would have had to list got so overwhelming.Read this week:
[book:The Quiet Music o..."
I saw you disliked Midnight Library but I remain hopeful, haha! Big sadness for City of Brass, though! I love the Daevabad trilogy, but I know what you mean about Nahri. My favorite character of the series is Ali!
Mod
I think what angered me just as much is that this negativity overrode the good run-off election news!
Broken by Jenny Lawson for my book published in 2021. I won an arc from Goodreads and I'm so glad because this was fantastic! She's so funny, but at the same time really deep and profound. I hardly ever laugh out loud--I'm more of a polite chuckler--but this made me snort and cry and howl. Absolutely perfect."
Snort. Cry. Howl. I want to read this one now! ;)
"Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body by Roxane Gay for a book about body positivity. This is so good, but also a very difficult read emotionally. I have to read it in bits because it brings up a lot of feelings."
She is so genuine and sincere, not only in her writing, but also as she speaks. If you ever have a chance to meet her, I would strongly advise you to go. Her spirit just felt indomitable and enduring to me.
Lynn wrote: "Elaine wrote: "Well...here we are. I would have gotten more reading in yesterday, but then terrorists attacked the Capitol"I think what angered me just as much is that this negativity overrode the..."
I would LOVE to meet her! I definitely want to read her other books too. She seems like a genuinely awesome person!
Yeah so yesterday was a day... 2021 you were supposed to be a fresh start.I seem to have read a lot this week so that's good. I've been holding off of things so they could be used for this years challenges so I kinda went crazy.
Finished Reading:
Stolen Songbird ⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'm trying not to use ya for prompts this year so this was just for fun. This was a good start to an intriguing ya fantasy series by an author from the prairies.
Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I have been waiting to read this in 2021. This came in from the library and it's a completely different sailor moon book than what I requested but that's okay. It's such a pretty happy book I really don't want to return it.
Shuri, Vol. 1: The Search For Black Panther ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (2021 afrofuturist)
This was awesome. There were multiple crossovers from the Marvel Universe that surprised me. I read the 3 volumes of Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates first and Nnedi Okorafor followed them quite well but you could still read Shuri without having read the Black Panther first. I need to get volume 2 asap.
The Broken Ones ⭐⭐⭐
I enjoyed this series so much that an available prequel was tempting. I thought it was a short story... it was a full book. Probably should have left it to read at the end because of a spoiler but it was already spoiled for me by what shelves people placed Stolen Songbird on.
Vi ⭐⭐⭐ (2017 about immigrant/refugee)
This was near unputdownable. It's a memoir mostly following Vi's immigration to Canada from Vietnam during the late 70s. I gave it three stars because the ended crushed me when it just stopped in the middle of her life.
The Far Side Gallery 5 ⭐⭐ (2021 random TBR)
So I started borrowing this series to find a specific comic that was in this collection and it was not what I had envisioned. There weren't any real standout comics to me so it was just okay.
My Not So Perfect Life ⭐⭐⭐ (2017 career advice)
I got back to reading Sophie Kinsella last year so just catching up on one I skipped. Her books are comforting but fairly predictable. I love the friendships she creates but there are always moments when I want to slap the main character.
The Heroes of Asgard: Tales from Scandinavian Mythology ⭐⭐⭐ (2017 a book with pictures)
I borrowed a few collections of mythology/fairy tales of other cultures from my grandma's library so I'm resolved to read them all before the summer. I knew nothing about Norse mythology other than what the Marvel movies taught me... they were wrong.
PS 2021 2/50
PS 2017 3/52
goodreads 8/150
Currently Reading:
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories (This is such a pretty book)
Austenland
QOTW:
Ooh well the book I hated the most last year I'm sick of ranting about so... Brighter Than the Sun. I've been working on this urban fantasy series. I'm 9/13. This is a novella following a different characters perspective. He had a horrible childhood and the content is disturbing. I didn't read the synopsis before I started it and I needed to read one audiobook by the end of the year. Also this was only available as an audiobook, which I hate, so I struggled to read it.
Mod
Normal People I HATED this book. It just made me feel sad and depressed after reading and I was in such a funk afterwards. So many people loved it though 🤷🏼♀️ I would recommend any other feel-good Romance or Fiction."
Well, it seems the hangover didn't disrupt your reading much! :)
I admit Normal People was not necessarily an uplifting book, though I enjoyed it much more than you did. It was just so realistic that it was kinda a downer, IMO! :)
Mod
I have never tackled War and Peace and I rather doubt that I will. Kudos to you!
