Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
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2016 challenge checklist
I just saw this new list on Popsugar and came here to see what the comments are! I'm kind of disappointed that it's only 41 books for next year (and I'll say right now that I hate some of the categories, like "political memoir" and "satirical" - I'm going to have to creatively interpret those!). But on the other hand, I was so excited by this year's challenge that I had already started creating my own challenge list! So 41 frees up a lot of room for me to fill my own made up categories.





LOL! So true!

Here you go! 10 Satirical Novels That Could Teach You to Survive the Future:
or
The Top 10 Political Memoirs Nobody Remembers Anymore:
Kirsten: Thank you! I've since discovered that Vonnegut is "satirical" - I'm sure I can find one of his books that I haven't read yet, so I'm good with "satirical" now. But that HuffPo article about Political Memoirs just reinforces my general belief that I'm not going to waste my time reading one. My best chance is either to decide a Supreme Court Justice counts as "political," or to read something by Jimmy Carter.
And yes, ALWAYS knock out the hard categories first!!
And yes, ALWAYS knock out the hard categories first!!



Personally, I think you could make a case for a book like "I am Malala" in the political memoir category.

Personally, I think you could make a case for a book like "I am Malala" in the political memoir cat..."
YES! "I Am Malala" should definitely count.
I'm actually excited it's shorter this year. I've read 40 books, but 8 didn't count for the challenge.

Generally I think that this list makes more sense than the 2015's one.
I'm not very excited with some of the categories too. Like a book with a blue cover (what is the point?) or a book wrote by a celebrity, and the self-improvement one - probably there is no way I would read something to fulfil this one.
I like the "blue cover" category! It's specific, yet broad, and suddenly I'm seeing blue books everywhere!! Three of the books on my nightstand have blue covers and I'd never really noticed ( tho the one I'm reading now can't count for 2016 ). A big part of the fun for me is figuring out what fulfills the category, like a scavenger hunt. And "celebrity" is a reasonably broad category - there is a celebrity for everyone...


Some of the categories, on the surface, aren't very appealing to me either. I have done some digging though and have come across some unexpected options!
For example, there are a lot of celebrity books - Kardashians, Paris Hilton, etc - none of which I would read. But there are some books that actually look good. Take a look at this list:
I was planning to read Jewel's memoir Never Broken: Songs Are Only Half the Story, but I may switch it out for Shop Girl by Steve Martin.
Self-improvement, for me, immediately brings to mind "self-help" books which I am not a big fan of. But consider ways you would like to improve yourself. Is there a particular subject you wish you knew more about? A period in history? A particular person? A means of life? Find a book covering that topic. I am planning to read The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun, but an easy substitution for me would be a book about a particular historical event (I just finished reading Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania which was great. Expanding your knowledge is a great means of self-improvement :)
Good luck finding books, but don't be afraid to color outside the lines a little!
Ditto on the self improvement - I was giving that one the hairy eyeball until I read Sara's comment!! Now I'm inspired - maybe I need to learn more about science to improve myself! maybe I need to read a book about mindfulness, or the challenges of raising daughters, or learn about earthworms, or read essays on gardening .... Thank you, Sara!!

I had to look up satirical and from a goodreads list, it has two books I own. Choke by Chuck Palahniuk and Soulless by Gail Carriger.
For Self-Improvement I got Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Cain, The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy: A Handbook for Girl Geeks by Sam Maggs, and The Girl's Guide: Getting the hang of your whole complicated, unpredictable, impossibly amazing life by Melissa Kirsch.
I know I'm not going to read a political memoir and a book from Oprah's Book Club. Those are not the type of books I read.

Luckily, Oprah went through a "I'm avoiding author controversies by recommending only Classics" phase, there are maybe a dozen classics on the list, so I'm going to read maybe The Good Earth for that category.


Don't give that idiot any money. The fuss was he purported it to be a memoir and he made the whole thing up. The thing so soured Oprah (well that and Jonathan "Diva" Franzen) that she stopped the book club for a while.


