Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Fannie wrote: "Here with the reading and weather reports. :)

This week we had a big snow storm, I think it hit northern US also. Short story, people got stuck for 12 hours in their cars until it was possible to ..."


Ahh! Tell me how you like it!

Hey everyone. We had a blue sky in Michigan today and that alone made the day worthwhile. (Our winters are rather gray.)

I have been in a reading slump lately. I haven't finished a book in a few weeks. I am continuing to listen to the audio of Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run and really enjoying it. I've always known he was a great songwriter. When he inducted U2 in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I knew he was a great speechwriter. This book proves he's a great writer. Period. Very well done. (And I still have 11 hours of the audio left.)

I don't really have any books that I read seasonally so I'm out for this question. It's a nice idea. May be a tradition to start.

This has been a fun week of vacation and conferences for the family. I even finished a book right before we left The Enemy Within: Straight Talk about the Power and Defeat of Sin I am counting it for "book with a subtitle".

QOTW: I am pretty much "ruled" by the seasons. As you can see by my other posts I read nonfiction, spiritual reads during Lent, but during summer I tend to read light Christian fiction or any light fiction sometimes I reread Dandelion Wine in summer too. In the fall I start getting really excited for the Oregon Battle of the Book reads or I read classics. Winter is usually reserved for cozy mysteries. Spring is usually the time for serious reading or historical fiction.

This week I finally finished both The Strangler Vine and The Fifth Season. I used the first as a book with travel - thwcharacters leave Calcutta in search of a poet and do a great deal of moving around. It would fit in for a number of other tasks, this one just felt the most fitting prompt for it. The latter book I slotted into last year's prompt by Bustle as first in a series I hadn't read befire, since I've already filled that prompt for PS, but again, it would fit into so many prompts in each of he challenges I'm working on. I also read Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 1, which I used for the subgenre I've never heard of (shojo manga).

I'm presently dipping into a lot of things. The Complete Sherlock Holmes I have no intention of reading straight through, since it's 1700+ pages. It's originally two volumes, so I may split it into two if I've only finished one volume by the end of the year. I've read and absolutely loved the first story of Children of the New World: Stories. I just got Native Guard: Poems from the library and due to its short length, may try to polish it off this weekend, though we're very busy. And I just started a reread of Brave New World for my irl book club. And I have perhaps 15 minutes left of Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection, which I just need to find the time to read - this is why I don't do dead tree books much anymore.

I don't really read anything seasonally. In theory, I feel that winter should be for longer, Russian books and spring perhaps for shorter stories, but when it comes down to it, that's not what I actually do.

I finished China Rich Girlfriend earlier this week. Definitely not as good as the first book (Crazy Rich Asians), but a fun book nonetheless.
Currently reading Caraval, which is good so far.... But there are so many new books out! I keep looking at the current new releases and I'm having a bit of bookish envy. I wish I could read them all! Definitely going to put All Grown Up and Exit West on my TBR pile; hopefully our library will pick these up soon! I don't think I can buy and hide any more books under my bed.

Tracy wrote: "Checking in, but I seem to be spending more time planning more challenges and reading about other peoples challenges than actually doing any reading.
..."

LOL yeah I've had days like that too!

Good Morning! Late check in. My plant had a minor emergency yesterday that had to be dealt with.

Productive week. Got 2 finished:

Hidden Figures: The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation Into Space for Interesting Woman/Group Read

Lab Girl for By or About a Person with a Disability. Love Love LOVE this book. Highly recommended, but I'm a scientist who is within months of being the same age as the author, so I may be biased by everything that I found that was relatable.

13/52

On deck: About 65% done with The Outsiders (Book I loved as a child).

Will start Psycho (Set in a Hotel) and Love Is a Mix Tape (Been on TBR list way to long) next.

Pua wrote: "I finished China Rich Girlfriend earlier this week. Definitely not as good as the first book (Crazy Rich Asians), but a fun book nonetheless.
Currently reading [boo..."