"QOTW: I DNF'd the Color Purpl..."
Ack! I loved The Color Purple! But dialect doesn't bother me. I rather enjoy getting into it. Sorry this one didn't work for you!
Dani wrote: "Well what a weird start to the year, jeez. A new reading list always gets me excited so I think I’m off to a good start.
Down Among the Sticks and Bones for the magical realism p..."
Yeah I found the same thing to be true. My favourite character was Sumi but her book is the one I like the least.
Mod
I haven't managed to finish anything yet (although I'm on track to wrap one up today) and my first "read" of the year turned out to be a DNF. 2021 is clearly off to a b..."
Ugh. Hate those DNFs!
"QOTW: What was the most recent book that you really really disliked? What made you dislike it? What book in that genre or about that topic do you recommend instead?
Going back to the summer of 2019, I tried to read Dune and only made it halfway before I gave up. Part of it was the story; Paul was clearly Extra Super Special and the Baron was way too over-the-top. The whole thing rankled me to the point I rooted for the sandworms to eat everyone."
Ha! Ha! That definitely made me laugh out loud!!! :)
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Well, the rebuilt engine will be about the same cost as the new head gasket would be...and the head gasket may well be just the starting point if they try to rebuild my engine. And...I've not heard a word from them yet either! Sheesh! I should live in a large urban area with reliable mass transit... :)
Good afternoon all,Hope everyone is staying as safe and sane as you are able.
I went to the funeral of a dear friend yesterday morning, and returned home a little after 3pm to see a red chyron on my laptop. Phone banking for Georgia had been awesome (!!), and I was soooo happy for 5 seconds, expecting the announcement that Jon Ossoff won! Aaaaaand ….. yeah, yesterday. 2020-WON is living up to its name.
Finished:
Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man. I had expected this to be a more clinical read, but I appreciated Mary Trump’s insight into her family personalities and dynamics. She definitely illustrates child development, family patterns, and the potential toxic mix of the two variables. Technically, 4 generations are all studied, not just mentioned. Definitely 4 stars.
Worked for 3 generations prompt.
Love Is the Higher Law I can’t remember what Fall prompt I was working on, but this hold came in, and I thought I should finish it. It’s a blend of sadness and hope. It was ok. Maybe 3 stars.
Worked for < 1000 reviews. The low number of reviews surprised me.
Currently:
Tender Is the Flesh Yes, it is gory and disturbing. The author intrigued me after reading a couple interviews, though, and she has a good allegory going. Looking forward to where she takes this. Must admit I have almost no squick factor, based on past livelihood. YMMV.
Not for prompt.
Baby Teeth Now we are in my genre! Really well-written so far. The child is making me want to get my tubes tied, though. The character development is truly good.
The Mueller Report Yup, the big chunker
with all the appendices, documents, timelines and attachments. I kept setting this poor baby aside when holds came in for those oh-so-important prompts, and I have a new note to self: OK to put challenge aside when you sense you need to read something else.Now this is disturbing. I want to shower with bleach after I read about these people. How do Mueller and his team have the stomach? I guess less of a squick factor?
It’s also exquisite writing, not one syllable too many or too few! More footnotes than House of Leaves, and I loved House. More interesting rabbit holes. I hold Bryan Stevensonresponsible for my return to legal non-fiction addiction.
QOTW:
Hmm, I had a milestone birthday last Midsummers Eve, and I am now much more comfortable with DNF’ing. I think the last book I choked down was Every Heart a Doorway. * ducks books being thrown* I can do sci-fi. but I have figured out my preferred reading is character driven, and the characters were just way too 2-dimensional for me. My personal reco if you need character driven stories would be Binti]instead. Or The God Game.
ETA: I'm typing on a broken key board.
Mary wrote: "Reading is going to take on a whole new significance for me as this point. They say that children become readers in the laps of their parents, or in my case, my grandmother, who passed away yesterd..."I'm so sorry. Your grandma sounds like she was awesome and being able to hear her reading sounds truly wonderful.
Mod
As one NPR commentator noted this morning, those few hundred people do NOT represent the whole of any one political party. They are an outside fringe group. But boy, it's difficult for me to remember that...
"Now, about my 2021 Reading Goals...40 books this year. I already have one wrapped up. The Rose Code by Kate Quinn (5⭐). I am currently reading Jane Eyre, and really enjoying it!"
