Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2022 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 1: 12/31/21 - 1/6/22
Mod
Popsugar: 50/50 DONE!!
ATY: 52/52 DONE!!
RHC: 19/24
Reading Women: 18/28
I will concentrate on those last 5 for the Read Harder Challenge in January 2022 (and February if necessary.).
Since there will not be a 2022 Reading Women Challenge, I have listed all the prompts from 2018 through 2021 and will work to fulfill those over time. It is fun to revisit that listing periodically and select books to fulfill some of those prompts using books I’ve already scheduled to read in the very near future!
2022 Challenges:
Popsugar: 6/50
ATY: 12/52
RHC: 1/24
FINISHED:
Bel Canto by Ann Patchett ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I’m rather flabbergasted after finishing this book. I was afraid all the way through it would end this way. I don’t know that I can say I “enjoyed” this reading experience. It was heartbreaking. As I read I kept thinking, “Surely she isn’t going to do what I’m so afraid she may do… Surely not…” But, oh, yes, she did exactly that. I admit Patchett drew me right in. Her writing was excellent, IMO!
POPSUGAR: NEW #8, #18-Humans connecting with other humans and music!, #21-Classic Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Music, Romance, #27, #30, #34-Equal opportunity for all!, #38-Opera!, #46
ATY: #6, #8-South American, #14-An imagined “South American” country, #20-There is no real future, #23-Classic Literature, Contemporary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Music, Romance, #27-The Lovers, Death, Justice, Judgment, The World, #31, #32, #35, #49, #52-In the end, the real world intervened.
RHC: #1
FOR 2022 CHALLENGES
Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross #7) by James Patterson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for a December Buddy Read! I admit to rolling my eyes several times during the first 200 pages or so. I just don’t do ‘vampires’ even if they are ‘humans’ who just believe themselves to be vampires… I read this part as fantasy though I couldn’t truly “suspend my disbelief.” I did appreciate the eventual capture of the “Mastermind” and the fact that Alex did it alone, one-on-one. That was nice, as well as following his thought process to solve cases. And we have a new love interest now, though they’re each located on opposite coasts in the US!
POPSUGAR: NEW #25, NEW #29, NEW #40-2021 Popsugar prompt #4 A book written by an author who shares your Zodiac sign, NEW #46, NEW #49/#50-all Alex Cross books are set in Washington, DC (Sister cities: Bangkok, Dakar, Beijing, Brussels, Tshwane (Pretoria), Paris, Athens, Seoul, Accra, Sunderland, Rome, Ankara, Basilia, Addis Abab)
ATY: NEW #1, NEW #2-Read Alex Cross #1-6 in 2021, NEW #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): All victims were left “bare” or naked, NEW #5, NEW #6-Moon, NEW #7-Alex holds a PhD degree in psychology, NEW #8-North America, NEW #31-2001, NEW #33, NEW #35/#36-FLORA, NEW #37 (title), NEW #40-Justice, Death
RHC: NEW #16
Four Blind Mice (Alex Cross #8) by James Patterson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for my January Buddy Read of this series. I admit this one made me lose a bit of faith in Alex and John. Who the hell would tackle these three paid assassins/former Rangers in Vietnam without backup? These two idiots, apparently! Sheesh! Not too smart. And then Alex repeats this same mistake on his own! But there are surprises in this one! YAY! But…he “lives to tell the story,” so to speak, and there is a HUGE surprise at the end of this installment!
POPSUGAR: #25, NEW #26, #29, #40-2015 #5: A book with a number in the title, #46
ATY: #1, #2, #4-sneer of cold command-Hutchinson, #5, #6-Moon, #7-Alex holds a PhD degree in Psychology, #8-North America, NEW #15, #31, #33, NEW #36, #40- The Lovers, Justice, Death, Temperance, Judgement, The World
CONTINUING:
Murder on Black Swan Lane (Wrexford & Sloane #1) by Andrea Penrose
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Paradise by Toni Morrison to fulfill the 2020 Reading Women prompt #25 A book written by Toni Morrison
PLANNED:
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry for our January Monthly Group Read
For January Buddy Reads:
1) Murder at Half Moon Gate (Wrexford & Sloane #2) by Andrea Penrose
2) The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson
I Am Not Sidney Poitier by Percival Everett
To complete some 2021 year-long challenges:
1) Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
2) Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
3) The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
To complete the 2021 Read Harder Challenge:
*Get a Life, Chloe Brown (our February Group Read! How convenient! LOL)
*Red, White & Royal Blue
*Ordinary Girls
*Death Comes to Pemberley
*Cleopatra: A Life
*Yes, Chef
Happy New Year and new reading challenges! It's been a struggle getting back into work mode this week, and why am I getting up in the dark?! At least the nights are getting shorter now but I miss sunlight.Finished:
Roxy by Neal + Jarrod Shusterman, my last read of 2021 so not for any challenges. Interesting idea of personifying drugs but not sure it fully worked. ⭐⭐⭐
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood for ace spectrum (and Beat the Backlist). This was as adorable as everyone has said. I think the main character is demisexual, but google tells me that's on the ace spectrum so I'll stick with it. My copy has "TikTok sensation" on the cover so if anyone reads it for ace and feels it's not a close enough fit, then there's always that prompt! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The This by Adam Roberts for review, ATY (character name starts with A, T or Y) and Pick Your Poison (A to Z). His books are always clever, and sometimes I might feel like I've missed some aspect but the important thing they are still super enjoyable if you don't get the philosophical references. This one is about a hive mind, social media, loneliness and apparently Kant. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Currently reading A Pho Love Story and I need to finish listening to Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside which I started last year.
QOTW:
Last year I did not overlap ATY and Popsugar at all and I'm not sticking to that rule this year. Which has opened things up to MORE CHALLENGES. I'm not even entertaining the idea of Read Harder, but I picked a few fun ones that I can easily overlap and vary the numbers on depending how well I'm doing, so Pick Your Poison, Books and Lala Buzzwords and Beat the Backlist.
I usually free read for a few months and then make sure I get some of those hard prompts done early.
Mod
WOW!!! And here I thought I was cutting it close by finishing in the last WEEK of the year! You finished in the last hour of the last day!!!! Congratulations :-)
Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross #7) ... NEW #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal)
I am honored!!! It was a cool prompt idea, wasn't it? Alas ...
Mod
Ugh I have just been the WORST employee this week!!! I just can't focus on work - i want to read all the books instead. Why do I have to spend time in meetings or reviewing drawings or (my current task) telling a supplier the exact angle of a part ... when there are exciting BOOKS waiting for me
The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood for ace spectrum (and Beat the Backlist). This was as adorable as everyone has said. I think the main character is demisexual, but google tells me that's on the ace spectrum so I'll stick with it.
I got this for Christmas and I also plan to read it for "ace spectrum"!! (I'm very confused by demisexual being included in the ace spectrum but several readers have told me it is true so I've decided to just accept it even though I don't understand. I guess this means I'm on the ace spectrum! At last, a stripe on the Pride flag is for me! My daughters tell me no, the Pride flag is not for me, it's just for them. But it's so pretty! When we put it out again this June I'm going to remind them that I'm on the ace spectrum so the flag is for me, too ...) I'm glad to hear it's as good as everyone says.
Apparently my daughter's college roommate is also very excited to read this, and won't shut up about it, and my daughter is very annoyed LOL.
This is a new world for me, reading the same books that my kids (and their peers) are reading. I'm not used to it!
Happy New Year everyone. I'm determined to be more involved in the challenge this year; last year I literally set my target and never visited the group again! I missed said target by about 6 books, but I just didn't have it in me to get through them by the end of the year. I've taken a different approach this year and managed to list out what I want to read for each category, with some doubling up because I'm also part of a "real-life" book club so need to make space for 12 other books in my reading life (and people have a habit of picking some rather long reads!) That being said, I've managed to weave January and February's choices into the challenge so may be able to do that with future ones too.
So far this week I've finished My Year of Rest and Relaxation as my choice for #12 A Misleading Title, because that year was anything but restful in my opinion and Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster as my choice for #22 Featuring a Man-made disaster which I loved (I'm one of those weird people who's fascinated by Chernobyl and the impact of the catastrophe).
I'm about 25% of the way through Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure which is my choice for #3 Set on a plane, train etc. and should get that finished by next week. Then who knows, I'm off to the library this evening so might see what else on my list is available to pick up.