HAHA. I keep all my books under the bed too

Happy Friday everyone!

I finished one book this week! I finally got out of a little reading funk I was in. I finished The Wonder which I'm using for the book written by an author from a country you've never visited (Ireland). It took me a long time to get into this book and I can't decide if it was the writer/books fault or due to the major book hangover I was in. Once I got into it, I couldn't put it down. Very interesting story.

I'm now reading Norse Mythology which will be my book based on mythology. I really like it so far!

I'm now 8/40 and 2/12.

QOTW: The only seasonal book I can think of is that I like to read Little Women around Christmas time. It just puts me in a family holiday mood.

Hello everyone! I knocked three books off my list this week, so I'm feeling pretty darn good about myself (straightens imaginary lapels, brushes imaginary speck of lint off my shoulder, chooses to ignore the large number of people in this group who have finished more than three books this week).

I finally finished In the First Circle by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (author from a country I've never visited), and I loved it right to the end. Almost nothing happens, but the way that "almost nothing" changes the lives of so many people--gah! Masterful! I can't even with this book. (I also recommend reading it around the same time as Secondhand Time. They throw a lot of light on each other.)
I got the book of letters out of the way with Griffin & Sabine by Nick Bantock. The art in particular was enjoyable; can't say I cared all that much about the story. To be fair, epistolary narratives are super not my thing.
For the steampunk novel, I read Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. It was a lot of fun!

I'm currently working on a book with multiple authors (Welcome to Night Vale audiobook), book with a subtitle (River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West), and book I bought in a used bookstore (The Game of Kings). Onward!

Christy wrote: "Hello everyone! I knocked three books off my list this week, so I'm feeling pretty darn good about myself (straightens imaginary lapels, brushes imaginary speck of lint off my shoulder, chooses to ..."

I like Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I will put that book in my neverending to-read-list.

Reading Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold this week. It is for a book club and I have been putting it of for a month as it is not my normal type at all. Still deciding which category to use this for, first of a series or bestseller from a genre that I don't read.

Also this week instead of finishing my last project fro my BSN I filled out my list of books....sigh what I won't do to put off this project!! Hopefully i get it done in the next few days and then I plan on taking an entire day to just read and not feel guilty about it.

I also have my next 4 books picked out to read.
The Revenant for a book set in the wilderness
Between Summer's Longing and Winter's End book with a season in the title
The Underground Railroad for either book by a person of color or main character that is a different ethnicity.
Labor Day book about holiday

I've been travelling a lot the past month so this is a 5 week check in! Here goes:

1. A book recommended by a librarian - The Martian

6. Book with one of the 4 seasons in the title - Winter Blom

7. Story within a story - Belgarath the Sorcerer

14. A book involving travel - Emperor Mage

21. A book from non human perspective - The Art of Racing in the Rain

23. A book with a red spine - Third Girl

35. book set in a hotel - My Favorite Husband

38. A holiday other than christmas - Hallowe'en Party

My favourites were The Martian and Art of Racing in the rain. If you cry easily be careful with Art of Racing - it wasn't a sad story overall but I was definitely sobbing at some parts!

I am at 25/52 (almost halfway!)

Mary Anne wrote: "Reading Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold this week. It is for a book club and I have been putting it of for a month as it is not my normal type at all. Still deciding which category to use ..."

Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold would also work for Book Involving Travel or Book Involving a Mythical Creature. You may also consider Ben Holiday to be an Immigrant to the Magic Kingdom of Landover.

Mike wrote: "Mary Anne wrote: "Reading Magic Kingdom For Sale/Sold this week. It is for a book club and I have been putting it of for a month as it is not my normal type at all. Still deciding whic..."

Nice ideas!!

A bit late for the checkin, sorry...

One book finished for the advanced challenge last week:

✅5. A book about an immigrant or refugee: Laura Alcoba, Le bleu des abeilles , Gallimard, 2015 (1st ed. 2013).

