Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
2025 Challenge - General
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2025 Challenge - I Finished!!
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Wow! Am I really the first one to finish?!Date you finished: Apr. 1, 2025 (not an April Fool's joke!)
Message number of your list post (if you've got one):
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): I think my favorite prompt was "a book that is considered healing fiction" because it introduced me to a genre that I didn't know about previously. That happened with dark academia in a previous year as well. Oh! I also really liked Two books with the same title because it was an interesting challenge. (read Weathering for them.)
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): The Strange Case of Jane O for highly anticipated read of 2025.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : I enjoyed The Woman They Could Not Silence for a book about an overlooked woman in history that I would not have read otherwise.
Least favorite prompt: a book about space tourism
Last prompt you finished: a book about space tourism
Prompt you hope to see next year: I don't know. I feel like I'm running out of ideas after having done challenges for several years in a row!
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Not really. I mean, the challenges were fine, but the levels were inaccurate. For example, a book that you have always avoided reading was hard, but was classified as easy.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? No.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes!
Doni wrote: "Wow! Am I really the first one to finish?!Date you finished: Apr. 1, 2025 (not an April Fool's joke!)
Message number of your list post (if you've got one):
Favorite prompt (and what book did you ..."
Congratulations! I only have one prompt left - but waiting for a new release in June for a highly anticipated read of 2025.....
Whoo, done as of April 28th!Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 81
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): It's hard to choose just one! Favorite prompts include "a book about a cult" (I read Rosemary’s Baby, "book written by a neurodivergent author" (Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear), and "a book centered around LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out" (The Bones Beneath My Skin).
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Again, hard to choose. Favorites would have to include How to Age Disgracefully (character going through menopause), The Saturday Night Ghost Club (got for free), When the Moon Hits Your Eye (highly anticipated read of 2025), The Witch King (prompt from 2024 you want to try again), and the aforementioned The Bones Beneath My Skin.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses was a delightful read that I only found because of this challenge! I read it for the prompt "book with a character experiencing chronic pain."
Least favorite prompt: "Book with a less than 3 star rating on Goodreads." I ended up finding a so-bad-it's-good read for this prompt, but let's never do that again...
Last prompt you finished: "A book with two or more books on the cover or the word 'book' in the title," for which I read The Book of Gothel.
Prompt you hope to see next year: Honestly I'm usually fine with whatever prompts they throw at us. Even the hard/unlikable prompts are at least interesting and challenging.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I was rather "meh" about it. I found it didn't really affect my enjoyment of the challenge.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Slightly, but not unbearably so.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes!
Date you finished: 5/1/2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one):
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A Book with a left-handed character because I'm left handed and somehow we don't see it much! I read Portrait of a Scotsman
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Carl's Doomsday Scenario (read for a book that features an unlikely friendship) because I am obsessed with this sereies!
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?): I Who Have Never Known Men (a book that features a character going through menopause). I had no idea this book existed and I really enjoyed it! It also helped me read a book that isn't from the USA.
Least favorite prompt: I hated the Two books with the same title prompts this year and both of the books I read for it ended up being duds for me, Night Watch & Night Watch.
Last prompt you finished: A book mentioned in another book. I read A Lesson Before Dying
Prompt you hope to see next year: I don't really have any preferences but I'd like to see more prompts that aren't gimmicky or reliant on other books.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? It was fine, but I didn't find any of them actually that challenging.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Not that much. I actually finished this list more than a month earlier than last year.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yeah, of course!
Date you finished: 6/7/25Message number of your list post (if you've got one): N/A
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): Many I liked but I am going to go with A book set at a luxury resort (The Vacationers) and A book with a happily single woman protagonist (The Magnificent Lives of Marjorie Post) as they were different/new prompts that made me think but also had a lot of good options to choose from.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): I had many good reads in the challenge. One I particularly enjoyed reading and learning from was Marie Curie and Her Daughters: The Private Lives of Science's First Family (A book with a left-handed character)
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Most I read are from my TBR, but I did have to really look for this prompt and did enjoy the book. Dinner with the Smileys: One Military Family, One Year of Heroes, and Lessons for a Lifetime (A book that features a married couple who don't live together)
Least favorite prompt: Two books with the same title - I really struggle every time I see this prompt in a challenge. I did enjoy The Husbands and The Husbands but would like to not see this prompt again!
Last prompt you finished: A highly anticipated read of 2025.
Had to wait until Atmosphere was published otherwise I would have been done prior.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I always like the prompt asking you to pick a favorite prompt from a past PS challenge
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? It was ok. As I always do all the prompts I don't need it broken out in regular and advanced, but I know that many people do and it doesn't bother me. Breaking it into 3 advanced sections was fine.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? I don't think so. As always there were a few that at first glance seemed impossible and I had no idea on. But - this group is great with ideas (and I am not against a unique interpretation of a prompt) and as always I found good reads for all the prompts. I think they do a good mix of prompts I can fill immediately with books I have been wanting to read in my TBR and ones that I need to ponder and research a bit. Plus - my TBR always expands seeing everyone else's picks and reads.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Definitely!
Date you finished: 7/5Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 44
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): 10. A book you got for free -A Sea of Unspoken Things by Adrienne Young (I love getting free books!)
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire (I received an ARC) 34. A book written by an author who is neurodivergent
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : High by Mary Sullivan 22. A book about soccer - This was a really good young adult book written in poetry verse!