Sounds like a great start to your reading year! I own The Huntress but have yet to read it. I really liked her when I met her and listened to her talk about writing The Huntress.
Mod
That's great! I love your number of 21 selected for 2021! Very cool!
"I'm currently reading my first book of the year, Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano for the January read along to fulfil the do-over/fresh start prompt."
That's great!
"as well as Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens for the everyone seems to have read prompt."
Oooohhh...I sure hope you enjoy this one! It is one of my favorites, so I have my fingers crossed for you!
"For the QOTW:
The most recent book I read, The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness was quite frustrating to me. I'd loved the other two books in the trilogy and am invested in these characters and the story lines she'd begun, but I felt this book was extremely rushed. I listened to parts via audiobook and I even went back to make sure I didn't miss a track several times because I felt like I'd missed so much. Overall, I was disappointed and felt the book should have been made into two with more details."
That sounds rather disappointing! It would be interesting to know if the author and/or publisher had even considered splitting it into two different books, wouldn't it?
Lynn wrote: "I’ll not comment on today’s events in the US—trying to be aware of differing political viewpoints, etc. But I will tell you that I am again driving a rental car. Yep! *sigh* Looks as if we’ll be re..."(((( Lynn))))) Oh no, the car situation is miserable! Glad that you are safe and healthy, and you have your priorities perfect!
You definitely gave Gabriel García Márquez a most worthy try. He does have some truly objectionable material. I can wrap my head around the political symbolism and all, but Alice Hoffman is the Queen of Magical Realism. Or Sarah Addison Allen. Her symbolism works beautifully too.
Mary wrote: "Reading is going to take on a whole new significance for me as this point. They say that children become readers in the laps of their parents, or in my case, my grandmother, who passed away yesterd..."My condolences on your loss, Mary. Your memories of your grandmother sound absolutely loving and beautiful.
Mod
I contend that you are NOT behind! And I am so very sorry the holiday season/end of year was so stressful for you! Ugh! Sending you positive energy to make up for that!
"The Great Lab Escape -- for “shortest book on your TBR list.” Short but cute story for cat lovers, and a nice intro to what looks like an adorable mystery series."
Oh, my! Thanks for posting this! I really want to try this series!
'Relish: My Life in the Kitchen -- graphic novel, not for the challenge. Fantastic culinary graphic-novel memoir with recipes! I really enjoyed this one, though I suggest NOT reading it if you’re hungry!"
Hah! I appreciate your warning about this! :)
"Bradbury Stories: 100 of His Most Celebrated Tales -- for “longest book on your TBR list”
Oohhh...that should be great collection! I hope you find it enjoyable!
"QOTW:
Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk. I'm sorry, but David Sedaris isn't nearly as funny as he thinks he is, and this book was just nasty for nastiness' sake. Aesop knew how to use animals to comment on human behavior without being quite so nihilistic and disgusting.."
Oh, ugh! I haven't never felt compelled to read his books, but I did accompany a friend to an event of his a couple of years ago and found it enjoyable, but not enough to compel me to read his books...
Elaine wrote: "Well...here we are. I would have gotten more reading in yesterday, but then terrorists attacked the Capitol and I got distracted. I know a lot of us are feeling fear and rage at the absolute injust..."Yes, Yes! I am feeling the same gratitude, and to the amazing Stacey Abrams, too.
Last year I said I was going to keep up with these check-ins and I did horribly, and not off to a great start today! But I will try - I get so bogged down reading everyone's posts and then I run out of time to write my own. Slow start to the year - I managed to finish all my challenges on Dec.30 (Popsugar and ATY, with no double dipping, along with Reading Women and Book Riot, with some overlap with those) and I think I burned myself out :) Also, I am just having SO much trouble deciding on books at the moment - I keep changing my mind or spending inordinate amounts of time looking at everyone's lists. And finding it hard to get books with the way the library is doing things - with quarantining and no browsing and limited hours, I find holds are taking forever to come in. And really missing the express read, which is how I got a lot of newer books.
