Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

I am reading , which is a just-released book detailing my hometown's financial failings. *sigh* Is it any surprise I've found it a difficult subject to dive into? This is for my "takes place in your home state" challenge. Oddly I was focused on finding a novel for this category and when Detroit Resurrected was released it was like a light bulb went off. I've passed the 100 page mark now and expect to finish it for the weekend.

For that reason, no prompts/reading progress to report for last week. I got depressed with Detroit Resurrected: To Bankruptcy and Back and picked up , a YA book I've had my eye on for some time. I read it in two days and it was a "meh" read.

I have several books I'm waiting on at the library for challenge prompts. One of my hold requests became available yesterday and, of course, it was the one I wanted to take the longest (my book club's pick which I like to read closer to our meeting and not a month ahead of time). That one also doesn't satisfy a prompt.

In other news, was voted as our group read for the June challenge. Not a lot of folks voted. I'll open another thread to discuss that.

Question of the week: Are you in a book club? If so, how does your club pick the books it reads? If not, why not?

My awesome book club meets tonight so it's top of mind for me. We're called "Must Love Dogs" because we all bonded at work talking about our dogs and books. When we realized we liked similar books and we wanted to be in a book club, we formed. I think we're in year 4. There are six of us and we rotate each month with a different member selecting the book we read. There are few rules to which book you choose. We tend to put it out for a straw vote so if someone has strong feelings that they don't want to read a book a different book may be selected. More often, we go with the recommendation right off the bat.

Is it a sad reflection on my life that I look forward to Thursdays when I can post my book accomplishments for the week? :)

I finished two books this past week:

One Plus One by Jojo Moyes for my book about a road trip. I enjoyed this book. One thing I have liked about most of her books is that the characters are just average, every day people. No beauty queens, high fashion, super wealthy (well ok, Ed WAS super wealthy). Makes them more relatable since I am not a beauty queen, high fashion wealthy girl either :)

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon for my book recommended by someone I just met. Great book. In a lot of ways it's typical of a YA, but it had a few surprises.

I will not be participating in the group read for June. For one thing, I read The Girl on the Train last year, and honestly I didn't really like it. I don't plan to see the movie either. Hope those who participate enjoy it!

I'm choosing books for my beach vacation next month. I hope to knock out a couple of prompts while relaxing to the sounds of the waves :)

Question of the week: I am not in a book club, but I think it would be awesome to be in one. I think there's one at my local library, but the thought of dropping myself into a group of complete and total strangers to discuss books is a bit intimidating!

Week 20. 59% -- 24 out of 41 done.

2 books finished this week, one of which qualifies for a prompt.

This week I also weeded out my "currently reading" list. I got rid all of the books that I hadn't cracked in the last month. I am now down to 10 books on my "currently reading" list.

The book I finished this week was Contact by Carl Sagan. I was reading it for an on-line science fiction book club, but it also qualified for the "1001 Books To Read Before You Die" challenge. But I listed it under the prompt "a book by a celebrity" because back in the 1980s Carl Sagan was a BIG celebrity.

The next book I hope to finish is The Guns of August by Barbara W. Tuchman for a National Book Award winner.

The prompts I have left are a National Book Award winner; a book you haven't read since high school; a book set in your home state; a book that's becoming a movie this year; a book recommended by someone you just met; a self-improvement book (dreading this one); a political memoir; a book from Oprah's book club; a graphic novel; a book with a protagonist who has your occupation; a book and its prequel; a dystopian novel; a book of poetry; the first book you see in a bookstore; an autobiography; a book about a road trip

Question of the week: Are you in a book club? If so, how does your club pick the books it reads? If not, why not?

I used to belong to a local book club, but I don't drive so I found it hard to get out there. So, now, I am in 1 book club via Yahoo! Groups and the following here on Goodreads:

2016: A Dance to the Music of Time
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

21st Century Literature
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Agatha Christie Lovers
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Classic Trash
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Classics for Beginners
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Cozy Mysteries
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Good Reads Choice Awards Book Club
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Gothic Literature
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Guardian Newspaper 1000 Novels
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

J.D. Robb
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Mysteries & Crime Thrillers
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Science Fiction Aficionados
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Space Opera Fans
https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Sara wrote: "Is it a sad reflection on my life that I look forward to Thursdays when I can post my book accomplishments for the week? :)"

I hope not because then it means my life is sad too because I constantly check to see who has posted once I've opened the thread. Book nerds unite!

Juanita wrote: "Book nerds unite!"

