Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

The number one thing I want from the Popsugar editors is for them to look at the challenge list from the Around the Year group and try not to overlap too strongly with that list. Obviously some prompts like "published this year" are going to be universally popular, but this year the two lists had an almost unbelievable amount of overlap. Not everyone participates in both groups, but many do. Just be aware of existing challenge lists.

I agree, I don't like repeats from years before, but I realize it must be difficult to avoid overlap because there are SO MANY reading challenges now! Popsugar, AtY, Book Riot, Mod Mrs D, A to Z, Around the World, Boxall's, seasonal challenges, local challenges, library challenges, and whatever Oprah and/or Emma Watson cook up .... The Popsugar peeps can't please all of us! I just ask for no repeats from previous years and no repeats within the challenge (they seem to have a bad habit of doing this, for example this year we have "based on mythology" and "mythological creature").

Nadine I'm with you :) as little as possible repeats from past years (even the last year would be ok, I would be fine with repeats from 2 years ago) and no repeats within the challenge. Those are reasonable. There are definitely too many of these to avoid any overlap!

Yes. The mythology one annoyed me a bit. Such a weird thing to have two prompts about.

1. A famous sportspersons biography/autobiography
2. A book set in a country you've visited
3. A book with flowers on the front cover

Nadine wrote: "I agree, I don't like repeats from years before, but I realize it must be difficult to avoid overlap because there are SO MANY reading challenges now! Popsugar, AtY, Book Riot, Mod Mrs D, A to Z, A..."

That's true, but of all those I would say the PopSugar and ATY challenges seem both most popular and most likely to overlap. BookRiot's prompts tend to be quite tough/specific, and I'm not sure how popular most of the others mentioned are.

I would also love to minimize overlap with ATY (and since that list is just about finished, it's probably not hard to avoid), and with previous years.

Around the Year, I think.

Allison wrote: "What's AtY?"

AtY = Around the Year, a sort of spin-off from Popsugar. They have a GR group too: https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...

Modern Mrs D is Modern Mrs Darcy. I'm sorry, I was at work and typing shorthand on my phone.

Tanelle wrote: "Please not another book from your own town/province/etc. I think I've exhausted the whole 3 books that fill this prompt in the past two years with the same/similar prompt"

What about a book published or set in the antipodes of your town (as near as possible given oceans)?

A book with a book on the cover?

For location I liked this years prompt in Read Harder. A book set within 100 miles and and Book Set within 5000 miles. It opens it up to more possibilities than narrowing it down to specific locations

And even with that prompt it was very hard to find one set within 100 miles of my location

I love the recommended but didn't read and the intimidates you ideas.

Reyna wrote: "A book from a celebrity run book club other than Oprah. (Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Jessica Parker)
A book from a magazine recommendation (People Magazine).
A book from an author who shares your bir..."

Great themes! I hope to see some on the list next year.

How about a Banned Book.

How about a book by an author who you're giving a second chance? Also, I would like fewer reread prompts. I do reread a lot, but I want the prompt space to go to something I hadn't thought of

Let's see...

Things I think sound good:
Books about: Science, Music, Sport, TV or Movies, Art
-2 books related in some way
-Certain color on the cover
-Animal group on the cover. Underwater creature sounds good. More specific than animal but not as specific as cat. Allows for mythological creatures too.
-By/about someone who is different from you somehow
-By/about LGBT+
-By/about/involving a first responder (police, firefighter, emt etc.)
-Featuring at least two females
-Book with a train
-Banned or challenged book
-Humor
-Set in Australia
-Set in an amusement park, carnival or circus
-Set on a ship
-Involving computers or the internet
-Ghost story or something spooky
-Award winner or nominee
-With "Secret(s)" in the title
-Weather in the title (storm, cloud, rain, etc.)
-About a journey

There are some prompts I don't mind seeing every year because they are so broad, like book released this year or made into a movie.


Things I would not like:
-Any mandatory re-read.
-Sub-genres or things you've never heard of. We covered that pretty well this time and it was more work than fun.
-Self-help
-Anything about me specifically. My name, initials, family, ancestry, BFF, job, where I live or places I have traveled, or who I may be attracted to. All of those are either stupid difficult, super triggering or assuming a lot of privilege for many people. For example, I don't have any family members, so last year I was depressed every time I looked at the list.

How about oldest book by published date on your TBR list.

