Week 46: 11/6 - 11/13

[Nadine in NY]

Happy Thursday!

We got our first snow this week, on Monday and Tuesday and part of Wednesday, and it was a mess on the roads. Why is the first snowfall always so bad? It's like half of the plow drivers haven't been hired yet and half of the drivers refuse to slow down.






***** Admin stuff *****
The November group read (which could fill "book about a food truck") is A Psalm for the Wild-Built. You can join the discussion here:https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

The December group read, which could fill Prompt #25, A book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee, will be: Everything I Never Told You. Let us know if you'd like to lead this discussion.





This week I finished 1 book:
I'll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker - I requested this NetGalley book after I finished Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, I was so curious to see what her YA books were like. This is much more hopeful and light, but it's also got engaging characters and an intriguing plot idea, so well done! The pacing was uneven, it started really slow, but picked up in the second half.


Ugh I have been making NO progress on my open challenges. I really need to just set everything else aside and read these last few books!!

Popsugar 100% 50 /50
Must Reads 70% 7 /10
AtY 92% 48 /52
AtY bonus 100% 10 /10
2025 pub 110% 55 /50
NetGalley ratio 96%

I've got three books left on NetGalley (it was two books, but then they offered me a book, and that book is titled Murder Bimbo so how could I resist that?)! And, yes, okay, I did request one book - Jane Harper's new book Last One Out is on NG! I HAD to request that!! Not sure if i'll get it, Flatiron has declined half of my requests so far.




Question of the Week
Do you complete reading challenges other than the Popsugar annual challenge? If so, what are some of those other challenges?



Some years I do, some years I don't. Back when the Challenge was new, I used to do Book Riot, too, and then I did AtY when that was created. After a few years of that, I dropped Book Riot. Some years I didn't do AtY either, although last year I did, along with a list of ten "must reads" I created for myself (a way to get THOSE books off my TBR that I had been telling myself for years "I really should read that book!"). I think next year I will just focus on PopSugar and a very short list of "must reads" for myself, maybe next year I'll only pick five "must reads." I feel like I need a reset.

[K.L.]

Good morning, everyone! Happy Thursday!

It's been a busy week, but I've finally had a chance to see the neurologist about the migraines I've been having since the beginning of October. My exam went really well, and the doctor did not have any concerns. I am relieved to report that I do not have to go through the process of having an MRI, which she said would be a waste of both my time and money, and would probably just give me a headache (or make an already present one worse). I'll probably never know what caused the migraines to flare up again, since there are so many different possible causes, but at least I don't have to worry about them being a sign of anything serious.

Since I am having the migraines so frequently, the doctor did recommend a daily medication to hopefully prevent them, which I will be starting this week. She is also trying to get insurance approval for me to start Ubrelvy as a rescue medication, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll authorize it without any fuss. I've already tried two different meds from the triptan class of migraine medications (one had nasty side effects, while the other just didn't work), and I really don't want to try a third.

We also got our first snow this week! It wasn't very much, and it never did stick to the roads, but it made everything look so pretty!

In reading news…

I ended up doing a significant amount of reading this week, most of which was for Nonfiction November. I'm really having a great time with this readathon so far. I've had a chance to read a lot of very interesting books, on a variety of subjects.

Here are my current challenge and TBR totals…

Goodreads Challenge: 364/250 (145% — Challenge Complete!)
Mount TBR Challenge: 186/150 (124% — Challenge Complete!)

📚Physical TBR: 139/731
📱Ebook TBR: 36/218
🎧Audiobook TBR: 11/12
TBR Checklist Total: 186/961 (19% complete)

TBR Books DNFed in 2025: 5

I had only planned to purchase one book this week, which was Brigands & Breadknives, by Travis Baldree. However, one of the associates at Barnes & Noble managed to talk me into getting another book as well, which was Water Moon, by Samantha Sotto Yambao. I'm really looking forward to reading both of these new books over the weekend.

“New” Books Bought in 2025: 168
“New” Books Read in 2025: 165
“New” Books DNFed in 2025: 1
“New” Books Checklist Total: 98% complete

Here are the books I finished this week…

Finished Reading (Fiction):
~Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Full-Cast Edition) — This is the new full-cast edition of the first book in the Harry Potter series. It did take me a little while to adjust to the background noise, sound effects, and music, but I ended up really enjoying this adaptation. I thought all of the vocal performances were really good, and especially liked Hugh Laurie as Dumbledore. 🎧: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
~Seeking Spirits: The Lost Cases of The Atlantic Paranormal Society — This was a very interesting collection of T.A.P.S. cases that never made it onto Ghost Hunters. Along with the cases themselves, Jason and Grant discuss some of the equipment used in their investigations, their investigative methodology, and recommendations for people who are interested in doing some ghost hunting themselves. It's definitely a worthwhile read if you're interested in the paranormal, or if you just like the Ghost Hunters television series. 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Lady Sapiens: Breaking Stereotypes About Prehistoric Women — Although this turned out to be a bit of a slow read for me, I did find the subject matter very interesting. 📚: ⭐⭐⭐
~The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning — This book was actually a re-read for me, but since I've been attempting to declutter my house (and hopefully simplify my life in the process), I thought it would be a good idea to give it another read. I thought it contained a lot of really good suggestions. Content Alert: (view spoiler)[ This book includes a lot of references to death and grief, and includes stories about the loss of family members as well as pets. (hide spoiler)] 📱: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
~Don't Look Behind You!: True Tales of a Safari Guide — This travel memoir focuses on the author's time as a safari guide in Africa. It's a great companion to his earlier book, Whatever You Do, Don't Run: True Tales of a Botswana Safari Guide, but you don't need to have read that book (though it's definitely worth reading) to enjoy this one. I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Peter Allison is a great storyteller, and many of his exploits had me laughing out loud. Content Alert: (view spoiler)[ While most of this book is funny, the author does include a few stories about more serious subjects. The book does include a few stories about animal deaths, and also includes references to poaching. Suicide is also briefly discussed. (hide spoiler)] 📚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
None

Finished Reading (Poetry and Drama):
None

DNFed:
None

Currently Reading:
~NIV Audio Bible — This audiobook edition of The Bible is read by David Suchet. I currently have a little less than 53 hours remaining. 🎧
~The Arabian Nights: Tales of 1001 Nights, Volume 2 — I'm currently on track to finish this book by the end of the month! Fortunately, the stories have gotten a bit more exciting in the section I'm currently reading, and I've actually been reading more than my 20 pages-per-day goal. Content Alert: (view spoiler)[ This book includes, but is not limited to: references to bestiality, size shaming, and insults toward people of various skin colors. (hide spoiler)] 📚
~The Science of the Earth: The Secrets of Our Planet Revealed — While this book is interesting, it contains a fair amount of scientific jargon, which is making it a somewhat slower read than I'd anticipated. I'm currently only one-quarter of the way through this book, and it is definitely going to take me a while to finish. The photographs are gorgeous though. 📚
~Medieval Warrior: Weapons, Technology, And Fighting Techniques, Ad 1000-1500 — I started this book right before bed last night, so I haven't had a chance to get very far yet. I think this is going to be an interesting read though. 📚

QOTW:
I do participate in reading challenges other than Popsugar. My current favorite is Mount TBR, which I've done for the past few years. I've also participated in Beat the Backlist. Both are a lot of fun, and let me focus on reading the books I already own.

[Ron]

I finally have time to post! I have been so busy with work and school, but I've been loving all of it.

