Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2022 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 48: 11/24 - 12/1
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I LOVE the new list. Nostalgia is my middle name and I love the repeat prompts. Many of them were my favorite and those I didn't like I will tweak in a way that will make me and the challenge happy. After all, I do this challenge to broaden my reading horizons.I found this challenge in 2016 and have been completing them since. I'm slowly pecking away at the 2015 challenge for the past couple of years and so I'll have them all done eventually. Hopefully by end of 2024 I'll have all ten done.
I'm pretty good at focusing on reading the books on my shelves, but forget about all the free Prime first reads books I have downloaded on my Kindle. I added them all to Goodreads this weekend and several of them will work for prompts the 2023 challenge (I found a book for the rabbit prompt!!).
I'm most excited about the prompt about the independent book store. A brand new book store, our only one now, just opened in my growing town. They are so nice and are hosting a monthly reading club. Although I don't like buying new books, I plan to because I want the book store to do well. I am also joining the reading club because I haven't done that in years and years. The first pick for January More Than You'll Ever Know by Katie Gutierrez, will be my book for the club and for a book I bought at an independent book store.
I think I will start with The It Girl by Ruth Ware for a book with the word "girl" in the title.
Kenya wrote: "Am... I the only one who's not disappointed by the challenge list for 2023? Yes, there are a lot of repeat prompts, but there's still a lot of fun ones. And I dunno how I managed to predict the rab..."I like it too. I have diversified my reading so much from these challenges.
QotWI was looking for a reading challenge for 2019 near the end of 2018, and I found PS's list, so I copied it out and was all set to go, and then they put out their 2019 list, so I ended up doing both. Then I found ATY so I did that and PS for 2020 and have continued to both each year. I also joined a challenge group (the Lost Challenges) here on Goodreads that has a bunch of smaller challenges - lasting anywhere from one month to having it open ended so you can take however long you need.
As to next year's list, I don't mind all the repeats, although I don't like having 2 rereads and 2 books you bought. I also don't like the personalized ones (year you were born, your initials), and I had to scramble, because the prompt I was going to use as my favorite past prompt actually made the list (Song lyrics in title)
poshpenny wrote: "Just ATEEZ. I have no idea how anyone has roo..."Oh I like them! I saw Seventeen- they were great! I'm a fan of a bunch of groups, but I guess more casually? I just want to know all the music. Which isn't possible, but still...
I had a jam packed weekend ending with a friendsgiving with some friends from my condo building today. I wish this weekend had an extra day, but wanted to get my check in done before another week goes by!I FINISHED the challenge!!!!!! Wooooooo 🎉🥳💕
69/80 GoodReads Challenge
50/50 PopSugar Challenge
Finished:
1.) The Trees by Percival Everett (#10-Ainsfield Wolf) ⭐⭐⭐: This started off strong and then jumped the shark for me, maybe that was the point? It just got too weird for me.
2.) Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier (No PS Prompt) ⭐⭐⭐⭐: This was a compulsively readable thriller, that I had to listen to in a few sittings just to know it would end.
Currently Reading:
1.) Remarkably Bright Creatures
2.) The Beautiful Mystery
How many years have you been doing the Popsugar reading challenge? Had you done other reading challenges before you started Popsugar? Which 2023 prompt jumps out at you? Which prompt do you think you’ll tackle first?
First year I did PopSugar was in 2018, so this will be my sixth year. I did the BookRiot ones for a few years and the Modern Mrs Darcy challenges. I'll probably tackle published in 2023 from ARCs I need to read and HF will be an easy one. I also always use the prompt from a previous challenge as the book published the previous year so that'll get checked off pretty quick too.
I think I figured out that I'm not thrilled with the repeats because:1. There are so many of them and the hunt is half the fun. I feel like these hunts are unnecessary because we have old threads and can just add a few to those.
2. They skew to prompts I struggled with the last time. If they were a bunch of repeats of favorite prompts I wouldn't be so sigh inducing I think. Instead they are prompts I thought I conquered with difficulty and moved past, but now they've come back to haunt me.
Erin wrote: "poshpenny wrote: "Just ATEEZ. I have no idea how anyone has roo..."
Oh I like them! I saw Seventeen- they were great! I'm a fan of a bunch of groups, but I guess more casually? I just want to know..."
Yay! Ah Seventeen fans are super nice to us! I legit thought I'd be a casual fan but... clearly that didn't happen. I told my friend I assume this is my mid-life crisis and as far as those go, this one is pretty nice.