Least favorite prompt: 13. A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads- I read Daughters of the Wild. There is a reason these books are rated less than 3 stars. This book was awful and it was really difficult to find books under 3 stars.
Last prompt you finished: 49. A dystopian book with a happy ending- Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend
Prompt you hope to see next year: I always like the ones that are for that year so published in 2026. I also loved the free book one, the one where we could pick a prompt from last year, and I liked the one where we picked a book from our TBR with the oldest author. I love when I can use a book I already own.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I don't think advanced categories are necessary because some of the regular prompts were harder than the advanced ones. It just depends on what books you have on hand or can get a hold of.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? No, this list was much better than last year. Thank you to the people who created these lists and listened after last year. The prompts last year were way too specific and it was hard to find books that looked interesting or even fit the categories. This year it was much better.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes!!
Date you finished: 18 July 2025. It took me a lot longer this year than in previous yearsMessage number of your list post (if you've got one): 35
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): "A book that is considered healing fiction". I feel that with everything going on in the world we need some healing fiction. I read Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi which was beautiful but also sad.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins I read this for the "A book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee" prompt. It was a tough read.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. I read this for the prompt "A book that features a character with chronic pain". I had never heard of the book before and it was recommended in the Listopia. It was excellent and I immediately went and read the next in the series.
Least favorite prompt: "A book you have always avoided reading". I read Fifty Shades of Grey. There is a reason I have avoided reading it.
Last prompt you finished: "A book you have always avoided reading". I had to wait for it to come off hold at the library because there was no way I was buying that book.
Prompt you hope to see next year: "A classic you've never read". I think that is a broad enough category that people could pick a book easily. I read Pinocchio which is definitely different to the Disney version.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I always do the Advanced section so splitting them up didn't matter to me.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? No. I thought it was a better list than last years and was easier to find books on my shelf to fit the prompts. I found last year's list a lot harder.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Definitely
Date you finished 25 July 2025
Message number of your list post (if you've got one):
153
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?):
#32 'A book about an overlooked woman in history.' I read Wifedom: Mrs. Orwell's Invisible Life. It was very good.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?):
Days Without End
#35 'A book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out'
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) :
Neither Wolf Nor Dog: On Forgotten Roads with an Indian Elder
#12 ' A book about a road trip'
Least favorite prompt:
#2 'A book you want to read based on the last sentence' I read Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism which was generally a fascinating book.
Last prompt you finished:
#17 ' A book about a run club'. One of my least favourite prompts. I read The Saturday Morning Park Run which was light-hearted.
Prompt you hope to see next year:
#16 ' A book set in or around a body of water'.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year?
I always treat the challenge as 50 prompts, and do it in any order, so the different sections didn't affect me. I thought some of the regular prompts were much harder than the advanced.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual?
No, I thought it was much easier than last year's, with fewer very specific prompts. Thanks to the list creator and the mods.
Finally, are you in for 2026?
Probably
Date you finished: July 25thMessage number of your list post (if you've got one): #17
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): "two books with the same title". I read A Deadly Affair by Agatha Christie and A Deadly Affair by Carla Simpson
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig read for “a book with magical creatures that aren’t dragons”
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon read for “a book about an overlooked woman in history” because I don’t read much historical fiction anymore. I loved the book so much that I went looking for more books like it and found The Arctic Fury by Greer McAllister read for “a book with silver on the cover or in the title”
Least favorite prompt: “a book rated less than 3 stars on goodreads”
Last prompt you finished: “a book with magical creatures that aren’t dragons”
Prompt you hope to see next year: There’s usually a prompt for a book published during the current year and a prompt to redo a favorite prompt from a previous challenge. I always love seeing both of those.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I didn’t pay attention to it. I list the prompt 1-50 and treat them all the same.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? No, I didn’t think so.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Of course!
Date you finished: August 9Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 102
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): Hard to pick a favorite, but I really liked #11 A book mentioned in another book, because suddenly it seemed like this was happening in every book I was reading (I read Spoon River Anthology, mentioned in How to Read a Book).
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): I had a few favorites! The Blueprint (#5 snake on the cover); The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (#20 do over prompt); The Safekeep (#35 LGBTQ that isn't about coming out).
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : I don't think I would have read The Light Pirate (#46 a book where nature is the antagonist). I really loved the book, but tend to stay away from climate fiction (too scary).
Least favorite prompt: #13 a book rated less than 3 stars. It was kind of fun to look at the lists, but the book I read was pretty terrible and I don't want to do that again. I also struggled with #21 (politician) and didn't end up liking the book I read for that prompt either.
Last prompt you finished: #41 a book by the oldest author on your TBR. I read Fox by Joyce Carol Oates, who is 87.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I don't know, I like the mix of new and familiar prompts.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I did, though I didn't notice a big difference between the different categories.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Not really.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes!
Date you finished: 8/22/2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 69
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): #21 A politician as a main character - And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): #15 AI recommended. Light from Uncommon Stars
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : #49 Dystopian with a happy ending. The Light Pirate
Least favorite prompt: I have two that I really didn't like.
#13 < 3 stars. I read The Red House
#22 A book about soccer. I read Godwin. I have read books about soccer in the past & I liked them. I didn't like this book.
Last prompt you finished: #42 A book that starts with the letter Y. I read Year of Wonders. I had to wait for the hold to come in.
