POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2018

POPSUGAR Reading Challenge 2018 

After thinking about it, I really want to challenge myself to complete the Popsugar Reading Challenge for this year. This website has been coming out with these really cool reading challenges that force you to expand your reading to be more diverse since 2015, and I had sort of halfheartedly done them in previous years, but nothing this seriously.

There are so many interesting categories that even if I have nothing to read, I love this list because I can come here and find something completely new to stretch my readings into genres I don't know as well. To read about the challenge from the site itself, you can click this link. There is a really cool graphic that they have and a printable version as well, but it was so long that I just ended up typing out the challenges below so that this post wasn't just a giant graphic.

What I want to do: Personally, I hope to complete not just the forty challenges, but the extra ten challenges as well, which are listed under the Advanced portion of the sheet. To keep track of this, I have an excel sheet going where I'll be typing in book titles as I go and I will also be printing out their printable version of the challenge to physically check of the challenges as I go. I also just joined their Goodreads group page, which as so many cool discussions going on it that will hopefully keep me motivated throughout the entire year. I'm also going to make a label for my reviews so that I can keep them all notated on the blog, and I'll write on the bottom of the reviews from now on if they satisfy one of the categories.

Why I like the Popsugar Challenge: Overall, I think I like this particular reading challenge because it can be as difficult or as easy as you want it to be. While I want to finish every challenge, it is not necessary to do so if you don't want to. It's a very personal and individualized thing which I like. It also just has so many different and unique categories that I have not even heard of before. Like, "Nordic Noir" is a category this year and I don't even know what that means. But also underlying everything with this challenge is the element of fun. You compete with yourself because it's so personal, you can get the support from the reading community if you need it, and chances are, you are going to be reading books you have never heard of before or that you never thought you would ever even pick up. It's great. :)

Here's the list for this year:

Book made into a movie you’ve already seen

True crime

Next book in a series you started

Book involving a heist

Nordic noir

Novel based on a real person

Book set in a country that fascinates you

Book about a villain or antihero

Book about death or grief

Book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym

Book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist

Book that is also a stage play or musical

Book by an author of a different ethnicity than you

Book about feminism

Book about mental health

Book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift

Book by two authors

Book about or involving a sport

Book by a local author

Book with your favorite color in the title

Book with alliteration in the title

Book about time travel

Book with a weather element in the title

Book set at sea

Book with an animal in the title

Book set on a different planet

Book with song lyrics in the title

Book about or set on Halloween

Book with characters who are twins

Book mentioned in another book

Book from a celebrity book club

Childhood classic you’ve never read

Book that’s published in 2018

Past Goodreads Choice Award winner

Book set in the decade you were born

Book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to

Book with an ugly cover

Book that involved a bookstore or library

Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenges

ADVANCED:

Bestseller from the year you graduated high school

Cyberpunk book

Book that was being read by a stranger in a public place

Book tied to your ancestry

Book with a fruit or vegetable in the title

An allegory

Book by an author with the same first or last name as you

Microhistory

Book about a problem facing society today

Book recommended by someone else taking the Popsugar Reading Challenge

Now, I have already read 8 books this year, so I will be going back to see if they fulfill any of these categories for me. But I am really excited to see where this challenge guides my reading! If you are also participating in this challenge, I would love to chat with you; and if you're not I hope the list can at least give you an idea of books that you can branch out to!

Thanks for reading!