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Popsugar Reading Challenge


Lunagirl

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The old EB is going to close down before I've finished this challenge for the year. I think there's a few others ([mention]riotproof[/mention] who are still going as well. I just finished 'Ordinary Matter' by Laura Elvery, which I'm using for the 'by or about a woman in STEM' prompt, but is also an anthology. It's a collection of short stories about all the times women have won a Nobel Prize in science. It's fiction that uses the prizes as inspiration rather than just a retelling, and is very well-written.


Here's a link to the 2020 challenge:

https://www.popsugar.com.au/entertainment/reading-challenge-2020-47383124


Below are the 50 books from the challenge, with the ones I've read marked:


A book that’s published in 2020 - Aurora Burning by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff


A book by a trans or nonbinary author


A book with a great first line - Of Ants and Dinosaurs by Cixin Liu


A book about a book club


A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics - I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman (set in London)


A bildungsroman - Peta Lyre's Rating Normal by Anna Whateley


The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed


A book with an upside-down image on the cover


A book with a map - Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff


A book recommended by your favourite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club - Daughter of the Empire by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts


An anthology


A book that passes the Bechdel test - Aurora Rising - Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff


A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it - Undying by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner


A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name - Darkdawn by Jay Kristoff


A book about or involving social media - The Passengers by John Marrs


A book that has a book on the cover


A medical thriller


A book with a made-up language


A book set in a country beginning with a “C”


A book you picked because the title caught your attention - The Thousand

th Floor by Katharine McGee


A book published the month of your birth


A book about or by a woman in STEM - Ordinary Matter by Laura Elvery


A book that won an award in 2019 - Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo


A book on a subject you know nothing about - Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe


A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics


A book with a pun in the title


A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins - The Sister's Gift by Barbara Hannay (envy)


A book with a robot, cyborg or AI character - Death's End by Liu Cixin


A book with a bird on the cover - The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins


A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader - The Other Side of the Sky by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner


A book with “gold,” “silver,” or “bronze” in the title - Bronze Gods by A.A. Aguirre


A book by a WOC - Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid


A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads - Bird Box by Josh Malerman


A book you meant to read in 2019


A book with a three-word title - The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern


A book with a pink cover - Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston


A Western


A book by or about a journalist


Read a banned book during Banned Books Week


Your favourite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - The Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee


A book written by an author in their 20s - Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maass


A book with “20” or “twenty” in the title


A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision) - All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr


A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics


A book set in the 1920s


A book by an author who has written more than 20 books - Servant of the Empire - Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts (they each have more than 20 books)


A book with more than 20 letters in its title - The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chalmers


A book published in the 20th century - Mistress of the Empire by Feist & Wurts


A book from a series with more than 20 books - Magician by Raymond Feist


A book with a main character in their 20s - Normal People by Sally Rooney


I have 19 to go in 40 days :-/

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I am not going to make it.

What I have done is include audio books and I’m only reading 40, but I’m choosing from all the prompts. I have started eleventy billion books this year, but focus has been hard and sometimes they are just not that interesting/well written.


Eta I’m unsure if I will do it next year, it will depend on the prompts and if it inspires me.


I have read quite a few books by women of colour this year, and that has been very interesting.

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I just finished my choice for the ‘book published in 2020’ prompt, which I picked The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. ‘Twas so good.


I’ve now just got one more to go. An Anthology.


I was down to ‘a book with 20 or twenty in the title’, but didn’t like my options, so have switched the book I read for the anthology prompt to that instead, as it has 2019 in the title.


I have a few anthologies to pick from, which are more intriguing. Will likely pick Worlds Seen in Passing; 10 years of Tor.com short fiction, Book of Dragons by Jonathan Strahan, or Vampires Never Get Old by Zoraida Cordova & Natalie C. Parker.

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[mention]riotproof[/mention] - any recs from among the books by women of colour? I think the only ones I've read this year are Girl, Woman, Other and Such a Fun Age. I really enjoyed both of them and would like to widen my reading in this space. I hope you do it next year because it's fun talking about the challenge with you, but I do understand that it can sometimes take the fun out of reading, though I've found some great books I wouldn't have otherwise read through the challenge.


[mention]sunsaboveitreya[/mention], congratulations for being so close to finishing! Which anthology did you end up picking?


I've ticked off two more prompts:

First book you touched on a shelf - Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer (was given this and it wasn't very good - would not recommend)


A book published the month of your birthday - The Starless Sea by Erin Morgernstern. In theory I liked this book but in practice I found it a bit of a slog. It was an interesting premise and gorgeous, whimsical writing, but it was very meandering and could have achieved the same in a lot fewer pages.


17 books to go, 37 days to do it in.

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Luna Girl, I read

Clap when you land, which I loved. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52516332 I listened to the audiobook and it’s one where you didn’t wander off because her descriptions are just so beautifully written.


The mothers. I have bought myself her next one for Christmas , because I enjoyed her style so much. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28815371


The other one that really surprised me with how much I enjoyed it was The midnight library by Matt Haig.


I agree it’s really a good way to find things you wouldn’t normally look for. I think this year, I just started and dnf so many books, I felt like something was wrong with me.

Also, if you let yourself be intimidated by people who seem to consume books like water, it’s easy to put yourself down.


I have 37 out of my 40 done. But I have included a lot of audio books. I’m currently listening to The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue for a medical thriller and it is just glorious. Love it.