Good morning! It’s been so long since I’ve posted, I fell off last year and felt too discouraged to jump back in. Hopefully this year I’ll make more time to keep up with the group. I’ve been very busy at work, and I’ve also decided to get another BA, this time double majoring in Art and Theology. So, busy busy busy. For 2021 I finished popsugar, read harder, back to the classics and the seasonal buzzfeed challenges. I don’t think they did a winter one which makes it feel very incomplete to me lol. This year I plan on taking the same challenges, but am open to another if anyone has any suggestions. I finished 166 books last year, less than past years but still a decent amount considering my schedule.
This week, all I’ve finished has been The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, a book I surprisingly enjoyed. I’m not one for sci-fi usually but I do tend to enjoy the genre when it leans on the funnier side and focus more on characters than spacey sciencey stuff. I’m in the middle of The Way We Live Now and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, both decently long books that’ll hopefully be finished by next week.
QOTW: I have a tendency to wander off my reading challenge lists and then spend nov and dec in a panic trying to race through what needs finished. So I’m hoping this year to get through the challenges before I let myself get distracted by other stuff.
I finished Intimacy with God: Revised and Updated: A Bible Study in the PsalmsI'm a little over half way through Lonesome Dove which I'm reading for a previous fave.
QOTW: I'm going to do it the same way I did last year. I cut the lsit into strips and pick one out when I start the last one. This way I don't procrastinate on the prompts I don't want to do. I will throw back the 2022 if I draw it before June or so, though, as I'd like more choices. I'm kind of doing a big stretch on my next category, but there's no challenge police, right?
Happy Thursday, y’all.I really need to buckle down on my writing. I fell way behind while moving in November, and since then I've gotten caught up on challenge planning and playing the Switch and Christmas stuff. I hope I can get back into the swing of things...
Books read this week:
Kiki's Delivery Service -- for “book about witches.” I love the movie, and the book, while it has some differences plot-wise, is still a lot of fun and very cute.
Entry-Level Cancer: My First Six Months in the Club No One Wants to Join -- for “book with a constellation on the cover or in the title.” The parts where the author fanboys over Lance Armstrong did not age well (he even acknowledges as much in the foreword), but still a surprisingly lighthearted but interesting look at how a cancer diagnosis affects one’s life.
Any Way the Wind Blows -- Tor short, not for the challenge. Kind of a meta-read and may not make sense if you don’t know it was written as a sendoff of sorts (the publisher Tor moving out of New York’s Flatiron building), but still fun and one I wouldn’t mind seeing built up into a longer work someday.
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 6 -- manga, not for the challenge. Still loving this eerie but lovely fantasy series.
Currently Reading:
Hidden Figures -- for “an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner”
Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three -- for “a book about the afterlife”
Winter Tide -- for “a book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page”
The Night of the Long Knives -- for “a book you can read in one sitting”
QOTW:
Nope... same old tactic as always. Though I'm debating picking up and finishing the 2016 challenge after I've finished the 2022, because I missed that year and I can generally finish the challenge proper in half a year.
Happy Thursday! I haven't finished anything yet (and GR is helpfully reminding me I'm already a book behind on my challenge), but I tend to finish things in a bit of a cluster at the start of the year. It may take me another few days, but I'll probably finish three of my four current reads within a day or a few hours of each other.Currently:
The Silmarillion - I wasn't planning on reading this to start the year, but here we are!
Women, Race & Class - My third Angela Y Davis book!
Brimstone - Pendergast #5. Getting caught up on the series is a goal but not a priority (I think we're up to 20 books total as of right now), but I've been enjoying this series very much.
The Bone Shard Emperor - Carryover from December. I need to get this wrapped up but I'm irked by editing and writing choices that didn't bother me in the first volume.
Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
My strategy last year worked out well so I'm sticking with it -- I slot books into categories as I go, which is helpful because sometimes you don't expect a book to fit a certain prompt and then it does, freeing up other book ideas for other prompts. Like Lynn, I'm also doing my best to read more of my already-owned backlog 😅
Mod
Back to work this week. I'm so cold & tired, I want a nap. I want to lie in bed and read books.
I finished four books this week, two of them for the 2022 Challenge, so I am now 2/50! I was not joking about how distressing it was to slog through that long book last year. I've intentionally chosen some very short books for some categories in this year's Challenge, so I can make some speedy progress at the start.
Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne - this was an absolute delight and I don't understand why it's not getting more buzz. I even had a dream about it after I'd finished it! If you like contemporary romance with opposites attract, read this!
Chew, Vol. 7: Bad Apples written by John Layman - just as fun as expected.
A Very Beery New Year by Jackie Lau- this was a lot shorter than I expected, but it helped me get my Challenge year off to a strong start with an easy finish in the first week! It was a fun read, obviously set during New Year's Eve (as well as the rest of the year leading up to NYE), and I checked off "set during a holiday."
Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron - this was okay, I found the characters annoying and the dialogue was clunky at times. I had this borrowed from the library because I meant to read it in 2021, but didn't get to it ... and it fits several categories for this year's challenge. I'm not actually sure what I'll end up using it for!! For now I am checking off "book with a recipe" but it also fits "romance by a BIPOC author" and "book about a secret." Note: this does not have super explicit sex scenes, so if anyone is looking for a "closed door" BIPOC romance, this is a good choice for you.
As soon as I finished Accidentally Engaged, I looked at the pile of books next to me, and chose Downbelow Station as my book with a title that starts with the last letter of a book I just finished. I'm so glad I now have a book slated for that category!! (Of course, I am currently reading four other books, so I won't be finishing Downbelow immediately after Accidentally. But I CHOSE it immediately after finishing Accidentally, so I feel it still counts.)
QotW
Every year when the list comes out I write down a bunch of ideas for each category, pick a favorite for each, and then more or less read whatever I want and check off categories as I go. I'm following that same approach this year.
It really stressed me out to not finish the Challenge until the last week of the year last year, so I made a point of choosing short books for each category, and this year I'm going to be a bit more intentional with my reading. So, at least for the next few months, I'm going to stay focused on the categories, and my list of "must reads" for 2022 (which is shorter than 2021 because 2022 is my year to keep everything short! short books, short lists!). I'm also going to try to rein in my enthusiasm for Cultural Appreciation Month reading, instead of adding 12 more books to my reading in those months, I'll try to keep it to just a few. (hahahaha I SAY this, but I already have jotted down 12 books to read for Black History Month ...)
I'm not doing any other challenges, just Popsugar and my own list. I'm in a book club this year, and I'm half-heartedly trying to follow along with the Tournament of Books this year, so that's enough assigned reading for me.
Happy New Year! I finished the 2021 Popsugar Reading Challenge on December 27th. I cut it close, but I did it! Finished:
The first book I finished this year was The Ballerinas. I'm not sure if it works for any of the prompts so for now I'm not using it for the challenge.
Challenge Progess:
0/50
Currently Reading:
The Last House on the Street - I'm using this for either a book with two POVs or two books set in twin cities.
The Lost Apothecary - I'm using this for a book with a recipe in it.
Instructions for Dancing - I'm using this for a romance novel by a BIPOC author.
Question of the Week:
Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
I don't really have a strategy for completing the challenge. I make a list of books I own or want to read for each prompt and as I read them I check off those prompts. If I read something that I realize fits in a prompt I'll use it for that. I just hope I finish earlier in the year than I did last year!
Nadine in NY wrote: "I got this for Christmas and I also plan to read it for "ace spectrum"!! (I'm very confused by demisexual being included in the ace spectrum but several readers have told me it is true so I've decided to just accept it even though I don't understand."My kids also roll their eyes sometimes at my lack of understanding of sexuality/gender identities, but I do the same - I don't have to understand it, I just accept and respect people. I tell my kids to help me out a bit, as I'm so old I was born before the invention of the high five! 😆
Kenya wrote: "Winter Tide -- for “a book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page”"How are you liking it? I started it, but had trouble getting caught up. However, I love the Reading the Weird/Lovecraft Re-read blog on Tor.com so I'm willing to give it another shot!
New year, new challenge! I finished the 2021 challenge about 1 week later than the 2020 challenge. So my goal is to try and finish around December 20th. I am reading 2 books currently, haven't finished either of them but still pushing through. The Pacific Northwest is being hit with snow storm after snow storm so finding time to read isn't too hard.
We also have another COVID scare - my boyfriend picked up two co-workers on his way to work in the snow and both tested positive. He is vaxxed and boosted so hopefully his test comes back negative, but getting results is taking forever - so at home I sit trying to work and read and enjoy the snow from my window.
