Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Happy Thursday checkin! The glorious cloudless blue sky above me in Michigan is not enough to pull the gloom following me around like Eeyore's raincloud. But news from Popsugar that the 2017 list is finalized and they are merely putting the final touches on the design may be just the distraction I need. (And yes, that actually happened.)

Week 45 progress ... I am still plodding through my "road trip" book. I'm 66% through it and it is not improving. These last handful of prompts are so burdensome. Despite my pledge to get the hard ones out of the way early in the year, somehow it seems that the last ones on the list are a chore. Though, I'm saving "first book you see in a bookstore" for December so maybe Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts 1 & 2 will be a pleasant surprise.

That brings me to the poll for our December group read. Vote for "a book published in 2016" for our December group read.

Question of the week: Since I'm needing a little inspiration, which book do find to be the most uplifting? Is there a book you go to when you just need to feel good?

Can't wait to hear from all of you.

ETA: I closed the thread for 2017 recommendations since the list is finalized. I'll open the discussion thread once we have the actual list. And I'll send a broadcast message to everyone when Popsugar posts it.

I'm at 36/40 I finished "The Road" for my Oprah's Book Club pick last week then read "Go Set A Watchman" for another book club I'm in.

Just started "Cold Mountain" for my National Book Award Winner. Up next in the queue is "The New Canada" which will fill the Set In Your Home State and Political Memoir categories. That only leaves me with a Book Written By a Celebrity.

I think this may be the first year I've ever finished this challenge

For some reason it appears to have deleted the second half of my post.

For the QOTW the book that I find most uplifting: I would probably go for books I call "brain candy". They are usually books that I can burn through in a day and help me get down from whatever book high I'm on from the previous (heavier) book. Nora Roberts books are a favourite; I own a ton and will reread them periodically.

I had a horrible reading week. I only finished Baby Doll and I haven't picked up a book since. I've been catching up on tv shows - somehow my DVR managed to get to 98% so I focused on clearing that up. Priorities, right? Also, 'tis the season for Hallmark holiday movies - they suck me in every time!

I think I'm waving the white flag on the Around the Year challenge so I did some shuffling around and now I'm at 39/41 for popsugar. I used The Last Star for dystopian and used The Stranger for the classic book - both books were in categories for ATY and I completed these books way earlier this year.

This means that I only have two categories left - book recommended by someone I just met and book 100 years older than me. Lets hope I can snap out of this reading slump (if that's what this funk is).

QOTW I don't know if I've read anything uplifting recently. But when I'm in a mood I just want a simple young adult contemporary. The best one of those I read recently is Love & Gelato.

It's been a rollercoaster of a week for me. Trip out of town over the weekend, my birthday and now the fallout from...well, you know. It's been a tense few days.

I finished two books this week:

A Mother's Reckoning: Living in the Aftermath of Tragedy - I'm counting this one as an autobiography. It's more of a memoir, but especially with my second set of prompt books I'm being a little liberal. The idea is to branch out and try new things so it works :)

The Bookshop on the Corner - This is my second book for first book I saw in the bookstore. This book was EXACTLY what I want to read right now to lift my spirits. It's light, hopeful, a little bit of romance and it makes me want to move to Scotland right now :)

I have two books left in the challenge - a political memoir which I have about 100 pages left in and a book about my occupation. I will definitely finish the challenge this month. I am hopeful I will finish it this week.

And Juanita I am completely with you on being puzzled at how two of the hardest categories for me ended up being last! I really tried to knock out the hard ones early.

So I'm at 80/82.

Question of the week: I sort of answered this above, but a light story with some romance (Jenny Colgan) or a magical book (Harry Potter) are good choices for me when I need a boost. My trouble is finding an audiobook from my library that will do the trick. There isn't much available right now that looks promising.

Megan wrote: "I don't know if I've read anything uplifting recently. But when I'm in a mood I just want a simple young adult contemporary. The best one of those I read recently is Love & Gelato..."

Oh, I loved Love & Gelato! I need more books like that :)

Bon jeudi,

Like Juanita and Sara, I tried to keep more fun prompt for the end but didn't manage to do it.

