Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2022 Weekly Check-Ins
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Week 49: 12/2 - 12/8
Winter has arrived, I don't think it really got above freezing today as there was still frost on the ground when I went out to get my haircut. Which is something well overdue, my partner cut it a few times during the pandemic but it was a bit of a state. I'm not a fan of hairdresser chitchat but this one at least told me about the M&S stuffing flavoured sourdough, which I promptly went and bought. That was yummy, so she gets two thumbs up for food recs.Finished:
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett for review. This was whimsical but I liked that the faeries were still the dangerous sort.
The Player Next Door by Elizabeth Davis for ATY (related to a game). A fun romance, I liked the tabletop gaming element.
Which leaves me with one prompt left for ATY and I'm currently reading A Stitch in Time for it. I'm also listening to The Spare Man, although not so much listening time at this time of year.
QOTW:
I'm doing ATY and 34 of the Popsugar prompts, there are too many repeats of things that annoyed the first time round to do them all again. I'll also try the mini-challenge and some ATY rejects. There's a SFF Titles Challenge that I will tick off as I go but I'm not going to seriously try and complete that one.
I'm excited for the new year only because August-November 2022 was pretty stressful. I'm now busy with Christmas stuff. The last week of December and first week of January will hopefully be a good reset for me in many ways. I'm hopeful 2023 will be a better year.In books, I finished book 51, Only one more book to go to finish off ATY. No one who knew me believed I could read 52 books in a year.
Breakfast at Tiffany's and Three Stories
ATY prompt: A book that fits your favorite prompt that did not make the list (from the song 22)
Popsugar prompt: no prompts left to fit it
ATY - 51/52
PS- 41/35
Series - 15/13
Clearing my TBR list: 40/40
Currently reading:
The Remains of the Day - 25% done
QOTW: I'm only planning to do about 40/52 ATY prompts and 30/50 PS prompts. I will still endeavor to match books to prompts, but that isn't my focus.
I am reading 12 series. It's too many. I'm touring around and mostly only reading one book from each a year. A lot started to fulfill a prompt. Ideally, I should be reading 3-5. To solve this, I'm prioritizing reading series this year and attempting to finish things off and cut down the number of series I'm in the middle of. I am adamant that no new series start in 2023, even if a first book of a series will fulfill both a ATY and PS prompt.
I'm going to try to read more Nobel laureates (even if it's just a poem or short story by someone). This is a bucket list goal.
And I'm going to do some random books - aka sorting my TBR list by random and reading the first book that comes up. This is to reduce my TBR list. (The only two exceptions are if it is a series book - I get to skip or re-randomize because no new series. Or if it's a book that I can't figure out why I put it on my TBR list in the first place, I get to delete it - which also reduces my TBR list.) This random book idea is one of the reasons I can't fully commit to PS or ATY next year - since I don't know which books will randomly come up or not, I can't predict which prompts they will meet.
On the whole, I like prompts because they get me reading different books and discovering new writers. But, I need a year to fix other holes in my reading life.
Happy Thursday!Finished up the second-to-last week of classes today. Next week is finals week... wish me luck.
Books read this week:
The Unicorn in the Barn -- lovely and gentle story about magic and loss. Love the illustrator -- I’ve seen her work several places and love it.
A Wolf Called Wander -- I have a soft spot for animal books, and this one was great. It’s nice to read an animal book where it’s clear the author did their research and didn’t anthropomorphize the animals to an absurd degree.
Animals Don't Blush -- a veterinarian shares his stories of working in rural Montana in the ‘60s. Some entertaining stories, though the author has a tendency to relate every single tiny detail of his work in each story. Also, he gets graphic with the medical details, so don’t read while eating…
School-Live!, Vol. 1 -- manga. Reads like a slice-of-life school drama-comedy… until the post-apocalyptic stuff kicks in. Still not sure how well I like the manga style, but this was a fun genre-bending read.
DNF:
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil -- reads more like a travelog than the eccentric true-crime book I was expecting.
Currently Reading:
8-Bit Christmas
The Raw Shark Texts
Maya and the Robot
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes
QOTW:
I'm doing the PopSugar challenge, and if I have time I'll pick up the library's Extreme Book Nerd challenge. We'll see how it goes!
I forgot to add that I'm going to try to do Nadine's 23-oriented mini-challenge because it's only 10 books, and I like these prompts better than some of the ATY and PS prompts.
I finished In the Spirit of Crazy Horse: The Story of Leonard Peltier and the FBI's War on the American Indian Movement.I am reading Finlay Donovan Is Killing It. I definitely needed something lighter after my last read. LOL. About a third of the way through. I'm liking it. It's cute.
QOTW: I'm just doing Pop Sugar. I'd never done a reading challenge before starting Pop Sugar in 2018. I usually finish in September or October, so don't really feel like I have time to do another as I do just want to read things that I just want to read.
Happy Thursday! I don't have too much to report this week. I've been busy making my plan for next year's reading. My plan probably won't survive, but I enjoy figuring out options for all the prompts.Finished:
A Snake Falls to Earth - 3 stars - I liked the story when the threads came together, but it took way too long to get to that point.
Tread of Angels - 3.5 stars - This was good, well-written and engaging, but a lot darker than I was expecting. (view spoiler)
Comics & manga:
The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 16
Love in Focus, Vol. 3
Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan, Vol. 4
Currently reading:
Kiss Her Once for Me - this seems like a cute premise and I was in the mood for a holiday romance. If anyone's still looking, this would fulfill the sapphic prompt, and obviously the book set during a holiday.
Planned:
Well Traveled
A Million to One
QOTW:
I'm probably just doing Popsugar 2023, and I'll try to fit in Nadine's mini-challenges along the way. I feel like if I tried to do too many challenges, I would get frustrated at not having the freedom to read something "off the schedule."
Last year I managed to fill in ATY around September/October, so I might take a look at that after I finish PS, but I'm not planning for it ahead of time.
I finished the challenge with these two books and I think this may be the latest in the year that I've finished the book.book with a reflected image on the front
The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer. YA Sci-Fi. Rescue mission sent to space. This was just okay for me but also sci fi isn't my favorite genre.
