Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Rachel mentioned this in the other discussion and I thought it was a great idea and so I'm starting a new conversation: things we *don't* want in next year's challenge. If on any chance the Popsugar people look at this, I think some *polite* *constructive* *well-intended* criticism can be good feedback as to what is and isn't working. If they don't, well we can all commiserate together.

My major "Popsugar Please Don't"s are:

1.) No internal repeats. Mythical creature and about mythology are too similar. If you don't read a lot of books like that, it can be hard to find two books that interest you. If you do read a lot of those books, then you have two gimme's and that's less fun.

2.) If you're going to use a specific list (Top 100 Whatever, A-Lister's Favorite Books, Prestigious Award X, etc) consider not just the number of books on that list but also the variety of books on that list. Picking a short list has obvious problems in terms of everybody finding something they like, but long lists can also be problematic if they don't have a lot of variety. For example, the Pulitzer Prize has a lot of books, but they're not exactly wildly different.

I would prefer if they limited repeats to every couple years (with exceptions for things like a book released this year). So next year I hope to not see any that we're on this years list. I like a combo of broad and specific categories, but I agree with the less overlap the better. Ex I found book you loved as a child and book that always makes you smile were too similar, the mythology ones, the best seller from a genre you don't normally read and genre or sub genre you've never heard of.
And the fewer book retreads the better, I don't mind one but I don't want to reread lots of books and I definitely don't want to read anything I already didn't like (like finishing a dnf or reading a book you were supposed to but didn't).

Thanks, Jackie! I definitely agree with your points. Lists are great sometimes, but they are not necessarily any easier!

I would also like to request that we avoid some of the very common prompts that tend to show up frequently, such as:
- A book becoming a movie this year
- A book published the year you were born
- A book set in a place you've visited or would like to visit. Or even a country you've never visited. I feel like these have all been done repeatedly.
- A book originally written in a language other than English
- A book by an author with your initials

I'm also not generally a fan of prompts requiring you to ask for recommendations from others, although I know these tend to be very popular. Most of my friends are not big readers so I don't have many people to ask, and I'm not really comfortable asking a stranger (except maybe online?).

The same goes for prompts that ask you to read a book that you see someone else reading in public, since it assumes you are going places where you are likely to see people reading, and especially reading something that you might be interested in. I'm all for prompts that push you outside your comfort zone a little, but I don't want to read something just for the sake of crossing an item off the list if I have no interest at all.

I don't mind the color of a cover prompt but don't like the spine colour. I don't read books with spines. Plus, I feel like the colour of the spine has little to do with the book, though the colour of the cover may set the tone or be significant somehow.

I don't want anything based on where I live such as a book from your hometown or state.

Rachel wrote: "I would also like to request that we avoid some of the very common prompts that tend to show up frequently,"

I agree with Rachel's list, for the most part -- but I like including a translated book (perhaps tweaked to "originally published in a different language," to account for those of us who aren't native English speakers.) It's generally broad enough that everyone can find something that interests them, and it brings in a different perspective.

Also seconding (thirding/thousandthing) the dislike of similar prompts within the same year, like the mythology prompts this year.

I think I've seen this is other threads, but I didn't love the prompt "A book you bought on a trip." About 95% of the books I read are library books, and I really don't buy books often, let alone on trips, so I don't like feeling obligated to buy a book.
I agree with the similar/repeat prompts as have already been discussed, too.

Robyn wrote: "I think I've seen this is other threads, but I didn't love the prompt "A book you bought on a trip." About 95% of the books I read are library books, and I really don't buy books often, let alone o..."

I agree! I can generally remember where I purchased every single one of my books and none of them were while I was "on a trip." Unless I decide to define "on a trip" as "on a trip to the bookstore."

Its tough to please everyone, but I'd say please don't make us read a book over 800 pages again :(

^Megan's comment. Times a thousand.

In 2015, it was a book over 500 pages. In 2016, it was 600. This year it's 800.

This is not a trend I'd like to see continue. Encouraging us to read a long book is fine, but you don't need to keep upping the ante.

Seconding the request for no more "book based on a movie coming out this year" prompts!

I'm not a fan of the 800-page book prompt on this year's advanced list. There are some 500- and 600-page books I might tackle because of a reading list prompt, but I don't know of any 800-page books I've been meaning to read and can't imagine there are many to choose from. Printing a book with that many pages would be so cost-prohibitive that I doubt many publishers are inclined to deal with a book of that size.

I dislike any prompts that require me to re-read a book.