I am also rereading The flatshare because I really liked and I need something light.

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I've heard from a lot of people that their concentration has been shot this year, so that could be part of the reason for all the DNFs. I know what you mean about people racing through books though. I consider myself a fast reader so when I struggle to get through a book and other people are posting 100+ totals for the year, it doesn't feel great. You're beating me, if that's any consolation!


Thanks for the recs. Might keep them for 2021 and hope they fit some prompts there. Except the Emma Donoghue one - I need a medical thriller still so will try to get to that one in the limited time left this year!

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Lots of people in the Facebook group have read The silent patient for that prompt and liked it, but it’s been too popular in my library and I know I won’t read it twice.

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Daisy Jones and the six us finished. Loved it.

I was planning to use it for something I know nothing about, but, ahem, they are not a real band.

They just seemed so bloody egotistical and the character voices were so believably authentic.

It is definitely one to listen to rather than read, the voice actors bring sooo much to it.

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Just finished All Our Shimmering Skies by Trent Dalton, for by or about a journalist. Too much floral/landscape description for my taste, but otherwise I really liked it.


16 books, 27 days.

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Good to know. I am enjoying it but I feel like my brain is too tired, so I have flipped to fluffier romance instead.


There is also the abc challenge where you can do it by author name or book title and the harder letters can be from any word in the title.. Q X etc. I might actually start on that one, and see where i get. The pop sugar one doesn’t seem as broad as it has been in previous years, but that could be because I haven’t had the brain space to sit down with the list.

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  • 2 weeks later...

A book by or about a woman in STEM - Fighting for Space by Amy Shira Teitel


This was a really well-written and interesting account of two female pilots who were trying to get women into the space program. They both led very interesting lives, though the only thing that tainted it was the knowledge that neither of them succeeded in getting into space.


I originally had Laura Elvery's Ordinary Matter against this prompt, but I'm going to change that to the anthology prompt.


A book with only text on the cover, no images or graphics - How to talk about climate change in a way that makes a difference by Rebecca Huntley.


This was less of a how-to book than the title promised, but it was interesting. It takes you through the various emotions stirred up by climate change and how to harness them to get people to take action on climate change. It also talks about why people don't take action.


14 books, 18 days.

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A book with a pun in the title - The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett


This is a pun on The Fifth Element. It's a Discworld book featuring my favourite group of characters, the City Watch. It was very much a comfort read and just what I needed after the poo pile that has been 2020. if I could fill the rest of the prompts with Discworld books I would, but it's not looking promising.


13 books in 11 days.

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I’ve finished, finally. Ended up going with a short story collection as my anthology choice. Possibly not a ‘true’ anthology, but close enough.


It was The Deepwater Bride & Other Stories, by Tamsyn Muir. It was really great, which I knew it would be.

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Well done, [mention]sunsaboveitreya[/mention]! Just squeaking in for the year, though I presume you’ve read a lot of books that didn’t count towards the challenge.

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[mention]Lunagirl[/mention] yep, I hit a total of 114 (incl the popsugar 50) last night. Might get another book in before the year ends, depends if I procrastinate too long or not.

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Oh, what a cool idea. Although after reading through this thread I am wondering what anthology and STEM mean.


I am usually a massive reader. I typically average one or more books a week, but this year I've probably read less than 10 books for the year, 6 of those have been in the last month. I picked up a new Janet Evanovich last week which Im excited to read and was gifted somw new Disney novels where there is a twist to the original story which look interesting.


Im not great at reading books that I havent picked, but might be fun to try next year.


I can cover off a few of the above.


A book with a map - James Rollins Last Odyssey


A book by or about a journalist - Silver by Chris Hammer


A book with 20 in the title - 20th something by James Patterson


A book by an author with more than 20 books - Conspiracy of Bones by Kathy Reichs


A book with more than 20 in the series - Fortune and Glory by Janet Evanovich

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[mention]Vitsyra[/mention], an anthology is a collection of short stories or poems. STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths.


I've done the challenge the past two years and I've really enjoyed it. Generally at the start of the year you can just read whatever and find a prompt to fit it. It's as you work through the prompts that you need to start specifically looking for books that fit, but they're still ultimately books that you pick. I've found some books that I would never have otherwise read and really enjoyed them. The only issue is if you get towards the end of the year and haven't finished, and have books that you want to read but they don't fit into a prompt.


We've started a thread for the 2021 challenge, so you should join us over there and start planning.


I'm still plugging away at this year's. Just finished The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, which fits into 'A book set in a country beginning with C' prompt. (Set in a fantasy country called Chalk).


12 books, 8 days.

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A book by a trans author - The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar


A book set across two timelines: an American-born girl whose family just moved back to Syria in 2011, and a mapmaker’s apprentice 1000 years ago. Very moving, beautifully written book. Being trans didn’t feature as a plot point, though both girls disguise themselves as boys at some point for safety.


11 books, 3 days.

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Read a banned book - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath


Is it wrong to say I liked this book? I did, though I wouldn’t say I enjoyed it. Definitely worth reading though.


10 books, 2.5 days

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A book with an upside-down image on the cover - This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone


I have remaining:

A book about a book club

A book with a made-up language

A Western

A book you meant to read in 2019

A book with 20 in the title

A book set in the 1920s

A book set in Japan

A book that has a book on the cover

A medical thriller


I definitely need to pick short books!

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