Hugo Award Winner
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal. Alternative history. Meteor hits earth in the 1950s and causes chaos and the need to colonize space. Also involves the need to let women be astronauts. This was enjoyable and like I said sci-fi is not my normal genre but I really enjoyed this one and ordered the second one.
QOTW:
Probably not doing any other. I did the Read Harder one for a couple of years but stopped a couple of years ago because the categories were so niche that it was way to hard and I know it's Read Harder but…
Happy Thursday! I think hubby's coming down with something and I'm hoping it's just a nasty sinus bug rather than Covid, but he's hacking and sniffling all over the house. I'm looking forward to Sunday afternoon, when I get to start working on a new play at a theatre I've never worked with before!Finished this week:
Where the Crawdads Sing - 3 stars. The pacing could use some work. I liked the film better!
The Immortal Game: A History of Chess, or How 32 Carved Pieces on a Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science and the Human Brain - 2.5 stars. Jumped around a bunch and was lighter on the history than I was looking for, although the walkthrough of said "immortal game" was excellent. Book with a board game in the title
The Grey King - 4 stars. This has been a very different, very intriguing series. On to the finale!
Inglorious Empire: What the British Did to India - 5 stars. Brutal, devastating read but highly recommended.
PS 49/50
Currently:
Bloodmarked - past halfway and there's been a wrinkle and a few new characters!
Silver on the Tree
Black Water Sister
Soon:
finishing Dreaming the Eagle
The Goblin Emperor
The Children of Gods and Fighting Men
Code Name Verity
QOTW: From Dubhease: Which reading challenges (Popsugar or otherwise) do you plan to participate in next year? (2023)
PopSugar, my Historical Fictionistas group here on GR does a yearly summer TBR challenge (bonus points if you read historical fiction!), various other group-specific challenges (some of them do bingo cards and things like that!)... and I may attempt Read Harder!
Finished: Apparently, I have finished zero books this week...Started:The Origins of Totalitarianism This one's a slog, but it's one I've been meaning to read for decades now.
Nonbinary: Memoirs of Gender and Identity Pretty good!
QotW: I'm going to do Nadine's mini-challenge and my own challenge. I am very disappointed in the Popsugar Challenge this year. I thought I might do the Read Harder challenge instead, but that was released, and I wasn't particularly wowed by it either. My challenge is a conglomeration of last year's Read Harder challenge, suggestions from our Pop Sugar group, and my own prompts.
Mod
I just finished deleting about 400 books from my TBR (which was over 2000 when I started deleting). It's so refreshing! Just in time to start adding all the new 2023 pubs that I don't know about yet LOL
This week I finished 3 books & DNFed 1, none for any Challenge.
Twice a Quinceañera by Yamile Saied Méndez - this was rather dull and not what I wanted; I wanted a romance, but this was chick-lit, all about the heroine's relationship with her family. (If you like chick lit and you're looking for a book about family, consider this one!)
The Serpent on the Crown by Elizabeth Peters - loved it! This was EXACTLY what I wanted it to be. (This would also qualify as a book about family, now that I think about it.)
Corpse Whale by dg nanouk okpik - it might be more fair to say I DNF'ed this, since I did not read every poem. I just could not. The poems were like word jumbles for me.
And I DNFed
The Eight by Katherine Neville - this was so boring. I didn't get very far in it, but I just never wanted to pick it up.
QotW
Popsugar & Around the Year, and yes I'll give my own mini-challenge a go. This year I took the year off from AtY, but then at the end of this year I realized I had almost filled all of the categories anyway, so now I'm making the effort to read the last two books. Next year, maybe I can be more intentional. But Popsugar will always come first for me.
Interesting timing for this question, because Book Riot just published their 2023 list! As always, when they say read HARDER they are not kidding. I have, in the past few years, read books that would fit all of their 2023 categories, but I don't know if I want to devote time in ONE year to read all of them. Like, no I don't think I want to read a cookbook cover to cover just now, I don't often read books of short stories and I don't have plans to do so soon, I don't know any comics featuring disabled characters unless having a bionic eye because you lost your eye in a workplace accident counts, I have no idea what a "different genre" graphic novel would be that I don't already read, I don't like reading about activism, in the past I have not enjoyed books that my favorite authors loved, I DNF for a reason, the last few times I've had to read a local author I hated it, etc etc etc
I'm annoyed that these "read a book you DNFed" categories pop up as often as they do. How many articles has Book Riot run about how someone gave themselves permission to DNF and it was great, or they've learned to DNF and not feel guilt, or whatever? And now they're telling us "eh, just kidding, we really don't think you should DNF - go dig that book out and give it another try, you quitting quitter"
It's funny how some Book Riot categories are soooo specific, and yet others are WIDE OPEN, like "Read a social horror, mystery, or thriller novel." I mean. A mystery OR a thriller OR a social horror? that's about 1/3 of my reading each year.
Hello! Yesterday was my one day in the office a month, so naturally it snowed. We were all complaining about how we're all telecommuters now so we wouldn't have to drive in snow any more, and yet here we are.I have set up time with a good friend of mine to talk about one of my novels, which I haven't done in probably 15 years. I'm excited to get to talk about it with someone who isn't my husband, and equally terrified for the same reason.
Finished This Week:
The Queen's Triumph by Jessie Mihalik. Final book in the trilogy. Very satisfying end of the story. I shouldn't have waited so long to read them. Not for PS prompt, but could be for #32, as Ilona Andrews has rec'd Jessie many times.
The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2020 by Michio Kaku. Finished it! Not something to be read in one go, but reading articles one or two at a time worked for me. A vast array of topics, including a bunch of things I've never thought about. (They can't make an AI who can smell!) Using for Read Harder #18, Best X Writing of [Year].
The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander. I needed a book set in Russia, and I'd have my eye on this one at the library for a few years. It's about the last month or so of the life of Tsar Nicholas II and his family, ending with their (very brutal) killing. It's told through the eyes of the kitchen boy, the only servant with them to survive. It's a fairly easy read up until their death, which is extremely graphic. Not for PS prompt.
