Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2025 Challenge - Regular
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01 - A book about a POC experiencing joy and not trauma
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The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen
Cook Korean!: A Comic Book with Recipes
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
High on the Hog: A Culinary Journey from Africa to America
The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem
Slow Noodles: A Cambodian Memoir of Love, Loss, and Family Recipes
Buttermilk Graffiti: A Chef’s Journey to Discover America’s New Melting-Pot Cuisine
Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks
The Taste of Country Cooking
Cookbooks are a great idea, part of the joy in many cultures. (Not mine, I'm mostly English & Scottish so our cuisine is pathetic, but fortunately that's not the prompt.)
I might go with:Force of Chaos (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Book 1): A Novel
Even though it's got action sequences, for the most part it seems like it's focused on Trini and her positive well being, I mean after all she does get to become a superhero.
I have three books to choose from as of right now: *Becoming by Michelle Obama
*Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
*Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin
Anyone want to help me decide which one I should read??
Lisa Marie wrote: "I have three books to choose from as of right now: *Becoming by Michelle Obama
*Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
*[book:Ay..."
Read them all?
Becoming for Prompt 26
Girl, Woman, Other for prompt 1
Ayesha at Last for Prompt 6, and choose the 2015 category of "a popular author's first book"
Went with one that was featured on the list since it was already on my bookshelf here and it's one I haven't read:Becoming by Michelle Obama.
I'll read A Pho Love Story for the first month of the year. I am so excited to read this one because it's been on my TBR list for a while, and it's time to finally read this book!
Kristy wrote: "Lisa Marie wrote: "I have three books to choose from as of right now: *Becoming by Michelle Obama
*Girl, Woman, Other by [author:Bernardine Evaris..."
Oh, thank you so much for the suggestions!!
Lisa Marie wrote: "I have three books to choose from as of right now: *Becoming by Michelle Obama
*Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
*Ay..."</i>
Well, I actually found another book on my TBR that I feel fits this prompt perfectly :)
Also, I'm really trying to pick the books that have been on my TBR the longest...so I can start to put a dent in that list - LOL!!
So, with that....my pick for this prompt is:
[book:Thank You for Sharing by Rachel Runya Katz
Kara wrote: "I saw Much Ado about Nada was on the Listopia. I don't have that one, but I did pick up a copy of Ayesha at Last by the same author at a library sale recently. Would..."It depends on how specifically you're defining trauma. The main character, Ayesha, is definitely struggling to find her way and be happy, and there is conflict in the book, but I don't know that I would consider it trauma, and (hopefully this isn't a spoiler) there is a happy ending, so I would definitely say it fits.
I am reading Meal by Blue Delliquanti. The book features three POC characters who experience joy through cooking and art.
What about finding joy after or in spite of hard times? I have had The Reading List on my TBR for a bit now, and the description says "...fiction helps them escape their grief and everyday troubles and find joy again."Maybe someone who has read it can help me out?
Claire wrote: "What about finding joy after or in spite of hard times? I have had The Reading List on my TBR for a bit now, and the description says "...fiction helps them escape their grief and e..."Claire, it is a lovely book to read, I highly recommend it. There are two main characters - both of whom are grieving deaths in their respective families. It might be a stretch, but the rule is "if you think it fits, it fits"!
Gail W wrote: "Claire wrote: "What about finding joy after or in spite of hard times? I have had The Reading List on my TBR for a bit now, and the description says "...fiction helps them escape t..."Thanks! I want to read it either way, so I'll probably do that and then decide after the fact.
I don't know if being a criminal mastermind is exactly a form of "joy", but just by reading the blurb, I'm already impressed with her hutzpah-Never Saw Me Coming: How I Outsmarted the FBI and the Entire Banking System—and Pocketed $40 Million
(I'm aiming to read it as a book with the same title of Never Saw Me Coming)
L Y N N wrote: "Kimberley wrote: "Definitely going to read Becoming by Michelle Obama. She's such an inspiration"I loved it!"
I loved this one, too!
"The Truths We Hold" by Kamala Harris. If you don't like her politics, please just scroll on by rather than bashing her.
Does anyone have any ideas for Classics for this one? I'm trying to do all (or mostly) classics this year...
Anna wrote: "Does anyone have any ideas for Classics for this one? I'm trying to do all (or mostly) classics this year..."Maybe Bless Me, Ultima? It's been a while since I read it, but I don't remember anything horrible happening. TBH, I was bored by it, but lots of people love it.
Anna wrote: "Does anyone have any ideas for Classics for this one? I'm trying to do all (or mostly) classics this year..."Jonah's Gourd Vine seems like it might fit, judging by the blurb. It's on my TBR, but I haven't actually read it yet.
