Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

I’ve picked Bad Romance by Emily Hill.

I think I'm going with Go Down, Moses by Faulkner.

Angela wrote: "For those who like the old Dungeons and Dragons novels, Forgotten Realms published a bunch of anthologies, stories by authors well-known for that genre.

Realms of Valor, [book:Realms..."

I'm glad I got this prompt out of the way first, as I don't think there was anything I was going to like. As for this book .. it was awful. Do not recommend.

I read Song for the Unraveling of the World for this prompt and really enjoyed it! Recommended for sure if you like horror stories.

Though this is a one-author collection, all of the stories appeared separately in other publications first. For me, that's definitely good enough to count as an anthology.

For this I'm going to read The Arabian Nights. I've never read it and it seems like a good fit for the anthology prompt.

I don't think it's been mentioned yet but I read The Moth Presents All These Wonders: True Stories about Facing the Unknown, which are a bunch of selections from The Moth Storytelling events that were performed live and recorded and then curated. I really enjoyed it.

And they have a new one out The Moth Presents Occasional Magic: True Stories about Defying the Impossible, so that might be what I read for this prompt.

I will be reading Bodies From the library : Short stories by different authors.

Reading Stories of Your Life and Others as my anthology entry.

Collection of Ted's first eight short stories. Really reading just for "Story of Your Life," which the "Arrival" movie was based on.

Sara wrote: "This immediately brings to mind my massive Norton Anthology from college that's sitting on my shelf. Since I have no intentions of reading that from cover to cover I'm hoping you all have better su..."

This is the definition from dictionary.com:
noun, plural an·thol·o·gies.
1) a book or other collection of selected writings by various authors, usually in the same literary form, of the same period, or on the same subject:
an anthology of Elizabethan drama; an anthology of modern philosophy.
2) a collection of selected writings by one author.

I’m reading The Under Dog and Other Stories by Agatha Christie. At the opening of the first story it says it was originally published in Mystery Magazine and then in London Magazine, so it does not seem as though the collected stories were written together for the purpose of one book. Either way it’s still a collection of short stories.

I'm thinking of A Study in Sherlock: Stories Inspired by the Holmes Canon even if Laurie R. King is the person who put it together.

Would Palo Alto by James Franco work for this one? I've had it on my book shelf for a while now and haven't read it.

Heather wrote: "Would Palo Alto by James Franco work for this one? I've had it on my book shelf for a while now and haven't read it."

It definitely works!

I'm thinking about doing a StoryCorps one. I loved All There Is: Love Stories from StoryCorps.

Perhaps one these

Listening Is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the StoryCorps Project,

Ties That Bind: Stories of Love and Gratitude from the First Ten Years of StoryCorps or

Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps

What about the Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. Would that work?

I accidentally read Houston Noir for this because I didn't know it was an anthology and it didn't fit the prompt that I was originally using it for. There seems to be dozens of these types of books for different cities. It wasn't the best, but it was fun to read about different neighborhoods.

I recently picked up a book called Resist: Tales from a Future Worth Fighting Against, which I'm looking forward to reading.

I am reading American Like Me: Reflections on Life Between Cultures for this prompt, and I'm enjoying it!

Hey guys!
I am reading all the Rick Riordan stuff and I just want to confirm if The Demigod Diaries would fit on here. It is several short stories on the same universe. You guys think it would be okay?

I read Meet Cute: Some People Are Destined to Meet for this prompt. This was so saccharine sweet, a collection of short romance stories by different authors (YA). Most of it was really enjoyable, it was a quick read. There was one story that left me hanging and felt more like a first chapter than a short story, so that was annoying.

I added a few ideas from the thread to my TBR. What My Mother and I Don't Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence caught my eye :-)

Isabella wrote: "Would Tales of Beedle the Bard from J.k.Rowling be considered an anthology?"

Multiple people in this group have voted for it on the listopia page so, my self included. So I would say yes to your question.

My plan is to read one of GRRM editted anthologies which I have. Either Dangerous Women or Rogues. Both of which are in my TBR in hardcover.

Does anyone know whether Feminasty by Erin Gibson would work? I know that it’s a collection of essays, but I’m not sure if that’s too broad within the definition.

My choice:
It's Not OK to Feel Blue (and other lies): Inspirational people open up about their mental health
by Scarlett Curtis



I really liked it. It features different stories from different points of view in different writing styles. A good book to defeat the stigma of mental health.

Brandy wrote: "What about the Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. Would that work?"

I think it's up to you how you interpret the word "anthology." I'm currently reading a giveaway of The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by the same author Ken Liu for my "book that came out in 2020" but I'm thinking about moving it to this anthology category, since I was lucky enough to win several giveaways of books coming out this year.

I really loved The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories. Enjoy!

Dreams of Steam by Kimberly Richardson, etc. An anthology of Steampunk stories.

Just finished reading Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang. Stories aren't too long, and very interesting if you want some sci-fi Black Mirror-esque stories

I am reading Amish front porch stories by Wanda E Brunstetter, and Jean & Michelle Brunstetter. Not a heavy read but rather uplifting with all the stress we are going through.