PS: 49/50 RH: 18/24 ATY: 51/52 GR: 174/100
Currently Reading:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Book club pick for November. Two-Fifths of the way done. I'm enjoying so far.
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory. Trying again.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. Also trying again.
Up Next:
Sweep of the Heart by Ilona Andrews. Officially released on 12/13, but my print-on-demand copy has shipped and is in transit. Will read as soon as it arrives. Dina makes a cake in the first chapter and I'm counting this as my Recipe in Book, to complete PS.
QotW: Which reading challenges (Popsugar or otherwise) do you plan to participate in next year? (2023)
I say I'm only going to do three - Pop Sugar, Around the Year and Read Harder, but then I end up doing six or more. So I'm likely also doing Booklist Queen, the 52 Book Club, and Linz the Bookworm (provided she has one, there isn't a list yet).
Nadine in NY wrote: "eh, just kidding, we really don't think you should DNF - go dig that book out and give it another try, you quitting quitter."you could look at it as a book that you are interested in, started to read and liked, but put it aside because you weren't in the mood. those are technically dnf books.
Morning everyone!I have had a bunch of family popping in for the last week. My sister brought my nephew and the Baby!! down to see mom and I on Tuesday. She is sooooo tiny! i forget how tiny newborns are. she's too big for preemie clothes but too tiny for newborn. she's my little tiger. she's got some good pipes on her when she is hangry!
They all left yesterday, and then, lo and behold! my adult nephew tries to give me a heart attack last night. My brother and he showed up just after my sister left. He's staying until Monday or Tuesday.
I think everyone is keeping mom company cuz my aunt died last Sunday morning. I got the call at 2 am from the East Coast. I had only met her once when I was in my 20s. So I stayed home on Monday to keep her company.
So, consequently I got lots of baby holding time and no reading done. I think that was a fair exchange.
I did read one book for story hour at work.
QOTW
Even though I still have 4 books for this year's challenge and 1 left for ATY, I think i will do next year's challenge. Plus, Nadine's mini challenge has some super fun prompts on it so i think i will try to do that one too.
i've taken a gander at some others like read harder and 52 club. they look interesting, but I'm not doing them.
Hi all!! I'm stupidly happy for no good reason!! (anyone else get like that? No? Just me? Wheee.....) I'm going to blame it on having Pudgie's Pizza for lunch. I haven't had them for years, do other people have Pudgie's? They're a chain here in Upstate NY, but I don't know that I've ever seen them anywhere else. Things are going well here (beyond the slight manic episode I seem to be experiencing, I mean). Tuesday was my 2 year kidney transplant anniversary. :) I'll just climb up on the ol' soapbox and encourage anyone who isn't already to sign up to be an organ donor. Please and thankyou.
I'm almost done Christmas shopping. I mailed out a present to my niece in Idaho this morning. I had to dig out stuff to wrap it and my daughter "helped" put Christmas stuff up all over the house. But we didn't take down other doodads first, so now my house is a slight disaster....
Reading stuff! I finished The House in the Cerulean Sea. For characters and writing, the book was amazing, for something interesting to happen... meh. I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I'll be rereading it, even though I really would like to hang out with the kids.
I started Wolf by Wolf. I'm not very far into it, but I think it will be good, and I think it will fit palindrome (if you go by the whole title), found family, and there's already been some German words in the text. I listened to some more of Stay Gold for gender identity. It also seems to be a character story so far, but at least it has the built in tension of will people figure out the main character is trans male? And I started Rabbit Redux for a rabbit book for next year. I won't finish it before the new year and if it's as awful as Rabbit, Run was, I can put it aside quickly and not have it hanging over my head all year. But, I can say that a few pages in and I don't yet want to stab myself in the eye with a pen!
QOTW: Officially, I'm only doing PS. I'll try to slot in some of Nadine's mini challenges. I might look at some of the other challenges, but I don't read fast enough to go looking for more things to read (not that that's ever stopped me before...)! Personally, I'm always trying to read more classics and banned books.
Busy week. Felt great until today: stuffy nose, dry throat, tired. Probably picked up another nose cold, the second one in a month.... Dragged myself through a pleasant lunch with colleagues. Now I’m tired, wrapped in a blanket in my armchair and enjoying the weekly check-ins here.PS: 19/40
Total 2022: 58 -> my initial goal was 40. Now I aim for 60!
Finished
The Inheritance of Lion Hall by Corina Bomann⭐⭐⭐
Not for PS
Nice read, but a bit disappointing. I hoped to read more of Sweden’s history, but that is very superficial. It’s a feelgood set in 1913 Sweden rather than historical fiction.
Currently reading
Emma by Jane Austen
Hard Choices by Hillary Rodham Clinton - no progress made
QOTW
Popsugar and the FNL-challenge. This is a challenge from the Dutch Goodreads group ‘Fanatieke Nederlandse Lezers’ (translation: Fanatic Dutch Readers). It will be a challenge within a challenge to find books on my TBR which will tackle prompts in both challenges.
Finished:Rogue by Andy Mangels and Michael A. Martin (reread, 3/5)
Currently reading:
Muppets Meet the Classics: The Phantom of the Opera
Station Eternity
Question of the Week:
I will do what I can with the PopSugar challenge in 2023. Mostly, I want to get some ideas for interesting books that I would not have otherwise noticed, even if it's 10 books for the same prompt.
Fun personal news:
I scored a front-row seat to see Walter Trout when he comes to Arizona next year!
Mod
I think Pudgie's is only in Ithaca. I've never seen them in the Syracuse, Cortland, or Binghamton areas.
ETA: And I'm thrilled that you are so happy - your post made me smile :-)
Nadine in NY wrote: "I'd like the ground to freeze to eliminate the muddy paws and the insects...."I was so happy for the freezing weather at last because the fruit flies have disappeared. They have been everywhere this year, our compost caddy just kept generating them no matter how many times I cleaned it out. Hope you get a short but useful freeze soon.
Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all!! I'm stupidly happy for no good reason!! (anyone else get like that? No? Just me? Wheee.....) I'm going to blame it on having Pudgie's Pizza for lunch. I haven't had them for years, do othe..."Pizza for lunch would put me in a good mood too!
Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all!! I'm stupidly happy for no good reason!! (anyone else get like that? No? Just me? Wheee.....) I'm going to blame it on having Pudgie's Pizza for lunch. I haven't had them for years, do othe..."Being happy for no good reason is the antithesis of stupid. It's always great to see a post where someone stars off in a wonderful mood.
Happy Thursday, everyone!We officially closed on the condo on Monday morning, and I’m so happy to be a single property owner once again!
Other than the closing, it’s been a pretty boring week. That’s not a complaint, by the way. It’s been really nice to have a chance to just rest and breathe, and spend time doing the things I actually want to be doing.
This week I finally got Disney+, so I’ve spent a lot of my newly acquired free time in front of the television. I had a chance to watch Hocus Pocus 2 over the weekend, and I thought it was cute. I definitely prefer the original, but I did enjoy watching it. I also had a chance to watch The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which was great. Other than those two movies, I’ve spent my time watching documentaries. I’m currently watching The World According to Jeff Goldblum, and Behind the Attraction, both of which have been really interesting.
Despite all of my television-watching time, I’ve also managed to do quite a bit of reading this week. One of my goals for this month is to finish the books in Agatha Christie’s Poirot series that I haven’t read before, and this week I managed to finish reading the novels! I’m currently working my way through an absolutely massive book of Poirot short stories (most of which have been re-reads for me), which is the last Poirot book on my TBR list. I’m currently reading 4 short stories per day, so I’m making pretty good progress.
Goodreads: 550/200
TBR Checklist: 420/1009
Finished Reading (Fiction):
~Cat Among the Pigeons
~The Clocks
~Third Girl
~Elephants Can Remember
~Curtain: Poirot's Last Case
Finished Reading (Nonfiction):
None
Finished Reading (Manga, Comic Books, & Graphic Novels):
~The Complete Calvin and Hobbes - Book One
DNFed:
None
Currently Reading:
~Madly, Deeply: The Diaries of Alan Rickman
~The Complete Calvin and Hobbes - Book Two
~Hercule Poirot: The Complete Short Stories:
QOTW:
While I am planning to participate in several readathons in 2023, the only long-term reading challenge that I know I will be participating in for sure is the Mount TBR challenge.
I may also decide to participate in Beat the Backlist, but that will depend on next year’s prompts (which have not yet been released).
Since my main goal for next year is to continue reading books from my physical TBR, I’ve decided not to participate in the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge for the second year in a row. There just aren’t enough prompts that will work for me this time around.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all!! I'm stupidly happy for no good reason!! (anyone else get like that? No? Just me? Wheee.....) I'm going to blame it on having Pudgie's Pizza for lunch. I haven't had them..."There's definitely one in Cortland, I grew up just south of there and we'd have it all the time! :) It's on a back street, you have to want to find it to find it! :)
And I'm glad my delirium is making people happy! :D
I love these check-ins! This is the time of year that I get introspective and spend time thinking about my life, what I want it to be, and make plans for working on those things.
One thing I want to do is travel overseas. I have about 5 places I want to visit (2 are distant states: Alaska and Hawaii, but the others are overseas countries.
So...I decided to take one of those spots: Scotland and make it a focus for next year to try to bring a dream to a reality. I will start by making a vision board for my dream visit. I will review the Visit Scotland emails I get to get ideas for what I want to see. I will contact AAA to see if they have travel info. I will read at least one if not all of the four books I found on visiting Scotland. (One I have planned for the vacation prompt as I am treating it as my vacation.)
I will delve into my Dean ancestors as I learned that Dean is a Scottish subclan of one of Scotlands major clans. To that purpose, I got a book on genealogy (Family History 101: A Beginner's Guide to Finding Your Ancestors).
So exited!
Finished Reading
X Marks the Scot by Kaitlyn Dunnett - 3*
The Glass Key by Dashiell Hammett - 2*
Quick Study by Maggie Barbieri - 3*
Old Man's War by John Scalzi - 4*
Currently Reading
Nine Perfect Strangers - audiobook
The Wisdom of Father Brown - ebook
Kneaded to Death
Pleating for Mercy
The Dressmaker's Gift - Kindle
Book Lovers
QotW: Which reading challenges (Popsugar or otherwise) do you plan to participate in next year? (2023)
I am in several groups: Seasonal Reading Challenge (quarterly challenges [68 books this quarter] (Every year I think I will quit on this one. So far I just keep muddling along planning the books and posting any that I read.) ; Reading w/Style (quarterly challenges [30 books each quarter]. (This one is do-able when the books are within my actual reading.); Pick a Shelf (I help moderate this one) - has multiple challenges of which several are yearly and others shorter term. I usually participate in most.; and Aussie Lovers of Crime, Mystery, Thrillers, Suspense. That last one has 3 annual challenges and 1 seasonal challenge each quarter. Since that is my favorite genre, I do well with it.
Finally, this year I have added PopSugar and AtY. Not sure yet how well I will do with either, but I do try to cross plan with all my groups.
I average over 200 books a year with my lowest year being 140 and this year being my highest with 266 so far.
Hi everyone. My 15 month old niece has tired me out today. She's very good at making her demands known for someone who can't talk lol. This week I finished The Queen's Gambit which I really liked. From what I remember, the Netflix series is pretty faithful to the book. I haven't played chess for well over a decade and I certainly wasn't very good at it so some of the game play went over my head but it didn't detract from the experience.
QOTW: I'm still undecided about both ATY and Pop Sugar for next year. I do like the look of the quarterly challenge so I'll give that a go (thanks for setting it up, Nadine!)
🎶It's Christmas Time In the City....🎶The trees throughout the public areas are decorated and lit, window displays revealed, Saks is putting on its usual garish noisy sound and light show, ... and I've been chained to my desk, LOL. Never fear, I'll be making the rounds to gawk and memorialize on my phone the sights of NYC at Christmas! It's the urban version of hopping into the car to check out all the overdecorated and lighted houses.
I'm still 2 away from finishing. One has been started - both are under 300 pages and will be read this month.