Yes! Even my reader friends don't read as much as I do (well, except for my niece). Their eyes glaze over when I talk books too much. You guys are awesome :)

I love checking in with you guys!

I'm at 17/41. I finished my road trip book - Amy & Roger's Epic Detour - I loved it a lot and I like listening to the soundtrack that they have on Spotify for it. Added to the book reading experience.

I'm working on two books right now - one ebook and one physical book since one day this week I left my Ipad at work (that sinking feeling when I opened my purse to get it and read and saw it wasn't there...ugh)

After You is my ebook - I'm not sure where I'm going to fit this in. I might just use it for the other challenge even though I don't think I'm doing that one anymore due to my slow progress.

Thanks for the Memories - I have had this physical book on my shelf for a while. Decided to pick it up and I am going to use it for my book set in Europe. I am enjoying it a lot but I have to read After You first since its due back at the library in just four short days.

Question of the week: Are you in a book club? If so, how does your club pick the books it reads? If not, why not?

No, I'm not in a book club. I know my library has them available and sometimes I glance at what they are reading when I go in for craft night. Maybe in the future I'll join but right now I'm content at just reading what I want whenever I want.

I finished two books this week: Black and White and Dead All Over for my "protagonist with your profession" and All the Birds in the Sky for my "romance set in the future" Brings me to 24/41.

I've started I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban for my autobiography, and I'm about halfway through The Library at Mount Char, which may not qualify for a prompt.

I, too, am sitting out the June group read -- I read Girl on the Train last year, and didn't really care for it. (I'm thinking The Girl with All the Gifts or Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk for my list.)

As for book clubs, I haven't been in one for a while. But I was once in one where all the members liked to travel, so we selected books based on the location of the trip that was closest to the next meeting. The book either had to be set in that place or by someone who was from there. I thought that was a fun way to do it.

Hit 30 books! Finished A Murder Is Announced for a book guaranteed to bring me joy (because I'd been trying to squeeze another Miss Marple onto the list), and Attachments for a protagonist with my occupation. It baaaarely fit that category, but there is a serious lack of books about accounts payable clerks, so I had to go with "someone who works in an office with lots of spare time." XD

Did we already vote on the June group read? I must have missed that.

I finished 3 books this week, but they were all for other challenges, so I'm still at 25/41.

I'm about halfway through the audiobook of If You Could Be Mine for "a book about a culture you're unfamiliar with." I'm really enjoying it! The performer is fantastic, and it's short enough that I don't think I'll get bored listening to it. Hope to finish it up in the next couple of days.

I also started Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts for "a book set in Europe," and I like it, but I'm having a hard time making myself pick it up for some reason. I'm hoping that will change once I get a bit further into it.

Question of the week: I wish I were in an real-life book club, but since most of my friends are still students, it's hard to get any of them to read anything that isn't assigned/for their own research. Honestly, I think of this group as my book club - I love hearing what other people are reading! I check these posts throughout the week when I've got downtime at work.

I am at 18/41. I actually finished The Girl on the Train this week for my book recommended by a stranger. But I look forward to taking part in the discussion next month for it. I had mixed feelings and I'd like to see what others thought. It's not my usual genre of choice.

QOTW: I wish I was in a book club too. I work from home so I don't get out much except to visit family. My friends and I started a book club on Facebook when we were all reading The Fault in our Stars at the same time but it quickly fizzled out. This is the closest I have to a book club.

Anna wrote: "I finished two books this week: Black and White and Dead All Over for my "protagonist with your profession" and All the Birds in the Sky for my "romance set in the fu..."

Girl With All The Gifts is really good!!

Two books read this week:

✅20. A science-fiction novel: Hervé Jubert, Sinedeis , J'ai Lu, 1999.

I'm not that much into SciFi; had that book on my shelves; was looking for a French book for that prompt. Read it; was quickly over; end of story!

✅23. A book that is published in 2016: Eric Hazan, Une traversée de Paris , Seuil, 2016.

An excellent non-fiction book, a walk across the city interspersed with bits of trivia, memories, and personal reflexion. Great read.

Now 39/82; 4 books currently being read. Slightly worried about a few categories; we'll see!

QOTW: nope; book clubs aren't really a thing in France anyway. As our friend Thegirlintheafternoon (love that nick!) just said, you guys are my book club!

I have some catching up to do. I just started this challenge last week and listed some of the books I've read so far this year. Hopefully, I've placed them in the correct categories. I like the variety.