An autobiographical book, from the childhood memories of a woman who came to France with her mom, a political refugee from Argentina at the time of the dictatorship (her father was in prison at the time but was able to join them a few years later). A nice book, about exile through the eyes of a child, and the will to belong in a new country.

I'm now 9/40 for the regular challenge; 4/12 for the advanced chalenge.

QOTW: no seasonal reads, either. A good book is good at any time of the year!

Good Morning!

My current read count is: 10/52

This week I finished The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time as my Book with a Red Spine.
I had seen the play in London last summer and fell in love with the story. I was very excited with how similar that book and play actually were which very rarely happens.

I have now moved on to Roller Girl to fulfill the a book with pictures prompt which I am super excited about as I almost never read any sort of GN. I am just about to go into finals so I definitely think an easy read is much needed.

QOTW: I don't know if I actually change what kind of books I read for the season. There are certain books that I do always reread during Christmas time (Let it Snow) but I think the biggest change I make is reading much longer books during the summer cause I usually have more time.

Late checking in after a crazy week at work! Cleveland was supposed to get a ton of snow, but we ended up with only about 6 inches, and the roads were clear. A bit disappointed, I was hoping to get a work from home day to sneak a little reading in!

This week I read Where the Waters Divide: A 3,000 Mile Trek Along America's Continental Divide for a book by multiple authors. I had to keep double-checking it had two authors listed, since it was written in first person from one of the author's perspective. I assume the second person contributed?

It follows a new couple thru-hiking the Continental Divide Trail. I'm planning to hike a section of the trail this summer and was getting a little frustrated with trying to find information. But after reading about their hike in 1990 and how difficult planning was then (having to write letters to get maps and set up food drops, never encountering other hikers on the trail), I have a lot more appreciation for how easy the Internet makes things!

The book is written from the wife's perspective, and she is a contributor for Backpacker, and I thought her voice was interesting, and she was able to describe their problems without being whiny. There was a lot of additional information about the natural/geologic/historical significance to the trail, which was sometimes interesting and sometimes felt like it was adding for padding.

QOTW: I don't think I'm really a seasonal reader, but I did slot all my "creepy" challenge books in for October.

I finished one book this week - The Underground Railroad for my book where the main character is a different ethnicity than me.

I really loved this book. I didn't feel that way all the way through because it was a tough read, but I thought it was excellent and I'm really glad I read it. It's another book that I probably wouldn't have picked up without this challenge, so once again I'm really glad to be participating.

QOTW: I'm not very seasons driven apart from winter - there are a few books I like to re-read in winter, including The Golden Compass and The Dark Is Rising

I haven't checked in for a while so here are the last few books I've read:

For a book you got from a used book sale I read The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie. I'm trying to read all of her books and there are a lot of them!

A book by a person of color I read Devil in a Blue Dress by Walter Mosley. It's set in Los Angeles post-WWII.

I read Nimona by Noelle Stevenson for a book set in a fictional location. It's a graphic novel.

QOTW: I tend to want to change everything up in spring!

I finished only one challenge book this past week, having strayed into lots of non-challenge reads. I finished 'A Spear of Summer Grass' by Deanna Raybourn as my book with a season in the title. Kenya in the 1920s, a young woman has been temporarily banished to her ex-stepfather's spread there until scandal dies down. Much happens, including a murder, and our heroine falls in love - with Africa and a Canadian guide/big game hunter. Best part of the book is the location - you can practically smell, taste, hear, and see Kenya.

This puts me at 15/40.

I have started a couple more challenge books, and expect to get back to them in a couple of days. I have to since 2 are library books.

QOTW- spring is not a time of year that calls me to specific reading. Now Christmas is another story...

I have two completed books for this challenge.
8/40 & 6/12

10. A book with a cat on the cover-Something Under the Bed is Drooling: A Calvin and Hobbes Collection/Bill Watterson 3/10/17

27. A book with a title that's a character's name-Anne of Green Gables/L.M. Montgomery 3/16/17

QOTW: I tend to read more classics in the summer.