Finished:
Mornings on Horseback: The Story of an Extraordinary Family, a Vanished Way of Life, and the Unique Child Who Became Theodore Roosevelt
Miss Delightful - I do like this series
Currently Reading:
Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries - my palindrome -- and it's a delight so far.
Murder in the Marais - a reread as I want to read the next in series and I read this at least 10 years ago and need a refresher. Plus it's set in a recognizable Paris. In fact, I remember visiting Paris shortly after this book was published and I read it and I actually walked all the areas of the Marais that are mentioned in it and most of the locations still existed then. Now however, the gentrification of the Marais is likely completed with traces of the old Jewish quarter harder to find.
Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters - I'm surprised at how clever and original this is reading. Enjoying it so far.
QOTW: I've got a few besides PS.
ATY 2023 - maybe. I usually wait until well into the year and then just plug in what I've read. I'm not a planner of either PS or ATY, just plug books in that I'm reading for other reasons.
Play Book Tag - PBT - a wonderful group of readers on GR - has 2 annual challenges. I'll do both. One is Happy Birthday PBT (15 years old) which will involve reading 15 different books at your own pace during the year. The other is Subdue the Shelf -- a gameboard you set up of 100 books from your TBR (it can be 25 repeated 4 times, 50 repeated twice, or 100 individual titles) and a roll of the dice moves you forward to land on a book. You read that book then roll again. However, there are additional prizes depending on the roll such as snake eyes lets you move the leader back 3 books, and they have to then read that book before moving forward again. There's also a year long 'trim the tbr' challenge -- drawn number means you read a book from a list you set up, one book a month.
PBT also has shorter challenges throughout the year that I participate in.
I also have another private reading group that does challenges -- 2 new ones added this year both games, a trim the next in series one, and trying to finish a spelling one I started in 2021.
It sounds like a lot but truth be told it's not as I read at least 160 books a year (I'm up to 181 as of today for 2022), and I use one book for multiple challenges. For example, Murder in the Marais fits at least 3 possibly 4 challenges I'm doing in 2022.
I use these challenges to read books I've got lurking in my numerous very very tall TBR Towers that somehow just keep growing. The challenges in the private group also lead to virtual 'prizes' or 'awards' - all great fun and build community.
In fact, the community joining these challenges creates are great fun and have led to some wonderful friendships!
Happy Thursday!Unfortunately this will be the first year that I will not finish the PS or ATY challenges. I have 5 more books to go and not enough time. I didn't read anything for about 2 months and it really slowed my progress. Those reading slumps can really get ya!
Anyway, I am still reading of course and any books that were on my list will have to move to 2023. I am still working my way down the list.
QOTW:
Definitely PS 2023 and ATY. Those are the only reading challenges I participate in. I have tried adding others but it just gets convoluted.
The weather has been too warm to really feel like Christmas up here, but we're supposed to get some snow on Sunday night. My husband and I picked up a new tree on Tuesday, but haven't had a chance to put it together yet, so hopefully that'll be up and decorated by Sunday night as well.Finished this week:
Duel with the Devil: The True Story of How Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr Teamed Up to Take on America's First Sensational Murder Mystery - (RH 22, A History about a Period You Know Little About) I enjoyed this, but I feel like the author sometimes gave us more information than we really needed, and I got some serious ending fatigue.
Cat's Cradle: The Golden Twine - An all right story, but I don't think I'll be reading the next volume when it comes out.
Currently reading:
One Boy, No Water
Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors
Hotel du Lac (another thing I plan to finish by Sunday night)
QOTW:
I was planning on doing PS and RH for sure, and maybe add another one (the Uncorked Reading Challenge looks fun), but just today I found out I was accepted onto the committee for a local book award, so I probably won't have much time for reading outside of that. I'll still see if any of the books fit any of the categories, though.
Happy Thursday! Goodness, I can't believe the holidays are almost here. It's crazy how fast the time has gone.Finished 41/50
I'm not going to make it to 50, but I might at least be able to finish the first 40 prompts!
The Shadow Rising for "book about/set in a matriarchal society". I love WoT SO MUCH. This was a great reread.
Currently Reading
Winter for "book with a protagonist who uses a mobility aid". Finally going to finish the Lunar Chronicles! It's cute so far.
The Jesus We Missed: The Surprising Truth About the Humanity of Christ for "favourite past GR prompt [first book you see in a bookstore]". Hugely appropriate read for this month. Good so far!
QotW
Just Popsugar. It's enough of a challenge for me without adding anything more! ;)
I finished up another mystery that was pretty good minus the ending action. Literally Murder by Ali BrandonAnd then there was the flood of graphic novels and manga
Ghostly Things, Vol. 1by Ushio Shirotori This wasn't a bad beginning to a manga series
In The Flood by Ray Fawkes It was supposed to be surrealistic treat. It was just weird.
The Tale of the Outcasts, Vol. 1 by Makoto Hoshino Also a good start to a manga series
The Amazing Screw-on Head and Other Curious Objects by Mike Mignola This won Eisner awards. I have no idea how.
Judas Complex by Son M I backed this paranormal graphic novel on Kickstarter and am glad I did. It was fun
Cells at Work!, Vol. 1by Akane Shimizu I have wanted to read this one for a few years and I am so glad I finally did. I'm a doctor and teaching anatomy/physiology and this manga was a treat.
QOTW
I always do the literary Escapes challenge on Facebook (America centric, try to read a book in every state. Other countries count too) and the alphabet challenge (also on Facebook) read a book with every letter of the alphabet and my last Facebook one is the cloak and dagger mystery challenge.
On GR I do the mount TBR challenge
Happy check-in! Well this past week has been a deep freeze it was down to -50 due to windchill so lots of indoor furnace time. On the bright side when it's very cold it doesn't snow. I have 3 books that I want to finish before the end of the year and I finished the first yesterday. Finished Reading:
The Reckoning ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I really like the magic system and the humour in this series. It's entertaining so I ignore the problematic things.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Edition vol. 9 & 10 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (The links won't work)
I'm happy I've finished this series but sad it's over. I loved this cartoon as a kid and the gorgeous special editions have been fun to read.
The Night Eaters, Vol. 1: She Eats the Night ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
This surpassed my expectations. The same author and artist pairing from the amazing Monstress series. Apparently they worked on some Marvel comics first so next I have to track those down.