Prompt you hope to see next year: Something related to nonfiction.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Yes
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? There were some prompts that were hard to find books for. I didn't find it more difficult than usual.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes
Date you finished: 8/23/25
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?):
#31- a book where music plays an integral part of the storyline. I originally read The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love but then found another applicable prompt that was harder to fulfill. In the end I read Bel Canto for this prompt. I love music, so I guess this prompt was perfect for me!
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?):
Disappoint Me for #42- a book with a left-handed character
The Moor's Account for #28- a book that features an unlikely friendship
The Dream Hotel for #44- a book with a married couple who don't live together
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?):
I read The Wild Huntress for #18- a book containing magical creatures that aren't dragons. This was sitting on my shelves since I got it from BOTM months ago, and finally picked it up thinking it would have creatures in it. I wasn't particularly excited going in since I'm not a Fantasy reader, much less YA, but I was pleasantly surprised it! I enjoyed it so much I picked up another of the author's backlisted books for another prompt!
Least favorite prompt:
#2- a book you want to read based on the last sentence (don't want to be spoiled)
#3- a book about space tourism (a hate space books)
#13- a book rated less than 3 stars on Goodreads (why would I want to read a terrible book?)
Last prompt you finished:
#27- a book set in a luxury resort. There were books I was considering, but because they were more hotels than resorts, I didn't think they counted. I waited for an August new release to become available since it practically had the name of the resort on the cover/title. Waited all that time and in the end I hated it, lol.
Prompt you hope to see next year:
I like the TV/Movie adaptation prompt they would have from time to time.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year?
I feel like most of them were miscategorized, since some of the "easy" prompts were actually harder than the "harder" ones.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual?
I don't think they were as hard as last years prompts
Finally, are you in for 2026? Most likely
Date you finished: 30 August 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 203
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?):
#37/#38, Two books with the same title. It really made me notice how many books nowadays do reuse titles (it used to be frowned upon when I was younger), and it made me think about how a similar theme can still lead to two very different books. I read Katabasis and Katabasis and gave them both five stars.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Babel, for #36, a book with silver on the cover or in the title. It blew my mind, especially the ending.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Ecstasy, for #27, a book set at a luxury resort. I didn't expect to relate to the main character as hard as I did (something that also happened to me with Katabasis, for that matter, but for different reasons.)
Least favorite prompt: #24, a book with a happily single woman protagonist. People seemed to have very different ideas about what qualifies, which made it more difficult for me to find one that I was happy with. I got halfway through a book that I didn't particularly like before realising that I didn't think it fit, so that felt like wasted time.
Last prompt you finished: Two books with the same title, because I had to wait for Katabasis to be published.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I'd like to see some prompts based on the book cover again, because I enjoy looking at cover art to find something that fits. Apart from that, I'd just like to have prompts where it's clear from the cover, title or blurb whether or not a book is going to fit.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I didn't really see the point, tbh, but it didn't bother me either.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? This is my first year doing this challenge, so I have no comparison. It was easier than some other challenges I've done, but challenging enough to hold my interest.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Absolutely! I've definitely achieved my goal of getting back into reading regularly, and everyone here has been so lovely. I've had a blast!
Date you finished: September 3, 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): NA
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A book where music plays an integral part of the storyline, Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?):
When the Angels Left the Old Country for A book containing magical creatures that aren't dragons
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) :
Solo: A Memoir of Hope for a book about soccer. It was interesting to learn more about this mercurial player!
Least favorite prompt:
A book where the main character is a politician
Last prompt you finished:
A book about space tourism
Prompt you hope to see next year:
A book mentioned in another book
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year?
It was fine, maybe not strictly necessary.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual?
No. It was much better than last year.
Finally, are you in for 2026?
As always, it will depend on which prompts are chosen.
Date finished: 8th SeptemberMessage number of your list post (if you've got one): 15
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A book you want to read based on the last sentence -
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): all very different, but thoroughly enjoyed
- prompt of overlooked woman in historyWas there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : hard to say enjoyed given the subject but I would have continued to avoid
if not for the challenge.Least favorite prompt: book by the oldest author in my TBR
Last prompt you finished: a book I've always avoided reading
Prompt you hope to see next year: something linked to the cover or which prompts me to look beyond the obvious/challenges my reading.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Yes
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Not particularly, but some of the prompts were quite specific.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Absolutely!
Date you finished: 9/13/2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 54
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): Healing fiction. We'll Prescribe You a Cat
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): East of Eden A book mentioned in another book
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : I don't think so. There were some I didn't enjoy that I only read because of the challenge.
Least favorite prompt: Oldest author, less than 3 stars, always avoided reading, ugh.
Last prompt you finished: Luxury resort.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I always love song lyrics in the title, book mentioned in another book.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Unnecessary and incorrectly labeled.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Easier than last year.
Finally, are you in for 2026? I always say I'm going to take a break, but can't resist once the list comes out.
Date you finished: 9/24 (also my birthday)Favorite prompt: I will always prefer the "pick a prompt from a past challenge" options, because then I can have an excuse to read something I want but have put off for whatever reason, but still have it count towards the PSRC. In this case, I put it off because it's a longer read.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): A book that features a married couple who don't live together
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : A book about an overlooked woman in history.
Point blank, I do not seek out non fiction outside of a good memoir, but this was really interesting.
Least favorite prompt: A book about a food truck.
