Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A book you think your best friend would like.

This was the sneak peek from last night, and it's polarizing. For readers who have reading friends, this is perfect! For readers who don't really have a "best friend" it's more difficult, and maybe then we become each other's best friends.

Since this is a bit unique for each reader, I did not create a Listopia for this category, but if you all think it would be helpful, I'll set one up.

I always tell my six year old nephew that he's my best friend so I might re-read some Roald Dahl with him for an easy option

Nadine- I am 82 and my "best friends" are gone but I love Sarah's idea and will choose a book one of my granddaugters would read. She usually likes the same books as I do. She has already claimed my books and bookshelves when I am gone.

I think best friend can be open to interpretation. It could be a best friend from childhood, a fictional best friend (as in your favourite character), a pet, a relative, an online friend, whoever you want.

I'm using my boyfriend because he is also my best friend. Unfortunately we don't have the same taste in books at all, and it only overlaps a little bit. We've been together for so long that it feels like I have found and read all the books that we both like, but new books are being published all the time. He doesn't have to actually like it, I just have to think he'd like it. :)

When I saw this prompt I knew immediately what I was going to read. My BFF is a big reader and we have some crossover but when I saw this prompt Vampire Academy sprung to my mind as being the perfect book for this prompt. She loves all the various vampire books and shows.

I got some general category ideas from my two closest friends. Please chime in if you know something great that fits these categories.

A Sherlock Holmes story (I've read all the Doyle ones, so something from the pastiches or Baker Street Irregulars would work)
A book about Lincoln
A book that delves into history generally not taught in the US
A book in the David Sedaris vein
A book about a musician or classical composer

Probably something my partner would like, business books (especially failures like Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup, classic sci-fi set on earth, sci-fi with a technical aspect (like The Martian), Dickens or Nevil Shute. Yeah, it's an odd bunch.

Reasonable Doubt - an Aussie true crime book, which is probably the only genre my sister and I share a taste in :P

This was really challenging. I don't have a lot of friends who read the way I do. But, my best friend is Wiccan and when she does read she reads mostly nonfiction books studying Wiccan culture and Celtic myths and other folklore, so I think I'm going to pick something within my anthropological interests that also relates to folklore.

Um...In all seriousness, I don’t have a best friend. I don’t have *any* friends. So what do I do?

Megan wrote: "Um...In all seriousness, I don’t have a best friend. I don’t have *any* friends. So what do I do?"

A couple of options:

1) You are your own best friend, so go with what you like. Rather tongue-in-cheek, but it works! Or you could choose a 5-star book from one of your GR friends or one recced in other topics here.
2) If you’re close to any of your relatives or you have a partner, you could pick a book you think they’d like, or a book related to one of their jobs/interests
3) Choose a book about a pair/group of best friends
4) As the old saying goes, ‘diamonds are a girl’s best friend’.
5) Choose a fictional character you wish you could be friends with, and choose a book you think they might like
6) Read a book related to your pet(s) if you have any.

With no real life reading friends I’ll probably go with something one of my IG friends has already read and enjoyed.

I don't really have a best friend. So I'm going to read a book "related" to my cat - A History of Art in 21 Cats (I saw it on a bookstore at the end of last year and have been wanting to read it ever since)

Thinking a bit on it, I sometimes actually do think 'oh X would like this book' about friends or family, while I'm reading. So that's going to be my approach. I'm luckily blessed with reading friends and family.

Oh and I can be your friend if you want to have a look at my shelves and guess what I'd like :)

This is a difficult prompt when you do not have any friends. What are you supposed to do?

I've offered myself to fill in for anyone needing a best friend!

Feel free to pick something off my TBR (as I hope I'll like all of those!):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...

Or I like murder mysteries, nonfiction, and historical fiction.

Tammy wrote: "This is a difficult prompt when you do not have any friends. What are you supposed to do?"

On anyone's page on Goodreads, you can click the "More" to get to the Compare Books option. Try somebody from this group whose tastes you like or a moderator, all of whom make friendly posts.

For example, when I compared my reading to yours, Tammy, I see that two books that I have rated highly, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and The Giver, are on your TBR list. You could also pick a book that is on the TBR for each person if you feel the prompt needs an element of uncertainty.

Leona wrote: "Nadine- I am 82 and my "best friends" are gone but I love Sarah's idea and will choose a book one of my granddaugters would read. She usually likes the same books as I do. She has already claimed m..."