The House in the Cerulean Sea ⭐⭐⭐
I wanted to like this more but too much philosophy and not enough plot until the very end.
PS 2015 50/50 ✅
PS 2022 49/50
Goodreads 263/250 ✅
Currently Reading:
The Summer Deal
Daisy Jones & The Six
The World Record Book of Racist Stories
QOTW:
So I'm in for PS 2023 with some minor wording adjustments. I have been doing previous PS challenges to catch up on the years I've missed but now I am all caught up so I will be joining in in ATY this year. I won't let myself use books for more than one prompt on those two challenges but I will use some of them, if I can, for Nadine's mini challenge which looks like fun. I also like to try and participate in the BOTMs so please vote for good books I want to read that I haven't read yet. 😉
Happy Thursday!Finished:
Little Eyes- very unsettling book about a toy that's a little like a cross between a furby, and alexa or chat roulette. It really creeped me out. But it was a good book! Just made my skin crawl.
-33. A social-horror book
Small Things Like These- this is such a short book, but it really got to me.
-19. A book that takes place during your favorite season (winter)
Battling the Big Lie: How Fox, Facebook, and the MAGA Media Are Destroying America- no prompt for this one, but I listen to crooked media podcasts all the time, so this book has been on my tbr since its release
The Empress of Salt and Fortune- I liked this, but I don't know if I'll continue with the series
-27. A Hugo Award winner
Currently Reading:
An Immense World- finally got this from the library. This might be a stretch, but I'm thinking of using this for the "parallel reality" prompt. It's about how different animals experience the world in completely different ways. Different animals in the same room can experience completely different realities. It's a stretch, but I'm going with it!
QotW:
I'm pretty much just doing Popsugar. I also make a list on 20 books I want to read each year- and then completely ignore the list each year. Other than that, maybe smaller challenges that come up. Like Nonfiction November or Women in Translation month.
I also like the Nadine's mini challenges- that could be fun!
Happy Friday! I missed last weeks check in so its a double week check in today. It is still a bit too warm here. I don't really like winter much but it is bizarre to be into December when I have not seen any snow yet. The new ps list came out! I was at first a bit underwhelmed by PS list for next year. But I enjoyed the list more after figuring out what books I plan on reading. I only started completing the PS challenge this year so any repeated prompts are all new to me anyway.
PS 47/50
Finished:
When No One Is Watching (no prompt) 3 stars. I really enjoyed this book except the ending kind of felt like it went a little off the rails.
If I Was Your Girl (PS gender identity) 3 stars. I definitely enjoyed that this was written with a main character who is trans cause that is not a perspective I have read before. However, I find most YA romance books to be very similar in structure and plot and so they are not super interesting to me.
The Anthropocene Reviewed (no prompt) 3 stars. I really enjoyed some of his essays and less enjoyed others.
Currently reading:
A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum: Murder in Ancient Rome (PS sister city 2)
Pretty Girls (no prompt)
The Nineties (no prompt)
QOTW:
I did the popsugar challenge this year. I intend on doing both popsugar and ATY next year. I will see if I can accomplish both. I'm very particular about certain things. It means I just cannnot let myself use one book to fill prompts on both challenges. I need to use a single book for every different prompt or it will grate on my anal retentiveness. It does make completing the challenges harder but I end up reading more which is always good.
I've been stressing myself out about Christmas because my health is making shopping difficult. I decided last night to just give gift cards and be done with it. Everyone I love knows my struggles this year, and I'm sure will be fine with it (and if they aren't, will likely be gracious about it). Such a weight was lifted from my shoulders. I had to miss my first Christmas party of the season because of a cold. I'm hoping I get to attend at least some of the things I have planned this month and see all the pretty lights and decorations around. I will do what I can and not stress out about it. "Tis the season to be jolly"Finished
Among Others by Jo Walton - 4 stars; PS #27 (Hugo Award Winner)
I had no idea what this book was about, but I liked the cover. I thought this story was wonderful, just a bit rushed at the end. Glad I chose this one.
It's All a Game: The History of Board Games from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan by Tristan Donovan - 4 stars; PS #30 (Board Game in Title)
I was giddy about this prompt when I first read it because I adore board games, and then I couldn't figure out what I wanted to read for it. It had to be just perfect. And this book was - I had no idea the origin of so many of my favorite games. Who knew Monopoly helped WWII prisoners of war escape? While the writing wasn't amazing, the information certainly was. The title is misleading, however, since it wasn't from Monopoly to Settlers of Catan but covered a lot before and some after.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry - 3 stars
This is my third book by the author, which is a lot considering I don't typically like romances. But you all keep selecting them for Monthly Reads (plus my bestie gave me one of them). I read this in two days because it gave me something to do during a bad bout of insomnia last night. I feel bad giving it only 3 stars because I was compelled to read it fast, and I enjoyed much of the main relationship as well as the sister relationship. I will admit to several eyerolls, though.
Goodreads: 86/90
Popsugar: 39/40, 10/10 (just one to go!)
QOTW:
I will stick to Popsugar as usual, with Nadine's challenge as a bonus. At some point near the end of the year, I will see what fits into ATY just for fun as I often do, but I think I've only finished it once or twice.
I also have personal challenges, like my monthly Agatha Christie (which I might finish in my lifetime - she was prolific). I also want to read a nonfiction every month (only did 8 this year). And I want to read a children's book in Spanish every month.
QOTW: From Dubhease: Which reading challenges (Popsugar or otherwise) do you plan to participate in next year? (2023)This will be my second year for Popsugar. Normally I participate in Book Riot and Booklist Queen. Those two I failed at this time around but come 2023 I'm hoping to do better. My plan is to see if any of those match up with Popsugar prompts, since this one is going to be my main priority. And if some match up great, after that I'll do whatever prompt suits me and if I have time for it. Again though, Popsugar is my main priority.
As far as reading goes right now, I've managed to get in 4 books. I started the PS23 challenge a month early just to add in extra time.Two of them were easy because they were short poems.
The Highwayman- A book with a song lyric in the title.
