Tuesday, January 1, 2019

POPSUGAR 2019 Reading Challenge

Thanks to a few quick-to-read children's books and a graphic novel, I managed to finish the 2018 challenge just in time. And now I've barely caught my breath and it's time to dive into 2019. Get all the details and a printable list of the prompts here. Well? Happy reading!

1. A book becoming a movie in 2019
2. A book that makes you nostalgic
3. A book written by a musician
4. A book you think should be turned into a movie
5. A book with at least a million ratings on Goodreads
6. A book with a plant in the title or on the cover
7. A reread of a favorite book
8. A book about a hobby
9. A book you meant to read in 2018
10. A book with "pop," "sugar," or "challenge" in the title
11. A book with an item of clothing or accessory on the cover
12. A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore
13. A book published posthumously
14. A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie
15. A retelling of a classic
16. A book with a question in the title
17. A book set on a college or university campus
18. A book about someone with a superpower
19. A book told from multiple character POVs
20. A book set in space
21. A book by two female authors
22. A book with a title that contains "salty," "sweet," "bitter," or "spicy"
23. A book set in Scandinavia
24. A book that takes place in a single day
25. A debut novel
26. A book that's published in 2019
27. A book featuring an extinct or imaginary creature
28. A book recommended by a celebrity you admire
29. A book with "love" in the title
30. A book featuring an amateur detective
31. A book about a family
32. A book written by an author from Asia, Africa, or South America
33. A book with a zodiac sign or astrology term in the title
34. A book that includes a wedding
35. A book by an author whose first an last names start with the same letter
36. A ghost story
37. A book with a two-word title
38. A novel based on a true story
39. A book revolving around a puzzle or game
40. Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

ADVANCED

41. A "cli-fi" (climate fiction) book
42. A "choose-our-own-adventure" book
43. An "own voices" book
44. Read a book during the season it is set in
45. A LitRPG book
46. A book with no chapters, unusual chapter headings, or unconventionally numbered chapters
47. Two books that share the same title (1)
48. Two books that share the same title (2)
49. A book that inspired a common phrase or idiom (e.g., Big Brother from 1984)
50. A book set in an abbey, cloister, monastery, vicarage, or convent



Read Harder 2019 Challenge


I finished the 2018 Read Harder Challenge and am on board for another year of exploring outside my comfort zone. As I'm also doing the Reading Women Challenge, I'll focus on women writers (with the exception of books I already own). I'm playing around with the idea of completing the prompts in numerical reader, but library availability may throw a monkey wrench in that plan. We shall see, I suppose.


1. An epistolary novel or collection of letters
2. An alternate history novel
3. A book by a woman and/or AOC that won a literary award in 2018
4. A humor book
5. A book by a journalist or about journalism
6. A book by an AOC set in or about space
7. An #ownvoices book set in Mexico or Central America
8. An #ownvoices book set in Oceania
9. A book published prior to Jan. 1, 2019 with fewer than 100 reviews on Goodreads
10. A translated book written by and/or translated by a woman
11. A book of manga
12. A book in which an animal or inanimate object is a point-of-view character
13. A book by or about someone who identifies as neurodiverse
14. A cozy mystery 
15. A book of mythology or folklore
16. A historical romance by an AOC
17. A business book
18. A novel by a trans or nonbinary author
19. A book of nonviolent true crime
20. A book written in prison
21. A comic by an LGBTQIA creator
22. A children's or middle grade book (not YA) that has won a diversity award since 2009
23. A self-published book
24. A collection of poetry published since 2014

Reading Women 2019 Challenge

I absolutely loved the 2018 challenge and it inspired me to spend the majority of my reading hours and dollars on women writers, especially women of color. 2018 was a phenomenal year of reading (if for little else) and I know I'll need plenty of women's voices to get me through this year as well. Looking forward to discovering more incredible writers!


1. A mystery or thriller written by a woman of color
2. A book about a woman with mental illness
3. A book by an author from Nigeria or New Zealand
4. A book about or set in Appalachia
5. A children's book
6. A multigenerational family saga
7. A book featuring a woman in science
8. A play
9. A novella
10. A book about a woman athlete
11. A book featuring a religion other than your own
12. A Lambda Literary Award winner
13. A myth retelling
14. A translated book published before 1945
15. A book written by a South Asian author
16. A book by an Indigenous woman
17. A book from the 2018 Reading Women Award shortlist 
18. A romance or love story
19. A book about nature
20. A historical fiction book
21. A book you bought or borrowed in 2019
22. A book you picked up because of the cover
23. Any book from a series
24. A young adult book by a woman of color

BONUS

25. A book by Jesmyn Ward
26. A book by Jhumpa Lahiri