I am going to read Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a Minneapolis High
School
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

Finished Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

So I am thinking about these 2 books but am not sure they qualify for this prompt. Hoping some of you can help me out.
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
Epic Hikes of the World

Anabell wrote: "So I am thinking about these 2 books but am not sure they qualify for this prompt. Hoping some of you can help me out.
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
[book:Epic Hikes of th..."

I don't know about the other one, but Weird Things isn't an anthology. Honestly, it'd even be a stretch to call it a collection of stories. It's more like funny quotes people have said accompanied by a very short anecdote.

I am reading Games Creatures Play as I love Charlaine Harris.

Jackie wrote: "Anabell wrote: "So I am thinking about these 2 books but am not sure they qualify for this prompt. Hoping some of you can help me out.
Weird Things Customers Say in Bookshops
[book:..."

Thanks for your reply. It was a very quick read and agree that it will not do for this prompt. funny book though...

Reading TRAILIN' WEST.

The introduction: " In this anthology of western tales you will find stories by some of the greatest western writers who ever lived: Louis L'Amour, Max Brand, Zane Grey, and the writer who created the western as a genre, Owen Wister, author of the Virginian."
I downloaded it from Amazon.

Would you consider Flirting Withthe Monsters by Ellen Hopkins am anthology?

Would you consider Start Above by Melissa Meyers an anthology?

Does Oblivion by David Foster Wallace count? I’m a little confused on the difference between a short story collection and an anthology, or if there is a difference.

Shannon wrote: "Does Oblivion by David Foster Wallace count? I’m a little confused on the difference between a short story collection and an anthology, or if there is a difference."

I've been wondering about this for a while, too. I found a blogger, Becky Fife, who differentiates the two like this:

Anthology - a selection of written works in the same literary form (short stories, poems, etc.) , by different writers, organized by a theme. It could be "adventures in Uzbekistan" to "all known poets of the 19th century".

Collection - a selection of written works by one author usually organized around a theme, like "Shirley Jackson's Christmas short stories".

So conceivably, every anthology is a collection -- but not every collection is an anthology.

ETA: She may or may not be the definitive expert, but this is the definition I'm planning to use. It's helping me narrow down choices.

https://blogyourbookin30days.blogspot...

While I was going to use one of the "Best American Short Stories" anthologies that I have here at home originally, I found a copy of this book that I had bought a few years ago on a shelf, that I had completely forgotten about:
Tales of Two Americas: Stories of Inequality in a Divided Nation

That seems a little more relevant at the moment to me--and quite a bit shorter than the "Best American..." series tend to be. So that's what I'm now going with.

Doctor Who: 12 Doctors, 12 Stories

If you like Doctor Who, the above anthology is available on Overdrive (at least in the Phoenix area). You get strange happenings, encounters with famous people, and mostly nonviolent solutions to problems, just like on the show. For those who can find them, Doctor Who also has lots of anthologies in the Short Trips series.

So I just finished my Anthology. I read ‘Star Wars-Tales From the Mos Eisley Cantina.’ It was ok, a bit dated. I had tried to read this book decades ago and only read the first two stories. So I decided to try again from the beginning.

The stories weren’t terrible, some seemed more ‘forced’ than others. As though the author was struggling to get the story out. Some were just plain fun. ‘Nightlily: The Lovers’ Tale’ was rather delightful. My favorite was ‘We Don’t Do Weddings: The Bands’ Tale.’

I read and loved The Little Treasury of One Hundred People, One Poem Each:, collected by Fujiwara no Sadaie and translated by Tom Galt.
The poems are each by different writers (one poem each), ranging from the 7th century to early 13th century in Japan. The edition I read gives you the:

Kanji - the original Japanese ideographs

The transliteration of the Japanese. I loved that you could see the alliterations and rhymes, even if you can't speak Japanese.

The English translations. They hold up astoundingly well, through over a millennium in many cases.

The translators notes. Tom Galt's notes were very helpful with background on the poet, the place names, the puns and symbolism well known to the Japanese readers.

It was like eating rich chocolate truffles: I could have inhaled it fast, but I definitely enjoyed savoring the poetry. Highly recommend!

Could also work as a book set in Japan.

I'm nearly finished with Masterpieces of Mystery and Suspense by Martin Harry Greenberg. It is a book we found when cleaning out my dad's apartment, and I love it. Short stories from many mystery writers (Poe, Doyle, Agatha Christie, Ellery Queen, Stephen King, P.D. James, Isaac Asimov, and many more). While I doubt my dad ever read it (he liked to think he would read more than he actually ever did), it was still a fun thing to inherit.

I picked one from my favorite author, by Nora Roberts. Its the first book in an series of hers about the MacGregors.

For horror fans I read this and it had some really excellent stories in it.

This works.


I watched The Witcher on Netflix first, then read Blood of Elves then read this. I probably would have found things confusing without the Netflix series first.

I read One Hundred and One Famous Poems: with a Prose Supplement by Various authors

My aunt found (or maybe already had) A Guide for Grown-ups: Essential Wisdom from the collected works of Antoine de Saint-Expury, does that count?