For the last several years, I've done the Pop Sugar Reading Challenge. Here are my efforts in 2018, 2019, and 2020. I like this type of challenge because it forces me out of my comfort zone to read different types of books, so I'm not just reading romances and science-fiction books. Here's what I did in 2021. If I wrote a full review of the book, I linked to my review and if I didn't write a review, I linked to its Goodreads page and wrote a little bit of my thoughts.
1) A book that's published in 2021: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (library)
2) An Afrofuturist book: My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due (University library)
3) A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover: An Elderly Woman is Up to No Good by Helene Turston (library ebook)
4) A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign: Darkstalker by Tui T. Sutherland (book lent to me by my nephew)
5) A dark academia book: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (library ebook)
6) A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title: Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys (library)
7) A book where the main character works at your current or dream job: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder (library)
8) A book that has won the Women's Prize For Fiction: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (winner in 2007)
9) A book with a family tree: Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (library)
10) A bestseller from the 1990s: The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner (library) - Published in 1996, this was a Newbury Honor Book and a runner-up to the Newbury Medal.
11) A book about forgetting: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab (purchased at my local book shop)
12) A book you have seen on someone's bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.): The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison (library ebook) - Found on r/fantasy's list of Best Books by Women. A virtual bookshelf, but a bookshelf just the same.
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| First quarter reads |
13) A locked-room mystery: The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley (library)
14) A book set in a restaurant: Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (library)
15) A book with a black-and-white cover: Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi (library ebook)
16) A book by an Indigenous author: Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich (library)
17) A book that has the same title as a song: Layla by Colleen Hoover (library)
18) A book about a subject you are passionate about: No Room of Her Own by Desiree Hellegers (University library)
19) A book that discusses body positivity: Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (library ebook)
20) A book found on a Black Lives Matter reading list: Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis (library ebook)
21) A genre hybrid: Kindred by Octavia Butler (library) - A historical fiction/science fiction hybrid
22) A book set mostly or entirely outdoors: Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton (library)
23) A book with something broken on the cover: Oona Out of Order by Margaria Montimore (library ebook)
24) A book by a Muslim American author: A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum (library)
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| Second quarter reads |
25) A book that was published anonymously: The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante (library)
26) A book with an oxymoron in the title: The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan (library ebook)
27) A book about do-overs or fresh starts: A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (library ebook)
28) A magical realism book: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke (library)
29) A book set in multiple countries: Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan (library) - Irish woman living in Hong Kong, dating a British guy when she suddenly finds herself in a relationship with a woman from Hong Kong. I wanted to like this book and I thought the writing was clever, but I didn't actually like it.
30) A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021: On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves (library) - I'm too much of a prude for an age-gap romance. Sorry. It was set in the Maldives, which is my dream beach location.
31) A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality: Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis (library)
32) A book whose title starts with "Q," "X," or "Z": Year One by Nora Roberts (library ebook)
33) A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child): The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (library)
34) A book about a social justice issue: Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez (library)
35) A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels): A Warning by Anonymous (library audiobook) - I listened to this on a solo road trip to Michigan and I thought I was ready for hearing about the Trump administration, but instead I just grew more irate, both with Trump and the anonymous author enabler who knew that the president was incompetent and cruel and yet continued to work for him.
36) A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads: Don't Doubt by Tammy Falkner (Kindle book I own) - The Reed Brothers series by Tammy Falkner is a great diversion when you only want to read something light and fluffy. I love all these books and am not sure why Falkner isn't a more popular romance name.
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| Third quarter reads |
37) A book you think your best friend would like: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett (library) - Bestest Friend recommended it to me.
38) A book about art or an artist: Faithless in Death (In Death #52) by J.D. Robb (library) - The victim in this book is an artist, so it's a bit of a stretch, but it's a stretch I'm willing to make. The last few entries in this series have been kind of dull, but this one hit it out of the park for me.
39) A book everyone seems to have read but you: Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (library)
40) Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: 2020 prompt of a three word title: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin (library)
Advanced list!
41) The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list: Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (library ebook) - 477 pages
42) The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list: In Five Years by Rebecca Serle (library) - 255 pages
43) The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (library)
44) The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover: The Fall by Garth Nix (library)
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| Fourth quarter reads |
45) The book that's been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (on my bookshelf!)
46) A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn't: The Guest List by Lucy Foley (library ebook)
47) A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing: Math Girls by Hiroshi Yuki, translated by Tony Gonzales (university library) - My favorite thing being math, of course.
48) A book from your TBR list chosen at random: Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri translated by Morgan Giles (University library)
49) A DNF book from your TBR list: Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (library ebook)
50) A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library): The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare (library ebook)
I've never even heard of this challenge! Good for you! I LOVED the Housekeeper and the Professor, what a great book that was.
ReplyDeleteWow that is a big, long challenge!! I used to do the Read Harder Challenge by Book Riot. I think it was 12 or 24 books long? But I stopped doing that maybe 2-3 years ago as I found that I didn't really love a lot of what I read for the challenge. It did push me out of my comfort zone, though.
ReplyDeleteI had to see what you thought of the Erdrich book so looked at your review. I've read 2 books by her for book club and pretty much hated both and felt they were a total slog! I want to like her, especially since she's local to Minneapolis. I keep hearing good things about The Sentence, her latest book, so I might read a sample and see if I will like it.
Wow! This is a very impressive list and also a lot of books (from a great range). I don't think I have the headspace to tackle something this diverse right now, but WHAT A GREAT IDEA!
ReplyDeleteHappy reading in 2022 :)
http://elisabeth-frost.com
My head is spinning right now- all these books, and so varied! This is quite a challenge, and you take it on every year? I can see how it would get you out of your comfort zone. I'm guilty of reading the same genre (mystery) all the time but I'm always happy when I try something new.
ReplyDeleteWow very impressive. I have read through the prompts of this challenge a couple times better never really had the nerve to research what kind of book falls into what category. How do you do it?
ReplyDeletea few of your titles I have also read or are on my TBR.
Man, this reading challenge sounds like a lot of fun but that is a LOT of prompts. I find myself growing very antsy if I feel limited in what I can read, ha. The ultimate bookworm problem! I usually do the Unread Shelf Project, which is just 12 prompts (one per month) and choosing books that I own but haven't read. It's a bit easier as I know those are books I want to read since I bought them! (I'm guessing those who don't buy books could adjust the prompts to books that are on their TBR, maybe!)
ReplyDeleteThe prompts sound like a lot of fun, though. That's what I love about reading challenges. It's just so fun to pick the books that relate to the prompts!