Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2025 Challenge - General
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Excited chatter while we wait for the 2025 list!!!
It looks like we'll need to dig up the prompts from 2015 again, too. I suppose that makes sense - it'll be the 10-year anniversary.
I'm not doing the AI one either. I'll either fake it or pick a book off of the listopia.
Overall I’m happy with the list because they’re different prompts. Some of these seem quite hard but this group’s listopias will get me sorted.
Less than three stars will be crazy.... it will either have to be a brand new book or a truly awful book
Some of them are fun, others are ok, and a couple just have me angry.The "book with a GR rating under 3 stars" is troubling because almost any book I can think of has a rating of at least 3.25 stars. It is usually absolute junk that is less than 3 stars.
I also am upset with the "book you have always avoided" prompt because if I have always avoided the book, then there is a good reason for that.
I am interested to see recommendations for some of these. The prompt may sound cool, but I have no idea what to pick for it. For example, I don't have a lot of road trip books rattling around in my head, but I generally like that kind of story.
There's some real strange choices here but at least we're not trying to figure out hold old any of the characters are, so I'll take it lol. A book about space tourism? About a food truck? Guys that can't be a lot of books.
Ew why does AI have such a chokehold on people? It's so bad for the arts and the environment. What is "healing fiction"?
most of these I'm cool with and I'm glad they took suggestions (and didn't pick "do math" ones), but...also, a run club? That's so specific!
I don’t want to use an AI chat box so I’ll just use the idiot goodreads recommends because you this book. Close enough I figure.
I do have to say though, I did go on chatgpt just to see what it would recommend me (first time I've ever used an AI site) and it recommended The Night Circus...which is the same book I got for the "recommended by a bookseller" prompt last year (or the year before?) and never got around to!
laurel! wrote: "Less than three stars will be crazy.... it will either have to be a brand new book or a truly awful book"sometimes it's a book that's underrated or that people dislike for stupid reasons :)
Jackie wrote: "There's some real strange choices here but at least we're not trying to figure out hold old any of the characters are, so I'll take it lol. A book about space tourism? About a food truck? Guys that..."Yume Kitasei could probably be used for space tourism. Her newer book, but the first one is also about space. Debatable on that "tourism" part as they're recolonizing somewhere else, but technically haven't gotten there yer.
Oh I just read a romcom that you could slot into run club. The Break-up Pact by Emma Lorde.
There is shockingly a listopia:https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...
And is an ice cream truck a food truck?
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9...
There's exactly one book in my catalog that has less than a three star rating and i (predictably) also didnt like it. I read it as an ARC and was one of the first bad reviews, which is why i read it in the first place lol. I think i might cheat on that one and try to be the very first person to review an ARC. not many people read juvenile literature on netgalley so if I keep an eye on new uploads and read it as soon as I get it, I can rate a book with a 0 star average.
I also don't like the AI chatbot. I think as a way around it I'll just use one of those book recommending websites -- still an algorithm but at least not a chatbot.
My final one i don't like is the 'oldest author in your tbr pile' because my tbr is so undefined -- i don't track it on goodreads (only on libby, where it's less of a tbr and more of a 'books i might like' list) and my physical tbr is mostly nice copies of classics. I guess I'll just go with the oldest one from there, which is most likely Dante's Inferno.
Other than that the prompts are alright. I like the 'LGBTQ character book that's not about coming out' one a lot.
We're being encouraged to learn about how to use AI at work, like ChatGPT, which makes me kind of roll my eyes. I only use them in a private browser window so they can't track me. Honestly, I would just call the AI one a free space. It's easy enough to craft a prompt to get it recommend something you wanted to read anyway, or just use Goodreads' or Storygraph's recommendations.
I will be using a sequel for the AI prompt. I figure any algorithm worth its salt will suggest that to read next,
My first reaction to the list is mixed. Some of them are so silly I laughed out loud, but I can't say I wildly objected to any except the AI prompt.
