Updated . . . Once again, for the third year in a row, I’m participating in the PopSugar Reading Challenge.

This page is a living document to guide my reading in 2018. I will be adding to it, perhaps changing out a few titles, and crossing off items throughout the year as I read, each month. This is my third year with this challenge, and I’ve never managed to read all the books on the list. If I can get to 2/3 of them, I’ll think that’s wonderful. It is exciting to look for books that fit the various requirements of the reading challenge. I’ve found books and authors that I’ve never heard of before, that I’m really looking forward to reading.

12/14/17 – I’ve chosen 40 books, and skipped 10 selections. Two of them I will probably never use: Halloween and cyberpunk, whatever that is! [Hmm – it is defined as fiction in which society is controlled by computers to the detriment of people. A sub-genre of sci-fi.]

✓ 1. A book made into a movie you’ve already seen

I have never read Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, and I believe that time has come. I have seen the movie, but it was so long ago I believe it will not ruin my read.

Update: I finished reading this book in October 2018, and it was AWESOME.

2. True crime

I was going to read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil – but I found out there is a lot of profanity in the book – something I can live better without… so I switched to Caveat Emptor. It is a memoir of an art forger.

3. The next book in a series you started

Next in the series of Gilead… I really want to read both Home… and Lila….

4. A book involving a heist

I don’t own this book yet, but I’d really like to read The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World’s Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser, because I really love one of the paintings that were taken in the heist.

5. Nordic noir

Depends on results of a poll: PopSugar Reading Challenge group at Goodreads

Hmm… they chose The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo… and I’ve already read that series. So I’ll go with the second book on the poll list, The Snowman. I hope I don’t regret this. I’m not sure what I’m getting into.

Seriously? The NY Times bestselling author of Cockroaches? If I were responsible for creating cockroaches, I would never admit it in public or announce it on the cover of my novel… like seriously, what am I getting into? I will have to read it to find out.

✓ 6. A novel based on a real person

Maybe this one. A young woman is accused of a terrible crime in Iceland, and is sentenced to die.

Update: I read this in June, 2018. Great book!

7. A book set in a country that fascinates you

I’d like to read this novel:

8. A book with a time of day in the title

Maybe: She Read to Us in The Late Afternoons: A Life in Novels

Or this reprinted 1970 novel, set in Italy:

✓ 9. A book about a villain or antihero

I read The Bedlam Stacks … one of the antiheroes was a statue. Strange story!

✓ 10. A book about death or grief

This has been on my radar for a while, about a dying Vietnam War veteran. I like the cover. Snow, trees, and an unpainted wood shack? Reminds me of home, the Klamath River Valley… and the cabin I lived in there.

Update: I read this in September, 2018.

11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym

Possibly something by George Eliot – Middlemarch or Mill on the Floss?

Really, I should read this one since it was on my list last year and I didn’t get to it.

12. A book with LGBTQ+ protagonist

Considering this, though it seems Lani Garver is more of a question mark than an exclamation point. A book reviewer recommended this for “open minded Christians” . . . well, could that be me? I’ll let you know.

13. A book that is also a stage play or musical

✓ 14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you

Recommended by a friend on BookTube: So Far From the Bamboo Grove

Update: July 29, 2018 … I loved this short memoir… read it in only three days. I’m a slow reader so that’s pretty good for me. Others with better reading speed could read this in a few hours.

✓ 15. A book about feminism

Maybe: The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

I’m choosing a classic from 1937.

UPDATE: I read Their Eyes Were Watching God in February and March 2018.

✓ 16. A book about mental health

Maybe: Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.

But first I’d like to read this epistolary novel about an elderly Irish mental patient.

Update: Finished reading this in May. AWESOME book!

✓ 17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift

A gift from my friend, Judy…

Update! Finished reading January 30, 2018 . . . fun book – cartoons about fire lookouts! Plus a lot of historical information about fire lookouts, especially from the 1960’s when the author/cartoonist was a fire lookout in Washington state.

18. A book by two authors

This looks good.

✓ 19. A book about or involving a sport

Mmmm… bicycle touring!!!

Update: I finished this on May 13, 2019.

Update: September 3, 2018 – I’m still wanting to read the book above… but I have a copy of the book below so I’m more likely to read it. It was recommended by a friend. The book, Grandma Gatewood’s Walk, is about a woman who walked on and “saved” the Appalachian Trail. Non-fiction!

✓ 20. A book by a local author

The author lives here in Idaho…

Update: Finished reading this on July 22, 2018. Great book – a WWII war story about two young people – one German, and one French.

Also, maybe: Small Town Ho: The Hilarious Story of Moving from the Big City to North Idaho by Duke Diercks.

21. A book with your favorite color in the title

I’ve already read The Green Mile and Anne of Green Gables, so maybe, The Green Ember by S.D. Smith.

22. A book with alliteration in the title

Another book set in Ireland. Maybe I’ll like it.

23. A book about time travel

Maybe: Timeline by Michael Crichton…

Or this:

24. A book with a weather element in the title

I just picked this one up at the local thrift store… it takes place in San Francisco, the city I lived in when young. I’m looking forward to reading it.

25. A book set at sea

✓ 26. A book with an animal in the title

After some indecisiveness, considering Beartown, I chose The Nightingale, by Kristen Hannah.

Update: I finished reading this on December 15. Excellent novel!

✓ 27. A book set on a different planet

Maybe this one. I hear it is good.