My grandmother was my best friend and is where I got my love of reading! I also claimed all her books when she passed. I knew no one would care for them the same way I would!

You've actually inspired me, I'm going to go with something my grandmother loved!

I’m happy to be a friend too!

I think for this one I’m going to go with Karen Marie Moning’s newest book as my mother is the one that got me hooked on the series and we have read most of the books together. If I’m being honest with myself I think we’ve both lost interest in the series but what the hey. It’s the closest thing I can think of that would fit. (As I am also someone lacking in the friends department.)

Contemplating rereading a book actually written by one of my good friends. Assuming since she wrote it, she likes it. :D

I also volunteer myself as a virtual best friend :)

Brandon wrote: "I got some general category ideas from my two closest friends. Please chime in if you know something great that fits these categories.

A Sherlock Holmes story (I've read all the Doyle ones, so som..."

I've only read a couple of the books, but Andrew Lane has a series called Sherlock Holmes: The Legend Begins. The first book is called Death Cloud.

The Holmes-Dracula File, by Fred Saberhagen, is also really good.

Brandon wrote: "I got some general category ideas from my two closest friends. Please chime in if you know something great that fits these categories.

A Sherlock Holmes story (I've read all the Doyle ones, so som..."

I read a book recently that reminded me of David Sedaris's style. Candy Freak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America is about candy, but it's also a Sedaris-style memoir of the author's life relating to candy.

The Dancing Plague: The Strange, True Story of an Extraordinary Illness delves into a specific historical phenomenon not usually taught in the U.S.

I also volunteer myself as a best friend. Take a look at my books and recommend me something I'd like LOL (plz?)

Jennifer W wrote: "I've offered myself to fill in for anyone needing a best friend!

Feel free to pick something off my TBR (as I hope I'll like all of those!):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...-..."

You might like KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

Alicia wrote: "Leona wrote: "Nadine- I am 82 and my "best friends" are gone but I love Sarah's idea and will choose a book one of my granddaugters would read. She usually likes the same books as I do. She has alr..."

Makes me feel good.
My grandparents came from Italy and I was an adult before I realized my mother never knew her grandparents.

I'm lucky because my best friend is also my only bookish friend. I've borrowed or had some great recommendations from him (The Secret History, The God of Small Things, The History of Love) even though we don't always agree (Sally Rooney - I loved Normal People, he hated Conversations with Friends).

I've not read this book yet, but I loved her short stories and I think he'd like those, so I'm hoping I've gone with a good pick here - The Namesake

Megan wrote: "I also volunteer myself as a best friend. Take a look at my books and recommend me something I'd like LOL (plz?)"

Looking at your read shelf, you have a lot of non-fiction, so I'd recommend either In Cold Blood or The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper. If you don't like graphic descriptions of violence/gore, then The Five is probably the better of the two, as this focuses on the women's lives and barely touches on their deaths.

SadieReadsAgain wrote: "Megan wrote: "I also volunteer myself as a best friend. Take a look at my books and recommend me something I'd like LOL (plz?)"

Looking at your read shelf, you have a lot of non-fiction, so I'd re..."

The Jack the Ripper book looks interesting--I've already read in cold blood lol

I wonder if something my best friend has already read and liked counts?

Or is that cheating?

One of my best friend and I are always sharing books, so I'm probably gonna read one of the books she lent me recently. We also like a lot of the same things, and I often think "Oh, C would like this!" So I'm gonna leave this one open and either pick one i think she'd like, or read one of her recs.

I think that counts. lol

Mahi wrote: "I wonder if something my best friend has already read and liked counts?

Or is that cheating?"

Not cheating! My best friend often recommends me stuff to read and I'm probably going to use one of his recs.

My husband is my bestie but he likes to read technical manuals, so no thank you. I'm actually going to base my pick on my sister, who is a librarian.

Megan wrote: "Um...In all seriousness, I don’t have a best friend. I don’t have *any* friends. So what do I do?"

Do you have any "goodreads friends?" I'll be your friend on goodreads if you like- just send me a friend request and I'll accept it.

Then you can search through my profile and pick a book that I've given 5 stars to, or that you think is similar to something I've liked and you think I might enjoy. If you go that route- let me know what you picked and I'll be sure to read it!

Seriously- anybody who doesn't have anybody they consider to be friends in real life or on social media, or none of your friends like books- I'll be your buddy for this prompt.

I'll probably use my adult daughter for this prompt. We routinely give each other book and TV show ideas. I mean, I COULD use something my mother wrote, but since she writes picture books, that feels like cheating.

I think I might fill this in later after I read I book that I would recommend to a friend. Or do a re-read of a book I have recommended. Hard to predict from a blurb whether a book is worth recommending to others.

I chose The Cactus because I saw it on so many friends shelves and goodreads friends shelves. I was also trying to find a Popsugar prompt to fit this book since I read it for the ATY prompt “siblings”

Brandon wrote: "I got some general category ideas from my two closest friends. Please chime in if you know something great that fits these categories.

A Sherlock Holmes story (I've read all the Doyle ones, so som..."

The one I'm reading is not technically a Sherlock Holmes story, but you might count it: Sherlock Holmes Was Wrong: Reopening the Case of The Hound of the Baskervilles by Pierre Bayard.

This was a really difficult prompt for me, because even though I know exactly who my best friend is, our taste in books barely even come close to each other! It's really ironic considering we have almost identical taste in movies and tv shows, but it completely diverges when it comes to books. I'm not even sure if she would actually enjoy the book I picked now, but I know she would have done when she was a teenager, and I think that's the best I'm going to manage without either picking a different person, or picking a book that I know she's read (which just seems too much of a cheat)

I read The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri for this. Now I've read it, I'm not sure if my best friend would like it. I don't think he'd hate it, but I think it's maybe too quiet a book for him. This is the kind of book that I feel that whilst nothing really happens, everything happens. By that I mean that whilst there is no dramatic climax, no plot twists, no definitive end to the story; we are watching an entire existence (of a family, of a man) unfold. But although I'm not sure he'd like it, I think this may be one of my favourite tropes in fiction. I'm fascinated by people, by families, by the immigrant experience and by people who live different lives to me, and this is such a natural story that you truly feel like a fly on the wall.

My best friend is a K-pop fan (and I used to be a big one back in the day) so I'll Be the One is what I'm currently reading for this prompt! When I told her she seemed interested so I think I chose well, even if she isn't much of a reader. This is opening my eyes to a bunch of K-pop books I didn't even know existed so I'm really excited!

I keep reccing The Martian to my hubby, who is also my best friend lol. So I'm reading that for this prompt.

I'll admit, I'm still salty about this prompt, as I don't have a best friend and have *never* had a best friend, and offers from random people on the internet to be my "best friend" really don't make me feel any better about it.

BUT I'm not here to talk about that, so please just ignore my little outburst. Because I may not have a best friend, but I do have a friend who has a "Stina Made Me Read It" shelf on Goodreads. I am going to make her read Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. Seriously, I think she'll love it.

I'm considering my husband as my best friend and am reading The Man in the High Castle (SF/alt-history/modern classic) by Philip K. Dick. He mostly reads old classics but likes SF movies. This is one he might like, for something a bit different.

Finished The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Yep, not my cup of tea.

The Book of Two Ways by Jodi Picoult. My friend may walk away from this book mad & frustrated with the protagonist,like I did. I think she'll like the story line.

Probably either The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead or No Game, No Life by Yuu Kamiya.. she loves a good YA paranormal and is an avid 'gamer girl' and anime lover si i think she'd enjoy the manga

I went with Dear Martin by Nic Stone. I've already recommended it to her, and will recommend it to other friends as well.

Just finished Freedom's Gate, an early book by Naomi Kritzer, who has recently been getting a lot of attention for her Catfishing on Catnet YA science fiction book. My friend liked Catfishing on Catnet, so I think she might like this one too, even if it's about ancient Greek female warriors and djinni instead.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I play pretty loose and fast with the term best friend, haha. Pretty much anyone I consider closer than an acquaintance I think of as one of my best friends, because if they are someone I think of as my friend, they are automatically the best. There are ones that I'm closer to than others, or different times in my life I'm closer with a person than others, but it's a title I'm not very stingy with. There's also categories: this is my best friend from high school, or my best friend from work, or my best friend from this state I lived in four years ago, etc etc. It made it very easy for me to pick a book for this category, since it gave me a lot of people to choose from!

I went with When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo because I loved it and could think of a few of my friends who would love it too (which is good news since I will be badgering them to read it so we can talk about it haha).