So I have only managed to finish one book so far:
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam. I really liked it, although it felt pretty tense and oppressive at times. But I thought the writing was really evocative and the premise intriguing. I was having a hard time figuring out what prompt to use it for, but there seems to be a few songs with that name so will most likely use it for that (although part of me feels like the prompt should be used for a book that is consciously referencing the song in the title - but that's just me overthinking)
In Progress:
Conviction by Denise Mina. I'm about 1/3 through and enjoying it so far. Think I am using this for a Reading Women prompt (cover design by a woman) although I might also slot it into a Popsugar prompt at some point
DNF:
I almost never DNF books, but I have decided to give up on A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik. It got good reviews, and I know people love the author (I haven't read any of her other books), and I like Harry Potter/magical school books but I just cannot get into this one - I don't love the characters and I find the world building too complicated and mean ... it can't be all bad things all the time. I was going to use this for the first ATY prompt, new beginning, since it's the first in a planned trilogy, so now I am trying to figure out what to replace it with. Have a few options, but see above re: having trouble picking books :)
QOTW:
I wouldn't say I HATED it, but as mentioned I could not get through A Deadly Education. I would recommend the Carry On series by Rainbow Rowell, The Magicians trilogy by by Lev Grossman, or Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey instead.
In terms of a book I actually hated, I have to say Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis. We did this for my book club a couple of years back and everyone loved it and I loathed it!! I hated the writing (found it pretentious and clunky) and the treatment of some of the dogs and found the plot stupid. I forced myself to read it because I always read the books for book club - I was on vacation with my family and ranted and complained about it the entire time!
Mod
I also stayed up later than usual last night, distracting myself by reading. I am so grateful for books!
"QOTW
It’s my question!! I recently read The Crane Wife and didn’t care for it at all. I thought it was a horrible folklore retelling, and then in the afterword, the author admitted he deviated a great deal from the original. Ugh! I recommend The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller instead.."
Ha! Ha! Yes, it was your question! And thank you for submitting it! However, I must admit, I quickly looked at your name and then scrolled back up hurriedly to make sure I had attributed it properly to you! LOL I had a moment of panic when I thought, "I don't think I gave her the credit...maybe I typed the wrong name..." And then, "Oh, I did credit it correctly! Whew!" lol I also did not enjoy The Crane Wife all that much. I would definitely agree with your suggestion!
Nadine wrote: "Sara wrote: "QOTW: The last book I DNF'd was Winter Counts. I was looking forward to reading something from a native perspective but the writing was so-so and I'm tired of reading so many books by ..."Louise Erdrich is a perennial wonder. I loveLinda Hogan and Lee Maracle for similar reasons.
Lynn wrote: "Peggy wrote: "The events of yesterday have me seriously thinking about changing my party affiliation to Independent because I don't want to be associated with that angry mob."As one NPR commentato..."
Oh, this bodes well. Rose Code is one of my most-anticipated reads of 2021 (SO glad it releases in March and not, like, autumn or winter). Lynn, you'll have to report back when you've read Huntress! I love all of Kate's books and just reread The Alice Network last year.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Beim nächsten Mann wird alles anders (other topics)Wind Chime Café (other topics)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (other topics)
Bright Messengers (other topics)
Double Full Moon Night (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ann Napolitano (other topics)Jostein Gaarder (other topics)
Min Jin Lee (other topics)
J.Y. Yang (other topics)
Donna Tartt (other topics)
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I'm trying to knock out several short books so I can get a bit ahead before diving into The Inheritance Cycle.
Finished:
Soonchild by Russell Hoban: A prompt from a previous challenge (A book with a one-word title). This was...interesting. The artwork is incredible and I gave it 4-stars, but it's definitely unusual. It reminded me a bit of The Little Prince: A (somewhat pretentious) philosophy book for children. But the imagery and writing were so good that I did enjoy the ride.
The Twits by Roald Dahl: The book that's been on your TBR the longest. I'd read excerpts of this, but never the whole thing. It's classic Dahl and I loved it! I really want to listen to the audiobook narrated by Richard Ayoade--he's perfect for this one!
Up Next:
Small Steps by Louis Sachar: A book about new beginnings
The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl: The shortest book on your TBR (it's one I'm pretty sure I read as a child, but I don't remember it very well).
I've made the decision to allow myself to swap some of the prompts from this year's challenge that I really don't like (*cough* women's prize for fiction *cough*) for prompts from previous years. I want to enjoy the challenge, not have it feel like a chore and reading a book a really have no interest in.
QOTW:
I apparently like books more often than dislike them. I remember being disappointed in Highfire last year because the premise was SO GREAT, but it felt like the humor was all pointed at 14-year-old boys (even though it's definitely an adult novel).
Three Dashes Bitters is probably the last one I remember actively hating (but I still gave it 2 stars, because I met the author at an event and felt bad giving it 1 star lol). Gosh, talk about modern-day sexism! I'm still offended he compared himself to Jane Austen (supposedly because of the "social commentary" but...no.).