Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Hello members! We are done with week two! To keep on pace for the challenge you should be done with two books by now. I know many of you are way ahead of that and many of you are right on pace. And some of you have just joined and may need to catch up a bit. Wherever you are in the challenge is great.

So what books did you finish or start this week? Did you enjoy them? I finished Looking for Alaska for "a popular author's first book" and Haunted for "a book with a one word title". I loved Looking For Alaska. It was very believable and the characters were very relatable. Haunted on the other hand I had to force myself to finish. I rarely give up on a book. I usually make myself finish so I can say I gave the end a chance to change my mind. Haunted was just weird (not in a good way - I usually love weird), not realistic in the least and had almost not plot to speak of. I am disappointed because the book's premise could have been turned into something great.

Don't forget to vote in our poll at the very bottom of the group home page. All votes are anonymous. I'll be putting up one poll per month. Also there's something I found out this week that I didn't realize before. If you use the 'add book/author' button to link your actual book in our discussions it links to the book's main page. That way people can find our group through discussions. I'm sure you've noticed but it also puts a list of books on the sidebar of our discussion that other members can click on. So if you can try to use the 'add book/author' button as much as possible. If you need help figuring out how to use it let me know. It's very easy once you do it a few times.


**Important** remember if you've added a book to the 'currently reading' shelf on the group shelves and you've finished it be sure to mark it as 'read'. It just helps keep things more organized and our 'currently reading' shelf not as crowded. Thanks!!


I hope you are all having as much fun with this challenge as I am! As always if you have any questions feel free to message me or my sister, Hailey, who is our other moderator.

I polished off The Luminaries which I loved but is a very divisive book. Catton wrote the novel within the confines of Astrology. The astrological aspects were completely lost on me, but the story was still a good one. I like seeing several plot lines converge like the piecing together of a puzzle. The ending may not have been the strongest, however I was still pleased with the 800+ page epic.

This week I finished two books:

500 Page Book - The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon
Book turned into a movie - The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

Fiery Cross has taken me forever, I'm glad I finally can start crossing off some of my tasks. I'm taking a break from Outlander for a few weeks to get some other reading in for the first time since July!

I have not checked in at the end of the first week, so this is actually everything I read since the start of 2015. I am not sure I will actually use them for these prompts though, I might switch things around later.

Slaughterhouse-Five (book with number in the title)
Funny Girl (book by an author you love you haven't read yet)
Ready Player One (book set in the future)
Smith&Wesson (a play)
Almost Blue (book by an author with your same initials)
A Scandal in Bohemia (book turned into a TV show - I hope this counts, I think Sherlock had an episode loosely based on this particular story)

Right now I am reading The Luminaries but still very unsure what to use it for, it could fit so many prompts!

I also did not post for the first week, so here's my update for the first two weeks:
Pandemonium - female author
Requiem - one word title
For the second week, I started a few different books, but today, I finished Half a Life - memoir

Okay, as of now I've been able to check off six books: Steve Jobs (#1), No One Here Gets Out Alive (#17), The Phantom Tollbooth (#33), The Red Tent (#37), The Phantom of the Opera (#44) and Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead (#47). The other day I started Dead Until Dark (#49) as my break-time read. Now I'm just trying to figure out which to tackle next lol. These were all books I started reading this year too.

This week I finished 3 books:

A book with a one word title - Landline
A book by an author you haven't read before - Ugly Love
A book can you finish in one day - Raveling You

I just started Anna Karenina. I was initially going to use this for a book turned into a movie but once I realized it was over 900 pages long, I think I may just use it to fulfill the prompt for a book over 500 pages.

This week I finished the books I chose for the trilogy, His Fair Assassin trilogy by Robin LaFevers. I absolutely loved these books, they reminded me of the Song of the Lioness Quartet.

I'm still reading my 3rd book (Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - A book with non-human characters). I've really enjoyed it! It's funny as well, so would be great for that category!

I'll be finished with that today though and next to read is The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie as the first book by a popular author.

I am a bit behind my schedule. I am only done one book and half way through my second. I am doing the list in order so I don't leave the ones I least want to do until last - and my list is pretty top heavy.

I finished Twelve Tribes of Hattie & The 19th Wife this past week.

This is my first check in since I just joined this group. In these two weeks I read:
- Burr by Gore Vidal (author with same initials) it was a little boring at times but I did like learning something about U.S. History through it;
- Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett ( part 1 of my trilogy). I love Terry Pratchett I have read several of his books and have never been disappointed . His vision of what witches are and do is something I particularly enjoy.
- The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfss ( a book by an author you love). I love Patrick Rothfuss and this book was something beautiful and special and unique and it almost felt like a poem....
- Damned by Chuck Palahniuk (one word title or bad reviews I am undecided) I had a hard time getting into it, but once past the first half it got easier . I still wouldn't say it's a great book but I enjoyed some of the concepts and ideas if not the plot itself .

I wrote longer reviews on each book if anyone is interested . Right now I am writing from my phone otherwise I would post better links on all the books, hopefully I will get to it later.

I forgot one!
- a visit from the goon squad by Jennifer Egon(Pulitzer Prize winner). I found it slightly depressing but definitely very very well written. I mean, maybe depressing shouldn't be the word, maybe it's realistic but it all depends on how you chose to look at reality right?

This is my first check-in since we started. I have read three books so far.
1. Beneath a Meth Moon - #20 (book at bottom of list)
2. One Death, Nine Stories - #12 (short stories)
3. Detour: My Bipolar Road Trip in 4-D - #14 (nonfiction)

This week I finished two books. The first one was The Cuckoo's Calling . I had a hard time getting past the first 150 pages, but once I got past the beginning I got really in to it. J.K. Rowling is truly an amazing story teller. I can't wait to read Silkworm! I am not sure which prompt I will be using this for, but for right now I have it under A book from an author you love that you haven't read yet.

I also read Habibi . This book was really strange. I did keep me intrigued, but you have to have an open mind to read it. I read this for a graphic novel.

I didn't check in last week, so these are the books I've read in 2015 so far:
Big Little Lies (antonyms in the title)
Eleanor & Park (set in high school)
Across the Universe (set in the future)
Serena (made into a movie)

I loved all of these for different reasons and would recommend them all!

I finished the Newsflesh trilogy (Feed, Deadline, and Blackout) thinking I will put them all in their own categories and read another trilogy, because these would fill Set in the Future (2041), Non-Human characters (zombies and clones), and recommended by a friend.. probably a few others too. Just started my next semester in college, so I may be slowing down.. think I have 8 books read now though, so I might still be ok!