Reading:
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (A book featuring a party). I read The Guest List last year and really liked it so I figured I would give this one a shot. So far so good. She really keeps the mystery going without dragging it out to the point where I stop caring. I can tell this is going to be a 5-star for me!
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (A book about the Afterlife). I struggled through the beginning of this book, it is written in a very different format than I am used to. I watched an interview with George Saunders about this book and he said there are over 163 characters in the book! It is written in a "script" style but the person who is speaking is mentioned after rather than before.
QOTW:
I would like to think that I have a strategy but really I just pick up a book. I try to read along with the monthly picks if I have the same book (even if I chose it for a different prompt). I would really like to get less distracted by new books and stick to the books I have chosen for each prompt - but you know what they say about planning LOL.
Mod
WOW!!! And here I thought I was cutting it close by finishing in the last WEEK of the year! You finished in the last hour of the last day!!!! Congratulations :-)"
Never underestimate my ability to come in just under the wire! LOL 🙄😊
"Violets Are Blue (Alex Cross #7) ... NEW #4-A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal)
I am honored!!! It was a cool prompt idea, wasn't it? Alas ..."
Told you I was going to use it. You're just surprised I remembered! LOL 😁
Christine wrote: "Kenya wrote: "Winter Tide -- for “a book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page”"How are you liking it? I started it, but had trouble getting caught up. However, I lov..."
Liking it so far! It's interesting seeing the story of "Shadow Over Innsmouth" expanded, and the "monsters" made a little more sympathetic.
Hello! I'm not a very good employee this week either. There's all this end of month stuff I'm supposed to do (which broke), followed by the beginning of month stuff (which was already broken), plus all the emails from being off for a week and a half. And all I wanted to do was sleep. Which I did on Monday, taking a four hour nap after work.I did not finish most of the challenges I had set for myself for 2021, and I returned all of the books to the library that I had no desire to read. And I'm okay with that.
I only started making my spreadsheet for the 2022 challenges today, so I have no idea where I stand for 2022 yet.
Finished This Week:
Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman. A epistolary novel that's also a classic by a woman author. I have zero experience with being a teacher in New York Public Schools in the 50s/60s, so it was not something I connected to. The epistolary format (memos, meeting notes, interoffice communications, letters to a friend, transcripts) made it extremely fast to read, and that's the best thing I can say about it. I'm sure others (especially teachers) would connect to it far more than I.
Setting Free the Bears by John Irving. I didn't finish this in 2021 like I intended, but I'm fine with that. It was extremely odd and I didn't like it. The middle section told the story of what the parents of one of the characters experienced in Austria and Yugoslavia during World War II, and that was the best part of the novel. The rest of it made little sense. It's John Irving's first book, so I hope his later ones are better.
Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire. Reread in prep for the new one. Still very good, even if I wasn't a horse kid.
Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire. The new Wayward Children book, featuring how Cora is Not Okay after Come Tumbling Down. I loved this one, almost as much as I loved the first in the series. I hadn't connected to the other stories in the series since the beginning, despite being very well told, but I did with this one (despite not being a fat kid). Such a good book.
Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. All my paused library holds came off pause with the first of the year, so this was ready for me. Like Circe, I wasn't aware what became of Ariadne after the events on Crete, except that I knew Theseus didn't marry her. So I was surprised by how quickly everything on Crete happened and how much book was left after Theseus sailed away. But unlike Circe, I was then disappointed with how the rest of the book played out.
Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen. This is a book I've had on my TBR for a while, because I love time travel and alternate histories and that sort of thing. It didn't go where I was expecting and kept me guessing about how things were going to play out. And then it did something from the Back to the Future series that I've always loved, and that made me so happy. Highly recommended.
Up Next:
Deerskin by Robin McKinley, read by Xe Sands. This is my favorite book, which I have read countless times, but I got it on audio because I learned it's read by an narrator I've enjoyed in other books. Not sure how it's going to translate to audio, especially one specific part, but eager to find out.
She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. The book club pick for October or November that's finally available from the library, but Overdrive wasn't working last night, so I haven't been able to download it yet.
QotW: Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
My strategy for PopSugar wasn't that bad, other than not paying serious attention to my longest book until December. But my overall strategy needs to change. Not every book needs fill a challenge prompt, and I don't need more challenges. If a book only fits one prompt, that's perfectly okay. I don't need to find a different book that meets multiple prompts instead, especially if I want to read that first book. Nor do I need to find another challenge so that book meets two prompts.
I had ten books to read at the end of the year, none of which I cared about, and six of them were returned to the library unread. (Two I read and disliked, two I still have checked out and intend to read. We'll see.) The strategy this year is to find books I enjoy reading that fit, with a little stretching to go outside my comfort zone as necessary, but to recognize that if I've avoiding reading a book, it means to find a different one.
Mod
I know! I keep reminding myself the shortest day is done and over so daytime/daylight is just getting a bit longer every day! 😋
"Finished:
Roxy by Neal + Jarrod Shusterman, my last read of 2021 so not for any challenges. Interesting idea of personifying drugs but not sure it fully worked. ⭐⭐⭐"
Sounds like quite a unique theme!
"The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood for ace spectrum (and Beat the Backlist). This was as adorable as everyone has said. I think the main character is demisexual, but google tells me that's on the ace spectrum so I'll stick with it. My copy has "TikTok sensation" on the cover so if anyone reads it for ace and feels it's not a close enough fit, then there's always that prompt! ⭐⭐⭐⭐"
Thanks for the recommendation!
"Currently reading A Pho Love Story and I need to finish listening to Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside which I started last year."
That looks like two completely different books! LOL
"QOTW:
Last year I did not overlap ATY and Popsugar at all and I'm not sticking to that rule this year. Which has opened things up to MORE CHALLENGES. I'm not even entertaining the idea of Read Harder, but I picked a few fun ones that I can easily overlap and vary the numbers on depending how well I'm doing, so Pick Your Poison, Books and Lala Buzzwords and Beat the Backlist."
Cool! Some different challenges!
"I usually free read for a few months and then make sure I get some of those hard prompts done early."
Sounds like a good plan!
Mod
And we will be thrilled to have you more involved! 👍😁 But you did get most of the books in your target read! That's great! Life can interrupt our reading plans...
"I've taken a different approach this year and managed to list out what I want to read for each category, with some doubling up because I'm also part of a "real-life" book club so need to make space for 12 other books in my reading life (and people have a habit of picking some rather long reads!) That being said, I've managed to weave January and February's choices into the challenge so may be able to do that with future ones too."
Yep! I never cease to be amazed at the way some of the books I end up reading for other purposes (book club, etc.) magically fulfill challenge prompts! That's so much fun!
"So far this week I've finished My Year of Rest and Relaxation as my choice for #12 A Misleading Title, because that year was anything but restful in my opinion and Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster as my choice for #22 Featuring a Man-made disaster which I loved (I'm one of those weird people who's fascinated by Chernobyl and the impact of the catastrophe)."
Not weird! I am definitely interested in that one as well! (Of course, I may not be the best judge of "weird"! LOL) What a great start you've made! 👍😁
"I'm about 25% of the way through Around the World in 80 Trains: A 45,000-Mile Adventure which is my choice for #3 Set on a plane, train etc. and should get that finished by next week. Then who knows, I'm off to the library this evening so might see what else on my list is available to pick up."
That looks like a good one!
Lynn wrote: "Happy First Thursday of 2022! I admit, that for someone such as myself born in the middle of the 20th Century it is surprising that I have made it to 2022!! That’s a lot of years for a human body t..."I read Murder on Black Swan Lane just a few months ago and loved it. Hope to read 2nd in series soon. Thought the characters, setting and history just fascinating.
Hi all, happy first check in of the year!I'm also struggling with being back to work, getting a migraine this week doesn't help either. I'm very mad at my head, it was bad enough when my migraines were monthly on a pretty regular schedule. Now they're popping up willy nilly, and it's not cool and making it hard to manage my meds.
Still managing to read though, this week I finished:
Her Body and Other Parties: Stories- this was so disappointing for me. I'd been looking forward to it, but my library only had it on audio and it didn't seem like the kind of book I wanted to listen to on audio. A few months ago I found a kindle deal for it so grabbed it. I just found all the stories pretty grim and depressing, if not outright confusing or pointless. (please, why on earth were there like 30 pages of weird made up SVU plot synopsis?) This was my last book for the Book Nerds challenge, so i completed all 100 prompts! (was my banned book, the book's been on a lot of challenged lists lately). Finished it middle of the day on new years eve so really squeaked that in haha.