This week I finished reading Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly. It is for the prompt about an interesting woman. I found this book to be very interesting, especially the ties to all major historical events at the time. I am in awe of their intelligence and fearlessness.

Next I will read The Shack by Wm. Paul Young for the genre I normally don't read. I'm having trouble even starting it.

Hi everyone!
Recently I've been reading at much slower pace, but still, I have two books to add to the list this week.
- The Fellowship of the Ring goes under number 14, a book involving travel. Oh, what an enjoyable read it was! (re-read)
- The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan fills number 15, a book with a subtitle. I'm surprised how little I knew about the girl-boy thing in Afghanistan, the culture and huuuge gender inequality in this country. I would recommend it to non-fiction readers.
- Still, very little progress on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, my steampunk novel. I should have listened to my mom, when she told me 15 years ago that I might find it a little boring. Indeed, I do, but I'm determined to finish it (to warn or encourage my own children in another 15 years).

QOTW When I was a teenager, every year (for 4-6 years) around May I was reading a Polish book series called Jezycjada. It consisted of around 14 books at the time (now it's 21). It was my little May ritual :) Other than that, I don't think I choose books according to season :(

Good evening,

I didn't finish any books on either the reading or the advance reading challenges this week. I'm still reading Lamb In Love (when I have time) and Your Gameplan.

I veered off course to read the final of a 3-book series by Joel C. Rosenberg titled Without Warning. All of his books are fantastic because he has an extensive knowledge of Christianity, Islam, and the geopolitical histories of both the US and the Middle East. They are always fascinating reads, even written as fiction.

I'll get back to my challenges this week.

QOTW: I'm not aware of reading transitional books, but I think I do tend to read books set in the fall or winter rather than the summer. Conversely, I'll read a book set in the spring or summer year round.

I hadn't even thought of Lion in Winter! I'm been struggling with that prompt and I've always been fascinated by Eleanor of Aquitaine (she's my 13th great-grandma). I've ordered a copy of the play from my library- thanks!

It has been a long week, so I am just now checking in. This past week I finished Labor Day. This was my "book set around a holiday other than Christmas."

QOTW: I can't really say I have any seasonal books that help me switch seasons.

For 3/10 to 3/16, I finished The Elusive Elixir (a book published in 2017) and The Romanov Sisters: The Lost Lives of the Daughters of Nicholas and Alexandra (which I'm using for "A book with a family member term in the title," although there are several other prompts it would fit, too!). I started Siddhartha, which I'll likely use for "A book with a title that's a character's name." I also continued reading The Cracked Spine for the Minotaur Book Club -- I can't find a prompt that is a good match for it, but it included several book titles, so I may be able to use it that way :) My totals are: 11/40 and 2/12.

QOTW: I don't have any books that I feel compelled to read when the seasons change. However, I do sometimes pick books set in opposite seasons to mentally escape the cold or heat -- more so in winter since I prefer spring and summer :)

Do you think summer holiday counts for the prompt about a holiday other than Christmas?

The past week has been a bit nuts. I had two job interviews in a day, then Tuesday we had a snow/rain/ice storm come through the city. That night I suddenly got this throbbing dizziness in my head that hasn't stopped since and it's making it very hard to read, so while I've got, like, 10 books going right now, I haven't actually finished anything.

It's almost like I'm in a book slump right now. Nothing is sticking, I'll read maybe 10 pages of one book, then nothing for a day, then 5 pages of a different book, etc.

QOTW: Nope. I just read what I want, when I want.

Caity wrote: "The past week has been a bit nuts. I had two job interviews in a day, then Tuesday we had a snow/rain/ice storm come through the city. That night I suddenly got this throbbing dizziness in my head ..."