To add a new "un-suggestion" to this list, I think it would be great if the Popsugar folks could look at the Around the World in 52 Books Goodreads group and check out their 2018 challenge that is almost completed at the moment. As someone mentioned on the suggestions thread, I think there are a lot of people who do both challenges & would hate to have a lot of duplicates between the two. Since that challenge should be completely formed either by tomorrow or by sometime next week, it would be fairly easy to check it out and try to make sure that there aren't a ton of same/similar prompts between the two. I only did the GR challenge this year, but I found the AtY52 group later & have joined them in creating their 2018 challenge, and look forward to participating. It won't be as much fun to complete either challenge if there are lots of the same prompts.

I also agree with many of the opinions listed above. I especially agree with trying not to repeat any suggestions from the 2017 challenge, and trying not to have very similar prompts on the same challenge (see the mythology/mythological creature posts - I don't care for mythology anyway, so to have to read two this year was rough).
I also don't really like the re-read a book prompts (your childhood favorite, one that never fails to make you smile, a book that got you hooked on reading, etc.).
I agree that the prompts that require people to read a book they purchased is something that a lot of people can't/don't want to do. I don't mind it, but I know a lot of people don't like to buy books, or just plain can't afford to spend their money on books.

I have to agree with the "color of spine" book. I tend to do either ebooks or audible, neither of which show the spine color.

I also agree with the complaints of multiple similar theme prompts per year.

I also dislike requirements for books of a certain length... either short or long. Again, I tend to do audio books (I travel a lot in my car so that's how I get my challenges done) and it's inconvenient to look up a book and see "28 hours" then have to find it on amazon or elsewhere to see if it meets the page requirements.

Books that take place in your hometown/state can be difficult (worse if you are from a country other than the US).

Jessica wrote: "I'm not a fan of the 800-page book prompt on this year's advanced list. There are some 500- and 600-page books I might tackle because of a reading list prompt, but I don't know of any 800-page book..."

There are plenty of 800+ page books out there! But I understand where you're coming from if you're just not interested in the subject matter.

In line with disliking the spine color prompt, I would say I would prefer no prompts that can't be researched online. My library has a ton of branches (and can also get any book in the state), so most books I want aren't at my home branch, and I wasn't about to make them send a whole selection and hope I got lucky on spine color! I think this still allows for doing things beyond the cover (like the 2018 book with a map prompt for AtY is fine because it's usually easy to check the beginning pages of a book on Amazon to verify) but would take away the chance element.

I'd also be happy to avoid prompts that require an extra step (going on a trip, getting something from a used book sale, certain recommendations). None of the ones this year would a problem for me, but they could've been, and it seems better to confine prompt fulfillment to the bookish world. Recommended by a librarian wasn't really a favorite, but since I could do that online without having to *ugh* talk to a real person, I'd be okay with something like that.

I would also like if we could away from the retelling prompts, whether it's called a "retelling" or "based on" or "inspired by". I feel like I had a lot of these prompts this year across challenges, and I'm just not a fan. Though perhaps this is because most of them with mythology related, which I'm not a big fan of either and I really had to dig to find multiple ones to try.

Love this thread :)

I am not a fan of the specific format prompts. If they put another graphic novel prompt on next years (as they did the previous couple years) I will likely skip it. That is simply NOT an appealing format for me. It's like this year's audiobook one. While I have no issues with audio format I know some people that really don't like it.

Also no celebrity based prompts. I detest most celebrity books, and I have read my fill thank you very much.

Please no more career advice or self-help.

While I've done ok with the high page number prompts (I usually read a couple big books every year), I too am concerned that they will continue to raise it!

I definitely agree about avoiding prompts that require an extra step, especially when that step involves travelling somewhere or requiring you to buy a book.

I also don't want anything set in my hometown/province/state etc. It's been done before, and depending where you live, the options are not always very exciting.

This is a great idea!

No very narrow geographical locale ones like home town. Participants live all over the world fron a town in Alaska with population 300 (guaranteed no book set there) to a city like Paris, France.

If use a prize, celebrity or club list, make sure it is big and varied, maybe include finalists not just winners. Last year I struggled to find a book on Oprah's List that I had not already read (most of them) or tried to read or could not be paid to read.

I did not mind the audiobook prompt even though I don't personally really like them for various reasons. I do like some, and there is nothing better when driving or traveling. But 3 friends who participate resented that prompt because they hate audiobooks - even though not one of them has ever listened to one.

No author with same name or initials. Again too narrow or difficult to find in some cases.

Otherwise I was able to interpret prompts in ways that worked. A book bought on a trip was a book bought in a bookstore in a part of the city not ususally visited, the used book prompt filled with a book read first by a friend or family member then 'sold' to you for a penny. Career advice did not have to be for your current career, but anyone's career or a former career. I like that challenge prompts make one think creatively.