My psychology class ended a few weeks ago. Passed it with a 'B'. So grateful that one is over. Now I'm continuing my nature literature class which has been okay. Not a fan of the novels we're reading because they're fiction with religious undertones, but I'm hoping our final novel will change my perspective a bit.

Started a mythology class a few weeks ago and that has been going great.

Work has been going well. I did not realize the true impact we have on our community so it makes me feel good. Yesterday I saw a kid come into the bookstore and she found a new release that she was excited for and started jumping up and down since she was so excited. Seeing kids happy over the books they get makes me happy as a fellow reader.

*****

Book News:

Been reading every day for the past 9 months. Today marks my 286th straight day. Now the idea of having a day off and not reading seems like a strange concept to me.

My December TBR is all set so I'm excited for a lot of my picks.

I've been working on my Wrapped TBR for 2026. I had such a fun time doing monthly picks from books wrapped in wrapping paper this year, and it certainly helped me stay out of a reading slump. I have my priority reads for several months and then random picks from a TBR jar. I definitely want to do that again next year.

*****

Finished:

Beyond the Glittering World: An Anthology of Indigenous Feminisms and Futurisms - 5 star read! It can be read in a day easy. There were a lot of excellent short stories and poetry in this book and several really stood out.

Flight Behavior- Sadly I was left disappointed with this one. A low 2-star read. I was hoping to enjoy it, but all of the religious/God talk was a drag for me because I'm not a religous person. The only upside was that I enjoyed her imagery. I had another Kingsolver book planned for this year, but since this was a let down I'm gonna hold off a bit.



*****

Currently Reading:

Black-Owned: The Revolutionary Life of the Black Bookstore - One of my highly anticipated reads for 2025 and it has been incredible so far! It makes me think back to that social media trend over the summer how books are not supposed to be political. Tell that too diverse groups who were not allowed to read or get good educations. This is certainly shaping up to be my favorite book of the month so far and it's been a steady 5-star.

Angels and Insects - Have to read this for class and only a few pages in so far. Unsure of what to make of it just yet.



*****

Upcoming Read:

Parable of the Sower - Hoping to start this one later today. I have to read it for school. I've been wanting to read Octavia Butler, and specifically this book, for a long while so it's cool that my professor chose it. We're only reading the first book for the class, but I had to get the other one in this duology so I plan to read that on my own next year.



*****

Question of the Week

Do you complete reading challenges other than the Popsugar annual challenge? If so, what are some of those other challenges?

I do. I won't be participating too much in the 2026 Pop Sugar Challenge, unfortunately, next year. There are only 20 prompts on the list that really capture my interest, so I'm gonna skip all the others. Sadly, this will be the first time I skip so many in the several years I've been doing this.

Luckily, though, I've got about 7 other book challenges I'll be doing. I'm hoping there will be an 8th, but the online person I follow who does it has not released their 2026 list yet.

I keep a physical journal of the challenges I do, but for next year I decided to start a Google Sheets database for them as well.

One of my favorites is a Nonfiction Reading Challenge on Instagram. For next year I'll be doing the ATY in 52 Books Challenge, 52 Book Club, and Buzz Words Challenge. I've also got several of my own which include a Road Trip Challenge (US States), the A to Z Challenge, and I created my own Bookish Bingo with prompts of my choice.

I don't know how many I'll end up doing next year.

[Kenya]

Happy Thursday all.

Still chugging away at my math class. I'm shocked that my grade so far is 95 percent -- I've always been told I'm bad at math, that it's one of my weak points, and it made me nervous enough about this class that I saved it for the very end. Realizing I'm not as bad at this stuff as I thought I was is rather vindicating.

Also been trying to take care of some medical stuff. For years I've had the mentality of "if I go to the doctor they'll find something wrong, therefore if I DON'T go to the doctor then nothing's wrong!" I've been doing my best to overcome that and have some things looked at, though. Even if it means (spoilered in case people don't want to read about reproductive health) (view spoiler)[getting my first pap smear in years and then having to get a vaginal ultrasound on top of that. Thankfully the doctor was gentle and patient, but I'm still glad I only have to get it done every three years... (hide spoiler)]

Books read this week:

How To Be A Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals -- the author recounts her bonds with various animals who have helped expand her worldview and taught her valuable lessons. Enchanting and bittersweet.

New Dragon City -- How To Train Your Dragon set in a post-apocalyptic world! This was a fun read.

Galactic Unicorn -- another Phoebe and Her Unicorn comic collection. Still cute and fun.

The Keeper of Magical Things - cozy and sweet follow-up to The Teller of Small Fortunes. I want pasta now…

One-Punch Man, Vol. 11
One-Punch Man, Vol. 12
One-Punch Man, Vol. 13
One-Punch Man, Vol. 14
One-Punch Man, Vol. 15
One-Punch Man, Vol. 16: Depleted
One-Punch Man, Vol. 17
One-Punch Man, Vol. 18
One-Punch Man, Vol. 19
One-Punch Man, Vol. 20
One-Punch Man, Vol. 21
One-Punch Man, Vol. 22
One-Punch Man, Vol. 23
One-Punch Man, Vol. 24

DNF:

Traitorous Toys -- I liked the first book in this series… the second just has too many unlikable characters for my taste. Might come back to this later…

Currently reading:

Elder Race
The Menu of Happiness
Moonlit
The Tortoise's Tale

QOTW:

I generally just do PopSugar and my library's Extreme Book Nerd challenge every year. If I finish both of those in a reasonable amount of time I might also try to do the 2016 PopSugar challenge (I missed that year), but if the time comes and I don't feel in the mood to do it, I won't sweat it.

[Brandon]

Finished:

Into the Light (4/5, author's bio mentions their dog, provokes strong emotions, from a series at least 8 books long)

This was a great read, as the four stars will attest to. The big mission is to save the Wookiee homeworld, so lots of cool and wondrous stuff happens on Kashyyyk.

A Valiant Vow (Star Wars: The High Republic (3/5)

This was a pretty standard middle grade adventure story. Even Churo the Hutt can only lift it up so much.

The Red Pyramid (DNF, 2/5, a book with a dad as the primary caregiver)

I am still counting it complete because I read over 300 pages of it. It had such promise at the beginning, but I just was not enjoying myself through a lot of the middle sections.

The Secret Adversary (3/5, a book featuring a conspiracy for 52 Book Club, Agatha Christie challenge)

It's lighthearted espionage for a lot of the story. There are some moments of tension and action, and the main characters each have some major solo adventures before reconnecting.

Trials of the Jedi (3/5, features a trans or nonbinary protagonist, also from a series with at least 8 books)

This was the conclusion in the novels of the High Republic series (the comics have their own finale issue). It got the job done, but it did not wow me, and the interludes were unnecessary.

Currently reading:

Batman: Resurrection (has a character with a secret identity)
The Mysterious Affair at Styles (Agatha Christie challenge)

Question of the Week:

I was introduced this year to the 52 Book Club, and it looked fun enough to add to PopSugar for 2026. We shall see if I complete either challenge this year, but I should get at least 40 in for each.

[Ellie]

I'll be back to check in later, the Hidden Books Game has dropped!
https://hiddenbooks.nationalbooktoken...

[Nadine in NY]

Ellie wrote: "I'll be back to check in later, the Hidden Books Game has dropped!
https://hiddenbooks.nationalbooktoken..."



Oh. My. God.