I realized one of the things this years list is missing is a couple of genre or award list prompts I’ve never heard of. This challenge won’t push me like the challenge has in the past. Oh well, hopefully I can tackle mount tbr although I’ve added so much since this list was posted... 🤣
Late check-in after an enjoyable weekend. Last week was exciting with the new list coming out. I still have 6 prompts to finish for this year's challenge, lately I've read a lot of off-challenge books.Books finished last week:
The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva Rose - did not care for this book - the crime felt unrealistic and the characters were unlikeable.
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart - loved this book. I was completely taken in by the main character, even when she was obviously a completely unreliable narrator, and fully invested in the outcome of her story. Used for another challenge.
Nugget by Aimee Harper - cute children's book, nice break from the mysteries and thrillers I've read over the last week. Used for another challenge.
QOTW: I've been doing the Popsugar reading challenge since 2016. It's the challenge that first got me into reading challenges. which then quickly ramped up in to several challenges a year. For 2023, I'm hoping to finally discover a strategy that allows me to finish the challenge by November, or at least to be down to only 1 - 2 prompts in December, for a less stressful experience. I love historical fiction and have a large TBR shelf that includes plenty of used books, so those are the prompts that I think will be easiest for me to fill. Not loving another "longest book" prompt, but have a few super long books to choose from. I have no intention of going through my entire massive TBR list, which is not all on Goodreads, to find longest or shortest, so those are going to be spitballs for me. I've started tracking number of pages on my TBR spreadsheet, and color coding super long and super short books, so I'm hoping that will help (I don't have pages for all the books - would love an export feature on some website that takes a csv list of book titles and authors in and spits out a spreadsheet of book details that match).
Mod
As always, no one is checking on you, make the challenge your own, do all, some, one, or none of the categories.
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I'm slowly coming around to the 2023 challenge as well - my big goal (once again) is to knock out more from my owned-unread backlog, since I've failed miserably at that in 2022. The nostalgia prompts seem like they'll help!And in better news, I only have one book left for the PS challenge this year! Gonna knock it out before the Thursday check-in later this week (hooray for comics).
Kaia wrote: "Good morning everyone! Happy new list day to everyone who celebrates. I finished the challenge yesterday, just in time for the new list. PopSugar 50/50!!!!"
Congrats Kaia!!
Theresa wrote: "I'm also not thrilled that the longest book on my TBR showed up again. This time looks like I'll be reading Les Miz. "Yes, I am most disappointed in this prompt Theresa. I actually did read Les Miz last time and while I'm certainly glad I did, it took me almost the entire year. This time for me, looks like War & Peace is up....
poshpenny wrote: "OMG Look! It's me! (Mario) ."I say this (to myself) all the time!! I'm glad that you've checked in with us and that you've just discovered a new world that is interesting you at the moment. Enjoy it!!
poshpenny wrote: "I think I figured out that I'm not thrilled with the repeats because:1. There are so many of them and the hunt is half the fun. I feel like these hunts are unnecessary because we have old threads..."
This is my exact problem with all the repeats. To be fair I don't mind having a few repeats but this is a lot
Ashley Marie wrote: "I'm slowly coming around to the 2023 challenge as well - my big goal (once again) is to knock out more from my owned-unread backlog, since I've failed miserably at that in 2022. The nostalgia promp..."Good luck on finishing (and yay I'm not the only one using graphic novels) I have the same reserves about the repeats as I'm trying to get through as much of my TBR pile as I can and move those books on, not making a big library hunt or rereading things
Mod
2023 is almost here!!
I had tentatively planned to attend an author event on December 1 with Jo Ann Beard, but ended up helping my friend who was in ER yet again… twice! However, I am rather fascinated by the subgenre “creative nonfiction” so I Googled! There is a magazine devoted to this subgenre: https://creativenonfiction.org/. According to writers.com, Creative Nonfiction (CNF) is a form of storytelling that employs the creative writing techniques of literature, such as poetry and fiction, to retell a story. Creative nonfiction writers don’t just share pithy anecdotes, they use craft and technique to situate the reader into their own personal lives. This makes sense to me and was artfully produced by Jo Ann Beard in The Boys of My Youth, which I found to be immensely entertaining. She simply combined separate vignettes/scenes to describe her life. It was quite effective, IMO, as was her debut fiction novel, In Zanesville. Sorry I missed her, but at least I learned something from reading her books! And I discovered an author I will follow!
I guess this information might help you with 2023 prompt #30 A book that’s on a celebrity book club list. While I am not a huge fan of Bill Gates, I do always peruse his listing of books. This year he opted to list 5 of his all-time favorites. https://www.gatesnotes.com/About-Bill...