It was so hard to find an option for this prompt, as the majority in the listopia were romance, and I don't do romance. If love happens naturally in the story, cool, but I don't want it to be the reason for the story. So I went with a mystery novel.
Last prompt you finished: A book with a title that starts with the letter Y.
This book was highly sought after at my library and I straight up don't understand why. Did not like.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I'd love a dystopian feature again. Unlike this year's prompt, I don't need it to have a happy ending.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I didn't care for the separation of easy to hard. Just leave them as basic bonus prompts.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? I'd say it was slightly more difficult to choose options for compared to last year. Last year seemed to have a lot more open ended prompts.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes?? Please just drop the new prompts so I can start prepping my excel sheet for January 1st! It's my favorite time of the year.
Excel List for 2023-2025: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Mod
Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 6
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): "A book set in or around a body of water" - the idea of being near a body of water just feels so soothing and appealing. I read The Blue Hour, a mystery set on an island, and it was just okay.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): If I have to choose just one, I'll choose:All Fours (July) It was quite unlike anything I'd read before, I almost DNFed it at one point, and I ended up loving it and thinking of it often. I started reading it because it was in the Tournament of Books, and when I discovered it filled a difficult category (menopause) I prioritized it for 2025 reading. If not for the Challenge, I probably would have given up on it. It may turn out to be my favorite book I read this year.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Not this year. There was All Fours, but really I read that because of ToB, not Popsugar. There were a lot of books that had been lingering on my TBR for a while and the Challenge finally gave me the push to read them, but there were no books that I loved that I never would have read if not for the Challenge. Unfortunately, all of the books that I read solely for this Challenge ended up being mid at best.
Least favorite prompt: The less than 3 stars rating; I ended up reading a short story, and I gave it 2 stars, so I thought it deserved its low rating.
Last prompt you finished: A book about space tourism. I had the hardest time with this prompt! I like sci-fi in general, but "space tourism" is so specific, there were only a few books that really worked (that I hadn't already read) and every book I tried, I did not like. Finally I read a Philip Dick short story, Remember Wholesale, which was more political intrigue and virtual tourism than actual tourism, but at this point, good enough.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I always like the prompt about a newly published book from that year.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? No I though the distinctions were stupid! The "easy" categories were not easier than the "medium" or "hard" categories. If they are going to break out "advanced" categories from "regular" categories, I'd like them to truly feel "advanced."
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? At first I thought it was, yes. There were a lot of really specific categories (food truck, menopause, run club, space tourism, etc) but I was able to easily find books for MOST of those thanks to help from this group!!
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes, of course! Always! :-)
Date you finished: October 7Message number of your list post: 80 (the books can also be found on my PS Challenge 2025 shelf).
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): Maybe “A book where music plays an integral part of the storyline.” I read Between Two Sounds: Arvo Pärt’s Journey to His Musical Language, a graphic nonfiction work (as in a graphic novel, but nonfiction) by Joonas Sildre. It was fascinating, and Sildre’s visual representations of sound and music are evocative and beautiful.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Happiness Falls, by Angie Kim, “A book that includes a nonverbal character.” It’s a beautifully plotted mystery packed with provocative ideas, passionately argued.
A book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge (and what prompt was it for?): Someone here (I don’t remember who—sorry!) recommended Lolly Willowes, first published in 1926, for “A book with a happily single woman protagonist.” I’d never heard of it before, and it was an unexpected delight.
Least favorite prompt: “A book about a run club.” That is way too narrow. To be fair, though, I did enjoy the book I ended up reading, The Tigerbelles: Olympic Legends from Tennessee State.
Edited to add: I forgot about the despicable "A book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book" because, frankly, I completely rejected that prompt since I have no intention of interacting with an AI chatbot, for any number of reasons. I just mentally made it "The next book in a series you're already reading," since I figured that was the sort of shallow recommendation I could expect anyway, and read Saga, Volume 11, which was as wild and heartrending as always!
Last prompt you finished: “A dystopian book with a happy ending,” for which I read A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World. It was so tense that I wondered, at times, whether it was actually going to fit the category, but for the record, it very much did. Highly recommended!
Prompt you hope to see next year: I don’t know, I like to be surprised, but I always appreciate being encouraged to seek out books in translation.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I didn’t pay any attention to them. They struck me as overly fussy, not to mention highly inaccurate as far as assessing how challenging a category was actually going to be.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Not really. There are always some ridiculous, arbitrary categories I find frustrating—not so much challenging as tedious—and some categories that truly do push me to seek out and read books I might not otherwise, which is what I want. This year’s challenge was no different.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes! I get annoyed with this challenge sometimes, but I always come back. Ultimately, I just get too much good out of it not to!
Date you finished: October 9, 2025- my first time ever filling all the prompts by the years end!Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 233
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): I'm going to go with the Featuring Magical Non-Dragon Creatures. I read a lot of fantasy and it's always fun to have these types of characters in the stories. I had several books that fit this prompt this year but the ones I used for it was Two Twisted Crowns
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): I actually had 5 books from this year's reads so far that went onto my favorites list!
for the reminds me of my childhood prompt- I loved monster/horror movies.
The Shepherd King duology
and
which was for the last sentence and as stated above, the non-dragon magical creatures prompts.
for the healing fiction category.
to fulfill the bucket list item- I plan on taking master gardener classes when I retire early
and
which was a re-read for me from a few years back but I wanted to listen to the audiobook before the movie comes out next year.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) :
for the character in menopause category.