I guess I know what I'm doing today LOL

[Laura Z]

Happy Thursday! I’ve been having a lot of fun pouring through my TBR looking for books to fulfill next year’s prompts. I’m still irritated by some of the prompts – and the lack of a challenge guide – but it’s still been entertaining. I voted in the Goodreads Awards yesterday. So much (too much?) romantasy and fantasy!

Reading Challenges:

🏆 52 Book Club: 52/52 (Connections Challenge: 18/21, November Mini-Challenge: 0/4)
ATY: 51/52 (ATY Anniversary Challenge: 9/10, ATY Fall Challenge: 36/36)
The Book Girls’ Guide: 66/74
Booklist Queen: 51/52
🏆Popsugar: 50/50
Goodreads Fall Challenge (Bookmarks): 9/12
My Ever-Growing TBR: 136/328 – 41.4% (My goal was 33.3%.)

Recently Completed:

🐿️ That Wild Country: An Epic Journey through the Past, Present, and Future of America's Public Lands (BGG Book Voyage #11 – set in North America) ★★★★
🐿️ Things You Save in a Fire (BGG Decades #11 – set in 2000s or 2010s) ★★★★★
🐿️ The Heiress: The Revelations of Anne de Bourgh: Jane Austen Book Club. ★★★★
🐿️ The Sandcastle Girls (BGG ICYMI Bonus – published in 2012) ★★★
🐿️ Sin Bravely: A Memoir of Spiritual Disobedience: Reasonable Doubt Book Club. ★★★
🐿️ Rebellion: How Antiliberalism Is Tearing America Apart – Again ★★★★
🐿️ Winter in Paradise (ATY #27 – set in winter/BGG Read Around the USA – US Territories) ★★★
🐿️ Four Ruined Realms (ATY Anniversary #10 – a group that’s not a family) ★★★★
🐿️ Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit (ATY Connections #18 – shares a main theme with previous book) ★★★



QOTW: Besides Popsugar, I also participate in the 52 Book Club, ATY, and the Booklist Queen. This year I also did all of the Book Girls' Guide yearly challenges, but I'm not going to do them next year. Their suggestions get very repetitive after awhile. I may also drop the Booklist Queen next year... It depends on what the prompts look like.

[Theresa]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Happy Thursday!

We got our first snow this week, on Monday and Tuesday and part of Wednesday, and it was a mess on the roads. Why is the first snowfall always so bad? It's like half of the plow d..."

I remember from living upstate just how no one seems to remember how to drive in snow when the first snow happens, and the localities seem to forget they have to send out plows and sanders. Or people need to shovel sidewalks in the cities.

Also - Murder Bimbot? Irresistable - on my TBR!

[Laura Ruth]

Happy rainy Thursday!

I completed the Popsugar Challenge this week, and am happily obsessing over what I'll read between now and Jan 1st.

The kittens staged a jailbreak. One of them figured out how to scramble over the cardboard barrier we use to keep them in their room. I'd never thought about the origins of the word "copycat," but the little devils followed each other. We made the barrier higher (while Mama Cat is still able to jump over), but it's only a matter of time.

104 books so far this year, 50/50 Popsugar, 51/52 for the Booklist queen.

Finished:

Space Oddity by Catherynne Valente. Final Popsugar book, where music is essential to the plot, in an interplanetary Babble of the Bands. Absolutely hilarious. I saw somebody describe her writing style as "exhausting," and it's true: it's really dense, like if Toni Morrison or William Faulkner wrote SF comedy. Loved it.

Currently reading:

Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, for my book club. I'm 100 pages in, and not sure what I think of it.

Next up:

The Sirens by Emilia Hart for my final Booklist Queen book (retelling of Greek mythology).

QOTW: Late this year, I discovered the Booklist Queen challenge. Turned out I only needed to add about 5 more books to what I'd already read. This year I'm seeing a lot of ways to overlap the 52 Book Club Challenge with the Popsugar, and looking forward to seeing if the Booklist Queen can be added to the mix.

In prior years, the Popsugar had more prompts about the author, title, cover and "wild card" ("recommended by a friend," etc). This year, it's more about content, which narrows the choices. Sometimes you can tell if a book fits by looking at the blurb, sometimes not so much (coughPILATEScough).

Fortunately, the 52 Book Club Challenge has several more general categories ("a book that provokes strong emotion"), and titles, covers, even title FONTS. "Author's bio mentioned their dog" had me rolling my eyes, but it turned out there was one on my shelf.

[Jen W.]

Happy Thursday!

Work's been a bit busy this week, but otherwise things are going fine here.

Finished:
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - 4 stars - not for a prompt. More creepy than scary, a haunting story told over three timelines about witches. I really enjoyed this.

Comics & manga:
Tamon's B-Side, Vol. 9
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 35

I am currently at 46/50 for Popsugar (38/40 and 8/10).

Currently reading:
Boneshaker by Cherie Priest - for a book you have always avoided reading (aka the book that's been on my TBR the longest). So far, I'm enjoying it, but I'm still early enough that the plot is just getting started.

Upcoming/Planned:
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree - not for a prompt.

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine - for two books with the same title.

Emma by Jane Austen - for a book by the oldest author in your TBR pile.

The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley - for a book that reminds you of your childhood.

QOTW:
Not actively, but every year around this time I look at ATY and I find that I've mostly completed that one, too, with the books I've already read. This year, I would only have three more extra books (in addition to the ones I need to finish for Popsugar) to also finish ATY. Might as well, if I have the time. :)

[Ellie]

Now I've finished the hidden books game I can check in. Not that I've read much. I feel like I've picked up a lot of duds this year, which is extra frustrating when I've had less time to read.

Finished The Time of the Fire by Emma Kavanagh. This had such a passive character, it was pretty much her hearing things as she flopped between the two realities. I didn't really like how the parallel universes were handled - what happened to the other her? I would have liked it to have explored more the impacts of the wildfire from two different approaches but it was mostly family drama. It ticks off alternate realities for ATY at least.

Currently reading A Cheesemonger’s Tour de France and listening to The Woman Who Died a Lot.

QOTW:
I usually do ATY, although so many of my anticipated books don't obviously fit into PS or ATY next year, so I'm not sure how hard I'll try to complete either. I made up my own challenge one lunch time, I'm not sure if I'll post it on my blog or not.

[Nadine in NY]

Ellie wrote: "Now I've finished the hidden books game I can check in. Not that I've read much. I feel like I've picked up a lot of duds this year, which is extra frustrating when I've had less time to read. ..."



you FINISHED?!!! So far I've gotten five. And only two of them came easily.

[Ellie]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Now I've finished the hidden books game I can check in. Not that I've read much. I feel like I've picked up a lot of duds this year, which is extra frustrating when I've had less time..."

I would not have been able to get some of them without Waterstones' paperbacks of the year page open. I'm a bit out of touch on non-SFF.

[Nadine in NY]

Ellie wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Now I've finished the hidden books game I can check in. Not that I've read much. I feel like I've picked up a lot of duds this year, which is extra frustrating wh..."


I haven't found any yet that are publications of this year! Two classics, two from the last few decades, and one from last year (or maybe it was 2023? the years run together ...) I'm going to look at that Waterstones page for inspo now

[Doni]

Purchased TBR: 39/70
Library TBR: 29/39
VPL Reading Challenge: 23/24
Anti-capitalist inspiration 7/30
PS 2026: 1/40
52 Book Club 2026: 3/52
52 Book Club Connections Challenge: 1/21

Finished: We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance An interesting challenge to the idea that Black resistance necessarily needs to be non-violent. (Read for discord bookish reality nonfiction swap.)

