CANNOT WAIT UNTIL TOMORROW!

The 2022 PopSugar Reading Challenge will be posted tomorrow, December 1st.  I am so excited and I can’t wait! PopSugar posted a teaser on its IG account that one prompt will be a book written by a Latinx author.  

I don’t have a particular method to working my way through the prompts.  I try to get through what I think will be the tougher prompts early in the year so I don’t get discouraged and quit - which happened in 2020 and almost happened this year, but I persevered.

A lot of the books I read are recommended through a discussion group on GoodReads, another FB page, and of course, friends.  Of course, I’m always happier when I can use books written by my favorite authors, but that does not always easily happen. 

Right now I am trying to patiently wait for next year’s prompts by reading my way through Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series.  

2021 PopSugar Reading Challenge

The PopSugar Reading Challenge is a reading challenge I have been participating in for about 5 years. PopSugar is a lifestyle site on social media. but I only tap into it for the annual reading challenge which is designed to be a fun way to expand one's reading genre comfort level.

It starts with a list of 40 basic prompts, and if you wish to challenge yourself further, there are an additional ten prompts, usually around a theme.  This year was the To Be Read (aka TBR) pile.  I struggled with this one because I really don't have a list of books I want to read - either I read them or move on.  I ultimately decided ALL books I had not read were TBR.  I also considered any books I had on hold at the library were TBR.  In addition, I also get a free e-book (or two) from Amazon Prime and an audio book from Audible, so those also go on the TBR pile.

Having said that, I don't know how The Priory of the Orange Tree ended up on my TBR pile.  I don't enjoy fantasy, and as the longest book in my TBR pile, it took forever to read.  But it was the final book to complete the challenge, and now I am done.  My summary of the book is feminist fantasy novel based on the story of St. George and the dragon.  

So it's back to Amish romance novels (look for a future blog post for an explanation and understanding of my love for the Amish romance novel) until the new year when the 2022 challenge starts.  

Standard List

✔ 1. A book that's published in 2021 - The Wedding Game by Meghan Quinn 

✔ 2. An Afrofuturist book - Kindred by Octavia Butler

✔ 3. A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover - Things We Know By Heart by Jessi Kirby 

✔ 4. A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign - Still Life by Louise Penny 

✔ 5. A dark academia book - Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas 

✔ 6. A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title - A Virtuous Ruby by Piper G. Huguley 

✔ 7. A book where the main character works at your current or dream job - Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn 

✔ 8. A book that has won the Women's Prize For Fiction - An American Marriage by Tayari Jones 

✔ 9. A book with a family tree - The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman 

✔ 10. A bestseller from the 1990s - Hornet’s Nest by Patricia Cornwell 

✔ 11. A book about forgetting - The Secret History of Us by Jessi Kirby 

✔ 12. A book you have seen on someone's bookshelf (in real life, on a Zoom call, in a TV show, etc.) - The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams  

✔ 13. A locked-room mystery - One of Us is Lying by Karen M. McManus 

✔ 14. A book set in a restaurant - Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler 

✔ 15. A book with a black-and-white cover - Balls: It Takes Some to Get Some by Chris Edwards 

✔ 16. A book by an Indigenous author - Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden 

✔ 17. A book that has the same title as a song - Someone Like You by Susan Mallery 

✔ 18. A book about a subject you are passionate about - Sourdough by Robin Sloan 

✔ 19. A book that discusses body positivity - One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London 

✔ 20. A book found on a Black Lives Matter reading list - Dear Martin by Nic Stone 

✔ 21. A genre hybrid - Verity by Colleen Hoover 

✔ 22. A book set mostly or entirely outdoors - The Last One by Alexandra Oliva 

 ✔ 23. A book with something broken on the cover - The Betrayal by Terry Lynn Thomas 

✔ 24. A book by a Muslim American author - Accidentally Engaged by Faith Heron 

✔ 25. A book that was published anonymously - Becoming Duchess Goldblatt 

✔ 26. A book with an oxymoron in the title - Sweet Sorrow by David Nicholls 

✔ 27. A book about do-overs or fresh starts - Anxious People by Fredrik Backman 

✔ 28. A magical realism book - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 

✔ 29. A book set in multiple countries - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab 

✔ 30. A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021 - An Unexpected Amish Romance by Patricia Davis 

 ✔ 31. A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality - I’d Rather Be Reading by Anne Bogel 

✔ 32. A book whose title starts with "Q," "X," or "Z" - Queenie Malone’s Paradise Hotel by Ruth Hogan 

✔ 33. A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child) - Sea of Memories by Fiona Valpy 

✔ 34. A book about a social justice issue - Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid 