- Modern retelling/adaptions of classic novels
- Books told from 2 person POV
- Book from an author from a country with no more than 30 mio in population
- A book from the villains point of view
- A book with either sun or moon in the title
- A cover with an object or animal
- A book by a Scandinavian writer
- Read a manga book
- A book others praises but you havent been tempted to read it so far.
- A book taking place on an island
- Read the original fairy tale that was used as baseline for a Disney movie.
- A book that takes place in the 1920´
- Read a free/giveaway book.
- Sport is part of the book
- A novel no longer than 150 pages
- A story about backpacking
- A book taking place in at least 2 different countries.
- A book based on a game or a book that became a game
- Read a trilogy
- Read a female detective novel
- A road trip book

Anabell wrote: - A book by a Scandinavian writer"

Just to be sure:
Scandinavia = Norway, Sweden, Denmark
the Nordic Countries = Scandinavia + Iceland and Finland

A Scandinavian author is fine with me but I don't like to be referred as Scandinavian because I am not.

Theresa wrote: "Yay! I have been keeping a list....

Revolving around a word or logic puzzle or encrypted clue
On feminism
On books, reading, or language
Childhood classic you never read
About forgery, counterfeit..."

Oh! I love this one "Read another book by an author you did not like the only book you read". Sometimes you just don't make them another try : )

How about poetry? As in, "a book of poetry by an author from the same country as you."

Does anyone think it would be worthwhile collecting some ideas that we would *not* want to see on the list? I'm not sure if it would just confuse the discussion, but I can think of a few prompts that I would dread seeing.

Rachel wrote: "Does anyone think it would be worthwhile collecting some ideas that we would *not* want to see on the list? I'm not sure if it would just confuse the discussion, but I can think of a few prompts th..."

good idea, I certainly have quite a few I don't want to see! And I'm sure there will be overlap between "don't want it" and "want it" lists. Maybe start a new post?

my reading club is doing the challenge and I brought this question to them.

Here is what they suggested:

The first book of an author who’s written more than ten books:
A book with a first edition published posthumously
A book with a color in the title
A book with a number in the title
A book title that’s a quotation
A book you got through ILL
An autobiography
A book recommended by another person taking the book challenge
A banned book
a classic you never had to read in school?
A Great American Novel as defined by Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_A...

How about instead of the on a trip, bought from a wherever etc a book you got from a source you don't normally use. If you normally buy books then you could count a library book or vice versa, if you normally get books from audible or overdrive, borrow one from a friend, use one you got as a gift or won as a prize etc etc. It broadens the way we receive books without limiting those who don't travel or who don't buy books etc

Kristina wrote: "A book you got through ILL"

I don't remember being ill this year, not sure about last year, so that would be kind of difficult for me.

I think she means InterLibrary Loans.

Tytti wrote: "Kristina wrote: "A book you got through ILL"

I don't remember being ill this year, not sure about last year, so that would be kind of difficult for me. (My father was a teacher, taught 9 to 12 yea..."

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think she meant Inter Library Loan. Not a book you got through an illness (which would be a weird way to get books lol).

Oh, I see, that explains it better. But still, not really a fan. Depending how it's defined it's something I don't do pretty much ever (I have no need, other library networks probably borrow from ours because it is one of the biggest ones) or it's just asking the library to bring the book to the library closest to me because I am too lazy to go a bit further...

That is what inter library loan is, they bring a book from a different branch. It could be limiting though depending on location.

Tara wrote: "That is what inter library loan is, they bring a book from a different branch. It could be limiting though depending on location."

Well it used to be like that here but now the books don't have their "own" library anymore, they stay in the library where they were returned the last time. So in fact it's more like placing it on hold.

OOOH, how about a book with the same/similar title to a book you've already read or is on the best seller list?

I know Dark Matter has been popular, but I found Dark Matter by Michelle Paver to be amazing, and no one has ever heard of it!

Similarly, The Ghost Writer is an old favorite, but got eclipsed by The Ghost Writer.

Here there are 4-6 library groups? Areas? I'm not sure what the term is, with several branches in each group. So within that group it would be a hold and it would stay at that library, but there's a province wide system by which you can borrow a book from any in the province and that is inter library loan. Here anyway.

As far as I know I could borrow books from all over the country but it would be difficult to find a book I would be interested in reading that they didn't have in my own library (network) and they wouldn't/couldn't acquire it. And then I would have to pay for it, too, a book I'm not sure I even wanted to read in the first place...

I think with tasks that require you get a book in a certain way, the task needs to be less specific. Read a book from a library, fine. You could complete that task in any number of ways: Overdrive, read it in the library, borrow a physical book, even buy a book from a library sale. The ILL bit doesn't give many options and ignores that some people might not have the option at all. It's like the trip prompt - way to assume everyone can afford to buy a book while affording to be on a trip.

Chinook wrote: "I think with tasks that require you get a book in a certain way, the task needs to be less specific. Read a book from a library, fine. You could complete that task in any number of ways: Overdrive,..."