I'm 16/41 now.
I finished Big Stone Gap for my book set in your home state. It was seriously like a little taste of home. I was born about an hour from the Big Stone Gap area and moved away when I was 11, but it's always been home and reading it transported right back to my hometown. If it weren't for that I'm not sure I would liked it.
I also read about half of The Green Glass Sea for the May challenge/A book recommend by a stranger. I'm enjoying it so far!

I'm not in a book club because I've always found it hard to find one that matches with my reading interests, but this challenge has helped me branch out more so my interests have changed and I might try again to find one.

This week, I read Us as my book set in Europe. This brings me to 17/41.

I'm not in a book club because I don't think I'd have the time to devote to actually going to meetings, and I also don't like to read books when I feel "forced" to. Even books that I had to read for school were usually something I didn't like at first, but really liked when I read it again later on my own, without the time pressure or the "analyze this to death" problem.

Also, I'm pretty shy in person and I hate group discussions in bigger groups. Maybe a small book club of 3 or 4 other people would be okay, but I like reading on my own schedule and discussing online anyway.

I am working on my last two tasks. A book at least 100 years older than you: My Lady Ludlow by Elizabeth Gaskell. A book that has been translated A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman.

I am in a goodreads group book club. We play a 20 questions game to pick the book. There is a bookshelf with books to pick from that members have added. The person who won the last round gets to pick the next months book. So the game works that once the book has been picked you get to ask a yes or no question. If the answer is yes that person gets to ask another question until they get a no (if you get a no once the game is solved you add a book to the bookshelf). Then someone else get ask a question. This continues until the someone figures out the book. Then anyone in the group who wants to read the book posts their thoughts with spoiler marks as they read the book. No pressure to participate if one is not interested in that book.

Two books down. The Grace of Yes for my self help book, though I didn't find it very helpful. For a religious text though, I found the author very likeable and real. For my road trip book I read Have Mother Will Travel and it was amazing. Much more helpful and inspirational. It's the first book I've ever wanted to highlight. So so good.

Oh and I'm not currently in a book club. When I visit family I always crash my mom's though. I tend to like books that are a little different than typical book club reads so I've never felt compelled to join. But j would love to have a social group that loves books as much as I do.

I'm in a bookclub since October last year. Most of the members were strangers to me. Our ages are very different too. That makes it even more interesting. The way someone who has lived trough WOII reads a book about the war is totally different than someone whose parents weren't even born at that time (I live in Europe). We pick books from a list an organisation to which we belong makes. They make reading guides for the books as well, with questions which evoke discussions. This is a bit like being in school, but it makes you look at the book different.

Currently I'm reading The girl on the train (19/41). I too find it difficult to relate to the protagonist.

Sara wrote: "Is it a sad reflection on my life that I look forward to Thursdays when I can post my book accomplishments for the week? :)"

LOL I hope it's not sad, because I'm the same!!!

This week I finished NO books for the Challenge, so I am still at 38/41.

I'm currently reading my "book set in my home state (NJ)" which is Americanah, and I'm really enjoying it (as I knew I would! this was a book i was going to read no matter what), but while it starts in NJ, so far most of it is not in NJ, so I may end up picking another book for this task.

I did finish two books for the BookRiot Read Harder Challenge this week, and I really enjoyed both of them so I recommend them:
Alif the Unseen (for book set in the Middle-East)
Men Explain Things to Me (for feminism)

QotW: Juanita wrote: "My awesome book club meets tonight so it's top of mind for me. We're called "Must Love Dogs" because we all bonded at work talking about our dogs and books."

I used to be in a Book Club, and I really enjoyed it because we met in my favorite downtown pub. We had a "leader" who would suggest a theme for each month (like, mystery, or best seller, or classic, or book made into a movie, etc) and then we would make suggestions, and all the members would vote on the group website. But our "leader" moved away, membership gradually changed, the books they were voting on became perpetually depressing (it became a private joke with myself, I would look at the suggestions for the month, find the most depressing book, and sure enough each time that's the book that was chosen), and members decided they didn't want to meet in that pub anymore, so ... I lost interest.

Two friends and I tried to start our own bookclub, but we left it too unstructured and eventually it sort of fizzled out.

For now, I remain bookclub-free, because it turns out I don't like reading a book that someone tells me to read, I like being given a category and then picking my own book. But I enjoy the little community we have here, this is fun! Someday I'd like to find a nice bookclub to join again, either on GR or IRL. Juanita, your club of coworkers and dog-lovers sounds perfect!

Nadine wrote: "For now, I remain bookclub-free, because it turns out I don't like reading a book that someone tells me to read, I like being given a category and then picking my own book. "

I like the way you phrased that, Nadine. That's how I would probably feel if I was in a book club. It sounds like so much fun (who wouldn't want to be in a club all about books??), but I would much rather read what I want.

I was in a Yahoo group years ago for the Outlander series. It was really well structured. One person would volunteer to lead the discusssion on a chapter or two, and the regulars did a great job of adding insightful comments on the story, but I had trouble keeping up with the reading especially after my daughter was born. I think it has disbanded now, but it was fun for a while.

Nadine wrote: "Juanita, your club of coworkers and dog-lovers sounds perfect!"

We are pretty awesome! Yesterday was the first meeting we've had in six months with everyone in attendance. One of our members moved to California (from Michigan) last fall, another is in grad school and another started teaching at the college level. We had a great time.

In addition to being coworkers, we were (at the time) all writers in the Corporate Communications department at our company. Now four of us have moved to different positions or opportunities. One of our members wrote an ebook , which talks about our club quite a bit. Kind of fun if you're interested in starting a book club.

I am almost halfway done with Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance by Barack Obama. It's a bit wordy, but interesting at the same time. When I'm reading it, I imagine his voice reading it to me. :) Since this book is on my Kindle and my battery died, I started a second book, which I NEVER do. I started Clutterfree with Kids by Joshua Becker. This is for my self-improvement prompt. I would love to be a minimalist, hence the reason for choosing this book. I hope to make some improvements in this area! Hopefully next weekend I'll have both of these books completed.

I am one of the few who voted for Girl on the Train. It seems people either love it or hate it. I wonder where I will fall.

QOTW: I use to be in a book club and we met at a restaurant monthly. We took turns choosing a book. We started off talking about the book, very unstructured discussion, and then moved on to life. Over time we were spending less and less time discussing the book, until one day we decided to stop calling it a book club and just meet monthly to enjoy each other's company. We no longer do that, but I sure enjoyed it.

anja wrote: "... I started Clutterfree with Kids by Joshua Becker. This is for my self-improvement prompt. ..."

I'm looking for a good book on how to get rid of clutter (I could almost feature on Hoarders - I have a problem!) but probably there is no one book that can change my patrack ways. Goodreads says "Paperback, 1, 197 pages" - that little space after the comma has me wondering: is it really 1,197 pages? or is it just 197 pages and the "1," was a mistake? Because ... holy cow, 1000+ pages about how to declutter? sounds like the author needs to declutter his book!

Nadine wrote: "Goodreads says "Paperback, 1, 197 pages" - that little space after the comma has me wondering: is it really 1,197 pages? or is it just 197 pages and the "1," was a mistake? Because ... holy cow, 1000+ pages about how to declutter? sounds like the author needs to declutter his book!."

I would say it's only 197 pages. I haven't read this book, but I read another of his, Simplify: 7 Guiding Principles to Help Anyone Declutter Their Home and Life, and it was less than 50 pages I think.

anja wrote: "I am one of the few who voted for Girl on the Train. It seems people either love it or hate it. I wonder where I will fall.
"

I agree, @anja. I really enjoyed TGOTT, but many hated it. No middle ground with that one. Hope you will enjoy it.

This week, I finished reading Seriously... I'm Kidding for book by a comedian and Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation for a book that brings me joy (it did!). I also read Frankenstein, but it didn't count in this challenge. I started The Girl in the Jitterbug Dress, a historical fiction novel written by a local author, but it doesn't fit any categories either. At least not any empty ones!
As for the question of the week...
I joined Goodreads Book Vipers book club in January 2015 after I finished my masters degree and had time to read for pleasure! We read three books a month: classic fiction, contemporary fiction, and non-fiction. Books in each category are nominated. Those seconded go to the polls. Then we vote. I love it because it keeps me from getting into a reading rut, and I have read some amazing books that I would never have known about, much less read!
In the Book Vipers club, I'm also doing a Book Hunter challenge. We had to find "planted" words in a word find, then read books with those words in the title. Then my daughter challenged me to do the Popsugar challenge with her, and I said yes. Then a local person posted on a facebook page about wanting to start a book-to-movie club where we would nominate and vote on books that have been made into movies. We just started in May, and our first book is In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex. We'll be viewing the movie at the end of the month.
I've read 28 books so far this year. Twenty-one fit into Popsugar prompts.