Formidable: American Women and the Fight for Equality: 1920-2020- A book set in the decade you were born
The Road Not Taken and Other Poems- the shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list
****
I've also got Station Eleven going. I'm annotating this one so it's taking a while but I still count it.
Good Morning All, I read 3 books for the week. I read all the seasonal books in December.1. Kiss Her Once for Me. 3 stars. It was alright.
2. A Very Merry Bromance. 4 stars. I'm sad because I finished the series.
3. A Season for Second Chances. 4 stars. I'm surprised at how much I liked the book.
QOTW: I'm like Lynn. I do Popsugar, ATY, and Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. I'm also doing Nadine's mini challenge & Nonfiction November. I also do any read-a-thon that comes my way. When I saw the BR read harder challenge my first thought was "Yikes". I also saw the 52 book challenge and thought about doing that instead but I'm a creature of habit so I'm doing the book riot challenge.
Mod
I was so opposed to signing up for another streaming service, but we got six months free with our Verizon package and SOMEONE who was not me (either my ex - who shares the cell phone plan with me - or my older daughter signed us up), and ... we watch it A LOT. There's the retro appeal of the old Disney movies, older live action movies like Princess Diaries, the new live action movies (I've only seen a few - I thought Mulan was fantastic), all the Marvel movies, and - most enticing - the new Marvel mini series they keep putting out. I have to admit, I really enjoyed Wandavision and Loki and Falcon & Winter Soldier - I never really cared much about any of those characters before watching their series. Ms Marvel was okay. I am partway through SheHulk - I thought I would love it because Tatiana Maslaney is AWESOME, but it's kinda goofy.
Congrats on finishing Poirot!!! When I come up with goals like that (eg: read all of the Sherlock Holmes books, in order), I start out with enthusiasm, but then at some point I get distracted by new shiny things, and I end up stuck halfwway (eg: I still have yet to read The Hound of the Baskervilles or the remaining books after that - I WILL GET TO IT ... someday)
Nadine in NY wrote: "K.L. wrote: "This week I finally got Disney+, so I’ve spent a lot of my newly acquired free time in front of the television...."I was so opposed to signing up for another streaming service, but ..."
Ahhh we loved She-Hulk! The goofiness helped, I think; I'm so used to so many of the Marvel movies being serious and dramatic and SH was such a wonderful breather.
& I totally feel you on the "read all ___" goals. I thought I would read all the Sherlock stuff back in 2019 and I read... three. Out of order, to boot!
Mod
There's definitely one in Cortland, I grew up just south of there and we'd have it all the time! :) It's on a back street, you have to want to find it to find it! :)"
ahhh ... I only worked in Cortland, I didn't live there, so I only really knew the places along 281 (where my job was, at Pall). Doug's Fish Fry was right across the street, which was nice. We used to have Doug's in Syracuse and we ate there a lot, but for some reason both of them closed.
I didn't realize Pudgie's was a local chain!
Mod
WOW!!!! That must be one of the oldest groups/challenges on Goodreads!!!!
The "gameboard" challenge sounds fun, too - I would enjoy that as a shorter solitaire challenge, maybe I'll take a look at it and see if I want to create something for myself.
Nadine in NY wrote: "K.L. wrote: "This week I finally got Disney+, so I’ve spent a lot of my newly acquired free time in front of the television...."I was so opposed to signing up for another streaming service, but ..."
I love the Nat Geo documentaries! I listen to Drain the Oceans all the time!
Doug's does a food truck that travels around. I don't know if it ever goes up to Syracuse, but it comes to Ithaca and I get it once in a while. I've never been to the actual restaurant in Cortland! lol
Mod
I have seen the first few episodes of this anime and I did not realize it was a manga too! (I guess I should just assume ALL anime is based on a manga?) It is very cute, and to my uneducated eyes it seems accurate. But maybe you can tell me: why is the spleen represented by a soft-spoken young woman all in frilly white lacy dress & cap?
Mod
I LOVED Multitudes so I am definitely going to read this - I'm thinking I'll try for the audiobook next year when hopefully the holds list is shorter
Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all!! I'm stupidly happy for no good reason!! (anyone else get like that? No? Just me? Wheee.....) I'm going to blame it on having Pudgie's Pizza for lunch. I haven't had them for years, do othe..."Happy Anniversary, Jennifer! That is such a big milestone.
My husband is almost 8 months post his heart transplant. I want to echo your organ donation encouragement. It's so important.
Happy Friday! Yesterday was my office's holiday party. It was so nice to see so many people in person. I met five people in person for the first time, in an office of only 50. A lot of people are going in once a week now, but clearly not everyone.Finished:
A Snake Falls to Earth Started out cute, but I didn't end up loving it.
Fugitive Telemetry
This Is What It Sounds Like: What the Music You Love Says About You It was so fun to listen to all the songs mentioned in the book. Makes me remember fondly when I used to listen to music instead of audiobooks. I basically abandoned all other listening in favor of audiobooks.
Killers of a Certain Age
Currently reading:
The Tale of Genji Started this for longest book as well as for a classics challenge. I know it will take me well into 2023 to finish it, so I do not feel guilty.
The World We Make on audio
QOTW:
In addition to Popsugar, I am doing ATY, 52 Books, Catching up on Classics Classic Bingo, and maybe Read Harder. I abandoned Read Harder last year. And Nadine's 23 challenge, of course.
Just chiming in on the question of the week (Maybe next year I'll try to get back into weekly updates).I am going to do Popsugar again, but I also decided to also try ATY for the first time. Cause, hey, I started PS three years ago and this was the first one I finished, so why not double my difficulty for next year? Maybe not quite double because I've decided that while I won't double count a book within one challenge, I will use it for both if it qualifies.
And then Nadine posted the (IMHO much more interesting) prompts for the mini-challenge, so I am going to try that as well.
I did make a resolution for next year that every book I read has to be pulled from either my physical TBR piles or are already on my Goodreads want-to-read list, but am allowing exceptions for challenge reading and my book clubs. So maybe I'm looking to take on extra challenges since that's one of my leeway areas!