I plan ahead of time, but then move and replace as needed.

Sam Maggs' Fangirl's Guide for self-improvement is a great idea, was worried about that catergory!



So I'm in for all. Will keep a watch on the board for when the threads are ready and how too's.


If you like Jane Austen, it's old enough. Or the Bronte sisters.
Wendy asked "I decided to choose my first book by random. Org and got a book at least 100 years older than me which would be a book set around 1881 or earlier, i'm a bit stuck. Has anyone any suggestions?"
I'm about 15 years older than you and this is what I've got for ideas: Ivanhoe, Count of Monte Cristo, North and South (Gaskell), Madame Bovary, The Woman in White (Collins). You could also look at Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontes, or George Elliot
here's a wiki page with some other ideas:
I'm about 15 years older than you and this is what I've got for ideas: Ivanhoe, Count of Monte Cristo, North and South (Gaskell), Madame Bovary, The Woman in White (Collins). You could also look at Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, the Brontes, or George Elliot
here's a wiki page with some other ideas:

Jules Verne would work too. Small and fun books,

..."
Thanks so much! I'm going to save these lists to check out later when I need them.

I'm planning on using the 2016 challenge to clean up my backlist.

Sara wrote: "Glad I could help :)"
Ashly wrote: "This will be my first time doing PopSugar Reading Challenge. For this challenge I'm going to write down the categories and put them in a TBR Jar. Some books on my TBR Shelf will also count for some..."
There are some great classic titles on Oprah's list. "love in the Time of Cholera", Great Expectations, "The Road", etc.

Their are absolutely free and available here:

I picked out almost all mine as well :)

Feel free to use it if you'd like, or delete the comment if it's in the wrong spot. :)

jessa -- how do you put spreadsheets up on google docs? I have a giant spreadsheet too - I'd be happy to put a blank one w/ categories online for anyone who might want to look at it, but I don't know how.

Is your spreadsheet on Google? .
I made mine within google's spreadsheet application and then once it's finished( or rather any time you want to share it really) there's the option to share under "file" or under your account info in the upper right corner. And it can be shared for specific people, or anyone with a link, or with anyone publicly.
Did any of that make sense?
I usually end up making any spreadsheets I need through Google because I can always export them to Microsoft when j need too. Otherwise, I always have a copy that I can get on my phone, laptop, and tablet if I need it. I have never tried to go the other way, from Microsoft to google's app.
I didn't even know Google had a spreadsheet function! No, mine is an Excel spreadsheet on my home computer (it's an old version of Excel, 97). I'll look into this - accessing it on my phone or tablet would be awesome, too.
Books mentioned in this topic
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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1. A book based on a fairy tale
2. A National Book Award winner
3. A YA bestseller
4. A book you haven't read since high school
5. A book set in your home state
6. A book translated to English
7. A romance set in the future
8. A book set in Europe
9. A book under 150 pages
10. A New York Times bestseller
11. A book that's becoming a movie this year
12. A book recommended by someone you just met
13. A self-improvement book
14. A book you can finish in a day
15. A book written by a celebrity
16. A political memoir
17. A book at least 100 years older than you
18. A book that's more than 600 pages
19. A book from Oprah's Book Club
20. A science-fiction novel
21. A book recommended by a family member
22. A graphic novel
23. A book that is published in 2016
24. A book with a protagonist who has your occupation
25. A book that takes place during Summer
26. A book and its prequel
27. A murder mystery
28. A book written by a comedian
29. A dystopian novel
30. A book with a blue cover
31. A book of poetry
32. The first book you see in a bookstore
33. A classic from the 20th century
34. A book from the library
35. An autobiography
36. A book about a road trip
37. A book about a culture you're unfamiliar with
38. A satirical book
39. A book that takes place on an island
40. A book that's guaranteed to bring you joy