I plan to read 3 of them in 2023…
I can’t remember when I wasn’t interested in reading Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. That needs to happen in 2023…
Mendeleyev's Dream looks super-interesting. (It’s the science nerd in me…)
I have never yet read a Robert Heinlein book and have always felt I should…
ADMIN STUFF:
The 2023 Popsugar Challenge is posted and we are preparing for 2023! Full steam ahead! I will post my reading information in a separate posting since I want to make sure all the new information is here for you-all! And we have opted to include some smaller mini-challenges throughout 2023 beginning with Nadine’s which is located HERE! We thought it might be nice to spice it up a bit for everybody throughout 2023! Some new and totally unique prompts for those who want a bit more “challenge” in their reading life! This is simply meant as something extra to make this next year a bit more lively!
We now have the Monthly Group Read prompts listed HERE
And for your convenience, I have posted them here as well:
JANUARY #3 A book about a vacation
A New Year! But I already feel as if I need a vacation!
FEBRUARY #43 A book that takes place entirely in one day
In honor of Groundhog Day, a North American tradition observed in the US and Canada on February 2! This derives from a Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den, and winter will continue for 6 more weeks! If it does not see its shadow due to cloudiness, spring will arrive early! Per Wikipedia: Though this tradition remains popular in the 21st century, studies have found no consistent association between a groundhog seeing its shadow and the subsequent arrival of spring-like weather.
MARCH #7 A book with “Girl” in the title
In honor of Women’s History Month in Australia, UK, and US
APRIL #27 A #BookToc recommendation
Wait! You're thinking this is still the 2022 Popsugar Challenge…but...
This is actually prompt #27 for the 2023 Popsugar Challenge! :) Happy April Fools' Day! :)
MAY TBD by a poll
JUNE #22 A book with a queer lead
In honor of “Pride Month” as declared by US Presidents Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden. (Also acknowledged in a 2019 tweet by Donald Trump.) Per Wikipedia this originated to commemorate the Stonewall Riots which occurred at the end of June in 1969. June is increasingly recognized as “Pride Month” (for all LGBTQ+/non-cisgender folks) outside the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_pride
JULY #47 A book with a holiday that’s not Christmas
You may have heard of “Christmas in July"! But this is “not Christmas in July"! :)
AUGUST #30 A book that’s on a celebrity book club list
Celebrities are “august,” per the definition—respected, dignified, impressive!
SEPTEMBER TBD by a poll
OCTOBER #18 A book that’s been banned or challenged in 2022
Banned Books Week is October 1-7, 2023!
Website: https://bannedbooksweek.org/#:~:text=...
NOVEMBER #41 A book written during NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo runs through the month of November!
DECEMBER #32 A book released during the second half of 2023
Because it’s the end of another great reading and book discussion year and we want to include a brand-new book!
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And we have a new poll for nominations for the 2023 January Monthly Group Read HERE! Help us select the group read for January to fulfill prompt #3 A book about a vacation! That will end next Tuesday and then we will have January’s final selection poll posted for next Thursday so that will be done asap! We’ll proceed with February’s polls from there, as usual.
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**Much gratitude to Jennifer W for serving as the “official organizer” for November's discussion of The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune. This book could be used to fulfill prompt #9 A book about a “found family.” Both November discussion threads have been moved to the 2022 Monthly Group Reads folder HERE where they will remain open. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to reread this in November, but will be reviewing others’ comments since this is one of my all-time favorite reads! (I did break down and start reading his next release, Under the Whispering Door. I just couldn’t resist any longer!)
**Just a reminder that we are currently reading and discussing Book Lovers by Emily Henry for December! This could be used to fulfill prompt #1 A book published in 2022. JessicaMHR will be the "rambunctious reader" facilitating that discussion! Both that and the discussion thread for December Challenge—I finished! are in the Current Monthly Group Read folder HERE. I have my copy and plan to read it this week!
Also, another reminder that every single past 2022 Monthly Group Read discussion and “I Finished!” thread is open and available to all in the 2022 Monthly Group Reads folder HERE.
Question of the Week:
How many years have you been doing the Popsugar reading challenge? Had you done other reading challenges before you started Popsugar? Which 2023 prompt jumps out at you? Which prompt do you think you’ll tackle first?
Cheat! That’s a bunch of questions! LOL ;) But they are good ones! :)
*I think just since 2018? Not sure…maybe only since 2019.