This sounds exactly like my current situation, Caity :-(

It really sucks

Tracy wrote: "This sounds exactly like my current situation, Caity :-(

It really sucks"

It has been brutal. I decided to use a mild migraine yesterday (direct result of the pulsating dizziness, but fortunately no audio sensitivity) to give the audiobook prompt a go. I tried two different books because the first I didn't like the narrator but I might actually consider reading it as an ebook now. The other I want as a paperback after just one chapter, lol.

I'm also still dealing with remnants of chest pain from costochondritis.

I had a book come in from the library and need help trying to figure out where to place it. VE Schwab's "A Conjuring of Light". Do you think it falls under steampunk? What about a subgenre? Does anyone know which subgenre of fantasy it classifies as? Help!

Tanelle wrote: "I had a book come in from the library and need help trying to figure out where to place it. VE Schwab's "A Conjuring of Light". Do you think it falls under steampunk? What about a subgenre? Does an..."

I wouldn't say steampunk. I think there's a multiverse/parallel universe genre, right? I'd say it'd fit into that sub genre. Since the main guy travels through the four worlds.

Thank Sheri! I followed that line and found "Alternate World Fantasy" as a subgenre and I think it fits. Fantasy is defiantly not a genre I normally read so I think I'll use it for the subgenre prompt in the advanced.

Tanelle wrote: "I had a book come in from the library and need help trying to figure out where to place it. VE Schwab's "A Conjuring of Light". Do you think it falls under steampunk? What about a subgenre? Does an..."

From the description someone else gave about the book, it sounds like it could also fit the "travel" prompt.

Also, I found this link, which lists all sorts of genres and sub genres, with examples. I think I'm going to go with "Bangsian," but there are loads of sub genres there I've never heard of. Here's the link: http://www.cuebon.com/ewriters/genres...

Good luck!

Week #11

Status: 17/52 (no change this week)

Are there any books that you feel compelled to read as the weather transitions from cold winter into lovely spring?

No, I can't think of any time where I read a specific book for Spring.

Last week I finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Me Before You.

I don't feel compelled to read books related to spring, but I live in So. Cali so we don't have the same changing of seasons.

Finally checking in from sunny Colorado! Last week was busy, but I did get some reading in on several books I still haven't quite finished. I'm finding Promises, Promises far more entertaining now that I've joined an all-female D&D group. (I'm a half-elf warlock librarian.)

I did finish two books that week:
New Beginnings by Victoria Schwab was a quick read that I chose for the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge task of a YA or middle grades novel by an author who identifies as LGBTQ+. It fits several PopSugar prompts:
- A book by an author who uses a pseudonym
- A book involving a mythical creature
- A book written by someone you admire
- The first book in a series you haven't read before
- A book with an eccentric character
I have mixed feelings about Giants' Bread by Mary Westmacott (Agatha Christie). But overall I liked it. It also fits several prompts:
- A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long
- A book by an author who uses a pseudonym
- A book written by someone you admire
- A book with an eccentric character
- A book that's been mentioned in another book

QotW: Not really. I'm not much of a re-reader, and I don't put much effort into seasonal reading.

Thank you Stina! I'm reading one of her books right now and I've been struggling with a lot of of BRRH prompts. I didn't know she identified as LBTQ so I'll use it to check off that prompt

It depends on how nitpicky you want to get about the YA part of the prompt. Anything she's written as VE Schwab is considered adult. Her stuff for younger audiences is all published under Victoria Schwab.

Late as usual: I really will try and check in earlier in future!

Just the one book completed this week, and it's one for the challenge: The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafon for the book with an eccentric character. It's not the one I intended to read for this, but Fermin is definitely eccentric, in a very appealing way. That makes 14/52. Steady progress!

QOTW: The change of seasons don't really affect me reading-wise, other than I tend to get out more, so reading can drops away a bit. On the other hand, I have more time during the school holidays, which are more concentrated from here on, so that tends to compensate at certain times. With those periods of greater space, I find myself more likely to tackle some of the bigger books. Of the Modern Mrs Darcy list, my favourite is definitely Middlemarch; one of the greatest novels of all-time!