Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Here's the place to ask for help if you really want to read a certain book but you can't find a challenge category for it.

So ... I just bought The Retirement Plan on a whim because it was on offer, and I just wondered, could it fit the sexless marriage prompt? (We're not talking about how sexy that marriage used to be if that makes a difference, only the presence in the narrative.)

Any thoughts on a category that The Cruel Prince would fill?

@Nadine I answered about prompts for the Cruel Prince and the series as well in the underwater prompt. I’m on the app and I can’t even copy and paste my answer. Grrr

Mostly I think the whole series fits a bunch of prompts.
Debt, infertility, m + f friendship, relationship the defies boundaries, under water civilization, shadow daddy, and fomo because this series is very popular.

Oh I forgot the teen angst as well.

Erica wrote: "@Nadine I answered about prompts for the Cruel Prince and the series as well in the underwater prompt. I’m on the app and I can’t even copy and paste my answer. Grrr

Mostly I think the whole serie..."



Thanks!! Looks like I can read it and then decide later where to slot it.

Because I'm out of my mind, I'm going to try two or possibly three challenges, so I'm trying to double or triple dip on the longer books. Any thoughts on where to put Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder?

Laura Ruth wrote: "Because I'm out of my mind, I'm going to try two or possibly three challenges, so I'm trying to double or triple dip on the longer books. Any thoughts on where to put [book:Prairie Fires: The Ameri..."

Possibly: new beginnings, taking place during harvest season, makes you want to travel to Italy (rather than being in the Dust Bowl), almost certainly has somebody with a granny hobby

Brandon wrote: "makes you want to travel to Italy (rather than being in the Dust Bowl)"

LOL fair point!

Laura Ruth wrote: "Brandon wrote: "makes you want to travel to Italy (rather than being in the Dust Bowl)"

LOL fair point!"

Looks like it could also work for debt.

I am thinking about reading the LOTR series. What prompts can I tick off for 2026?

Vaish wrote: "I am thinking about reading the LOTR series. What prompts can I tick off for 2026?"

Love story that defies social bounds between Aragorn and Arwen (this one is iffy since the book itself is not a love story, that's just a small part of the plot).
You might be able to find a horse on the cover? (depends on the edition)
MAYBE Gandalf is a Type C character (no one really seems to know what a Type C character is LOL)
Gollum has a hidden past revealed in Fellowship of the Ring (I think several other characters might, too)
Do you feel FOMO because you haven't read them? Or because you wish you could visit Middle Earth?
The Two Towers features a mob of Uruk-Hai attacking the cities, so it's sort of about a mob.
Do you feel like they might be outside your comfort zone?
Did you mean to read them in 2025?

Nadine in NY wrote: "Vaish wrote: "I am thinking about reading the LOTR series. What prompts can I tick off for 2026?"

Love story that defies social bounds between Aragorn and Arwen (this one is iffy since the book it..."

This is so helpful.. thanks

Does anybody know what prompt could My Friends by Frederik Backman fit in? I really want to get to that book next year! Was thinking of the prompt of the friendship between a man and a woman but not sure…. so any thoughts on this are welcome lol

These are my book club picks for the first few months of next year, do they fit any of the prompts?


Picking Daisies on Sundays

I Am a Killer: What Makes a Murderer: Their Shocking Stories in Their Own Words

Feathers So Vicious

Has anyone read the first 2 books in this mystery series by Tana French? I am not sure if/where they might fit for 2026.

Either would fit 'Character who appears in more than one book'. 'Mystery or true crime' would work. So would 'book set in an isolated location'.

Jennifer wrote: "Has anyone read the first 2 books in this mystery series by Tana French? I am not sure if/where they might fit for 2026.


"



Gardening is not "central to the plot" but it gets mentioned a lot, Cal spends a lot of time out in his garden and his neighbor spends a lot of time giving him "pointers"

Platonic friendship - Cal & Trey form a tight bond throughout both books.

Granny hobby if carpentry and reworking old furniture is a granny hobby. Cal & Trey spend a lot of time doing this.

The Searcher works perfectly for "new beginnings" - Cal has moved from Chicago (I think? it doesn't matter) to this tiny village in Ireland to retire.