Least favorite prompt: The prompts that were difficult to determine in advance like the left-handed character or based on the last sentence (I don't read print very often and never skip ahead).
Last prompt you finished: A Book of Interconnected Short Stories
Prompt you hope to see next year: A New-Release Book from your Favorite Genre
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I suppose, but I didn't necessarily agree with the difficulty ratings
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Some of the prompts were vague or hard to pick a book for but I typically feel that way, so no.
Finally, are you in for 2026? I have been making a spreadsheet in hopes of finishing this challenge since 2018. I have found some great reads and even genres that I wouldn't have tried otherwise. So I will be sticking around, even if I'm just lurking and not actively posting (which is my norm since I had never finished the challenge until now).
Date you finished: October 17, 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 104
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): #30 a book that reminds you of your childhood (Dolores Claiborne by Stephen King)
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Bunny by Mona Awad (#7 a book about a cult)
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?): Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (#35 a book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out)
Least favorite prompt: #15 a book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book 🤮 and #2 a book you want to read based on the last sentence - why on Earth would I want to know how a book ends before I read it?? Both of those prompts seem like they were written by my boomer dad who reads the entire Wikipedia article as he's watching the movie. 🙄
Last prompt you finished: #33 a book featuring an activity on your bucket list (Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan)
Prompt you hope to see next year: I just hope they stop getting more and more specific. 😬
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I always do all 50 anyway, so it didn't really change anything for me.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Yes, especially when I looked back at what we did just a few years ago - simpler times! 😂
Finally, are you in for 2026? As of right now, I'm not sure if I want to take a break or not. I'll probably be excited when the 2026 list comes out though. 😅
Date you finished: October 20, 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 234
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): #18 (containing magical creatures that aren't dragons) Sinister Seraphim of Mine
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Mambo in Chinatown #26 (adult character changes careers
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : The End of the World Running Club (#17 features a run club) really surprised me, because I usually don't like apocalypse fiction or running.
Least favorite prompt: the ones featuring author backgrounds, since the only time I investigate author backgrounds is for those prompts.
Last prompt you finished: #38 the second of the two books with the same title (Mother Land)
Prompt you hope to see next year: I don't really have any preference
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I didn't treat them any differently, and they were slightly less specific than the "regular" ones. (except the "easy" one about the oldest author on my TBR list)
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? it was a bit overly specific.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Absolutely. I'll be reading a lot anyway, so this challenge gives it a purpose.
Date you finished: October 14th, 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 101
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): 5. A book with a snake on the cover or in the title for which I read The Prince Without Sorrow by Maithree Wijesekara.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar for 16. A book set in or around a body of water.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Death in the Cards by Mia P. Manansala which I read for 4. A book with two or more books on the cover or "book" in the title.
Least favorite prompt: 15. A book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book was my least favorite prompt. I don't really want to give these AI companies my information and the way that they hoard resources is unethical. AI should be used for important large scale computing and it's not worth the amount of water and power it consumes to use for frivolous things like recommending a book. I read More than a Glitch: Confronting Race, Gender, and Ability Bias in Tech by Meredith Broussard instead.
Last prompt you finished: The Midnight Timetable: A Novel in Ghost Stories by Bora Chung for 47. A book of interconnected short stories.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I liked the old continuous prompts like a book released this year and a book being adapted into a tv/movie this year.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Honestly I always do the full challenge so it didn't really make a difference to me.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Nope!
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes! Definitely!
Date you finished: October 19thMessage number of your list post (if you've got one): 122
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): #14 - a book about a nontraditional education, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. This prompt took some thinking but wasn't as narrow as some of the other tricky prompts (tricky for me anyway). It ended up being my favorite one because I was worried about it for no good reason.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): I had several five-star reads on my list, but the one I thought of immediately was Piranesi by Susanna Clarke.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : I probably would never have read Mrs. Dalloway: The Original 1925 Unabridged and Complete Edition by Virginia Woolf (#11 - a book mentioned in another book) if it weren't mentioned in another book (the Hours) that I used for #15 - AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book. I don't like AI at all, so I did a search on reddit and found The Hours based on recommendations for Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood. Once I started reading it, I realized Mrs. Dalloway would work for #11, and was very pleased by that (and also very much enjoyed both books.)
Least favorite prompt: #17 - a book about a run club and #23 - a book considered healing fiction. I reread a book that barely fit into #17 but enough to satisfy me (The Walkers of Dembley by M.C. Beaton), and I found out through #23 (The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke Natsukawa) that I hate the genre "healing fiction."
Last prompt you finished: #38 - Two books with the same title (2), The Husbands by Chandler Baker.
Prompt you hope to see next year: I can't think of anything specific I'd like to see, but what I would like are fewer prompts that seem to be leading us by the nose to specific books (run club, soccer, healing fiction).
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I didn't actually pay attention to the sections, just put everything in one list.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? I don't know, it was my first year!
Finally, are you in for 2026? You bet!
Date you finished: 11/05/2025 Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 5
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A book about Found Family (Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto. HIGHLY recommend!)