Started: Against Democracy

I'm working on a 1200-page doozer of a book, so that's why I haven't made much progress elsewhere.

QotW: I usually do Pop Sugar and whatever local library challenges there are. Before I found Pop Sugar, I did Book Riot's read harder challenge. Next year, I plan to do the 52 book club challenges.

[Brandon]

I got the hidden book related to the board games. The other 19 are mysteries to me.

[Jennifer W]

Hi all! We only had a dusting of snow here, and most of it melted the same day it fell.
I've had a busy week, I subbed, kiddo had Veteran's Day off, then she caught a cold and stayed home yesterday and tomorrow she goes to her doctor for her annual checkup. Today is the only day I have to chill at home in peace and quiet.

With all that going on, I haven't had a ton of time for reading. I did get a few more chapters read in Promise Boys because I took it to school and read while I was overseeing study halls. I'm about halfway through and I think I figured out the killer. I also read a few more chapters in The Storm We Made, which I'm really liking.

QOTW: In addition to PopSugar, I also do ATY. I don't read as much or as fast as I used to, so I know I'm not going to complete them. I like the challenge of finding books and the communities.

[Theresa]

Rumor has it that NYC had its first snow yesterday -- for 10 minutes and just flurries. I was on a zoom conference so missed the entire event. I personally don't count it, especially the rest of the day was rain.

But I am loving the lower temps - so much better sleeping! I don't like feeling as if it's 9 PM when it's only 5 PM -- hate Daylight Savings Time and no longer finishing work when it's still daylight out - even if not much.

Still have 1 book to read to finish PS. My plan is to read it as soon as I finish my current busty read for my IRL Feminerdy Book Club that meets to discuss it on Sunday.

Finished:
Poison Oracle - fun weird quirky murder mystery by the very quirky Peter Dickenson - originally published in 1974.
Securing Caite - romantic suspense featuring SEALS - surprisingly sweet with mild smut. First in a series

Currently Reading:
Bleak House
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
George Sand

QOTW: I do quite a few challenges, as I belong to a couple GR groups that do their own year long or quarterly challenges. It's not really all that demanding as I fit whatever I happen to read into all the challenges it will fit. Usually I only have to search for a handful of books to finish the challenge. I also have some personal goals -- and usually roll them into challenges I create and administer, LOL. Actively this year:

1. Prompt Based - work at own pace
Popsugar - only one left
ATY - finished
Play Harder - another group on PBT - started with a list of 12 prompts randomly assigned. Once completed you can ask for another. I'm on my 4th which I hope to finish by year end - I have 3 of the 12 read.

2. TBR Trim Challenges - these are in a couple different GR groups and are really easy. At beginning of year you make up a list of books from your TBR that you want to read, numbered 1 through 20 (for one) or 24 (for other). The admin for the challenge uses a randomizer to pick numbers for the book to be read each month during the year. I'm behind in one of these challenges but should finish be year end. The other I'm current in -- and it's the one that's a theme list - must be a book from an author or series you've read before - I run that one and came up with the idea because I had so many series I was behind in. I've managed to finish a couple series since we started that one a few years ago. Every year you get to refresh the list.

3. Buddy Read/Book Club type challenges -- you have a list at beginning of the year of what book you will read each month. That one for me is The Agatha Christie Challenge sponsored by the Agatha Christie Society.

4. I have a couple of challenges that involving reading books set in different places. One is where you get a compass direction randomly chosen by a spinner and you read a book located in that direction from the location of the book you just read for the challenge. For example I read a romantic suspense located in Bahrain, got a SW direction spin after finishing it and now am reading a fantasy set in a medieval Yemen, in part. The other is looser - you just read books set in countries on a list.
5. One GR group votes on a tag to read each month -- this month is British Literature - this works for planners as well as casual mood readers like me. the tag votes are the month prior and chosen from 3 randomly picked 'tags' or 'shelves' from GR curated list of top tags/shelves.

I use challenges to keep my reading diverse, keep me on target with fulfilling personal goals (like read Dickens), and reading from TBR. Most of these are self-driven meaning mostly I pick whatever to read at whatever pace. I only have 1 IRL book club because I really don't want to read whatever book has been chosen by someone else - too selfish a reader for that. I have a lot of influence over the reading choices in my IRL book club so it works for me. I tend to lag behind everyone on buddy reads -- not because I'm a slow reader but because so much is competing for my time and attention in my life.

I find the GR Groups and their challenges create tremendous interactive communities and have acquired friendships that have expanded into real life. Just more people to talk books!

[Alex]

Happy Thursday! It's cold but no snow. Boo! I love snow. I'm jealous of all y'all that got it!

Finished 45/50

Skyward for "book with a nonverbal character", aka the Doomslug, haha! I LOVED this book! Fantastic messaging, fun plot, good character development, strong female protagonist. 5/5!

Currently Reading

The Spiritual Life and How to be Attuned to it for "book featuring an activity on your bucket list" This has enriched my life so much...I don't want it to end!

Year of Yes for "book starting with Y". Did you know there are TWO books by this name, and I accidentally got the other one that's about this girl who said yes to every man who asked her on a date and it was absolutely wretched...and then i realized I had the wrong book! I was wondering why it was so celebrated....haha! NOW I have the right book which sounds way better. Good grief...

QotW

Nope. I can barely keep up with this one! Though I do read with my church's quarterly book club.

[Nadine in NY]

Ellie wrote: "Waterstones' paperbacks of the year.."



okay that helped a lot!


omg those stupid birds tripped me up, I had the wrong kind of bird fixed in my head.


Now I just have one left: THE SLIPPERS

ETA - I got a clue from Facebook, now I'm finished!

[Nadine in NY]

Brandon wrote: "I got the hidden book related to the board games. The other 19 are mysteries to me."


LOL that was one of the first five I got, too!

[Joanna]

It was a light reading week, mostly because I focused on writing (thank you, OHHOW!). Still behind, but since nanowrimo is defunct I'm not stressing about the words and just focusing on writing at least a little every day. I'm also still plugging away at my MKAL, though at the rate I'm going I'll have to put it on hold for Christmas gift crafting pretty soon.
We got flurries on Tuesday, but other than that the weather has been pretty normal for November.

DNF: Raising Hare: A Memoir - I just didn't find it as interesting as I thought I would.

Currently reading:
Lost Souls Meet Under a Full Moon
Awakened
Cursed Bunny

QOTW: I've done the Read Harder challenge these past few years, since it comes built in with Book Riot's reading log. I started doing Pop Sugar when my library started promoting it, and this year they decided to put together their own, more library-focused, challenge, so I've been doing that, too. I also added Cover Lover and Booklist Queen this year, though I'm not sure if I'll do them again next year. I like doing reading challenges but I don't stress about whether I finish them or not.

[Denise]

I finished two books this week, neither for prompts:

March

The Pumpkin Spice Café

This week I need to finish:
The Portrait of a Lady

QOTW:
The main I complete are PS. 52, and ATY. I participate in dozens of others including Booklist Queen, Book Girls, a classic challenge, and a few libraries, and a few other GR groups but I take my time completing them, if they are not done by the end of the year it's fine. I just like using the prompts to pick my next books and amusing myself by finding how many prompts I can use one book for.

I may not finish PS next year because the more I look for books the more I dislike the prompts. It is one thing to push you out of your comfort zone and introduce new ideas which challenges do well, but a complete thing to have promote so limiting you can only choose from like 20 books. Too often I want to say to PS. which book did you want me to read when you wrote this prompt? To me that's a book club not a challenge

[Dani]

Hello and happy Thursday from a very chilly Columbus. We had a few days with a high in the 20s but we’re sitting at a much more pleasant mid 50s right now. Everyone is my family is currently fighting off some mild colds. Yesterday we got the news that my boyfriend is healing amazingly from his surgery and will be able to return work with restrictions next week.

Finished:
The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft for a book riot prompt. This was my first time completing his entire collection but I own a smaller selected fiction collection that I’ve read several times. I guess the collection I own did a really good job at selecting the best of the best because there wasn’t anything new I read that I found particularly great. Some of his work I really, really love but a lot of it is pretty forgettable. The Music of Erich Zann is probably my all time fave.

The Roar of the Falls: My Journey With Kaya Not for a challenge, just more AG books. They had a collection of books for the historic girls that were like time travel choose your own adventure books. And I’m a sucker for a choose your own adventure. I get a little obsessed with tracking what I’ve read so I can find all the endings. Unfortunately it seems like each book had an ending that had you go to their website to access it, but that website is down. Someone on Reddit said AG customer service provided the ending in an email so I just emailed them too 😅

A Farewell to Arms for my classics reading challenge. I love Hemingway, the way he writes is just so lovely and to the point. He can really paint an emotional picture very succinctly.

Small Things Like These to earn one of the Goodreads bookmarks. I love when I get a book I can read in like an hour. This was bittersweet and written beautifully.

Currently Reading:
Ithaca
Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Great Adventure Catholic Bible

Recently Watched:
Hereditary and Weapons. Me and my daughter have gotten into the habit of catching her up with horror movies and it’s really funny watching her reactions. She really doesn’t seem to enjoy them (Hereditary scared her so bad she cried), but insists she wants to watch them. And for added context she’s a particularly wimpy 19 year old, I felt like that made it sound like I was watching scary movies with a small child lol

Challenges:
Popsugar - 29/40; 3/4; 2/3; 3/3
Read Harder - 29/24
Classics - 9/12
European Tour - 9/10
12 Friends - 7/12
Yearly Goal - 138/180


QOTW:
Conveniently I always include the challenges I do! I feel like I bite off way more than I can chew. Especially the last couple of years I’ve been so busy with work that I have a really hard time keeping up or sometimes even keeping the motivation to read. But I always do popsugar and book riot as my main ones, and then I started doing a smaller classics reading challenge, and then one where you read books from different European countries. I let myself finish my 12 friends challenge whenever I can get to it lol.

[K.L.]

Dani wrote: "Me and my daughter have gotten into the habit of catching her up with horror movies and it’s really funny watching her reactions. She really doesn’t seem to enjoy them (Hereditary scared her so bad she cried), but insists she wants to watch them. And for added context she’s a particularly wimpy 19 year old, I felt like that made it sound like I was watching scary movies with a small child lol"

I was the same when I was her age. I didn't really get into horror movies until I was in college, and that only happened because I was trying to figure out what my roommate liked so much about them. I still prefer my horror to be creepy and atmospheric, rather than freaky, and tend to gravitate toward older movies because of this.

Have you watched any of the old Universal Studios Monsters movies together? They're definitely classics, and not particularly scary. I really liked The Invisible Man (1933), starring Claude Rains. It has surprisingly good visual effects considering the time period when it was made.

I also love the old horror movies starring Vincent Price, such as: The Bat (1959; more of a mystery than a horror movie), House on Haunted Hill (1959), House of Wax (1953), and The Comedy of Terrors (1963).

[Dani]

K.L. wrote: "Have you watched any of the old Universal Studios Monsters movies together? "

We have not gotten to those yet but I do agree, they’d probably be a lot less stressful for her. I’ve been saying we should watch the original Nosferatu since we saw the new one in theaters last year (scared her so bad she had to leave the theater for a bit). She’s showing a lot of interested in the “elevated horror” genre probably because that’s what I enjoy and also what seems to be most popular online.

[Jennifer W]

Dani wrote: "K.L. wrote: "Have you watched any of the old Universal Studios Monsters movies together? "

We have not gotten to those yet but I do agree, they’d probably be a lot less stressful for her. I’ve bee..."

I think there's a new blu ray of all the mainstream movies (Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc) along with lesser known titles out. My BF has asked for it for Christmas. I think he said it was like $100, but has something like 20 movies, so that's not so bad.

[Doni]

I've gotten nine so far without any hints!

[Katy]

I'm still working on both Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone and Broken.

QOTW: No.

[Dubhease]

Happy Thursday!

Like Nadine, we did get our first snow, but it's mostly gone.

I try to finish a book a week. Some weeks I don't manage to do that. Some weeks I finish 2. This week I finished 4! I have never finished 4 in one week ... ever!

Yes, one book was 95% done last week. And the Poe story was about 20 pages. And I did have a 3 day weekend, plus Remembrance Day off.

But still 4 books! I enjoyed them all in different ways. Since I am flying through my books, I gave myself permission to read a book - not for a prompt, but just because I like mysteries/thrillers.

And I met my GR goal ... 55 books this year.

Finished:
Kingdom of the Wicked
Popsugar prompt: can't find one
ATY prompt: Two books with a pair of opposites in their titles

The Pit and the Pendulum
Popsugar prompt: can't find one
ATY prompt: A book by an author that uses 3 names

The Jane Austen Book Club
Popsugar prompt: A book with two or more books on the cover or "book" in the title
ATY prompt:
Anniversary prompt: A book that has been on your TBR for over a year

The Blue Hour
Popsugar prompt: A book set in or around a body of water
ATY prompt: A book related to one of the traditional full moon names

Series - 9/10
Reading Across Canada - 9/10
Nobel laureates - 4/5

PS - 38/40
Regular ATY - 43/40 - Completed!
Anniversary ATY - 9/10
Summer Challenge - 5100/5000 points - Completed!

Currently reading:
Interior Castle - 45%
How to Solve Your Own Murder - Just started

Buddy Reads:
Library of Souls - 20%

QOTW: I do PS and ATY and that's it for formal prompts. I always have my own reading challenges. A number of series books, a number of Nobel prizing winning authors. And a fun challenge. This year, I'm reading across Canada. Last year, I read 13 mysteries/thrillers.

In 2026, I think I'm signing up for 30 PS prompts and either 40 or 45 ATY prompts (they are easier to do as a prompt like the Pilates prompt would never pass.) One thing, I am doing next year is only reading off my TBR list. So if a prompt has no books on my TBR that can fulfill it, I'm not doing it.

[Erin]

Happy Thursday! It was pouring here today! The roads were already getting a little flooded when I drove to work this morning. It was better by the time I drove home, but our roads really need better drainage. Planning to make an afternoon coffee and curl up for the rest of the night. This last weekend was busy busy- finally got to see a Russian group I've been wanting to see for years- but this weekend I should have a much calmer time. More time for reading!

I was feeling so proud of myself, knocking out a bunch of netgalley books this month. And then two more requests got approved... The Last Lady B and Holy Boy: A Novel. Both will work for next year's prompts, and I really wanted to read them, but I'm never getting the percentage past 90%!

Finished:
The Amberglow Candy Store- I wound up really liking this! It's a Japanese book about a magical candy shop and people learning to fix their lives. It was a very comforting read, without being cloying
-no prompt, netgalley read

Single Dad Dilemma- I really liked the dynamic between the main two in this romance, both were very prickly but softies underneath. The ending wrapped up way too quickly for me, but until then I really really liked it
-no prompt, netgalley read

Currently Reading:
Jackson Alone- this is a book about mixed-raced men in Japan dealing with blackmail and racism and homophobia who start using the fact that people think they look alike to pull pranks. I think. I've just started.