*The only reading challenges I had done were a few run by bloggers since I was blogging at the time. Not sure exactly how I got onto Popsugar… But I’m so glad I did! :) (I have since lost interest in blogging…)
*#BookToc! Really?!? Again?!? ;) *major eyeroll*
*I have no idea which one will be first. I have pretty much decided to take January off from reading for any challenges. I have books to finish this month and then I want a short break. That’s what I tell myself now, but in reality, the books I select for challenges are ones I want to read so badly that I’ll probably start in January after all! We shall see… :)
Book information in a separate posting!
Mod
No, I did not finish The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family in November. I am about halfway done and am not worried. 'Cause we're always telling people it doesn't matter. So if I finish this challenge at 11:59PM on December 31, 2022, then so be it! And...worst case scenario, if I don't...so be it! LOL Then I'll finish in January! But I'm making a concerted effort to be done in December! :)
Popsugar: 46/50
ATY: 51/52
RHC: 19/24
FINISHED:
*A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (Monk & Robot #2) by Becky Chambers (10 STARS) for the second part of my duology for POPSUGAR. Tor commissioned Chambers write two books (a duology) that were “Solarpunk” which is a subgenre of Hopeful Science Fiction. https://www.tor.com/2020/04/16/introd... This was so much more entertaining than the first installment. I loved A Psalm for the Wild-Built and it was excellent at building the world, etc., but this second book had so much humor on top of the philosophical considerations and issues. (And we did have fun at book club informing one member that this was NOT earth! LOL She was extremely disappointed!) I particularly appreciated Chambers’ depiction of diverse communities with varied philosophical foundations and beliefs. So even in a world without industrial/modern technology, differences still exist. Sibling Dex and Mosscap are well-drawn characters depicting many typical relationship issues. I would love it if this series was continued!
POPSUGAR: #1, #9, #22, #24, #40-2015: prompt #7 A book including nonhuman characters
ATY: #4-Author younger than you, #7, #16, #25-149 pages, #33, #35-Herbs for tea!, #40-The Lovers, The Chariot, Strength, Justice, Death, The Moon, Judgment, The World, #41-Tea, #43, #44, #46, #49, #51
RHC: #11, #24-2020: prompt #10 A book that takes place in a rural setting
*Bailey's Story by W. Bruce Cameron (5 STARS) was an excellent juvenile book, IMO. One huge advantage is that in the back he has related projects, discussion questions, as well as a listing of the Common Core standards are supported by the book. I love a book from the companion animal’s point of view! It reminds me that we humans do NOT know what our fur-babies are thinking…they may be WAY more advanced than we believe them to be! Though Cameron’s depiction seems very realistic to me.
POPSUGAR: #9, #24, #25, #40-2017: prompt #21 A book from a non-human perspective
ATY: #4-A book written by an author you might like to meet, #7-Todd was definitely a psychopath, #14-3,484 ratings, #15, #25-208 pages, #34-Ethan’s mother is a teacher, #36-Bailey is a golden retriever, #40-Strength, Justice, Judgment, #41, #43, #46, #49, #50
RHC: #24-2019: prompt #12 A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character
*Kill Alex Cross (Alex Cross #18) by James Patterson (5 STARS) for a Buddy Read. This installment was, IMO, much better than most in this series thus far. Not as much gory detail and we saw Alex lose it when he shouldn’t have done so. He also committed a few crimes himself…though all in the name of justice. But the law and law enforcers did win in the end. Though I’m relatively certain we will see/hear more of Hala…
POPSUGAR: #9-Ava, #25, #29, #31-poisoning the DC water supply, #40-2017: prompt #31 Main character is a different ethnicity than me, #46-Glass, #47
ATY: #1, #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): It seemed hopeless, #7, #12-Glass was the kidnapper, #15, #19, #32-2011, #33, #40-Strength, Justice, Death, Judgment, The World, #41, #44, #49, #50
RHC: 2020: prompt #3 A mystery where the victim is not a woman (2 children kidnapped)
*In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard (5 STARS) was a rather delightful read. I would definitely categorize this as “coming-of-age” and YA, though it worked for me as an adult as well! This is Beard's debut fiction novel. The author will have a live event later this week, so I am reading some of her writing to help determine whether I really want to attend or not… So far, I think I would enjoy meeting her and hearing her speak. EDITED TO ADD: I was in ER with my friend so missed this!