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch (A Book You Want to Read Based on the Last Sentence)
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Strange Bedfellows: Adventures in the Science, History, And Surprising Secrets of STDs by Ina Park (Two Books with the Same Title. I was shocked to find two books that I enjoyed named Strange Bedfellows, but this was especially fun)
Least favorite prompt: A book about soccer (I read Blue Lock & ended up liking it, but overall, that was a struggle) and A book suggested by an AI chatbot (I'm morally opposed to the use of AI for nonsense, so I used Storygraph's recommendations instead. I know they *also* use AI, but they use less power than ChatGPT does. Read Nichijou for that and didn't continue the series. I would much rather get recs from other librarians or a bookseller or friend)
Last prompt you finished: A book set at a luxury resort (Everytime I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies. It was fine)
Prompt you hope to see next year: I've already seen the list, but I would like less specific prompts (last few years there's been a few that are so specific that I would rather they tell me "read this book" than pretend it's some wide open prompt) and less reliance on AI
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? That was fine. I don't care how it's broken up. The way it was sorted felt like some of them were in the wrong category this year, though.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Nah. 2024 had ones that were hyper specific, so this was fine.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Begrudgingly...since I've seen the list and there are a bunch of specific ones again, I'm annoyed but I also always end up reading a book I LOVE that I never would've read without doing prompts. So I guess we're in.
Date you finished: November 8thMessage number of your list post (if you've got one): Message 236
Favourite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A book that is considered healing fiction. I read The Rainfall Market by You Yeong-Gwang (trans. Slin Jung).
Favourite book (and what prompt was it for?): This is hard for me to answer. I really enjoyed most of the books I read during the challenge. So I’m cheating with my answer and giving a series, the Saga of the Unfated by Danielle L. Jensen. I used the first book A Fate Inked in Blood for ‘a married couple who don't live together’ and the second A Curse Carved in Bone for ‘a highly anticipated read’
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Hell Ship by Michael Veitch. I used it for the ‘nature is the antagonist’ prompt. It’s a non-fiction book about the Ticonderoga, a plague ship that caused the creation of Melbourne’s Quarantine Station.
Least favourite prompt: AI chatbot recommendation. Are you kidding? What were they even thinking with that? I found a way I was happy to do, Goodreads recommendations, but I still hated it. I didn’t complete it in the end.
Last prompt you finished: Snake on the cover or in the title. It was a picture story book (Gregg Dreise’s Super Snake) that allowed me to do just one more.
Prompt you hope to see next year: Well, they are now. But I was hoping to get something along the series line. I think she needs to go back to basics a little. I know this is a challenge, but at what point does it become off-putting?
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I appreciated the break-up. The idea that some of them are supposed to be that much harder, and I’m not imagining it.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? It certainly looked more difficult than the years I have previously attempted it. Though this is the first time I’ve got anywhere near as close to completion.
Finally, are you in for 2026. Absolutely! Even if some of those prompts are looking a little questionable.
Thanks to all the people who helped by adding books to Listopias and discussions for ideas. Biggest of all thank yous to 😁 L Y N N and Nadine in NY for their admin work 🥰. I’ll be here in 2026 and in the 2026 discussions until then.
Date you finished: 8th November 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 45
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?):
A book set in or around a body of water (Spring on the Little Cornish Isles: The Flower Farm by Phillipa Ashley
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?):
The Life Game by Nigel Watts (A book that is considered healing fiction)
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?):
The Love Lie by Monica McCallan (A book centering on LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out)
Least favorite prompt:
A book you have always avoided reading (Twilight by Stephanie Meyer)
Last prompt you finished:
A highly anticipated read of 2025 (Lore of the Tides by Analeigh Sbrana)
Prompt you hope to see next year:
A book featuring an activity on your bucket list (Points in Time by Paul Bowles)
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year?:
Ok
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual?:
Some categories were more harder than others
Finally, are you in for 2026?:
Of course
***
My Complete List:
2025 Popsugar Reading Challenge
1. A book about a POC experiencing joy and not trauma
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
2. A book you want to read based on the last sentence
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
3. A book about space tourism
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams
4. A book with two or more books on the cover or "book" in the title
The Little Book of Reiki by Stephanie Drane
5. A book with a snake on the cover or in the title
The White Snake by Jacob Grimm
6. A book that fills your favourite prompt from the 2015 PS Reading Challenge
Barbarian's Mate by Ruby Dixon (A book with nonhuman characters)
7. A book about a cult
The Running Grave by Robert Galbraith
8. A book under 250 pages
Dream Date by Sinclair Smith
9. A book that features a character going through menopause
Broken Light by Joanne Harris
10. A book you got for free
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
11. A book mentioned in another book
The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe
12. A book about a road trip
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
13. A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads
A Beginner's Guide to Breaking and Entering by Andrew Hunter Murray
14. A book about a nontraditional education
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
15. A book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book
Barbarian's Touch by Ruby Dixon
16. A book set in or around a body of water
Spring on the Little Cornish Isles: The Flower Farm by Phillipa Ashley
17. A book about a run club
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
18. A book containing magical creatures that aren't dragons
Labyrinth by A. C. H. Smith
19. A highly anticipated read of 2025
Lore of the Tides by Analeigh Sbrana
20. A book that fills a 2024 prompt you'd like to do over (or try out)
The Little Book of Manifestation: A Beginner’s Guide To Manifesting Your Dreams And Desires by Astrid Carvel (A book with a title that is a complete sentence)
21. A book where the main character is a politician
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
22. A book about soccer
Soccer on Sunday by Mary Pope Osborn
23. A book that is considered healing fiction
The Life Game by Nigel Watts
24. A book with a happily single woman protagonist