This will be the third book I read this year with less than a 3-star rating, and I'm liking it so far, so... I don;t know what that says about me or the average ratings on this site

QotW:
I don't do any other reading challenge. I make my own list of 20 books to read each year, and then usually ignore it. And then throughout the year I do little themed lists based on the season/month. But this is the only main on I do

[Dubhease]

I forgot to add that I'm doing the PS prompts for movies.

And I'm "leading" a 12 prompt RHPS challenge, but I'm reusing books I read for other challenges for it.

[Cornerofmadness]

This week has been on fire at work so nothing much got done. The only thing I finished was Anne of Green Gables for ps 11. A book mentioned in another book

I don't know which book it's in, several I should imagine. I actually got my copy at the house on Prince Edward Island as it was part of the tour I was on. I bought it because it was gimmicky with a rubber stamp of Montgomery's signature in it. I had never read this. Coming of age, contemporary fic those aren't my genres. I was honestly surprised by how much I liked this and how endearing Anne was. Other than the restrictions on women and the carriages (and one short burst time period reflective of anti-Italian prejudice) this could have been written today. I'm glad I bought it.

QOTW
Yes, several on facebook actually, the Alphabet Soup challenge where you read a book for every letter of the alphabet and the literary escapes challenge which is America-centric with a requirement of reading one book per state (I don't feel obligated to finish this, not since the first year I did it)

I also do the cloak and dagger mystery book challenge.

Though they are more or less prompt free other than what's in the title so it's low pressure

[Cornerofmadness]

Dubhease wrote: "Happy Thursday!

Like Nadine, we did get our first snow, but it's mostly gone.

I try to finish a book a week. Some weeks I don't manage to do that. Some weeks I finish 2. This week I finished 4! I..."

I really should do that as well with only using the TBR and if it's not there skip that prompt. good luck to you

[Megan]

A short check-in for me again this week. I finished one book, which I used for an open prompt. That brings me to 18/40 and 2/10 for this challenge, and 72/85 for my overall Goodreads Reading Challenge.

Finished:
* More Than a Woman written and narrated by Caitlin Moran, which I used for a book with silver on the cover or in the title since the background on the cover looked silver to me (silver! gray! close enough for me!!).

Currently Reading:
* The Penguin Book of Murder Mysteries edited by Michael Sims;
* All Fours by Miranda July;
* Joyride: A Memoir by Susan Orlean, which is my latest Goodreads Giveaways win; and,
* The Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman, which is one of my book clubs' picks for November.

QotW:
Do you complete reading challenges other than the Popsugar annual challenge? If so, what are some of those other challenges?

The Goodreads Reading Challenge is the only challenge that I always complete. I'm currently working on a few other reading challenges and my goal is just to see how far I can get (and to primarily use books I own or my bookclubs' picks).

Here are the ones I'm working on and where I am progress-wise:
* Book Riot Read Harder - I'm at 12/24 which is farther than I got last year! I've been doing Read Harder challenge since 2016 but broke my completion streak in 2020 (thanks, COVID!) and now just try to see how far I get.

* Politics & Prose Reading Challenge (it's a local indie bookstore in DC) - I'm at 31/52. This is the first year I'm trying it and I will likely do again next year because the prompts were fun! I probably won't check off too many more before the end of the year.

* Libro.fm Audiobook Reading Challenge - I'm at 9/24. This is another first-year challenge for me and I may add this one again next year since I've been reading a fair amount of audiobooks (and I liked this year's prompts).

[Doni]

Nadine in NY wrote: "Ellie wrote: "Waterstones' paperbacks of the year.."



okay that helped a lot!


omg those stupid birds tripped me up, I had the wrong kind of bird fixed in my head.


Now I just have one left: ..."

HELP! I can't figure out the bird one. I've tried cranes, seagulls, swans, herons, egrets. What the heck are they???

Holy Cow! I finally got it. For some reason, whatever I was looking up gave me the wrong name for the title.

[Erin]

Laura Ruth wrote: "Happy rainy Thursday!

I completed the Popsugar Challenge this week, and am happily obsessing over what I'll read between now and Jan 1st.."

congrats!!

[Andrea]

Happy Thursday everyone! We finally got cold weather this fall (in the 30s!), before we went back to the 80s by the end of the week :/ On the reading front, I finished 3 books and although they were all great, they all included (view spoiler)[incest or rape (hide spoiler)]. I think I need a break from such heavy reads, but I’m realizing that many books by Indigenous authors, which I’m prioritizing right now, tend to be on the heavier side. I checked out a Native American romance and a YA book to lighten things up, so we’ll see how that goes. I’m also a BOTM subscriber, and I have two books left to finish their yearly challenge. I’m trying to squeeze them in before the end of the month so I can get the prize in time, but I keep getting distracted by other books!

2025 Reading Challenges
PopSugar- 50/50 COMPLETED
ATY- 52/52; Anniversary- 10/10; Summer- 7500/5000; Fall- 18/18 COMPLETED
52 Book Club- 52/52; Connections- 21/21; Mini-Challenges- 17/19 COMPLETED
Barnes & Noble- 52/52 COMPLETED
Booklist Queen- 50/52
Read Good- 12/12 COMPLETED
Buzzword- 10/12; Cover- 11/12
GR Bookmarks- 7/12

1001 Books- 10/10 COMPLETED
TBR- 20/20 COMPLETED

Finished
One Hundred Years of Solitude- Finally finished this book after almost a month! I loved the themes this book explored, and the story was engaging. A lot of stuff happens so I had to take several breaks to not get overwhelmed, but then I'd get some storylines mixed up when I picked the book back up again since the characters share similar names. ☆☆☆ 1/2

Betty- I picked this up for Native American Heritage Month because of its high star rating. I can see why it seems to be so universally loved. It's an engaging read and the father-daughter (Betty and her dad) relationship at the center of the novel is heart-warming. However, this book has content warnings for everything under the sun: (view spoiler)[child death, child neglect, child abuse, suicide attempts, incest, rape, bullying, racism, misogyny, drug overdose (hide spoiler)]. In case you haven't guessed it, it's a depressing book, but I liked the resiliency of the main character. ☆☆☆☆

Medicine River: A Story of Survival and the Legacy of Indian Boarding Schools- Another heavy read by an indigenous author. I discovered this through the ALA's longlist for the Carnegie Medal of Excellence in Nonfiction and saw it was available on Libby. It was a good read, my only complaint is that I thought this would be more about the history of Indian boarding schools in the US and, while it does discuss this, it's mainly about the author's family and their generational trauma. ☆☆☆ 1/2

Currently Reading
LaRose
Firekeeper’s Daughter

QOTW
I do PopSugar and ATY first, then I tackle the 52 Book Club since I usually finish the first two early and need another challenge to occupy my time. This year I added Booklist Queen and Barnes and Noble, but I don't think I'll do these next year. The Goodreads Bookmark challenge was new this year, but I enjoyed doing them so I look forward to doing them again. I used to do Book Riot's, but their list didn't inspire me this year so I didn't do it.

