2018 PopSugar Reading Challenge – COMPLETED!
     An updated version and final version of the books I read for this challenge.

1. A book made into a movie you’ve already seen – The Devil Wears Prada
2. True Crime – Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery
3. The next book in a series you started – Endless Knight
4. A book involving a heist – Heist Society
5. Nordic noir – The Snowman
6. A novel based on a real person – Kaiulani: The People’s Princess
7. A book set in a country that fascinates you – Irish Fairy and Folk Tales
8. A book with a time of day in the title – Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day
9. A book about a villain or antihero – Snow, Glass, Apples
10. A book about death or grief – Vanishing Girls
11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym – Flowers in the Attic
12. A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist – If I Was Your Girl
13. A book that is also a stage play or musical – Dear Evan Hansen
14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you – Let’s Talk About Love
15. A book about feminism – We Should All Be Feminists
16. A book about mental health – Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift – Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood (Persepolis #1-2)
18. A book by two authors – The Nixie’s Song
19. A book about or involving a sport – Of Fire and Stars
20. A book by a local author – The Search for WondLa
21. A book with your favorite color in the title – The Last Little Blue Envelope
22. A book with alliteration in the title – Black and Blue
23. A book about time travel – Outlander
24. A book with a weather element in the title – The Lightning Thief
25. A book set at sea – The Woman in Cabin 10
26. A book with an animal in the title – The Bird and the Blade
27. A book set on a different planet – A Wrinkle in Time
28. A book with song lyrics in the title – Carry On
29. A book about or set on Halloween – Something Wicked This Way Comes
30. A book with characters who are twins – The Poisonwood Bible
31. A book mentioned in another book – The Language of Thorns
32. A book from a celebrity book club – Hunger Makes Me a Modern Girl
33. A childhood classic you’ve never read – Winnie-the-Pooh
34. A book that’s published in 2018 – Batman: Nightwalker
35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner – Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between
36. A book set in the decade you were born – The Carnival at Bray
37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to – Kill You Twice
38. A book with an ugly cover – Hidden Meanings
39. A book that involves a bookstore or library – The Invisible Library
40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges (I turned this prompt into 3)

2018 Popsugar Advanced Reading Challenge

1. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school – The Scarecrow
2. A cyberpunk book – Ready Player One
3. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place – The Hazel Wood
4. A book tied to your ancestry – Across a Hundred Mountains
5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title – Tangerine
6. An allegory – The Phantom Tollbooth
7. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you – Marked
8. A micro history – The Ghost Map
9. A book about a problem facing society today – The Hate U Give
10. A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge – The Book Thief

*As a personal rule to this challenge, I didn’t re-read any books. I also did not use one book for more than one prompt.

I had so much fun doing this challenge, I can’t wait to start on next years challenge. I’ve already started planning the books!

31. A book mentioned in another book – The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo

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Finished 11/25/18

This was not the book I had originally planned for this prompt but after reading the Six of Crows duology, starting the Grisha Trilogy, and pre-ordering King of Scars (which all take place in the same world) I got hyped and bought the hardcover of this book. It’s so pretty and I started reading right away. The stories collected in this book are talked about in the Crooked Kingdom so I used it to check off this prompt. Easy peasy! This ended up being my last prompt for the challenge.

Now for the book, I really liked it. There’s six fairy tales, some retellings of classics but with a Grisha twist to them. The artwork is beautiful and adds to the whole experience while reading this book. I definitely recommend this to fans of the Grishaverse.

A3. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public space – The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

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Finished 10/30/18

This ended up being one of the hardest prompts to fulfill. I couldn’t see any of the titles of books that were being read and I’m a very quiet person. I can’t just talk to someone out of nowhere, it makes me uncomfortable. I finally just went with a book that I saw someone pick up at the bookstore and that ended up being Raven Black. I also saw two other books that interested me but they weren’t readily available at my library. Unfortunately something happened with the hold I put on the book and it was checked out again and I just didn’t want to wait 21days for it to be available. I’m still planning on reading Raven Black but not for this prompt.

Now finally finally I was able to actually find a book being read out in the wild! I was so excited because 1. I actually found someone myself and 2. It’s a book that I’ve been wanting to read. The Hazel Wood. I was lined up for the Disney Designer Collection exclusive Princess Jazmine barbie (I wasn’t called in the raffle sad) but in line I saw someone sitting down reading this book.

Okay okay enough with my unnecessary explanation in picking the book. Though to be fair this feels more like a diary that I’m keeping for myself. I doubt anyone will see this or even read it. Anywayyyy hahaha on to the book review.