I'm kinda disappointed by some of the prompts this year and definitely think I'd struggle with a lot. But I refuse to use an AI chatbot so that ones definitely out.The based on the last sentence one also throws me off because wouldn't you run the risk of spoiling the book?
At first glance I don't hate it. I do hate the AI one in principle but I'll probably cheat and use StoryGraph's algorithm based recs. I don't love the last sentence one. Do I have to stand in a bookshop for hours reading last sentences of books I don't really want to read and hope I don't get spoiled while being impressed by the final sentence? Seems a lot to ask.
Thomas wrote: "It’s out it’s rubbish. Bye bye"This isn't an airport, you don't have to announce your departure
I don't actually hate it, so good job, PS people! But I will do what a friend taught me to do a couple years ago: get rid of the prompts I don't care for and mix and match the regular list with the advanced list to reach 40 prompts. That's challenging enough for me.Also, for the food truck one, I read Mabuhay! this year, which would fit. It's a middle grade graphic novel with some interesting family dynamics and Filipino folklore. I might just read it again if I can't come up with anything interesting.
Kenya wrote: "Thomas wrote: "It’s out it’s rubbish. Bye bye"This isn't an airport, you don't have to announce your departure"
He woke up grumpy and hasn't had his coffee yet lol
I like the new list way more than the list for this year!
laurel! wrote: "Less than three stars will be crazy.... it will either have to be a brand new book or a truly awful book"I just searched out a list of worst rated books on Goodreads and found that An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England, which has been sitting on my bookshelf unread for years, has a 2.97 rating! I didn't think it sounded that bad on the surface, so I wonder why it has such a low rating.
Jen W. wrote: "We're being encouraged to learn about how to use AI at work, like ChatGPT, which makes me kind of roll my eyes. I only use them in a private browser window so they can't track me. Honestly, I wou..."
I did the math when a coworker had a very positive reaction to AI; The electricity needed to train the current ChatGPT bot is estimated to be enough to keep the 6500 average house in the US in electricity for a year. It's wild to me that anyone is encouraging that nonsense. AND, even worse, it's stealing. Just flat out theft of other people's work.
I kinda like the list. It does feel a little random but I like that it’s mostly open to interpretation. It doesn’t have to be a romance, for example or like, I know a lot of readers last year were put off by the horror prompts last year. I’d love to read a food memoir for the food truck prompt if I can find one.
Mod
So now I need to find ANOTHER food truck book that I haven't read yet....
Rae wrote: "I don't actually hate it, so good job, PS people! But I will do what a friend taught me to do a couple years ago: get rid of the prompts I don't care for and mix and match the regular list with the..."That graphic novel looks so cute! That's probably what I will use for the food truck prompt.
I was hoping to complete the challenge with books already on my shelves... only confident they can fill about a half dozen prompts.😂
Yeah, the only one I'm concerned about is the food truck one. I don't think I've ever read a book that even *had* a food truck in it. For the running one, I can recommend The Running Dream. It's YA about a girl on her school track team (close enough to a "club"??) that loses her leg.
And just because I'm a contrarian.... I wish we had some snow here! My mom and hour and a half away in the hills got 6 inches on Thanksgiving, I have bare ground! Though my friend in Erie, PA got 3-4 feet! That's a bit much all at once....
Is this the first year they haven't had a slideshow with a suggestion?
First reaction? better than 2024, maybe.I don't have any interest in a book about a run club, or 'soccer' for that matter and there's a few others (wtf is 'healing fiction'?) but I think I will just do my usual, read what I want and then try to fit them in somewhere.
Not doing the chatbot thing, will go with the sequel suggestion.
The less than 3 stars prompt is the only one that jumps out at me as one I'm dreading. I'll be interested to see some suggestions
Whitney wrote: "I did the math when a coworker had a very positive reaction to AI; The electricity needed to train the current ChatGPT bot is estimated to be enough to keep the 6500 average house in the US in electricity for a year. It's wild to me that anyone is encouraging that nonsense. AND, even worse, it's stealing. Just flat out theft of other people's work."Exactly! I really don't like that they're encouraging people to use AI for a prompt.