Milena wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all!! I'm stupidly happy for no good reason!! (anyone else get like that? No? Just me? Wheee.....) I'm going to blame it on having Pudgie's Pizza for lunch. I haven't had them..."Thank you! How is your husband doing? It took me 6 months to get the kidney up and running and on the right meds that didn't give me side effects.
And thennnnn I caught Covid, which has wrecked my life far more than the kidney disease and transplant!!
Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Hi all!! I'm stupidly happy for no good reason!! (anyone else get like that? No? Just me? Wheee.....) I'm going to blame it on having Pudg..."Wait - JenniferW where south of Cortland were you? I grew up in Owego NY near Binghamton and I think Pudgie's was in Binghamton? I'm a tad fuzzy - I grew up on a dairy farm and rarely ate out. I've lived in NYC since 1973...other than brief visits and 3 years in Syracuse attending law school.
But Pudgies sounds soooo familiar.
Nadine in NY wrote: "Theresa wrote: "One is Happy Birthday PBT (15 years old)..."WOW!!!! That must be one of the oldest groups/challenges on Goodreads!!!!
The "gameboard" challenge sounds fun, too - I would enjoy ..."
PBT started on Shelfari and moved to GR when Shelfari went under. The founder is still active. If I have my dates correct, its been on GR for about 9 years. I only joined the group in 2018.
Do check out the Subdue the Shelf 2023 challenge. It's very much go at your own pace. The work is in pulling together the list for your gameboard now. Personally I made sure no book I know I will have to read at a certain time next year is on my list for the gameboard. Lordy knows I have so many TBR Towers, it only took me about 10 minutes to have a preliminary list of 100.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
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And…that’s a perfect lead-in for the Admin Stuff!
ADMIN STUFF:
The poll for nominations for the January 2023 Monthly Group Read HERE! Help us select the group read for January to fulfill prompt #3 A book about a vacation! That will end next Tuesday and then we will have January’s final selection poll posted for next Thursday so that will be done asap!
**JUST A REMINDER TO ALWAYS CHECK THE LISTING OF BOOKS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR NOMINATION HERE BEFORE NOMINATING A BOOK!**
EDITED TO ADD: Unfortunately, someone nominated People We Meet on Vacation which was the January 2022 Monthly Group Read and at least one other person voted for it. It is NOT eligible so if those two people wish to nominate or vote for a different book, that would be great!
We’ll proceed with February’s polls from there, as usual!
Plus, we have two months for which a prompt will be self-selected by you beautiful members and then a book fitting each of those selected prompts for May and December! We need you! :)
*******************************
**Just a reminder that we are currently reading and discussing Book Lovers by Emily Henry for December! This could be used to fulfill prompt #1 A book published in 2022. JessicaMHR will be the "rambunctious reader" facilitating that discussion! Both that and the discussion thread for December Challenge—I finished! are in the Current Monthly Group Read folder HERE. Halfway through and I think I’m enjoying this more than I did People We Meet on Vacation! I'm still astounded by the fact that the group selected Emily Henry books in both January and December of 2022! An amazing coincidence!
Also, another reminder that every single past 2022 Monthly Group Read discussion and “I Finished!” thread is open and available to all in the 2022 Monthly Group Reads folder HERE.
Question of the Week:
From Dubhease: Which reading challenges (Popsugar or otherwise) do you plan to participate in next year? (2023)
I really like this question!
I will be attempting Popsugar, ATY, and Read Harder in 2023! As usual!
That’s all I’m doing Challenge-wise, unless I pickup some additional smaller challenges, like Nadine’s Quarter 1 Mini-Challenge!
I did just discover another one, the 52 Book Club’s 2023 Reading Challenge: https://www.the52book.club/the-52-boo... If anyone is interested in another year-long challenge! (Not me… :))
Popsugar: 46/50
ATY: 51/52
RHC: 19/24
FINISHED:
*Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune (5 STARS) was very enjoyable. The House in the Cerulean Sea was a much ‘lighter’ read, IMO. This was more of a ‘slow burn’ for me. I was pleasantly surprised with an unexpectedly hopeful ending to this one. It moved much more slowly than THitCS but was also more philosophical and ‘deep’! I believe I enjoy his writing so much due to his in-depth characterization which is even more evident in this book. This would be a great fit for 2022 prompt #12 A book about the afterlife, in case you still need to fulfill that prompt! As long as Klune is writing, I will keep reading his books! I hope to read The Extraordinaries next year.
POPSUGAR: #9, #12, #26, #29, #40-2015: prompt #7 A book including nonhuman characters
ATY: #1-Apollo and Alan, #2, #3, #4- A book related to Shelley's poem Ozymandias (Nadine’s proposal): total despair…until… , #7, #15, #19, #23, #34, #35-tea plants and herbs, #36-the stag, #40-The Chariot, The Lovers, Strength, Death, Judgement, The World, #41, #43, #44, #44, #46-Mei, Nelson, Apollo, #49, #50-Nelson
RHC: #24-2017: prompt #20 An LGBTQ+ romance novel
CONTINUING:
*Book Lovers by Emily Henry for our monthly group read. Though I’m not a huge romance fan, I am loving this book. Much more complex than I might have expected…
*Unlikely Animals by Annie Hartnett for the IRL book club I facilitate. Just started this one and hope I like it!
*Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis for the new IRL book club at my second-favorite used bookstore! We meet next Tuesday.
*The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed.
*The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story by Nikole Hannah-Jones
*Festival Days by Jo Ann Beard
*Mrs. 'Arris Goes to New York (Mrs. ‘Arris #2) by Paul Gallico for the sister cities prompt.
*Beloved by Toni Morrison
PLANNED:
*Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital by Sheri Fink for Popsugar
*A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra for Popsugar
*The Cuckoo's CallingThe Cuckoo’s Calling (Cormoran Strike #1) by Robert Galbraith for Popsugar
*Otherworld for ATY
*Strange Sight (Essex Museum Witch Mystery #2) by Syd Moore
*The Winners (Beartown #3) by Fredrik Backman
*Marjorie Morningstar by Herman Wouk
*The Beautiful and Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
*Ordinary Girls by Jaquira Díaz
*Death Comes to Pemberley by P.D. James
*Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff