Bonnie’s Comments (group member since Jan 11, 2015)

Bonnie’s comments from the Pop Sugar's Annual Ultimate Reading Challenge group.

Margaret wrote: "I've been an 'absent' member since this began. Can I still add book and if so do I begin from now or add from 3 years ago? I have a list. Thank you, cheers, Margaret"

Sure! Go back and put your books in :) I think everyone uses the spreadsheet slightly different anyway. I use it to help organize and get ideas. It is what it is.

Meg wrote: "I really loved doing the challenge, because it had me reading stuff I would never have picked up (and I read a wide range of stuff), but I probably won't do it this year as strictly because I have so many books on my shelf that I ignored and my TRB list just keeps growing. "

^^^THIS

I've done the PopSugar Challenge 3 years in row and really enjoyed it. I've been taken out of my comfort zone, found some amazing new authors, found some new favorites, finished some truly awful books just for the sake of finishing it for the challenge, and even made some new friends.

I think I'm taking a break from this challenge in 2018. The challenge takes most of the year for me to finish and then I don't have time for the rest of my TBR list. But, who knows, I might still end up seeing how many topics I can cover anyway.

A few favorites of 2017:

The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness and Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City. EVERYONE NEEDS TO READ THESE. These were eye opening and mind changing. They offered so much perspective. And, I get why Evicted won the Pulitzer.

The Hate U Give Another thought invoking book.

Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead gave me a lot to think about in my career.

When Breath Becomes Air

Winter Garden Kristin Hannah strikes again.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage I got this one for free in the Audible anniversary celebration and it was an unexpected gem (warning: animals are killed - but it was only because of survival)

Beneath a Scarlet Sky Another historical novel that sucked me in.

All the Light We Cannot See Another Pulitzer winner. Beautifully written.

Also, all of the Scalzi. I love him.

I think that I use the group more earlier in the year when I'm getting ideas. I still use the spreadsheet to stay organized. Also, I like to see what other people read/are reading.

Fatima wrote: "I suggest Wild."
I was in Oregon over the weekend and was able to visit the Bridge of the Gods which is where Cheryl Strayed completed her journey. I was so excited to hike on the PCT (even if it was for only a half mile!)

A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail is also good. It takes place on the AT, not the PCT. Both books are good.

Freebie! If anyone wants to listen to the audio of The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story on Audible, here is a code for a free download that I got when I bought my ticket to the movie. KWEG6W7B3EQU3 I have already listened to it, so this code is of no value to me. First person to use it, it's yours. You have to download it before 4/11.

Caitlin wrote: "Allison wrote: "Hi, I started late but actually read a book last week that fits this category. The story is kind of ghost/love/historical fiction but turned out to be an interesting mix. It's calle..."

OMG. Yessss! I second Caitlin's recommendation of Okay for Now. But, have tissues handy. You'll need them.

Liz wrote: "I'm planning to read All the Light We Cannot See, which is set during WWII."

Just finished it and really enjoyed it. However, I enjoyed The Nightingale better. Both are excellent though.

I'll probably be reading Animal Farm It's been a while. Seems like an appropriate time.

Stacey wrote: "So something happened to the original form of the spreadsheet. Is it going to be fixed or just move forward as it is now? I really enjoyed it calculating the percentage of each challenge accomplish..."

It was me that added the tab for 2017, but I didn't know how to make the column for the percentages. If anyone knows how, please feel free to add it in.

Caitlin wrote: "I'm hoping to pick up The Nightingale which was highly recommended by Bonnie and is set in Vichy France."

YESSSSSS!!!!!

Hey Everyone!
I know that we are all organizing our 2017 reading lists. Instead of using this thread as a catch-all for brainstorming, could we all please start separate threads for each category? It'll be easier for other group members to search/contribute.
Thanks!
~Bonnie

Meg wrote: "That would be great!--- I have no idea what is considered "Steampunk" when it comes to books...I was hopeful I had found one already on my bookshelf."

A fellow reader shared this link with me: http://www.xchylerpublishing.com/our-...

They are a publisher for Steampunk books and several of them look really interesting. If anyone is interested, she told me that she can get discount codes.

Sam wrote: "The 2017 looks much better than last year's. For the first time in I don't know how long, I didn't finish a yearly reading challenge - that damn political memoir got me. I'm halfway through it, so ..."

Same here! I didn't finish 2016, but I'm looking forward to 2017.

I just added a tab to the spreadsheet with the 2017 challenge. Last year, someone had added all of the columns with the statistics, % complete, etc. If you would care to do that again, that would be great.

Happy Reading!

Samantha wrote: Bonnie, could you create a new document for 2017 for everyone to use? I use one that I created, but I like to use the online one as well to share my choices with the group.

I think the link is posted in the maid description of the group, but here is the link again.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...

Ttrivium wrote: "Yes! Thanks again to Bonnie for making the spreadsheet. I loved that thing, let me tell you."

You're welcome! The engineer in me needs a way to organize!

I'm looking forward to 2017's list. Due to some really crappy personal stuff that happened this year, I don't think I'm going to finish this year even though I started out great. Oh well. Bring on the new year.

If a book is over 600 pages, but you listen to the audio version, can it still count toward the challenge?

Audible had American Gods on sale for $4.95 and I bought it.

So many emotions. If you haven't read this, put it on your list immediately.

If you have not read , you should. is the prequel. Both of them were very enjoyable. I cannot count it because I read them last year.