Theresa I used career advice loosely too. I am a home maker at the moment but I read Sonia sotomayors book and counted it because she has some good advice for aspiring lawyers and judges, even though I am not one.

I asked my reading group this question (as we are doing the challenge too)

And the big ones that came back were:

No more Career advice or Self-help
No more books from genre you don't read/heard of - as one member said "there is a reason I don't read that genre"
No more Political Memoirs.

Kristina wrote: "No more Political Memoirs"

Yeah - I hated that one too

Tara wrote: "Theresa I used career advice loosely too. I am a home maker at the moment but I read Sonia sotomayors book and counted it because she has some good advice for aspiring lawyers and judges, even thou..."

Great idea, Tara! Wish I'd thought of it. One retired friend participating in the challenge read a book about knives written by a chef, considering it career advice for anyone who aspires to be a professional cook or chef. Thought that was another great idea.

I read Anne LaMotte's 'Bird by Bird', considering it a primer on writing anyone can use because no matter what you do, from mom/homemaker (like you) to lawyer (like me) you need to write from time to time.

I'm at the point in my career that I am writing/giving career advice. But I am fascinated by creative process. That's why I went with 'Bird by Bird'. Plus it had been in my TBR for a long time.

Agreed on the genre/subgenre never heard of, but not for same reason. The problem I had with this is that finding a genre or subgenre I had never heard about was impossible! I cruise bookstores, read reviews, read blogs about reading and books, go to author signings, know publishers - I hear/know about everything. Ultimately did a bit of a cheat, considering a book I read for a Scandinavian Summer Reading Challenge as from a subgenre I never heard of -- one of the few fantasy novels from Scandinavia translated into English...

I see many have commented both here and on the 'suggest prompt list' on how they don't like best sellers or find it difficult to pick a best seller because they don't interest them or for other reasons. I can understand that but 'best seller' is not just one list. If you like mysteries, you can look at a list of current mystery best sellers, ditto for fantasy, horror, any genre, for any time period.

There are all kinds of best seller lists - from NYTimes, to local newspapers, to bookstores, to Amazon, to reading group, to whatever. As long as the prompt is a generic 'best seller' you can pick it from any 'best seller list' you find. Google is your friend.

Just want to chime in with a comment about prompts requiring re-reading books.

I too basically do not like re-reading books, except for one or two exceptions (what I call 'comfort reads') which are not true re-reads but more visiting favorite moments in beloved books.

HOWEVER, I have in the last few years discovered the benefits of reading again certain books from my youth, specifically teens and twenties, that I may not have liked all that much or failed to grasp what was remarkable about them, or just don't remember all that well - - like The Great Gatsby, any Hemingway, Play It as It Lays -- only to discover that I was far too young, with far too little life experience, to appreciate them. If I had not re-read them, I would always claim I hated them. Instead, by re-reading them now, I have been led on a new journey, into a new appreciation, of these authors and their works.

So while I don't want a lot of prompts mandating re-reading, I do think there is real value in having to do it occasionally, and it does expand your reading, by adding back in an author you may have abandoned or slotted into the 'never to be read again' category.

Or not.

I just ignored the best seller thing and decided if I'd heard a lot of buzz for a book that was sufficient.

I suppose if the book is hanging around your house you bought it at some point?

I used to buy far too many books. Even moving continents didn't stop me. But with two young children, kindle just works better. I almost never touch my paper books any more and can't see them being a convienent option for a few years at least.

Theresa wrote: "Just want to chime in with a comment about prompts requiring re-reading books.

I too basically do not like re-reading books, except for one or two exceptions (what I call 'comfort reads') which ar..."

I wonder if the way to go is just make this a general prompt: reread a book and tell us what prompted you to reread it. I can think of a number of possibilities: reread a book you hated as a younger person, comfort reread, reread for a book club, reread because the movie/tv series is coming out, reread with your child, reread because the next in the series is out and you can't recall the previous books, reread because you loved it, reread for a class, accidental reread because you forgot you'd already read it, etc.

This is an awesome thread. I totally agree about the similarities "based on mythology/ mythological creature" example.

The career advice one was a big downer for me. I usually read a few business books each year but career advice was too narrow. And I know I read more nonfiction than a lot of our members.

The 800 pager? Oy. Not my thing. At. All.

Chinook wrote: "I wonder if the way to go is just make this a general prompt: reread a book and tell us what prompted you to reread it. ..."

I love this idea!

Closing this thread. Thanks everyone for the suggestions!