I was going to say the same thing. I'm not sure if interlibrary loans are accessible everywhere. I live near a fairly big library branch where my mom works, and I have no idea how to ask for an interlibrary loan nor can I think of any books that I would want that would need to be borrowed this way. In any case, read a book from a library is not a great prompt. For those of us who use libraries already, it's pretty much a free read, and for those who don't, there's probably a reason they don't use the library much.

Unauthorized Cinnamon wrote: "OOOH, how about a book with the same/similar title to a book you've already read or is on the best seller list?

I know Dark Matter has been popular, but I found Dark Matter ...


Oh I like that idea! Last year I read The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee and I've been curious to read The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek, for example.

historical fiction
book with 200 pages or less
book the a City name in the title
A book recommended by a stranger

A book with silver on the cover or reflects light.

A book set in Africa/Asia/South America/Middle East/Australasia (any one of these). The reason I suggest this is that I find a lot of the books l am reading are set in either Europe and North America. Last year there was the Europe prompt so it might be might be nice to try another region.
A book with a plant term in the title (eg. Flower, tree, weed, leaves, bark) Some examples of this might be Flowers in the Attic, The Poisonwood Bible, The Magic Faraway Tree. I think that might be interesting.
A book set somewhere cold. We had the summer prompt last year but this could leave it open to a book set in winter or in a cold place like the Arctic.
A book set at least 1000km of where you currently live.
A book that has won a book award from a country you don't live (list is here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...) - again trying to read a bit more widely.
A book that starts at night

I also liked the prompt earlier about "How about oldest book by published date on your TBR list". I need to get my reading pile down and that would help.

Also can they publish the book list a little bit earlier this year (say November). I would like a few months to start pulling my list together.

- The title has to containe a word that is a palindrome.
- At least 2 consecutive words has to start with the same letter. (Like The Cucckoos Calling)
- Pick up the nearest book go to page 15, 4th line, second letter and find a book that either starts or ends with that word.

I like the last one. Maybe it should be something like the 15th page 4th line, second word from the last book you read or from the first book for the challenge. It's specific but super broad!

Tara wrote: "I like the last one. Maybe it should be something like the 15th page 4th line, second word from the last book you read or from the first book for the challenge. It's specific but super broad!"

Ups I did mean word.. Great Idea with the first book for the challenge or the last book you read.

Exactly it is broad that you can choose any genre you like to read but at the same time have to put some effort in to it. I like the prompts where its almost a scavenger hunt and not where you are forced to pick a bestseller or award winning book. Usually don't like those.

I agree. The scavenger hunt aspect is my favourite. I dislike having to read a specific genre or type of book (although I don't mind 1 or 2 of those types of prompts) but I like things about the cover or title, even about the author or main character. Those are the ones I enjoy finding and also enjoy trying to fit books I want to read into.

When does Popsugar normally publish the new reading challenge? This is the first year I have done one.

Tara wrote: "Last year I did my own challenge and one I chose was give an author a second chance. So I read aStill Life different book by the same author as a dnf or book I disliked. Also maybe a book"

I actually think that prompt is a great idea! First of all, not every first novel is brilliant, wonderful, engaging, entertaining. But the second or third might be fabulous. Or vice-versa.

For example, I hated Still Life when I read it as an ARC way back when. Never read another as a result, could not believe she was still being published. Suddenly, in the last year, many friends, and many of you in this group, have been recommending her books, especially a couple of her more recent entries in the series. I plan to give one of those a shot soon.

Tytti wrote: "Tara wrote: "That is what inter library loan is, they bring a book from a different branch. It could be limiting though depending on location."

Well it used to be like that here but now the books ..."

This would also likely not work for participants in other countries...can't guaranty their library systems do InterLibrary Loan.

Sam wrote: "When does Popsugar normally publish the new reading challenge? This is the first year I have done one."

2017 came out in November 2016.

Jessica wrote: "I've been running a list in my head of books I was assigned in high school that I'd like to revisit, so I suggest these two:

A book you were assigned in high school
A book that is frequently assig..."

My problem with the first is this -- and I have friends participating in this challenge that have the same problem -- I don't remember at this point in my life what books I was required to read in high school! I of course remember many of the books I read but not whether they were assigned books or ones I voluntarily assigned myself. And the lines between high school reading and college reading are now blurred.... Basically this idea while interesting, is very difficult for the more 'mature' participants.

Another issue with this, other countries do not break up schooling in the manner we do - not having 'high schools' per se. Far better to have a prompt along the lines of 'a book commonly read or required to be read by teenagers'.