The actual book review: I really enjoyed the story. It definitely is a typical fairy tale, it was all the ingredients for one. There’s also a lot of mystery and answers to questions that are not straightforward. If that’s not your thing avoid! But I don’t mind cliches and tropes and I really ended up caring for the characters and the story.

13. A book that is also a stage play or musical – Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

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Finished 10/25/18

I was going to originally read Wicked for this but I just wasn’t feeling it. I will read it eventually but as I was looking for alternatives I found that there was a novelization of Dear Evan Hansen coming out in October. Well I immediately pre-ordered the hardcover.

Eeeeeee!! I absolutely loved the cover! And the message from the authors in the beginning was great! Anyway I’ve never seen this musical but my sister has (she LOVES musicals and always watches them) I love them too but not as much as she does. She told me I had to watch this musical back when she first saw it and I had plans to do so but still haven’t. But I know what she likes and she knows what I like so recommendations to each other are always amazing. I loved this book. Seriously. It was amazing and heartbreaking and what a depiction of life right? I fucking sobbed! I 10000% recommend. Now I’m off to go find the musical xD

A8. A microhistory – The Ghost Map by Steven Johnson

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Finished 10/18/18

I had to look this up, I didn’t know what books counted as micro histories. Oh boy did I find options. There were many books that interested me, I’m someone that would totally read a book all about the history of just salt! Yes the condiment. Anyway I chose this one in particular because of the ease of obtaining it. I really enjoyed it, the science in the book was a tad hard for me but I’ve never been amazing at science. I was able to at least follow along and it was interesting to read the history of it all, how one person was able to trace the outbreak of cholera back to the source just by personal investigation. There was a lot of repetition which is why this ended up being a 3 for me. After reading this book I’m excited to explore more micro-history books.

A5. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title – Tangerine by Christine Mangan

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Finished 09/28/18

I was immediately sucked into this story and it was a very quick read. The ending did leave me wanting. I wanted something more final but I guess that’s life and this story was true to that. This is the author’s first novel and I hope she has plans for more books in the future because I enjoyed her writing.

A1. A bestseller from the year you graduated high school – The Scarecrow by Michael Connelly

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Finished 09/21/18

I read The Poet by Michael Connelly back when I was in high school and I didn’t know there was a second Jack McEvoy book until I went searching for a book to fit this prompt. It was fun to read about McEvoy and Walling once again. I like their dynamic and how realistic Connelly portrays these characters. They’re human and humans are not perfect and that was one of my favorite things about The Poet. I’m glad I came across this book and that I was able to read it. I plan to check out more of Connelly’s books.

20. A book by a local author – The Search for WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi

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Finished 09/18/18

I had a hard time with this prompt so I expanded my area to the state in general. According to his bio, Tony DiTerlizzi resides in LA. I figured eh same state at least sounds good. Also I’m a big fan of The Spiderwick Chronicles. The illustrations are wonderful and enhanced the story. It helped paint the world DiTerlizzi created. The story itself dragged or felt stagnant in some places. I’m interested to find out what happened to the earth in the rest of this trilogy.

A9. A book about a problem facing society today – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

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Finished 09/07/18

When I saw this prompt I thought oh boy this is going to be a heavy one no matter what the subject. I had three books in mind for this prompt, The Hate U Give, Dear Martin and Still Alice. At first I had decided on Dear Martin because my sister owns the book and I was planning on borrowing hers. Then I decided to do another reading challenge alongside the PopSugar one and The Hate U Give could easily fit this prompts in both of my reading challenges. I still plan to read the other two but for the challenge I went with this one.

This is a very intense read, I definitely cried. I don’t even know how to review it because I’m not an expert on the subject matter nor have I experienced it. I will say that it was informative and eye opening and I recommend this book. I think Angie Thomas did a great job at painting a picture to show a glimpse into these characters lives that very much portrays what is going on in society today.

A7. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you – Marked by P.C. Cast and Kristin Cast

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Finished 09/05/18

First, this prompt was not my friend. I had a difficult time and sort of bent the prompt so I could actually complete it. This book was published in 2007 and it needs to stay there. Quite a few of my fellow book lovers on goodreads marked this with 4 stars & up so I gave it a chance. It was also the only book with an authors name that was even remotely close to mine and I had to force myself to push through. I really tried to give it a chance but it was terrible. I was a sophomore in high school when this was published and my fellow teens were not this terrible. I’m not saying they don’t exist but it was so hard to relate or give a shit about these characters, they were that terrible. TBH the behavior of these characters reminded me more of when I was in middle school than high school. It was like all the cliche teen shit from mean girls x10 with vampires. Actually now that I think about it, it was fucking mean girls! The new girl going under cover with the popular mean girls clique, liking the main queen b’s ex-BF. There was even the gay best friend whose name was also Damien. No thanks, I won’t be continuing with this series.