POPSUGAR: #36, #38, #38, #40-2017: prompt #51 A book about a difficult subject: alcoholism and adolescence
ATY: #4-A book written by an author you might like to meet, #11, #12, #14-4,212 ratings, #31, #36-dogs: Tammy and Curly, #40-The Chariot, Strength, Temperance, Judgment, The World, #41, #43, #49
RHC: #24-2020: A book set in the midwestern US
*The Boys of My Youth by Jo Ann Beard (5 STARS) was quite entertaining! I am all-in for “creative nonfiction”! These vignettes reminded me of the way memories magically appear in my mind. It rarely seems there is any organization or flow to them, rather they seem random at best! While some more traumatic life experiences were addressed (cancer diagnoses and treatment, death of loved ones, divorce, etc.) the writing was humorous and witty.
POPSUGAR: #36, #40-2015: prompts #8 Funny and #9 By a female author
ATY: #4-A book written by an author you might like to meet, #7, #14-4,926 ratings, #15, #25-224 pages, #31-1998, #40-The Lovers, Strength, Death, Temperance, Judgment, The World, #50
RHC: #24-2021: A book set in the Midwestern US
CONTINUING:
*The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed. Interesting comparison between Paris, France, and Jefferson’s Virginia in the U.S. regarding racism in the 1780s. France wanted NO darker-skinned folks in their country at all! Though the rich light-skinned folks in Paris could keep their “colored servants.” Jefferson refused to register the Hemingses as his “servants”/slaves, risking a hefty fine for each of the 3 of them. He also advised others visiting France to disregard the registration. Obviously, there was little to no enforcement of the registration requirement. Also, any “slave” could file for emancipation in France and automatically receive it. Therefore, it was better to risk a fine than lose a piece of “property”/a slave. Jefferson’s white relatives did “edit” his papers, eliminating much if not mostly all of any references to Sally Hemmings, especially during the years he and she were both in France. Jefferson actually fell in love with a married woman but ended the relationship—no one knows whether they ever consummated this with sex or not… Then Gordon-Reed launches into quite a discussion regarding lighter and darker skinned folks in the US South—both spoke very much the same with a ‘southern drawl’/accent, regardless of inaccurate portrayals of different speech patterns for each. She points out that this is the only time in history that lighter and darker skinned people are living and working together in such close quarters, so it makes sense they spoke alike. She also notes this is one huge reason it can be difficult to identify illiterate individuals—we all speak alike regardless of ability to read and write. Almost halfway done! Anxious to finish! Absolutely fascinating reading!
*The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
I was already aware of the pressure Britain was applying to the Thirteen Colonies to abolish slavery as one of the major reasons for the Revolutionary War. However, I was NOT aware of the vast political/military importance as one of the major motivations for Lincoln to declare the Emancipation Proclamation—the Union was losing the Civil War and needed the freed slaves to boost its ranks. Eventually 200,000 Black Americans fought in the Civil War—1 in 10 of the Union soldiers! The whole constitution was a subtle way to reinforce slavery without ever naming it. I remember hearing Joe Feagin state that the legislative body was structured in a way to assure the endurance of slavery. Ever wondered why the Senate exists as it does? To help those states with less population have more political power to help retain slavery… I was shocked upon hearing such an accusation, but upon review, it made sense to me. Once you open yourself to different aspects of history/historical documents, it is amazing some of the connections you can make…
*Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard is yet another enjoyable “creative nonfiction” reading experience for me!
*Mrs. 'Arris Goes to New York (Mrs. ‘Arris #2) by Paul Gallico for the sister cities prompt.
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
PLANNED:
*Strange Sight (Essex Museum Witch Mystery #2) by Syd Moore
*The Winners (Beartown #3) by Fredrik Backman
*Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
*The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
*Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
*Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
*Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
Mod
This sounds like what Audre Lorde was doing back in the 80s with her "biomythography" Zami: A New Spelling of My Name. If you haven't read that, add it to your list!
Laura wrote: "Our busy house has gotten busier since I last checked in. We have a new baby to love, cuddle, and spoil. He just turned one month old and already weighs 11.5 lbs. Ewan is a big boy!"Congrats on the new addition Laura!
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name (other topics)Festival Days (other topics)
A Psalm for the Wild-Built (other topics)
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy (other topics)
Bailey's Story (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Audre Lorde (other topics)Jo Ann Beard (other topics)
James Patterson (other topics)
Annette Gordon-Reed (other topics)
Becky Chambers (other topics)
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I don't care what it is. Anything. I just need to get my brain back into reading mode again. There are SO MANY books I've been so excited to read, and I haven't read any of them. Books I was desperately waiting for, and I have, but... yeah. We'll see how I do!