I also do some Booktuber's reading challenges:
-Read Good Challenge: this one has 12 prompts (ideally for each month) but I just complete them as I read them
-Buzzword & Cover Challenge: this also has 12 prompts and the creator added the cover challenge this year for an additional 12 prompts. I've been completing these for the respective months
-Asian read-a-thon: these are 5 prompts during AAPI Heritage Month. I always try to read AAPI books during this month anyways and I find the prompts fun
-HRCYED 2.0: This stands for the Hardest Reading Challenge You'll Ever Do. I discovered this one this year by following a booktuber who does it. It has like 130 prompts and I read more than 150 a year so I thought this was perfect for me. It's unconventional in that it starts July 7 and ends July 6 of next year, but I started it in June and will hopefully finish it in May 2026. I love the push for diversity and the community is great. I'm more than half way through!

On top of that, I have a couple of personal challenges. This year I challenged myself to read at least 20 books off my TBR and 10 books from the 1001 Books list, but I completed these early on in the year so I'll increase the number next year. I do a Travel American Challenge on the side, but I just continue where I left off the previous year, since it's an ongoing challenge.

[Andrea]

Dani wrote: "Hereditary and Weapons. Me and my daughter have gotten into the habit of catching her up with horror movies and it’s really funny watching her reactions. She really doesn’t seem to enjoy them (Hereditary scared her so bad she cried), but insists she wants to watch them. And for added context she’s a particularly wimpy 19 year old, I felt like that made it sound like I was watching scary movies with a small child lol"

I'm also a scaredy cat when it comes to horror movies. I watched Hereditary a couple years ago because I heard the rave reviews, but I had to watch it while hugging a pillow and covering my eyes with it when I anticipated something scary happening, haha, but I made I made it through the movie so yay! I just read the plot to Weapons on Wikipedia, so I would be spared from watching it, lol.

[Sasha]

K.L. wrote: "Good morning, everyone! Happy Thursday!

It's been a busy week, but I've finally had a chance to see the neurologist about the migraines I've been having since the beginning of October. My exam wen..."

Big sympathies on the migraines, K.L. I've been getting them for the past 4-5 years as fun long-term effect of some concussions I had years ago. The prevention meds really help, though (mine is propranolol). I hope the ubrelvy works well for you. Triptan side effects are so horrible, I have to be stern with myself to make myself take them!

[K.L.]

Jennifer W wrote: "I think there's a new blu ray of all the mainstream movies (Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc) along with lesser known titles out. My BF has asked for it for Christmas. I think he said it was like $100, but has something like 20 movies, so that's not so bad."

There is, and Amazon currently has it listed for $84.96! It actually includes a total of 30 movies, which makes the price even better. I actually got this set a while back, and I really like it.

I think some of the streaming services also have these movies in their catalogs, but that might be hit or miss now that Halloween is over. I remember Peacock and Prime Video had some of the movies available.

[K.L.]

Dani wrote: "K.L. wrote: "We have not gotten to those yet but I do agree, they’d probably be a lot less stressful for her. I’ve been saying we should watch the original Nosferatu since we saw the new one in theaters last year (scared her so bad she had to leave the theater for a bit). She’s showing a lot of interested in the “elevated horror” genre probably because that’s what I enjoy and also what seems to be most popular online."

I have not seen Nosferatu (either the original or the recent remake), but it's definitely on my list of movies to watch. I do enjoy a good elevated horror movie as well...though right now I seem to be in my 1980s/90s slasher movie era.

[K.L.]

Sasha wrote: "Big sympathies on the migraines, K.L. I've been getting them for the past 4-5 years as fun long-term effect of some concussions I had years ago. The prevention meds really help, though (mine is propranolol). I hope the ubrelvy works well for you. Triptan side effects are so horrible, I have to be stern with myself to make myself take them!"

Thanks so much, Sasha! They are definitely not a good time! I'm really hoping that the insurance won't make me try a third triptan before they let me start taking ubrelvy, which I've been told can happen. When the side effects are worse than the migraine you started with, it's just not worth it. I'd rather take a couple of Motrin PMs and sleep all day.

[Nadine in NY]

Doni wrote: "HELP! I can't figure out the bird one. I've tried cranes, seagulls, swans, herons, egrets. What the heck are they???..."



LOL first I though they were cranes, then I was convinced they were snow geese. That did not go well for me.

[Sasha]

Life update: My vertigo and nausea have been bad this week, which means I'm behind on the things I wanted to do to clear out the house. I also haven't chased up the surveyors who were supposed to come and inspect the chimneys. I did manage to select an annuity provider, though. Now I'm just waiting for the paperwork to arrive in the post so that we can sign it and return it.

Reading update: I finished six books this week, although they were all quite short:
Eerie Basin - Horror Subgenre Challenge: short story horror
Black Flame - Horror Subgenre Challenge: supernatural
Floral Tarot: Access the Wisdom of Flowers: 78-Card Deck and Guidebook - the guidebook is a proper little paperback, and I'm counting it for Flowers for Your Shelves: Lily
Tracing the Green Dwarfs/Best Chinese Children's Literature - Readers of the Wild Moor: a classic children's book
Orbital - GR Fall bookmarks: Bite-sized
Dinghai Fusheng Records (The Comic / Manhua) Vol. 2 - no prompt, I just love the artwork

Stats:
Disability Pride Challenge: 0 this week, 4/5 total
Readers of the Wild Moor: 1 this week, 27/30 total
GR Fall Bookmarks: 1 this week, 4/9 total
Queer Reads Bracket Challenge: 0 this week, 4/6 total
The German Challenge: 0 this week, 3/10 total
Spanish Titles ABC: 0 this week, 1/26 total
The Great Big Jewish Literature Challenge: 0 this week, 4/21 total
Politics & Philosophy: 0 this week, 5/15 total
Anti-Capitalist Inspiration: 0 this week, 8/30 total
Reading About Writing: 0 this week, 2/40 total
All books finished this year: 6 this week, 153 total
DNF or paused: 0 this week, 22 total

Challenges completed this year:
PopSugar, Pride Season, Star Trek Series, Horror Subgenre, GR Community Favorites, GR Seasonal, GR Summer

Currently reading:
Nowhere Girl: Life as a Member of ADHD's Lost Generation - Disability Pride Challenge: memoir and Anticapitalist Inspiration: body and disability
The Green Dwarf: A Tale of the Perfect Tense - Readers of the Wild Moor: by a Bronte
Death in the Spires - GR Fall bookmark: Community Picks
The Complete Mahabharata - spiritual reading, no prompt
Journey to the West (Chinese Lore podcast) - Discord book club, no prompt

QOTW: I looooove challenges. I'm a little bit addicted, I admit it. Most of them aren't annual, though, they're one-offs, often with no time limit. I use them as a way of reminding myself to read regularly in certain languages or on certain topics.

The only recurring challenges on my list are PopSugar and the GR bookmarks. I used to do Read Harder, but it became a bit too difficult for me after I became ill. I prefer a more moderate level of difficulty, like PS or Readers of the Wild Moor.

[JessicaMHR]

Hello all!

**I'll come back and read everyone's posts but I don't have time right now.**

I just wanted to post about my crazy night last night.

We went from no rain and running out of water last month to now it is just pouring and pouring. So much so that a tree fell on my road last night and it was right at the bottom so no one could come home (it was around 3-330pm, right when people are coming home from work). This of course meant that we had no power until 930 last night while they cleaned up the tree and fixed the lines. So last night it was just me and my nephew and the dog.
My sister had to go stay at her friends house and even my dad went to town and slept at his lady friends house. Luckily we have a generator and I had gas as well to refill it, which I had to after a few hours. It turned out to be very stressful since my nephew was kind of wired and everything was all out of whack so, I was just topped out emotionally and stressed.
When the power went out I had the crockpot cooking dinner and the dryer going plus I was about to put in pizza for my nephew. So I had to plug in the toaster and crockpot once I got the generator started. Luckily I have a huge toaster that you can cook a pizza in.
I was so glad to get him down for sleep even though the generator was running, and loud.