Seven Secrets, Vol. 2 - squeaked this in almost right at the countdown, i just wanted it off my currently reading shelf haha. It is ok, plot's starting to lose me a bit. At least it sounds like last volume will wrap it up.
Daughter of the Deep - First reading finish of the year! I liked it a lot. I like the idea of 20000 leagues much better than the actual novel, so this was a good compromise haha. It could probably count for the set on a Plane, Train, or Cruise Ship, if you interpret cruise ship as "a boat". A good portion of it takes place on a Yacht, then a submarine.
The Titan's Curse - first audio finish of the year, although I did start this one on the 30th I think. over half of it was listened to this year though!
The 5th Gender - I liked this, it was weird and fun. It could probably work for the book on gender identity if someone wanted a fluffier read. It's a M/M romance cozy mystery with an alien. The alien's species has five genders, and that was used to kind of explore the idea of gender in relation to biology and sexual orientation. I will warn that there is quite a bit of fairly explicit sex in it, if that's not people's thing.
Currently reading:
Gods of Jade and Shadow - my next books & brew pick. I think we might be meeting on zoom again next week which makes me sad, but also kind of relieved. It's feeling scary out there again. I'm liking this quite a bit so far.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - audio re-read
QOTW:
I'm taking a break from challenges this year, last year I felt super stressed out from doing too many. I'm still participating in the group though, and over in the discord. I might casually keep track of how I do without trying, seeing as two of my books at could at least be argued that they fit. But i'm not going to keep struggling through books I'm not enjoying just because they fit a difficult prompt and I am tired of looking for something better.
Happy New Year. I finished 2 books for the week. People We Meet On Vacation by Emily Henry. I didn't use it for prompt # 11 A BookTok recommendation. I was reading it for a different challenge & saw where we were discussing it. I gave it 3 stars. I was going to give it 2 but towards the end the book picked up for me. The other book was Razorblade Tears by S.A.Cosby.5 stars. I used it for #29 A different book by an author you read in 2021. I loved Blacktop Wasteland in 2021. Question of the Week:
Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year? I changed my approach for the 2022 ATY challenge so it affected the way I choose books & complete prompts for all my other challenges. We will see how this goes. I usually complete all my challenges in August so if I slow down too much I will take a new approach.
I did manage to get some reading done (okay some of it was started in December but I finished it this week)For A Hugo Award winner I read Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven by Marjorie M. Liu. It's a Hugo award winning graphic novel. It's a dark series, lots of violence and foul language if that bothers you.
For the prompt (as of right now) A social-horror book I read Such a Pretty Smile by Kristi DeMeester. This could be used for Pubbed in 2022 (it's not even out yet. I had an ARC), two points of view or social horror. I might move it as far as where I use it but since I don't like social horror that much it'll probably stay there. The social horror in this was the idea of women obeying the patriarchy, keeping quiet, keeping in our place or be killed violently. (so this is quite violent too) I'm not sure I really liked it but it wasn't a bad read.
For the prompt A book with a reflected image on the cover or "mirror" in the title I read On Deadly Tides by Elizabeth J. Duncan. It has a reflection of a lighthouse in the water. It could also be used for a secret. I picked it up mostly because it was in Wales but it didn't have much of a Welsh feel (and it's like book 11) the romance in this just was a huge miss for me.
QOTW I am doing things a little differently. My main point of my reading challenges is to do some shelf clearing as my physical book TBR is nuts. I already read diversely in both subject matter and authors so I use the challenges to keep me motivated. I normally complete this challenge but this year if I'm not feeling a prompt I'm not worrying about it. Also I'm using a lot of graphic novels to fill prompts this time as well.
Mod
Oh, my! That IS busy!! I would encourage you to never feel as if you can't just jump right back in whenever you're able to do so! We're always glad to welcome whomever! 👍🤗
"For 2021 I finished popsugar, read harder, back to the classics and the seasonal buzzfeed challenges. I don’t think they did a winter one which makes it feel very incomplete to me lol. This year I plan on taking the same challenges, but am open to another if anyone has any suggestions. I finished 166 books last year, less than past years but still a decent amount considering my schedule."
I am impressed! 👍😁
"This week, all I’ve finished has been The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, a book I surprisingly enjoyed. I’m not one for sci-fi usually but I do tend to enjoy the genre when it leans on the funnier side and focus more on characters than spacey sciencey stuff."
While I DO love the "spacey sciencey stuff," Chambers' writing is phenomenal, IMO! But I do love detailed and personal characterization and I feel as if that is where she excels. So glad you enjoyed it!
"I’m in the middle of The Way We Live Now"
That looks interesting and is a new one to me!
"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"
I've decided I really need to read this in 2022! I've owned a copy for along time...
"QOTW: I have a tendency to wander off my reading challenge lists and then spend nov and dec in a panic trying to race through what needs finished. So I’m hoping this year to get through the challenges before I let myself get distracted by other stuff."
Ha! All those "shiny objects" like newly published books, new-to-you books, etc! I hear ya! LOL 👍😃
Mod
I'm a little over half way through Lonesome Dove which I'm reading for a previous fave."
Two very different reads in many ways! Theme. Length. 😄
"QOTW: I'm going to do it the same way I did last year. I cut the lsit into strips and pick one out when I start the last one. This way I don't procrastinate on the prompts I don't want to do. I will throw back the 2022 if I draw it before June or so, though, as I'd like more choices."
Wow! What a great idea! So organized!
"I'm kind of doing a big stretch on my next category, but there's no challenge police, right?"
You are correct! We each can interpret a prompt as we desire! YAY!! 👍😂
I didn't have a chance to adjust to going back to work because we've been extremely busy every single day this week. Students are back and they are eager lol!So far, most of our programs have announced that their first few weeks will be virtual. I'm glad. What I'm not glad about it is that there hasn't been a single peep about what's happening for staff. Not even a "hold tight, we are talking about it!" And I work in a small building, so if one person gets it, we're all going to be out. I also work for a health sciences university, so we should be at the forefront of protecting people! But I already spent a long time ranting with coworkers this morning, so I won't spread any more negativity lol.
Currently Reading:
Nothing! I haven't read a single page in 2022! I should feel bad, but I don't.
QOTW:
I'm REALLY changing up my strategy this year in that I have no strategy. Last year, reading started to feel like a chore and I was frustrated that I couldn't read books because they wouldn't fit the challenge (and I don't have enough time to read more than what the challenge calls for). So this year I'm reading what I want and then I'll see if it fits any prompts, but I'm not going out of my way to fill anything. If I don't finish (and I likely won't) then I don't finish.
However, there are some prompts I will fill on purpose, like the ace prompt, the gender identity prompt, the Pacific Islander prompt, and the own voices scifi/fantasy prompt. Basically, the ones that will purposefully expose me to perspectives and backgrounds that are different from mine. Those are the challenges I really appreciate.
Mod
I really need to buckle down on my writing. I fell way behind while moving in November, and since then I've gotten caught up on challenge planning and playing the Switch and Christmas stuff. I hope I can get back into the swing of things..."
Ugh. Moving is definitely an all-consuming project, isn't it?
"Books read this week:
Kiki's Delivery Service -- for “book about witches.” I love the movie, and the book, while it has some differences plot-wise, is still a lot of fun and very cute."
This sounds adorable!
"Entry-Level Cancer: My First Six Months in the Club No One Wants to Join -- for “book with a constellation on the cover or in the title.” The parts where the author fanboys over Lance Armstrong did not age well (he even acknowledges as much in the foreword), but still a surprisingly lighthearted but interesting look at how a cancer diagnosis affects one’s life."
Another one that looks to be fascinating. He is not alone in "fanboying" Armstrong, at least prior to the truth being exposed and proven.
"The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Vol. 6 -- manga, not for the challenge. Still loving this eerie but lovely fantasy series."
Isn't it lovely to find an enjoyable series? YAY!!
"Currently Reading:
Hidden Figures -- for “an Anisfield-Wolf Book Award winner”"
I LOVED this one! I also enjoyed the movie adaptation...
"Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three -- for “a book about the afterlife”"
What a unique concept!
"Winter Tide -- for “a book with a quote from your favorite author on the cover or Amazon page”"
Ooohhh...a lot of people categorized this as horror. Otherwise, it looks very interesting!
You are knocking out a lot of prompts right away! Good for you!