The Tuesday Night Club by Agatha Christie
25. A book where the main character is an immigrant or refugee
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
26. A book where an adult character changes careers
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
27. A book set at a luxury resort
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
28. A book that features an unlikely friendship
All the Colours of the Dark by Chris Whitaker
29. A book about a food truck
Murder By Chocolate by Rosie A. Point
30. A book that reminds you of your childhood
Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr
31. A book where music plays an integral part of the storyline
A Mouse Called Wolf by Dick King-Smith
32. A book about an overlooked woman in history
Madam C.J Walker's Road to Success by Akua Agusi and Donette Black
33. A book featuring an activity on your bucket list
Points in Time by Paul Bowles
34. A book written by an author who is neurodivergent
The Red House by Mark Haddon
35. A book centering LGBTQ+ characters that isn't about coming out
The Love Lie by Monica McCallan
36. A book with silver on the cover or in the title
The Silver Treasure: Myths and Legends of the World by Geraldine McCaughrean
37. Two books with the same title (1)
Spider-Man by Peter David
38. Two books with the same title (2)
Spider-Man by Rich Thomas
39. A classic you've never read
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
40. A book about chosen family
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
2025 Popsugar Advanced Reading Challenge
1. A book by the oldest author in your TBR pile
Sanditon by Jane Austen
2. A book with a title that starts with the letter Y
Young Austerlitz by W. G. Sebald
3. A book that includes a nonverbal character
The Six Swans by Jacob Grimm
4. A book you have always avoided reading
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
5. A book with a left-handed character
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowell
6. A book where nature is the antagonist
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
7. A book of interconnected short stories
Rocks Fall. Everyone Dies by Eddie Skelson
8. A book that features a married couple who don't live together
out)
The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin
9. A dystopian book with a happy ending
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion
10. A book that features a character with chronic pain
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Date you finished: November 8, 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 146
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A book you have always avoided reading (All Creatures Great and Small)
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): The Goblin Emperor (A book where the main character is a politician)
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Run With the Wind (A book about a run club)
Least favorite prompt: A book written by an author who is neurodivergent (It felt the discussion around this prompt included assumptions that specific authors were neurodivergent who never said themselves that this was the case.)
Last prompt you finished: A book rated less than three stars on Goodreads
Prompt you hope to see next year: A book featuring an activity on your bucket list
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? They didn't turn out to be the hardest prompts to complete.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? no
Finally, are you in for 2026? maybe
Date you finished: November 9, 2025.Message number of your list post (if you've got one): N/A
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): POC experiencing joy and not trauma. We need more prompts like this! I read Black Joy Unbound: An Anthology.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): James (for "unlikely friendship") was outstanding. Also loved Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend ("book" in the title or on the cover), but it added so many more books to my TBR list!
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Psychic Hang Gliding: A Sexy Beach Book for the bucket list prompt. It was literally the only novel I could find that included hang gliding.
Least favorite prompt: Please no more AI prompts! AI steals people's work, and may recommend books that don't exist. Like many here, I used an alternate method.
Last prompt you finished: I saved Space Oddity for last because I'd enjoyed the previous book so much. It was for the "music essential to the story" prompt.
Prompt you hope to see next year: They're already announced, but in general I like prompts that are flexible enough to fit multiple genres. I'm excited about the "2 books by married/partnered authors" prompt, because I've chosen a poet and a memoirist who've written about each other.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Echoing almost everyone else on this thread: my experience of what's easy/medium/hard or advanced never matches Popsugar's designations.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? There are always a few that are way too hyper-specific: space tourism, run club, food truck. That happens every year, and having seen next year's prompts, it's clearly not changing.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes, and for the first time I'm going to combine it with other challenges, the 52 Book Club and possibly the Booklist Queen (haven't seen her prompts yet). So I'm going to be losing my mind.
Date you finished: 15 November 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 200
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): #47 - A book about interconnected short stories. I love short stories and I find the interconnected short stories subgenre as a neat compromise between the novel form and the short story form. I read People From My Neighbourhood which was just the kind of absurd book I like and I was really pleased to meet Japanese author Hiromi Kawakami's strange mind for the first time. I loved it!
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Bel Canto just completely blew me away. I felt ashamed that I had never read Ann Patchett's prose before. I had not expected this book to be so beautiful and poetic. I read it for #31 - A book where music plays an integral part of the storyline, and it was the perfect choice.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : I have not stopped telling people about Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen ever since I finished it this year for the challenge. I would not have read it otherwise because I don't read a lot of non-fiction unless I am forced to. I read it for #17 - A book about a run club, which I know puts a bit of a twist on the "run club" concept but Born to Run has such an exotic and eccentric cast of characters (real-life!) that it deserves to qualify as a club in its own league.
Least favorite prompt: #4 - A book with two or more books on the cover or "book" in the title
Last prompt you finished: #40 - A book about chosen family
Prompt you hope to see next year: A highly anticipated read because that helps me pick something new.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I feel they could have been one section really.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? No, I think it was fairly balanced.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes, although I did burn out in May and had to pause, but I'll try the 2026 challenge.