Suprisingly I manage to finish a book this week: Regards et jeux dans l'espace: poésie. It's for the poetry prompt. I was browsing through my husband's shelf on our bookshelf and discover that he has that little book of poetry. Good for me.

I am now at 39/41 with only two left: political memoir and first book you see in a bookstore. For that last one I finally decided to go on a website and look to the first book in a specific category. It will be a fun one.

QOTW: when I want something uplifting I usually go with comic books from my childhood like Archie's, Tintin or Astérix.

I am really excited for the 2017 challenge to be announced! Even though I'm struggling to finish this years, I can't wait to start planning.

This week was not a good reading week. I only finished The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, which I should have stopped reading tbh. It was very difficult to get into. But seeing as I'm strapped for time, I had to choose a shorter one and this was already on my TBR at 160-something pages.

I meant to read The Color Purple, but after the events of the last couple days I feel like it would be too difficult. So I'll have to change my choice for a National Book Award winner.

Question of the week: Since I'm needing a little inspiration, which book do find to be the most uplifting? Is there a book you go to when you just need to feel good?
I love this question as it's been on my mind lately. Definitely Harry Potter.

If anyone is into podcasts, I really recommend Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Each episode covers one chapter, chronologically, of the series. They read through each chapter as a theme: love, white privilege, hope, etc. They have just begun season 2 (Chamber of Secrets).
It's this podcast that made me realize how comforting the HP series is for me.

In light of the last couple days, I have really wanted to pick up Sorcerer's Stone again. But I am part of a read-along that starts in December so I just might have to wait.

Lindi wrote: "If anyone is into podcasts, I really recommend Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Each episode covers one chapter, chronologically, of the series. They read through each chapter as a theme: love, white privilege, hope, etc. They have just begun season 2 (Chamber of Secrets).
It's this podcast that made me realize how comforting the HP series is for me..."

This is amazing! I had no idea this podcast existed! I will have to look it up. I started listening to book 1 yesterday to keep my mind occupied :)

Seeing that the 2017 Popsugar list is finalized was one of the very few things that brought me any relief yesterday. Thanks again to you, Juanita, for leading the charge on it.

I was sick a lot of last week, so I managed to get quite a lot of reading done, including 1 book for this challenge, bringing me to 39/41. I read an ARC of Junior Hero Blues for my "romance set in the future" prompt - it was very cute, and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a light, quick read.

I also finished two books for Read Harder, bringing me to 22/24. I read The Alchemist for "a book published in the decade you were born" and The Second Amendment for "a book about politics in your country." Very glad I finished that one before the election - I definitely wouldn't be able to now.

QOTW: It's not a particularly uplifting book generally, but when I'm sad, I sometimes re-read Ravishing the Heiress, a romance novel I have frequently described as being about good people doing their best to be kind to one another in difficult situations.

I'm on time with my update this week!

Still at 35/41 and slowly making my way through Red Queen for the book half of the a book and it's prequel prompt. Hopefully I'll have it done this weekend.

Harry Potter. Always Harry Potter for comfort. I haven't had time to actually read them in while, but even just reading quotes is comforting in hard times.

I finished two books this week, both for Popsugar.

For a book with 150 pages or less, I read O Pioneers! by Willa Cather. This is such a good book. The author created characters that come alive and the Nebraska prairie setting is almost it's own character. 5 stars.

I read The Story of My Life by Helen Keller for a book by a celebrity. I just couldn't read about a current celebrity. She wrote this book when she was in her early 20s. 4 stars

QOTW: I like mysteries when I'm stressed or sad. Laura Childs has a series of cozy mysteries that I like, The Teashop Mysteries. Death by Darjeeling is the first. I also like any Agatha Christie books as well as Martha Grimes and Louise Penny.

I readA House for Happy Mothers for my book published in 2016 and The Light Between Oceans for my NYT bestseller. I also started Cinder for a book based on a fairy tale and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for another group. Those will both be finished for next week, and hopefully I'll have a few more. I'm so far behind but trying to get caught up!

Yeah, it was a crummy week in the USA. I'm feeling like a zombie now. Which makes it very appropriate that I just started reading Feed!! (This is a book that I'd given up on two years ago, but I'm giving it a second chance.) I've been told there are political machinations as well - perfect!

This week I finished:
Are We There Yet? - a super fun picture book that was short-listed somewhere for Best of 2016 (maybe I got it from GR? I don't remember). My kids are older now so I don't read picture books very often. This one was perfect for anyone who has ever endured an ennnnnndddddless car trip!

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time - my biography for Around the Year. I'd meant to read this during my summer vacation but just ran out of time. It was pretty good. Highly recommended for anyone interested in: the history of science, cartography, time-pieces, plucky inventors, the British Navy, or just generally European history in the 1700s.

Echo Park - I like to try to recreate the old-time Mystery Theater radio show by listening to thrillers and mysteries on audiobook. It's usually great fun for me. I hated this one. I disliked the mystery, really disliked the characters, and I really really REALLY didn't like the reader.

Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders - I borrowed this for the "Monarch of the Glen" novella at the end (for my Around the Year novella), but I really like Gaiman so I read the whole thing. It's a little uneven (like short story collections often are), and surprisingly creepy overall. A good choice for someone looking for a collection of spooky short stories that aren't TOO terrifying.

For my night-time reading, I am STILL struggling through The Lake House. Wow, this is going on three weeks now! I'm not even at the halfway point yet! It's good, but it just puts me right to sleep! I thought this was supposed to be a thriller!

QOTW If I need a pick-me-up, I usually go for a historical romance or the "cotton candy" books (books that are fun but not dense) from the YA-vaguely-scifi genre, like Hex Hall. For me, "Feed" fits this bill, although perhaps a zombie book is not everyone's idea of "uplifting."

I finished two books this week: An Ember in the Ashes (YA best seller) and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk (becoming a movie in 2016), and, with that, I FINISHED THE CHALLENGE!

My new, self-imposed challenge: books set in London. (I've just moved here.)

QOTW: I usually go for beloved books from my childhood -- Anne of Green Gables, Harry Potter -- but, this week, I've found comfort in a poem: "And Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou.

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies.
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Anna wrote: "My new, self-imposed challenge: books set in London. (I've just moved here.)"

How fun! I inadvertently read A LOT of books set in London! Two of the books I'm reading right now are set in London: Career of Evil (I just love this series, I love Cormoran Strike, and this is shaping up to be the best one yet!), and The Lake House which takes place in both Cornwall and London, and I just finished two Sherlock Holmes books. Given a few minutes, I could find a whole bunch more that I've read this year alone. And of course one of my all-time favorite books, Neverwhere is set in a fictional London Underground that I think must be a lot of fun for someone who knows the area, because he plays with place names a lot (there are friars in Blackfriars, an angel named Islington, etc).

Also, I love that Angelou poem. Perfect.

All I finished this week was the audio of Eggs, Beans and Crumpets for the Fall challenge book with food in the title. This is also my answer to the

QTOW: P.G. Wodehouse, especially when read by Jonathan Cecil. He does a far better job with the cadence of the slang and idioms than my modern American brain could. The language of Wodehouse's books never fails to delight me.

“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” - The Code of the Woosters

“I'm not absolutely certain of my facts, but I rather fancy it's Shakespeare -- or, if not, it's some equally brainy lad -- who says that it's always just when a chappie is feeling particularly top-hole, and more than usually braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with a bit of lead piping.” - My Man Jeeves

I finally finished a book, which I haven't done since July! I only have two more books to go and a good amount of time to read them.

I finished Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. It was okay. I had a hard time finishing it due to all the hecticness in my life as of late. But every time I saw it on my nightstand I had no desire to pick it up. This was for the prompt about a culture I'm unfamiliar with and, yep, it was different. Not only the Greek culture, but also the hermaphrodite culture. What I did like about it was how the author tied up all the story lines with story lines that occurred earlier in the story. Well written.

Now I will finally ready Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. My daughter has already read it, LOVED it, talked me into seeing the moving even though I hadn't read it yet. She's on book 2 and I am starting book 1. I liked the movie and it'll be interesting reading it now that I've seen the movie. Should be a quick read.