"QOTW:
Nope... same old tactic as always. Though I'm debating picking up and finishing the 2016 challenge after I've finished the 2022, because I missed that year and I can generally finish the challenge proper in half a year."
That's so cool! What a great goal!
Mod
How are you liking it? I started it, but had trouble getting caught ..."
I kept thinking I'd read this, but I just looked it up and I had read The Litany of Earth. I feltl like I wasn't a big enough Lovecraft fan to really "get it."
2022 Challenges:PopSugar: 0/50
GR: 0/70
Happy New Year Everyone!
In 2020 I tried doing these weekly updates and only made it a few months. In 2021 I didn't even try. So I think I'm going to give it a go for 2022 and see how it goes... *Fingers Crossed*!
Anyways, I did not finish the 2021 PopSugar Challenge. I ended up reading 47/50. But 2021 was a super crazy year for me. A good year! But crazy. I got a new job, got married, and bought a house. All within about 5 months so there was a good month or two where I couldn't read a book to save my life.
So I'm going to read those last three books first and then move on to the 2022 challenge.
Finished: Nothing! This book I'm currently reading is my first book of the year.
Currently Reading: The Tiger's Wife for 2021 Prompt - Women's Prize for Fiction. Honestly it's a little slow and it hasn't fully grabbed me which is why I haven't finished. But I'm about half way done so next week I can happily put it in the finished column.
QOTW: Strategy of the year...
I'm not sure I really have a strategy. I always make a spreadsheet and try to plan out as many prompts as possible with books I already own because my TBR bookcase just grows and grows and I never make a dent in it. Any prompt I cant find a book for that I already own I either try and find something at a used bookstore or ebook at the library because if I don't have a book that fits that prompt... it's probably not a book I care about enough to own anyways.
I also write all the book titles on small pieces of paper and put them in a jar so it's always a surprise what I'm going to read next.
Strategy this year is don't take a month or two off of reading.
Mod
I had to laugh at the GR reminder of your being behind. Already! LOL Very helpful, I'm sure!
Currently:
The Silmarillion - I wasn't planning on reading this to start the year, but here we are!
Women, Race & Class - My third Angela Y Davis book!
Brimstone - Pendergast #5. Getting caught up on the series is a goal but not a priority (I think we're up to 20 books total as of right now), but I've been enjoying this series very much.
The Bone Shard Emperor - Carryover from December. I need to get this wrapped up but I'm irked by editing and writing choices that didn't bother me in the first volume.
Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
My strategy last year worked out well so I'm sticking with it -- I slot books into categories as I go, which is helpful because sometimes you don't expect a book to fit a certain prompt and then it does, freeing up other book ideas for other prompts. Like Lynn, I'm also doing my best to read more of my already-owned backlog 😅"
I just counted and I know I own books that will fulfill 25 of the Popsugar prompts! Wow. I am determined to read these first. Good to know you have landed on a successful strategy! Good for you! 👍😊
8/50Finished: If Minds Had Toes using for book about afterlife. I was expecting this to become a new all-time favorite. It didn't rank that highly, but was still a fun philosophical romp.
The Near Witch using for prompt about a witch. This was a book I had checked out from the library and someone else had requested it, so I had to read it really quick! It reminded me in feel of Diana Wynne Jones, one of my favorite authors, so I quite enjoyed it. Reading more of hers because I enjoyed the Invisible Life of Addie LaRue so much!
Started: The World Between Blinks using for parallel worlds. This looks to be fun! It already has introduced Theodosia, Aaron Burr's daughter as a character. :)
The Moral Law: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
QotW: I feel like I planned more books from the start. But I have been surprised by how many books so far I've picked up that fit prompts without me having known that before starting the books. I'm hoping that trend will continue because I find that the most fun way to fulfill prompts.
I made a New Year's Resolution to read less this year. This means I'll limit myself to a couple hours a day. We'll see if this impacts my ability to finish the challenge or not. I'm guessing not, since that's way more than most people read. And I've already finished 8 books for the 2022 challenge.
Hi all! Happy 2022!I rung in the new year by developing my first fictional crush in a long while--the Darkling from Shadow and Bone! I know, I know. But he's just so...dreamy. Lol
Finished
Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo
Eat the Rich #4 by Sarah Gailey
Currently Reading
Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo
QotW
My strategy is similar to last year, but I'm hoping that I stick to it better this year! I want to fit mostly books I already own into the challenge and taper down the literal stack of books sitting by my desk. I've found books to fit all the prompts quite nicely, so I just need to avoid the temptation of new books! Which is hard! I want them all!
Mod
Back to work this week. I'm so cold & tired, I want a nap. I want to lie in bed and read books."
My thoughts exactly!
"I finished four books this week, two of them for the 2022 Challenge, so I am now 2/50! I was not joking about how distressing it was to slog through that long book last year. I've intentionally chosen some very short books for some categories in this year's Challenge, so I can make some speedy progress at the start."
Whoo! Whoo! And just remember, it may have been a real slog, but you conquered that L-L-L-L-O-O-O-N-N-N-G-G-G-G book!! 👍😃
"Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne - this was an absolute delight and I don't understand why it's not getting more buzz. I even had a dream about it after I'd finished it! If you like contemporary romance with opposites attract, read this!"
I just added this to a challenge listing yesterday! Glad for the recommendation!
"Chew, Vol. 7: Bad Apples written by John Layman - just as fun as expected."
Great!
"A Very Beery New Year by Jackie Lau- this was a lot shorter than I expected, but it helped me get my Challenge year off to a strong start with an easy finish in the first week! It was a fun read, obviously set during New Year's Eve (as well as the rest of the year leading up to NYE), and I checked off "set during a holiday.""
Love it!
"Accidentally Engaged by Farah Heron - this was okay, I found the characters annoying and the dialogue was clunky at times. I had this borrowed from the library because I meant to read it in 2021, but didn't get to it ... and it fits several categories for this year's challenge. I'm not actually sure what I'll end up using it for!! For now I am checking off "book with a recipe" but it also fits "romance by a BIPOC author" and "book about a secret." Note: this does not have super explicit sex scenes, so if anyone is looking for a "closed door" BIPOC romance, this is a good choice for you."
It looks cute!
"As soon as I finished Accidentally Engaged, I looked at the pile of books next to me, and chose Downbelow Station as my book with a title that starts with the last letter of a book I just finished. I'm so glad I now have a book slated for that category!! (Of course, I am currently reading four other books, so I won't be finishing Downbelow immediately after Accidentally. But I CHOSE it immediately after finishing Accidentally, so I feel it still counts.)"
Excellent! I admit I'm watching out for that one myself! Most of the books I'm reading or plan to read next end in "E" and I've realized that I have few books with a title beginning with "E"! LOL And, sure, you selected it immediately afterwards, so that works!! Your interpretation! 👍😊
"QotW
Every year when the list comes out I write down a bunch of ideas for each category, pick a favorite for each, and then more or less read whatever I want and check off categories as I go. I'm following that same approach this year.
It really stressed me out to not finish the Challenge until the last week of the year last year, so I made a point of choosing short books for each category, and this year I'm going to be a bit more intentional with my reading. So, at least for the next few months, I'm going to stay focused on the categories, and my list of "must reads" for 2022 (which is shorter than 2021 because 2022 is my year to keep everything short! short books, short lists!). I'm also going to try to rein in my enthusiasm for Cultural Appreciation Month reading, instead of adding 12 more books to my reading in those months, I'll try to keep it to just a few. (hahahaha I SAY this, but I already have jotted down 12 books to read for Black History Month ...)"
Of course you already have 12 books selected for Black History month!! I don't know, I think many of us look forward to your Cultural Appreciation Month lists! Maybe you just don't have to try to READ them all! 😊
I'm not doing any other challenges, just Popsugar and my own list. I'm in a book club this year, and I'm half-heartedly trying to follow along with the Tournament of Books this year, so that's enough assigned reading for me."
Huh. The Tournament of Books listing looks interesting!
I hope everyone is having a good new year! I've had one smashing success and one failure so far. Read:
The Night Circus- Title begins with the last letter of your previous read.
When the Reckoning Comes- A Social Horror Book
QOTW: My strategy is just to read what I want and I read enough variety that I have almost all my bases covered. Periodically I'll check in a see what prompts I don't really have a plan for and find something to fit that. This is my first year participating so I don't know how well this will go, but I'm excited.
Happy New Year! From about Dec 24th to the first week of January is my lazy time. This weekend will be my get your butt in action time. Finished: Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk was a fairly short book at about 274 pages. I found it comical and heartbreaking. Definitely brings up some timeless philosophical questions.