✔ 35. A book in a different format than what you normally read (audiobooks, ebooks, graphic novels) - Jo by Kathleen Gros (graphic novel) 

✔ 36. A book that has fewer than 1,000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads - Hadley & Grace by Suzanne Redfearn 

✔ 37. A book you think your best friend would like - A Minute to Midnight by David Baldacci 

✔ 38. A book about art or an artist - Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 

✔ 39. A book everyone seems to have read but you - Becoming by Michelle Obama 

✔ 40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge - How The Light Gets In by Louise Penny (2018 - next book in a series) 

ADVANCED LIST

 ✔41. The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list - The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 

✔ 42. The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Amish Truth Be Told by Rachel Stoltzfus 

✔ 43. The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover - The Light Through the Leaves by Glendy Vance 

✔ 44. The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover - Too Much and Never Enough by Mary L. Trump 

45. The book that's been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time - Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson 

✔ 46. A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn't - The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop: A Novel by Fannie Flagg 

✔ 47. A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing - The Wilder Life by Wendy McClure 

✔ 48. A book from your TBR list chosen at random - Legacy of Lies: A Legal Thriller by Robert Bailey 

 ✔ 49. A DNF book from your TBR list - Hour Game by David Balducci 

✔ 50. A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, library) - The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia

Taylor Jenkins Reid

 As some of you may know, for the past several years I have participated in the PopSugar Reading Challenge.  I enjoy the challenge because it introduces me to new authors and new genres I might not otherwise find.  Taylor Jenkins Reid is one of those authors.  I originally bumped into her a couple of years ago when I read The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.  The title character is loosely based on Elizabeth Taylor, and for someone who grew up reading her great-aunt’s trashy celebrity magazines, I had to check it out for myself.  Read it - she captures that Golden Age of Movie Stars as royalty so well.

Ms. Reid does a fantastic job with characters and writing in the memoir style. She absolutely catches that casual style of speaking and writing in a conversational manner so it’s very easy to fall into reading.  From  Evelyn Hugo, I found my way to Daisy Jones and the Six, which has become one of my favorite audio books.

Daisy Jones and the Six is the story, told interview style, of the rise and fall of a rock and roll band, loosely based on Fleetwood Mac (you can guess who inspired the character of Daisy Jones).   I love the audio version, and highly recommend it over the written book (but that’s good, too).  It’s very easy to listen to, and each of the readers brings his or her own style to the characters, for a very realistic feel.  And it’s just a great story.  Highly recommend - two thumbs up.

After these two great successes, I went on a binge of her other books:  After I Do, One True Loves, Forever, Interrupted, and Maybe In Another Life.  I enjoyed all of them in that rainy Saturday, crack open a book, and lose yourself in it way.  Great characters I liked, not very complicated storylines, and generally happy endings.

But why oh why did I decide to read Maybe In Another Life over Halloween weekend?  It goes down the path of “what ifs”, and showing what happens if you chose to zag as well as the path when you decided to zig.  The veil between the here and now and what’s coming next is so thin already, and here I am, poking holes in it by checking out the multiverse.  There is nothing about my life I truly regret (except a very bad habit of procrastination and we are not going down that rabbit hole), and I dearly love my children, sons in law, and grandchildren, as well as my significant ex, Larry.  However, I did have a couple of bad nights as my psyche worked itself out in some lucid dreaming.  Which is not to say, that I am not recommending this book.  If you’re a fan of Taylor Jenkins Reid,  you’ll want to read it.

If you want to know more about Taylor Jenkins Reid and her writing style, here’s an article from the New York Times:  https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/12/books/taylor-jenkins-reid-malibu-rising.html

And yes, Malibu Rising is on my To-Be-Read (TBR) list.  🙂

 

The President's Daughter by James Patterson and Bill Clinton

 So I just finished this book. Admittedly, I had not picked up Patterson in years - since I got halfway through the Alex Cross series, and had to abandon it because I realized at some point, I was going to have to face the inevitable end (in whatever form it manifested), and I was too invested to get through that emotional trauma.  I am terrible at endings and goodbyes.

However, the idea that Patterson had teamed up with a former President to write a thriller action novel was too good to pass up - especially when it came highly recommended.   Per usual, I got easily and quickly caught up in the characters and plot.

Highly recommend this book this book if you like plots with twists and turns, and great character development.  

Why This? Why Now?

 I mentioned to a friend that I read over 100 books a year, and he asked why I wasn't blogging about it.  The public reason is that I think I'm too busy, but really I'm just afraid that if I blog about reading, it will become more work than fun, and I read for pleasure, but here we go anyway.....