So I read This Is the Honey for this prompt, and in my opinion it does not fit the prompt - there's a lot of trauma in it. Instead, because I do not like soccer and planned to use that as a free space, I'm putting it there and renaming that prompt "a book that has nothing to do with soccer" for myself. :) I will find something else for this.
Denise wrote: "So I read This Is the Honey for this prompt, and in my opinion it does not fit the prompt - there's a lot of trauma in it.......and renaming that prompt "a book that has nothing to do with soccer" for myself. :) ..." I love this! Make it your own challenge and adapt as needed!
Highly recommend Frangipani by Indigenous Tahitian novelist Célestine Hitiura Vaite. It's a quiet novel about a mother /daughter relationship, from daughter's birth to early adulthood, with lots of Tahitian lore, language, customs, and a very big extended family. I fell in love with the characters, and a friend gave me a bottle of plumeria oil, so I often felt like I was in Tahiti with them.
Just saw that Jump the Broom Books (jtbbooks.com) has a free ebooks event February 1-3, focused on books about Black love.
I read A Match Made for Thanksgiving. Holiday romance featuring Chinese-Canadians. Very warm and fuzzy with a happy ending
I don't entirely know what Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me is about, but given the title of it, I'm guessing it's something positive because it's a memoir of how books helped a woman through life.
I was thinking that maybe "Last Tang Standing" by Lauren Ho could fit the prompts: "A book with a happily single woman protagonist" and "A book about POC experiencing joy and not trauma", would you agree? Thanks in advance!
Finished reading this book:Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me
Rating: 4 stars
Review:
I am not a big fan of memoirs, however when I stumbled across this title it caught my attention and I'm glad I gave it a chance. It turned out to be my favorite read of the month. While I cannot relate to Edim's ethnicity, I can relate as a person of color (half Indigenous/half Mexican) so a lot of what Edim talked about really resonated with me. There's a section where she talks about the lack of diverse reading in school and I can relate whole-heartedly. I never read any Latino or Indigenous authors in school and that bugged the heck out of me, it was as if my schools were telling me my cultures did not matter. Not only was this an excellent read as a person of color, but simply being able to relate as a reader said a lot. I've been a reader for over 30 years so as Edim was telling her story, I was captivated with my own and started to think of all the books that have shaped my life over time. It's an excellent read no matter who is reading it. Certainly worthy of a 4-star rating, if not higher.
While this book does have some trauma, overall I was inspired by the author's sense of optimism and hope even when things got bad.
Went with Black Joy Unbound: An Anthology, which includes poetry, essays and fiction.http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...
I read Mooncakes, a cute graphic novel. Thanks to whoever put it on the listopia. It was a quick read.
Picture book route for this prompt. I just read the 2025 Caldecott Honor Book: My Daddy Is a Cowboy by Stephanie Seales. Urban Black Horsemanship clubs in the US and a father and daughter on a morning ride. Lovely book.
Finished A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping
by Sangu MandannaMy Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
I am doing this last minute, as usual. I am looking for a person of Asian descent character, non-romance, fiction (of any kind), short, easy to read book. Any recommendations?
Mod
that's a tall order!! I just scrolled through the books i've read in the last few years, and I only found two possibilities:
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers - this IS a murder mystery, so obviously the victim experienced trauma, and the suspects that Vera meets (some are Asian) also have some trauma, but Vera feels ENERGIZED by the mystery. Her biggest trauma is that her son does not call her often enough.
Listen, Slowly - this is about a Vietnamese American girl who goes back to Vietnam for the summer to visit relatives she's never met before; obviously the background issues of the Vietnam war, the reason some family members emigrated, and the funeral that has brought her father back to Vietnam for the summer are all traumatic, so ymmv on this one if you consider this "joy instead of trauma."
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Best We Could Do (other topics)Listen, Slowly (other topics)
Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers (other topics)
Finding Me (other topics)
A Witch's Guide to Magical Innkeeping (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Viola Davis (other topics)Sangu Mandanna (other topics)
Shobhan Bantwal (other topics)
Viola Davis (other topics)
Stephanie Seales (other topics)
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The easy choice here is to just read a romance, but I know there are SO..."
You and I are the same generation. Being torn away from your birth culture and lied to for your whole life and being forced to mask your true self is traumatizing. It's actually really fucking traumatic to be forced to hide your identity.
I only had to do the last thing (masking) for most of my life, and it turns out that a good three quarters of my fibromyalgia pain symptoms went away when I stopped masking and started being my true self.
There are entire cultures of people in the Americas that have been eradicated and some have barely been able to piece together parts of their culture and language and it's widely acknowledged as trauma.
Amelia is a square peg in a world that says only round pegs are worth anything, and is told again and again to sand away at herself. Have you ever rubbed yourself with sandpaper by mistake while doing a little project? You bleed. Sand enough skin off and you can bleed to death.