Started: Emma by Jane Austen will be my first classic of year. Looking forward to this one.
QOTW: No strategy this year. Overall, I would like to finish this year and I've also given myself the broad goal of reading some classics. I find that I do better and feel happier when I pick up any book that draws my interest without looking at the prompt first. I go back into the prompts once I'm done. All the discussions and lists are so helpful in narrowing down some new to me authors or genres.
Hello everyoooneee!God have I missed you all. I just really couldn't conjure up the energy to check in when I wasn't reading anyways. Because I wasn't, except for fanfiction- that I did read a lot, haha! I even managed to write! Let's hope I can at least keep the latter going, because I got a Tony Stark bingo and Stuckony bingo with some squares I'm really excited about :D
So for this year I am continuing to save €1 per book I read, but also per 50k of fics. I could have saved €237 more last year if I'd done that from the start, so I decided it was a good idea to start this year.
I also watched more last year, due to my lack of reading. I watched 79 movies, and watched/finished 39 seasons, with about 452 episodes in total! That is something I'm definitely happy about.
The best thing for me about 2020 was the fact that I got a Pass Annuel for Disneyland Paris! I managed to go 4 times so far, one day mere days after I got it during summer, a day with my sister and dad (after my trip with my sis got cancelled cuz the bus was 4,5 hours late) at the end of September, two days with my mom for my birthday about a week later (Halloween season!!!) and three days in the final week of December with all three of them. Long live the disabled passes as well! It's been amazing and I can't wait for our/my next trip.
ALRIGHT as for reading. No one is gonna be surprised when I say I haven't read any books yet. My first order of business is finish my current reads:
Escape From Aurora
Marvel Masterworks: The Amazing Spider-Man, Vol. 3
I might try to join in this month's read with you all if I manage to find an audio copy on one of my apps!
Would be nice if I managed to read some books for the readathon I host myself xD and for the Popsugar discord I host oops.
Question of the Week:
Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
I mean my strategy wasn't successful because I wasn't reading, but I am gonna stick to it. With slumps lurking around the corner, mood reading is the only way I stand a chance. Later on in the year I'll check how my challenge is going and if I need to focus a bit more on certain prompts.
I think that was it! Now let's see if I can catch up on the other messages!
Ellie wrote: "The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood for ace spectrum (and Beat the Backlist). This was as adorable as everyone has said. I think the main character is demisexual, but google tells me that's on the ace spectrum so I'll stick with it. My copy has "TikTok sensation" on the cover so if anyone reads it for ace and feels it's not a close enough fit, then there's always that prompt! ⭐⭐⭐⭐"As someone who's demisexual, I can confirm it is most definitely on the ace spectrum! I generally just say I'm ace cuz it's a lot easier, and lowers expectations. If anyone has any questions, feel free to send them my way <3 I don't know everything, but maybe enough to help!
As for the book.. I'm tempted to read because of the rep, but Reylo really isn't my kind of ship haha! So we'll see what happens. I'm annoyed about the booktok prompt (given I hate tiktok save for One Man- Dylan Hollis I love you) so I might just read this one just to get rid of it haha!
Happy New Year! I've been lurking in this group, but finally decided I should start posting more.This week, I've finished a whole bunch of novellas in a series, three of which I'm counting for the challenge. It makes for an impressive-looking start, even though all but one of these were sub-200 pages long.
These are all set in Bujold's World of the Five Gods, which I highly recommend if you're a fantasy fan. I started reading the novella series to close out 2021, and decided to finish them up to start the new year.
The Prisoner of Limnos - A book with two POVs
The Orphans of Raspay - A book you can read in one sitting
The Physicians of Vilnoc
The Assassins of Thasalon - A different book by an author you read in 2021
Knot of Shadows
I'm currently reading MEM as my book with a palindromic title. I'm enjoying it so far; it's an interesting alt-historical sci-fi, where people can extract memories which live on in copies of themselves, called Mems. The main character in an unusual Mem who seems to have her own mind and personality.
QOTW: I'm not really doing anything differently from last year. In order to not burn out on reading challenges, I've only been doing Popsugar. I usually make a spreadsheet with two choices for each prompt, just in case I run into issues getting ahold of my first choice. This year I did try to fill as much of the list with stuff I already owned or had on hold at the library, to help clear out my TBR a little without adding too much more to it.
Hi all! I wasn't off work, so I don't have the post-vacation slump to blame for my low desire to get work done! Actually, I'm ahead of schedule for the month due to some flukes I didn't plan for and it makes me happy- I'm never ahead!But boyfriend has the flu or covid (he's getting tested tomorrow) and has been asleep all day. I hope he feels better for several reasons. One of them being that he is the poster boy for Man Colds!!
I finished reading a short story which is part of the collection in Tales of Pain and Wonder, "Rats Live on No Evil Star". Which I'm using for the palindrome prompt. I'm totally counting it because the phrase appears in the story and the fact that it's a palindrome is important. The story itself is weird and creepy and not one I would have read otherwise.
I've started Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea and of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists, and Fools, Including the Author, Who Went in Search of Them and am enjoying it, Middlesex which started off stronger than expected, and Blood & Honey and am happy to be back in the presence of those snarky characters.
QOTW: Strategy?? What is this thing you speak of? Ha! I don't expect to finish anyway, so I read what I want and fit it in as I go and if it doesn't work, oh well.
Happy 2022 everyone and lots of reading fun!We started the year in quarantine because someone at our small New Year’s Eve party tested positive 2 days later. We are okay, no symptoms after 6 days, so that’s pretty safe. It’s raining and our country is in lockdown, so what’s different from normal?? (Spoiler: going to the supermarket.)
Finished
Blood Sisters by Barbara Keating⭐⭐⭐
It started a bit slow and boring, but the second half was much better. More speed, more development of some characters. Nice ‘biggie’ (> 600 pages). Not for a challenge, finished it December 30th.
My Fathers' Ghost Is Climbing in the Rain by Patricio Pron⭐⭐
I guess I have to accept that this kind of complicated way of writing is not my cup of tea. Pron tried to write about the impact of living in a dictatorship for the families of political opponents. I understand what he wanted to do, but it’s just not for me.
PS: #6, a book by a Latinx author, #23, a book with a recipe in it
Currently reading
House of Gold by Natasha Solomons
QOTW
I noticed that I was a bit too focussed on the challenge. This year, I’m going to read whatever I feel like and decide afterwards if and how they fit in the challenge. First prompt is already ticked off. Not a bad start!
Mod
Whoo! Whoo! Congrats! 🎆✨
"Finished:
The first book I finished this year was The Ballerinas. I'm not sure if it works for any of the prompts so for now I'm not using it for the challenge."
That looks intense!
"Currently Reading:
The Last House on the Street - I'm using this for either a book with two POVs or two books set in twin cities."
Sounds intense.
"The Lost Apothecary - I'm using this for a book with a recipe in it."
A favorite for me! I hope you enjoy it!
"Instructions for Dancing - I'm using this for a romance novel by a BIPOC author."
I'm planning to read Everything, Everything this year.
"Question of the Week:
Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
I don't really have a strategy for completing the challenge. I make a list of books I own or want to read for each prompt and as I read them I check off those prompts. If I read something that I realize fits in a prompt I'll use it for that. I just hope I finish earlier in the year than I did last year!"
Whatever you did in 2021 worked! 👍
Here's my first proper attempt at the Popsugar challenge! I've had a lot of free time lately and knocked out a few of the prompts already.Read
A romance novel by a BIPOC author - Kamila Knows Best
A book with a recipe in it - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
A different book by an author you read in 2021 - Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World
A book with two POVs - Hideaway
Currently Reading
A book published in 2022 - Uncontrollable Women: Radicals, Reformers and Revolutionaries
An Ansfield-Wolf Book Award winner - The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
A book whose title begins with the last letter of your previous read - Twenty Years Later
QotW: Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
I don't have too much of a strategy, really. I made a spreadsheet with a book that fits each prompt, trying to add books I already own or plan to read, but keeping an eye out for books that will fit prompts that I am reading casually as well.
New work year, same work shenanigans. I went in for my overnight shift only to find a note that it was pushed back again, so I get to do it again tomorrow. That's fine. At this point I prefer working overnight. I can listen to my audiobooks and nobody is breathing on me. Oh and the time off I was scheduled to have starting Sunday was moved back a week. Sigh. I love the start of a new reading year. The little burst of 'woohoo the book I happen to be reading fits a prompt!' is strong when they are all still waiting to be filled.