Anyway...

I did have a good few reading weeks. I haven't checked in in a bit so this is from a few weeks.

2025 Challenges:
Popsugar: 48/50
ATY: 50/52 & 9/10
A to Z: 25/26

Goodreads: 204/150
GR WTR: 29/434

Physical TBR: 12/146
Kindle TBR: 1/133
TBR Goal: 13/279

Book Clubs:
PS Monthly: 30/68
Reese: 35/116
Oprah: 15/110
Jenna: 10/83
OSS: 7/39

Finished:
16 Finished, 1 Completed Popsugar

Crave

Blackmail and Bibingka

The Academy
Wow. A different take for Elin but I liked it and can't wait for the next one.

The Strange Tales of Oscar Zahn, Vol. 1: A Graphic Novel

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
I’m still not sure why exactly he choose to use Oscar Wao as the title name when his parts of the story are so minimal. Most of this book was about his elder relatives and their stories.

The Pumpkin Princess and the Forever Night
PS#40-Chosen family

Punycorn and the Princess of Thieves

Blood City Rollers

Gone Before Goodbye
This was really good!

Blood and Chocolate
A reread of a book I read as a teeneager. Didn't enjoy it as much as an adult.

Murder and Mamon

Curse and Reverse
The 5th Witches of Brooklyn. Loved it!

Death in the Dark Woods
This one was good, maybe better than the first.

Exit West
Didn't understand the purpose of the side stories in this book.

The Little Mermaid

The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea
Wow it took me forever to get thru this book. I picked it up because I liked her graphic novels but this was just ok and I had a hard time getting into it.

DNF

-------
Currently Reading
Encanto: Nightmares and Sueños
Ripples & Waves: A Queer Retelling of The Little Mermaid
The Assassin's Blade
Night of the Living Head
After Dark with Roxie Clark
Song of a Blackbird
Guilt and Ginataan
Remain
The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

On the Backburner
Libby
All Boys Aren’t Blue
Fire Exit

Physical Library Rentals
The Mermaid's Tale
Silver Nitrate
Beast of the North Woods
Fable for the End of the World
Recommended Reading
Sunrise on the Reaping
The Queen's Spade
The Green Kingdom
The History of Everything: A Graphic Novel
An Encantadora's Guide to Monstros and Magic
I Felt Myself Slipping
Trans History: A Graphic Novel: From Ancient Times to the Present Day
Witchcraft: A Graphic History: Stories of wise women, healers and magic
Dugout: The Zombie Steals Home: A Graphic Novel
The Makers Club: A Graphic Novel
The Moth Keeper
The Lemonade War
Counting Miracles

Question of the Week:
I've been doing Popsugar and ATY for a few years. A couple years back I tried Book Riot's Read Harder and never finished. I also did the Robot Librarian and Booklist Queen last year. But it got to be so much, too much. So this year I only did Popsugar and ATY. Of course that changed in July when someone on here mentioned HRCYED and now I have also been doing that (It runs from July-June). I'm enjoying it and have really picked up on my reading. About half way through this year I also started paying more attention to the Goodread's bookmarks.

[Nadine in NY]

JessicaMHR wrote: "Hello all!

**I'll come back and read everyone's posts but I don't have time right now.**

I just wanted to post about my crazy night last night.

We went from no rain and running out of water last..."



WOW that is one crazy night!!! You need a vacation after a night like that!


The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
I’m still not sure why exactly he choose to use Oscar Wao as the title name when his parts of the story are so minimal. Most of this book was about his elder relatives and their stories.

I agree, it was an odd title, and an off-putting title, I avoided that book for a while just because I didn't like the title (and because I had heard that Diaz was a sexist jerk). I ended up loving the book.

[Bea]

Hello, y’all.

Finally a nice week for me. A feeling of being at home in myself and competent. Nothing special except that I survived the two nights of freezing and saved some outside plants. I got pine straw burnt, and a new stack moved from front yard to back. And, Darla and I had a good review at the dog training.

Reading is still slow, but I got two books completed and returned timely. I am reading the third that I started and that is due by Saturday. I should have it done on time.

Finished:

The Ardent Swarm – PAS. 3*. This was OK. A book I could set down and leave and whose characters did not grab me. Just interesting.

A Study in Drowning – GR bookmark. 3*. Another book that did not make me want to keep reading. Interesting characters but none that I particularly identified with.

Currently Reading:

Black Hotel: A Supernatural Thriller – Kindle. PAS. 16%.

The Blue Between Sky and Water – PAS. 37%. This one is due with no renewals by Saturday.

Spiritual Reading:

The Imitation of Christ – Devotional reading. 41%

Meditations for Women Who Do Too Much – Bedtime devotional reading. Started Oct. 3. This is more for workaholics than a retired elder, but I am getting something out of it.

Stories of the Spirit, Stories of the Heart: Parables of the Spiritual Path from Around the World – Devotional bedtime reading. 88%

Just Starting:

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle – PS #10 (free). I own this one, and it is awaiting a less demanding library return date on all other books.

The Winter Queen – PAS 1%

On Deck: (library)

All the King's Men – Book Club December

PS 40/50
ATY 39/52
GR 180/200

QotW: Do you complete reading challenges other than the Popsugar annual challenge? If so, what are some of those other challenges?

Yes, I do challenges for PAS (Pick a Shelf), PS, Mount TBR, and ATY.

Mount TBR is a challenge I did last year and this year. It did help me clear out books I owned, particularly on Kindle. However, unlike last year where I progressed from one mountain to the next, this year I have been working on the same mountain (Mt. Ararat – 48 books). I have finished 43, but haven’t updated since the end of August. I really need to do the updating and may even find that I have finished that particular goal. I do not plan to continue this into 2026.

PAS is a group that I help moderate, but for the past 2 years I have been distracted from its challenges due to doing PS and ATY. I had considered dumping ATY, since I enjoy this group so much; but now that all the prompts are out, I found I like the ATY ones better. Still not sure which or either PS/ATY I will attempt. I just know that I want to turn my attention back to PAS.

[poshpenny]

Greetings! I was trying to figure out how I only finished one book since last check-in when I remembered I posted later in the week. (I was also absorbed in my fave KPOP dude's birthday which included a global charity 6K and the premier of an entire fashion line of children's clothes he designed... just for fun.) Plus I'm American so... it's been quite a week. OK here we go!


Finished:
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy - Very sweet - as expected.

Currently Reading: (more or less)
Strange Houses
Katabasis
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
The Busybody Book Club - undecided if I should stop and wait for next year or not. This was easier when the list came out in December and the possible wait was shorter.



Nadine in NY wrote: "Why is the first snowfall always so bad? It's like half of the plow drivers haven't been hired yet and half of the drivers refuse to slow down."

This reminds me of the names that won this year's public contest\vote for snow plows in Portland:
Beverly Clear-y - will clear the road that goes past the Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden in Grant Park and Klickitat Street
The Big Snowplowski
Brrrnside - will oddly not plow Burnside St
Plowy McPlowface
Salt & Thaw - for ice cream shop Salt & Straw

QOTW:
Do you complete reading challenges other than the Popsugar annual challenge? If so, what are some of those other challenges?

I kinda try to do the summer reading challenge at work but that's it