Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Pearl a historical fiction middle grade graphic novel
Pearl, Vol. 1 comic collection following a tattoo artist/hitwoman for the yakuza (two other volumes)
There are lots of other books too.

Took some time but I finally found something that I thought would be interesting:

Eruption

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

I read The Comeback (a fun rom com with a K-Pop angle) and The Comeback (a story of a former child actress trying to recover from the abuse her producer put her through). I'd give the combo a soft recommend - both were probably 3.5 star books for me.

This was a prompt a couple of years ago in some reading challenge, and I got hooked, so I had already planned on reading
April Witch
The April Witch
The April witch and other strange tales
April's Witches

I have read the Swedish book already long ago, and I had no idea it was based on the short story... I'm excited to see how the different authors dealt with the idea.

Shelley wrote: "I loved the Ink and Bone combo last time.

A great combo that unfortunately I've already read is Night Watch by Terry Pratchett and Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko. Bot..."

That was what I read, too :-D Very different, I liked both.

Do 1984 by George Orwell and 1Q84 by Murakami count?

I've started my first book for this prompt:


Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

I'm barely on the prologue of this book but it is so cool!

*****

I'll be doing a fiction pairing with this book later on with this book:


Eruption

I just finished Mercury and am about halfway through Mercury. In the first, Mercury is a town and in the second, it's the name of a horse.

Carla wrote: "Do 1984 by George Orwell and 1Q84 by Murakami count?"

I'm a fan of using these challenges to either push yourself to read different books or using them to read what's on your TBR shelves. If you think it counts, then it counts for you.

Finished reading: Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

Rating: 3-star

Review: I know that there needs to be build-up with a book, but the build-up for this one seemed to last forever. From the prologue to the end of Part 3, the book was just okay. There were some chapters that did not seem to serve a purpose. I get the author is trying to establish who some of these people were, but it just didn't do it for me. Some of the geology and science mentions from part 1-3 were good, but the character analysis of these people overshadowed the science/geology which I wasn't a big fan of. Part 4 and 5 were really the only good parts of the book. They discuss the eruption and recovery efforts. After that parts 6-7 felt the same as parts 1-3 so nothing impressive after, not even legislation issues were enough to keep me interested. I stand by my initial rating now that I finished the book.

If you're interested in reading Damsel (which is the book from which the Netflix movie was adapted), I recently found out that there is another fantasy book called Damsel. I haven't read it yet, but it sounds really good.

Also, I just finished reading a great trilogy that I think would work well for this prompt. The names of the books are: The House Witch, The House Witch 2, and The House Witch 3. It was a fun, cosy fantasy trilogy that made me laugh out loud several times.

I'm planning on reading Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater and Shiver by Junji Ito. I haven't read The Wolves Of Mercy Falls since I was in middle school so I think it'll be a nostalgic re-read.

I now have three possible pairings that I'm considering for this prompt:

Bread and Roses: Gender and Class Under Capitalism and Bread and Roses, an Anthology of Nineteenth- and Twentieth-Century Poetry by Women Writers

The Hollow Places and Hollow Places: An Unusual History of Land and Legend

Recognizing the Stranger: On Palestine and Narrative and Recognizing the Stranger: Recognition Scenes in the Gospel of John

I guess I'll wait and see what I'm in the mood for when I get there!

Maybe this is stretching things a bit, but both of these books include the title:

"The Rise & Fall of the..."

The context after is what is different.

The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World

Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire

I'm planning to read Survive the Night and Survive the Night. I've had them both on my TBR for a good few years.

I came across an interesting option yesterday for those who prefer non-fiction:

The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape
The Geography of Nowhere: Finding Oneself in the Postmodern World

I'd wanted to read The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder by David Grann (I assume we're not counting subtitles for "same title"). It was interesting:

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...

There are about a million romances with the same title, and I had no way to decide, so I went with poetry instead: Wager by Adele Elise Williams.

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...

The Hunter
and
The Hunter

the first I didn't read but has good reviews. the second is short and unique and really good

Because I'm feeling snarky . . . these are definitely NOT the same title, but I spent a good long time at my TBR list just staring at these and giggling to myself.

The Book Club for Troublesome Women
and The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

I read The Divide and The Divide turns out there is a lot to choose from if you go for 'the divide'.

Kays was charming but very middle grade

Rachel wrote: "Because I'm feeling snarky . . . these are definitely NOT the same title, but I spent a good long time on https://slotexocasino.net/ and at my TBR list just staring at these and giggling to myself .

[book:The Book Club for Troubles..."Yes, the titles are indeed similar. It's easy to get confused, especially when the TBR list is already long

I think I’m going to use Not Safe for Work by Lindsey Lanza and Not Safe for Work by Nisha J. Tuli

I used Somewhere Beyond the Sea & Somewhere Beyond the Sea.

I was going to do these two:

Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens

Eruption

However, I have the James Patterson book in my wrapped TBR and I don't remember which month I placed it in so I don't even know if I'll get to it because I don't remember what number I used for it either. It's all a matter of luck of the draw.

*****

In February though I did read a book called Original Sins: The (Mis)education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism and it turns out Jake Tapper released a book called Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again so I've got this book planned for a June read.

I'll do this match up instead, 'Original Sins' and 'Original Sin'.

For this one I chose We Used to Live Here
one We Used To Live Here by Daniel Hurst and another We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kilewer.

I really enjoyed both books!

I'm reading Black Hole by Charles Burns. This is a graphic novel. The blurb reads, "As hypnotically beautiful as it is horrifying, Black Hole transcends its genre by deftly exploring a specific American cultural moment in flux and the kids who are caught in it—back when it wasn't exactly cool to be a hippie anymore, but Bowie was still just a little too weird."

The second book I will read is The Black Hole by L. Marie Wood. This is a novella. The blurb reads, "Considered “… a true trip into the darkest depths of what mankind is capable of at its worst,” by Midwest Book Review, this story is a classic tale of prey combined with slasher film “edge-of-your seat” vibes with a little modern-day relevance to keep you unsettled."

I read Sandwich: A Global History Bee Wilson. The other one is going to be Sandwich

Finished Book #1:
Tell Me Everything by Minka Kelly

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