3/50
Finished:
Picture books
Cat Problems
The Real Santa
¡Mambo Mucho Mambo! the Dance That Crossed Color Lines
Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist
The Quick - Why did I not know what this book is about? It's been on my shelf for years.
Mrs. March - This is the second book I've read recently where other people think it's so mysterious/creepy/suspenseful or something and all I see is someone with obvious serious mental health problems who needs some help.
Otto: A Palindrama - This was fun. The graphic novel is written entirely in palindromes! The action is clearly just setting up ways to showcase them, but it was amusing. Super quick read.
Bluecrowne - The third Greenglass House book. It features some Chinese.
Currently Reading:
The Ladies of the Secret Circus
Bibliophile: Diverse Spines
QOTW:
My strategy last year was kinda non-existent. Normally I like to have some titles that fit each prompt so I can pick one of those if my reading doesn't happen to fill them. Last year I didn't find that many early on but I read such an excessive amount it was fine. I probably going that route again, though I would like to find some more potential matches.
The one thing I am doing though is aimed at books I own. I've just not been able to focus on print books the past couple of years, so I'm giving more attention to picking those books on audio. I found/figured out how to make the unread books on my spreadsheet auto-populate onto a different tab, so I have a handy dandy list of them all together. (Well, one per year.) I've also added a column noting where I might find/have the audio version. Now it's simple to scroll through my physical TBR and also see if I have it to listen to!
Mod
Goals are good! 😁
"I am reading 2 books currently, haven't finished either of them but still pushing through. The Pacific Northwest is being hit with snow storm after snow storm so finding time to read isn't too hard."
I'll let you keep the snow! LOL
"We also have another COVID scare - my boyfriend picked up two co-workers on his way to work in the snow and both tested positive. He is vaxxed and boosted so hopefully his test comes back negative, but getting results is taking forever - so at home I sit trying to work and read and enjoy the snow from my window."
Here's hoping he tested negative!
"Reading:
The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (A book featuring a party). I read The Guest List last year and really liked it so I figured I would give this one a shot. So far so good. She really keeps the mystery going without dragging it out to the point where I stop caring. I can tell this is going to be a 5-star for me!"
Cool! I enjoyed The Guest List and assume I would also enjoy The Hunting Party.
"Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (A book about the Afterlife). I struggled through the beginning of this book, it is written in a very different format than I am used to. I watched an interview with George Saunders about this book and he said there are over 163 characters in the book! It is written in a "script" style but the person who is speaking is mentioned after rather than before."
Wow... That sounds like a lot of work!
"QOTW:
I would like to think that I have a strategy but really I just pick up a book. I try to read along with the monthly picks if I have the same book (even if I chose it for a different prompt). I would really like to get less distracted by new books and stick to the books I have chosen for each prompt - but you know what they say about planning LOL."
😁
I have been excited all week for a massive used book sale in my county, which I was planning to go to this evening after work, BUT I am in a winter storm watch until 2am, so I'm hoping now just hoping to make it home safely, and back out tomorrow to get my booster shot. I am 6/50.
Third Watch: A book you can read in one sitting: Great book to start the year. As someone who has read all the Tracy Crosswhite books, I was glad to go back and read this prequel for a bit of background. For a short story, it packed a lot of punch and played well with the character development and history of the series.
Wish You Were Here: A book that features two languages: I love Jodi Picoult, because she creates incredible characters and doesn't shy away from challenging topics. Having said that, I was not excited about a COVID book, but I thought it was an interesting perspective to take. My biggest complaint about the book is that some of it seemed very contrived just to show off all the research she had done, rather than the information adding to the story. Still not sure how I feel about the twist, but I definitely didn't see it coming.
Every Waking Hour: A different book by an author you read in 2021: I don't think this series is holding up to the first book. The character development has stalled and I find myself getting annoyed with main characters that I used to really enjoy. Not a bad book, just not what I hoped for.
Eve: A book with a palindromic title: This book was just okay for me. The MC made some very frustrating choices as is typical for young adult books. Kind of a teen Handmaid's Tale only not as well written. The character development seemed forced and rushed but it was entertaining and quick.
#Murdertrending: A social-horror book: I was excited for this prompt and I really wanted to love this. The Purge meets Hunger Games meets the Condemned. For those reasons, I found it very entertaining, but it just wasn't that well written. It was all over the place and tried to go bigger than it should have. It could have been scarier or more emotional. It shouldn't have been so confusing and ridiculous. I still liked it though and might read the second one.
Outcast: A book about witches: I was not impressed with this. There was way too much going on for such a short book. Too many characters with not enough distinguishing personalities. Too many places and not enough time.
Currently reading;
Death on the Nile: I love Agatha Christie and I love these audio books. I'm reading this one for a book on a plane, train, or ship, but it would work for book being released as a movie in 2022.
Ski Weekend: A book that takes place in your favorite season (winter): In fairness, it takes place right at the change between fall and winter, but I'm counting it. I have been really enjoying action/adventure/survival books, so I'm hopeful for this one.
QOTW:
I just make a list and hope for the best. I don't have a problem giving up on a book that isn't working for me. I try to limit my rereads and graphic novels to only a few.
Mod
Now that's what I call a REAL nap!! LOL
"I did not finish most of the challenges I had set for myself for 2021, and I returned all of the books to the library that I had no desire to read. And I'm okay with that."
It's all good! 👍😋
"I only started making my spreadsheet for the 2022 challenges today, so I have no idea where I stand for 2022 yet."
There's a whole year ahead!
"Finished This Week:
Up the Down Staircase by Bel Kaufman. A epistolary novel that's also a classic by a woman author. I have zero experience with being a teacher in New York Public Schools in the 50s/60s, so it was not something I connected to. The epistolary format (memos, meeting notes, interoffice communications, letters to a friend, transcripts) made it extremely fast to read, and that's the best thing I can say about it. I'm sure other teachers would connect to it far more than I."
This is on my TBR listing. I didn't remember the formatting...
"Setting Free the Bears by John Irving. I didn't finish this in 2021 like I intended, but I'm fine with that. It was extremely odd and I didn't like it. The middle section told the story of what the parents of one of the characters experienced in Austria and Yugoslavia during World War II, and that was the best part of the novel. The rest of it made little sense. It's John Irving's first book, so I hope his later ones are better."
I've read three of his. He's okay... I don't purposefully seek out his books.
"Across the Green Grass Fields by Seanan McGuire. Reread in prep for the new one. Still very good, even if I wasn't a horse kid."
That last comment made me chuckle!
"Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire. The next Wayward Children book, featuring how Cora is Not Okay after Come Tumbling Down. I loved this one, almost as much as I loved the first in the series. I hadn't connected to the other stories in the series since the beginning, despite being very well told, but I did with this one (despite not being a fat kid). Such a good book."
That's great!
"Ariadne by Jennifer Saint. All my paused library holds came off pause with the first of the year, so this was ready for me. Like Circe, I wasn't aware what became of Ariadne after the events on Crete, except that I knew Theseus didn't marry her. So I was surprised by how quickly everything on Crete happened and how much book was left after Theseus sailed away. But unlike Circe, I was then disappointed with how the rest of the book played out."
Though I'm not into mythology I did love Circe and The Song of Achilles. But I believe that was due to Madeline Miller's writing!
"Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen. This is a book I've had on my TBR for a while, because I love time travel and alternate histories and that sort of thing. It didn't go where I was expecting and kept me guessing about how things were going to play out. And then it did something from the Back to the Future series that I've always loved, and that made me so happy. Highly recommended."
Already on my TBR listing. This sounds unique!
"Up Next:
Deerskin by Robin McKinley, read by Xe Sands. This is my favorite book, which I have read countless times, but I got it on audio because I learned it's read by an narrator I've enjoyed in other books. Not sure how it's going to translate to audio, especially one specific part, but eager to find out."
I hope it proves to be good!
"She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan. The book club pick for October or November that's finally available from the library, but Overdrive wasn't working last night, so I haven't been able to download it yet."
This looks good to me!
"QotW: Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
My strategy for PopSugar wasn't that bad, other than not paying serious attention to my longest book until December. But my overall strategy needs to change. Not every book needs fill a challenge prompt, and I don't need more challenges. If a book only fits one prompt, that's perfectly okay. I don't need to find a different book that meets multiple prompts instead, especially if I want to read that first book.