Maybe that makes you feel FOMO and you too want to move to a tiny Irish village where all the locals judge you!

Depending on how you define "a mob," The Hunter might work for that - a group of villagers get together and decide to do a thing. They could be described as a small mob.

LeahS wrote: "Either would fit 'Character who appears in more than one book'. 'Mystery or true crime' would work. So would 'book set in an isolated location'."



LOL those are the 2026 categories for AtY!

Brain fog has set in !!!!!

LeahS wrote: "Brain fog has set in !!!!!"



It took me a few minutes to figure it out hahaha because they were all so FAMILIAR and yet not on this year's list.

Thank you so much! I needed new beginnings and the mob prompt for sure!


Nadine in NY wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Has anyone read the first 2 books in this mystery series by Tana French? I am not sure if/where they might fit for 2026.


[bookcover:The Hunter|17..."

I was hoping for some help placing my book club reads for the first half of the year:

The Authenticity Project
The Complete Persepolis
Water Moon
There There
The Unbecoming of Margaret Wolf (maybe sexless marriage? I presume?)
How to Read a Book (maybe secret past? Unsure!)

There There includes teen angst, and there are characters with a hidden past or trying to make new beginnings.

Erin wrote: "I was hoping for some help placing my book club reads for the first half of the year:

The Authenticity Project
The Complete Persepolis
Water Moon
[bo..."

I think Persepolis works for new beginnings. It's set during the Iranian Revolution, which is a new beginning in itself, and the MC moves abroad. IIRC she also attends college for the first time and dates for the first time.

About to start Cutting for Stone. Which prompt does it work best for?

I have just come upon this book in my TBR: Fertile Ground. Would this fit the infertility prompt?

Bea wrote: "I have just come upon this book in my TBR: Fertile Ground. Would this fit the infertility prompt?"

Looks like it has multiple characters dealing with infertility, so yes!

Thanks for the response, Sasha. I think I will give it a try since it is already on my TBR and this is not a prompt that feels comfortable to me.

Hello,
I would like your opinion:
Is Ultramarine would work for underwater civilisation?
And Die, My Love for postpartum?

Thank you :)

Meme wrote: "Hello,
I would like your opinion:
Is Ultramarine would work for underwater civilisation?
And Die, My Love for postpartum?

Thank you :)"

I haven't read either of these, but judging from reviews online, Die, My Love does fit for postpartum. None of the reviews I found for Ultramarine mention anything that sounds like an underwater civilisation, though.

Meme wrote: "Hello,
I would like your opinion:
Is Ultramarine would work for underwater civilisation?

Ultramarine does NOT work for that prompt - something happens, but not that. Very good book, works for short book prompt?

Thank you Sasha and Karen. I have a hard time finding something that I like for the underwater civilization 😅

Hi!
I was gifted What You Are Looking For Is in the Library... does anyone know what prompt it could fit?
Thanks!

Léa wrote: "Hi!
I was gifted What You Are Looking For Is in the Library... does anyone know what prompt it could fit?
Thanks!"



I have not read that one, but I think it would work for "new beginnings." Most healing fiction is about everyday people discovering something that leads them to a new beginning.

Does “The Academy” by Elin Hilderbrand fit into any of the prompts? TYIA

If you've read it and can't fit it into any others, it will fit #23, a book that doesn't fit any other prompt!

Every time I find a book that's perfect for one of my other challenges, and it's something I really want to read, it's always some 500-page tome with no obvious Popsugar fit!

Any suggestions for Patriot: A Memoir by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny?

Laura Ruth wrote: "Every time I find a book that's perfect for one of my other challenges, and it's something I really want to read, it's always some 500-page tome with no obvious Popsugar fit!

Any suggestions for ..."



yikes. I have no idea who he is and I have not read that, but maybe ...

new beginnings? (his hope for revolution)

or about a "mob" if you define an oppressive government as a "mob"?

Or maybe you could somehow work FOMO into it? (not sure how, no one fears missing out on prison)

Outside your comfort zone? (It would certainly be outside mine!!)

View the entire book as his letter to the world and say it's told entirely through letters.

Or, of course, "A book you were hoping would fit into a prompt but doesn't" - but you're probably planning to use that for another book.

Thanks. I suspect "mob" may be the closest fit.