Update: Finished this on August 28. It was good! But… technical. Sci-fi – go figure.

28. A book with song lyrics in the title

Song lyric title cannot be resisted.

29. A book about or set on Halloween.

I’ll probably skip this one.

30. A book with characters who are twins

I’ve always thought this cover is awesome – and there are twins!

31. A book mentioned in another book

Mentioned in One Day, chapter one.

32. A book from a celebrity book club

Maybe: South and West: From a Notebook by Joan Didion.

However I just found this book at the thrift shop and it is calling me. It is about a battered woman on the run. It was an Oprah Book Club selection.

✓ 33. A childhood classic you’ve never read

Update: I’ve got this one about 3/4 read, and found out it isn’t really appropriate for children, but most people think of it as a children’s novel. Now that I know what’s in there, I would never give it to a child.

Update: Finished on January 19, 2019 … part 4 was my favorite. Here’s my Goodreads review.

✓ 34. A book that’s published in 2018

I was going to read: Twist of Faith, but at the end of the year, I decided to read Stray: Memoir of a Runaway instead.

✓ 35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner

Try for this one again – it was on my list last year and I didn’t get to it though I have a copy in my living room.

Update – I read this during September 2018. What a great book! I very much recommend this book to anyone…

✓ 36. A book set in the decade you were born

Maybe: The Life & Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson.

No… maybe this one instead. How cool to find a book set in the year I was born!

UPDATE: Finished this book in July or August, 2018.

✓ 37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to

So many! Here’s one that’s been on my TBR list three years now.

Update! July 29, 2018 … After three years on my TBR list I finally read this book. It took only three days to get through it. A page-turner… but then, it is an Agatha Christie novel, so that’s to be expected.

38. A book with an ugly cover

Maybe one of those Amazon Kindle classics. They all look the same, and very plain.

How about this one? Despite the gloomy cover, it won the National Book Award and is getting great reviews.

39. A book that involves a bookstore or library

Maybe: The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan.

✓ 40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 PopSugar Reading Challenges

I choose 2016’s #5 question: A book set in your home state.

FINISHED 1/15/18 – awesome novel… I recommend it highly.

ADVANCED

41. A bestseller from the year you graduated from high school

Maybe: Summer of the Swans – Newbery Medal winner.

I’ve settled on a Mary Stewart book – first in a series of four: The Arthurian Saga.

42. A cyberpunk book

Undecided. I’m very unlikely to do this one…

43. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place

Undecided.

44. A book tied to your ancestry

Because some of my ancestors came from Georgia/Tennessee/Kentucky.

45. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title

46. An allegory

This one:

✓ 47. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you

I just found this author while looking for my last name at Goodreads – and I’m so excited to start reading his books!

UPDATE: 2/9/18 – I finished reading the book… will review it on my booktube (youtube) channel in a few days.

✓ 48. A microhistory

Tracing the history of a book, the ancient, mysterious, Sarajevo Haggadah, based on a true story.

Update – I finished this one on December 31 within an hour before midnight!

49. A book about a problem facing society today

Adoption… Georgia Tan style, is a major problem these days.

✓ 50. A book recommended by someone else taking the PopSugar Reading Challenge

Update – I finished this on January 27, 2018. Great book! See my video review below.

Happy reading, everybody!

The entire list for the PopSugar Reading Challenge, 2018, in case you need it…
1. A book made into a movie you’ve already seen<br /> 2. True crime<br /> 3. The next book in a series you started<br /> 4. A book involving a heist<br /> 5. Nordic noir<br /> 6. A novel based on a real person<br /> 7. A book set in a country that fascinates you<br /> 8. A book with a time of day in the title<br /> 9. A book about a villain or antihero<br /> 10. A book about death or grief<br /> 11. A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym<br /> 12. A book with LGBTQ+ protagonist<br /> 13. A book that is also a stage play or musical<br /> 14. A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you.<br /> 15. A book about feminism<br /> 16. A book about mental health<br /> 17. A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift<br /> 18. A book by two authors<br /> 19. A book about or involving a sport<br /> 20. A book by a local author<br /> 21. A book with your favorite color in the title<br /> 22. A book with alliteration in the title<br /> 23. A book about time travel<br /> 24. A book with a weather element in the title<br /> 25. A book set at sea<br /> 26. A book with an animal in the title<br /> 27. A book set on a different planet<br /> 28. A book with song lyrics in the title<br /> 29. A book about or set on Halloween<br /> 30. A book with characters who are twins<br /> 31. A book mentioned in another book<br /> 32. A book from a celebrity book club<br /> 33. A childhood classic you’ve never read<br /> 34. A book that’s published in 2018<br /> 35. A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner<br /> 36. A book set in the decade you were born<br /> 37. A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to<br /> 38. A book with an ugly cover<br /> 39. A book that involves a bookstore or library<br /> 40. Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 PopSugar Reading Challenges</p> <p>ADVANCED<br /> 41. A bestseller from the year you graduated from high school<br /> 42. A cyberpunk book<br /> 43. A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place<br /> 44. A book tied to your ancestry<br /> 45. A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title<br /> 46. An allegory<br /> 47. A book by an author with the same first or last name as you<br /> 48. A microhistory<br /> 49. A book about a problem facing society today<br /> 50. A book recommended by someone else taking the PopSugar Reading Challenge<br />

There are a few other books on my radar that don’t fit into the reading challenge… I’m keeping track of them here so I don’t forget my resolve to read them.

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