From the NYT (they were talking about the "Coffee gets Cold" series in particular):a booming genre called “healing fiction” — cozy, feel-good novels that have long been popular in Japan and Korea and are now catching on in translation around the world.
Fans of the genre say the heartwarming, whimsical stories offer comfort at a time when the world seems off-kilter and chaotic, and feel like an escape from distressing news about wars, political animosity and environmental disasters.
The novels typically take place in mundane locations — laundromats, convenience stores, diners, bookstores and cafes — but often have a dose of magical realism. They tend to be short and episodic, making them easy to read on a phone, which is how readers in Japan and Korea often consume books. They center on people dealing with everyday problems like heartache, loneliness and regret, and build up to a cathartic crescendo. Many of the novels feature cats with magical healing powers.
Food Truck - a classic one - The Van by Roddy Doyle.AI -- I just added Annie Bot by Sierra Greer - so I'm gonna say the character's description of herself recommended the book.... close as I am getting.
Jennifer W wrote: "From the NYT (they were talking about the "Coffee gets Cold" series in particular):a booming genre called “healing fiction” — cozy, feel-good novels that have long been popular in Japan and Korea..."
oh, I read these all the time! xD Well, that made me much more excited about that prompt. Thank you!
I can't figure out how to reply, but for a lot of the TBR list suggestions, I always just go based off of the books I read for the year because I really don't have a true TBR. I think it was a couple of years ago that it was shortest/longest books on TBR and I literally sorted by books read by length and took the longest and shortest. Figuring out author's ages is going to be a little trickier. Or is it just oldest birth year so that it includes authors who have dies?
Katherine wrote: "I can't figure out how to reply, but for a lot of the TBR list suggestions, I always just go based off of the books I read for the year because I really don't have a true TBR. I think it was a coup..."I would either make a TBR for this and pick that one OR pick a classic you haven't read yet and assume they're the oldest
I was interpreting it as the oldest aged author on your list. Not sure how I'm going to figure that one out...
This list has me saying huh and hmmm a lot. I'm all for the challenge of ... you know... a reading challenge, but some of these are so specific that it's kind of not fun? I'm going to give it a go since it's the 10 year anniversary but this might be the last year for me.
Jennifer W wrote: "From the NYT (they were talking about the "Coffee gets Cold" series in particular):a booming genre called “healing fiction” — cozy, feel-good novels that have long been popular in Japan and Korea..."
Oh well, I read those anyway (although annoyingly caught up on that series lol), but my library seems to pick them fairly regularly so I'm sure I will find something...
I love the prompt 'healing fiction' and 'a book about a nontraditional education.'
Thomas wrote: "Great now while I’m anxiously waiting for the list I’m getting buzzes so people can talk about snow. Use this thread for its intended purpose"Proving yet again that READERS DON'T READ: this thread is called "Excited chatter while we wait for the 2025 list."
Sarah wrote: "Okay so I hate that one of them is pushing us to use AI, but I am super thrilled that one of my all time faves (a book mentioned in another book) is back! "Yeah, I will not be doing that one, period. I do not support the use of Chat GPT or any other AI that is trained by stealing the work of authors.
I do really like the printable things they made this year. That field guide is cute as heck.
I’m excited now and actually started formatting my book journal for 2025. Things I learned from my first one this year, SIMPLIFY 🤪Wish I had a list of every book I’ve ever read.
For 2 books with the same title, can we ignored a "the"?
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Roddy Doyle (other topics)Sierra Greer (other topics)
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Something on my computer hates the pictures on that website so I'm still completely in the d..."
Got it now. There's some...interesting ones, but nothing that I'm knee jerk angry about. The food truck and run club are the two two "eh?" ones, but I'm a runner so I at least have suggestions for that one.
There are numerous ones that are easy prompts but take out the easy answer which I love.