Date you finished: 11/16/25 though I've been lingering on the last one for about 2 months!Message number of your list post (if you've got one): n/a
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): To be completely honest, I didn't really like any of the prompts particularly this year. That said, A book you got for free
left things wide open because I get almost everything from the library. I read The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown; A book that an AI chatbot recommends based on your favorite book
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : The Secret of the Mansion by Julie Campbell; A book that reminds you of your childhood. I typically don't re-read things, and reading this one again reminded me of how much I loved this series when I was a child.
Least favorite prompt: A book that features a character with chronic pain. It's just a depressing prompt.
Last prompt you finished: A book about a road trip
Prompt you hope to see next year: No specific ideas
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Didn't see the point.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Yes, just because I didn't think the prompts were very good.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Probably. Will take a look at the prompts and decide based on that, given my experience this year.
Date you finished: 11/23/25Message number of your list post (if you've got one): n/a
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A book set in or around a body of water - I love this as a setting and read several but the one I slotted into this prompt was Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection which was my highly anticipated read of 2025
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : I will admit that though I found the 'book about a run club' prompt to be too restrictive I did love What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
Least favorite prompt: A book about a food truck - seriously what were they thinking??
Last prompt you finished: A book about a nontraditional education - I deliberately did the hardest ones first
Prompt you hope to see next year: I wish there were more open-ended prompts next year but alas it's going to be another year of stretching categories
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Not really; they just didn't make sense to me.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? Less difficult than last year, still more difficult than earlier years of the challenge
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yes. I may whine about some of their prompts, but I just can't quit PS lol.
Date you finished: November 26, 2025Message number of your list post (if you've got one): No list post in this forum, but it's at https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): I probably had the most fun with 11. Book mentioned in another book, because everytime I read a book that does that, I thought about the connection and if it was workable. And in the end, three other books that I read this year all mentioned my prompt fill, Alice in Wonderland.
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): My absolute favorite was He Who Drowned the World, which was also helpful because it filled in the politician prompt that I didn't have any ideas for.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : I picked up Run with the Wind from my library because I read the blurb and it met the run club prompt, and I ended up really enjoying it.
Least favorite prompt: In the sense of why is this in here - the AI prompt. In the sense of difficult to work out - oldest author on my TBR. It's 1800 books long, I'm not looking up the age of each author! In the sense of overly specific and I didn't really love any of the options I saw - about a food truck.
Last prompt you finished: A book that reminds you of your childhood. Struggled with this one a bit because I couldn't figure out how to fill it. Decided on Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder because I read all the Little House books as a kid. And it worked - reading some of the scenes from her life reminded me of those scenes in the books.
Prompt you hope to see next year: A little late for this one now...
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? I mean, I didn't mind, but I didn't think they had the difficulty level pegged right - I got to 7/10 on the advanced quite early, by randomly reading a book that matched.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? In the minority here, but yes. Although there were specific prompts last year too, I still managed to stumble on many of them (like the two character age ones). This year felt like I had the most prompts that I had to finally sit down and pick something for.
Finally, are you in for 2026? Yep, despite not being that jazzed about the list.
Date you finished: November 23, 2025Message number of your list post: 38
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): Last Sentence- it was fun to see when I would come across a great last line of a book, I love the serendipity of it. I selected All the Colors of the Dark for this and the last line was "The thirteen-year-old pirate. And the beekeeper that saved his life."
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?):
#19: Anticipated of 2025: Broken Country
#16: Set In Water: Drowning
#27: Luxury Resort: The Wedding People
#46: Nature Antagonist: Wild Dark Shore
#49: Dystopian with Happy Ending: The Light Pirate
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?): Yes! #22: About Soccer: I read Spectacular Things- a huge character study book, and I adored it so MUCH more than I thought I would, this prompt was going to be so tough for me. Second place goes to Floating Hotel for #3: Space Tourism.
Least favorite prompt:
Food Truck, Run Club, About Soccer, Left-Handed Character
Last prompt you finished: #49: Dystopian with a Happy Ending
Prompt you hope to see next year: Anticipated read of the published year (which I don't think they included). Those are always my favorite and "easy" to slot something in for.
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? Didn't bother me either way, was it necessary? No.
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? I think it was!
Finally, are you in for 2026? AbsoFUGGINlutely!!!
Date you finished: 11/30/25Message number of your list post (if you've got one): 24
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?): A book that reminds you of your childhood. My Best Friend's Exorcism
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?): The Ripper's Shadow. A book you got for free.
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) : Under Loch And Key A book featuring something on your bucket list.
Least favorite prompt: A book rated three stars or less
Last prompt you finished: # 49
Prompt you hope to see next year:
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year? yes
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual? no
Finally, are you in for 2026? yes!
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
Broken Country (other topics)Drowning (other topics)
The Wedding People (other topics)
All the Colors of the Dark (other topics)
Floating Hotel (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Chandler Baker (other topics)Sōsuke Natsukawa (other topics)
M.C. Beaton (other topics)
Virginia Woolf (other topics)
Susanna Clarke (other topics)
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Date you finished:
Message number of your list post (if you've got one):
Favorite prompt (and what book did you read for it?):
Favorite book (and what prompt was it for?):
Was there a book you especially enjoyed that you never would have read if not for the Challenge? (and what prompt was it for?) :
Least favorite prompt:
Last prompt you finished:
Prompt you hope to see next year:
Did you like the three different sections of "Advanced" categories this year?
Did you think this year's list was more difficult than usual?
Finally, are you in for 2026?
I don't tend to reply here much, so as to not clutter up the post too much, but I am reading every post here and cheering you all on!!