I had ten books to read at the end of the year, none of which I cared about, and six of them were returned to the library unread. (Two I read and disliked, two I still have checked out and intend to read. We'll see.) The strategy this year is to find books I enjoy reading that fit, with a little stretching to go outside my comfort zone as necessary, but to recognize that if I've avoiding reading a book, it means to find a different one."
That sounds like a good plan!
Happy New Year! I managed to finish all three challenges I participated in last year (Popsugar, ATY, and the 52 Book Club), but I really had to hustle at the end. I hadn't been keeping track very well and had to make some unusual reading choices at the end of the year. I kinda disappeared in the middle of the year last year - I promise to do better this year! - but things changed and I got a little distracted. Still in Santa Fe, still married, still a parent of an adult child with autism (Seth), but now my 4-year-old grandson (Eli) is living with us. Boy, does that change our daily routine!
Challenge Progress: 2/50
Completed:
Taste: My Life through Food: Utterly charming. I've admired Stanley Tucci for a long time and loved this "foodie" take on a memoir. I listened to the audiobook, but now I want to get my hands on a hard copy... The recipes sound delicious! (PS 23: A book with a recipe in it) ★★★★
Lost in Darkness: A little romance... and a twist on Frankenstein. I really enjoyed this well-written (and well-researched) gothic regency. ★★★★
The Nickel Boys: Devastating, stark, and bleak... but it needs to be read. Based on the real story of a reform school in Florida (The Dozier School for Boys) that operated for 111 years and warped the lives of thousands of young boys, Colson Whitehead delivers a powerful narrative. ★★★★★
The Paper Palace: So... I really didn't like this book. It's not that it wasn't well written (I actually pulled a couple of really great quotes) or poorly plotted. I just didn't like any of the characters. Sometimes I enjoy books with unlikable characters. Sometimes there's a visceral thrill that comes from reading about really terrible people, but this time I felt no thrill. I didn't find the characters sympathetic - or even very interesting. There's an audience for this book. It's just not me. (PS25: A book about a secret) ★★★
Currently Reading:
Cackle
L.A. Weather
Such a Pretty Smile
The Arrangement
The Soulmate Equation
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life
Our Home in Myanmar: Four years in Yangon
QOTW: The only thing I think I'll change is just keeping better track, so I don't have to rush at the end. I still don't really plan my reads. I read enough - in a wide variety of genres - that it generally just works out in the end.
Mod
Agreed!
If you want to join the Buddy Read, it is on 2022 Reading Challenge. 👍😋
Mod
ugh how disapppointing!!! I hope you're able to get to your booster site without trouble tomorrow.
Eve: A book with a palindromic title: This book was just okay for me. The MC made some very frustrating choices as is typical for young adult books. Kind of a teen Handmaid's Tale only not as well written. The character development seemed forced and rushed but it was entertaining and quick.
I have that book borrowed from the library right now, for palindrome! I wasn't expecting much more than "entertaining and quick" so looks like it will meet my expectations :-)
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Husband's Secret (other topics)One Italian Summer (other topics)
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (other topics)
The Catcher in the Rye (other topics)
Greenglass House (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Liane Moriarty (other topics)Rebecca Serle (other topics)
Shari Lapena (other topics)
John McWhorter (other topics)
Becky Chambers (other topics)
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I did manage to finish the 2021 POPSUGAR reading challenge…at 11:30PM on December 31, 2021! Nothing like cuttin’ it close, huh? LOL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Interestingly, as I compiled some stats…
I read a total of 141 books in 2021! That is NOT counting the 10 or so short stories I read that were edocs and in-between the installments of series. This is definitely a record for me! I’m thrilled with that and now want to maintain that level of reading for however many years I have remaining in this lifetime! I’m very happy with that!
I am still reading a few books to complete 2021 year-long challenges, but am not worried about them. After finishing Bel Canto for Popsugar on New Year’s Eve, I launched into the next Alex Cross book for the “December” Buddy Read that both of us had missed until the new year, and then read the next installment for January. I am catching up with a brand-new-to-me mystery series to Buddy Read in January and February. (A Goodreads friend messaged me about this one, asking me to join her and I’m so glad she did! Murder on Black Swan Lane is compelling ! They read it in December, so then I’ll need to read the second installment, Murder at Half Moon Gate, this month.) As I was perusing the Buddy Reads schedule I realized there is a discussion for The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race by Walter Isaacson. One of our faculty had purchased and read this and then left it in the mailroom with a note for anyone interested to take it and read it, A free book! Guess who took it? Yep! And I want to read it as soon as possible and then place it back in the mailroom for the next person! Looking forward to this one! I love to read nonfiction science books but rarely make time for them! 🙁
And then I realized yesterday that Percival Everett will be here January 25th, so I need to get the one book of his I already own, I Am Not Sidney Poitier read, if possible!
Admin Stuff:
We will be reading Lisa See’s The Island of Sea Women for the March 2022 Monthly Group Read per the recently completed poll! Thank you to all who voted! YAY! I’m so happy this was the winner! I own a copy and really want to read it! And this will be my first Lisa See book!
I have updated the comprehensive listing of 2022 Monthly Group Reads and now we are anxious to include names of those literary luminaries volunteers who will lead these monthly discussions! Please message either Nadine or myself to volunteer! *HINT! HINT!* 😊
The January 2022 Monthly Group Read discussion of People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry is here. This can be used to satisfy the 2022 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge prompt #11 A #BookTok recommendation! I’m excited for this one! Erica is leading this discussion and I’m so anxious to pickup my copy at my favorite used bookstore this weekend and join in! I’m hoping this will be a bit lighter fare between the Penrose mysteries and nonfiction science book in January!
Please post the book you read to satisfy this prompt here.
Question of the Week:
Let’s talk strategy for this new year! Are you changing the way you approach the 2022 Popsugar challenge from what you did in 2021? Or was your strategy successful and you’re going to simply repeat it this year?
Oh, boy… I failed miserably at completing the Read Harder and Reading Women challenges, although I did complete a bunch of shorter/smaller challenges throughout 2021.
As of December 31st I had completed 34 monthly challenges, 16 quarterly challenges, and 12 year-long challenges. I left 3 year-long challenges incomplete for which I have only 5 books left to complete all 3. I know I’ll read 3 of those, hopefully in January which will complete 2 of the 3. The other one is a title challenge and I admit I’m not super-motivated to read a book beginning with “Q” or “Z” right away. I may leave that one incomplete. I left only one monthly challenge incomplete and finished all the quarterly challenges. I’m good with this! I am going to try to restrict myself to NOT documenting additional books for these smaller challenges. If I’ve pledged 3 and read three within the first week that counts, I’ll mark it complete rather than increasing my goal, etc. It requires time to document all those! LOL
My plan for 2022 is to try to work in more of the year-long challenge books during the next 12 months and not worry so much about completing the smaller challenges. We’ll see if that helps me or not.
I’m also going to try to resist as many Buddy and Group reads as possible during 2022. (With that said, I just committed to two more Buddy Reads in January/February last night! LOL) Those really distracted me from challenge books in 2021! (I completed 50 Buddy Reads and Group Reads in 2021!) Yikes! That’s a lot!
But truly, my main personal “challenge” is to simply resist purchasing more books and read those I already own. It sounds ridiculous, but this is a huge “challenge” for me! Every. Single. Year.
So I have changed how I plan for these challenges a bit. I am selecting books that I already own and marking those prompts with a double asterisk to remind myself that (1) I really really really want to read this book, and (2) I ALREADY OWN IT!!! I am stacking these on top of my dresser in my bedroom with a sticky not on the cover stating which challenge prompt(s) each book will fulfill. (I’m pretty sure this is basically a repeat of my plan from January 2021! LOL)
I am hopeful these strategies will help me maintain better focus in 2022! Time will tell…
Strategies that did work for me in 2021 included setting my own personal “challenges” which several of you do each year. I purposefully prioritized mysteries and I really enjoyed doing that. I plan to repeat that in 2022, as well as setting some personal goals for which mystery series I will plan to catch up in 2022. The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency is the first one—only 3 more to go! (Yes, that is a holdover from 2021!) That is closely followed by Alexander McCall Smith’s Isabel Dalhousie series and Susan Wittig Albert’s China Bayles series. I also have 7 first installments in other mystery series that I want to read to see if I wish to pursue others in each series.
My overall goal is to read as much as possible and try my best to make sure the books I already own are top priority! Sounds so simple…
My listing of books will have to be included in a separate posting since this was too long to be published... 😲