Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

We are officially at the halfway point of the year!

I have been reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams for a popular author's first book. It is also my book club pick for the month. It has been a struggle as I am not enjoying it. So I haven't finished a book this week. Holding still at 40/52.

All is not lost as I am writing this post from the beach on a glorious 4th of July in beautiful Michigan, USA.

How has your week gone?

I think I'm gonna give myself permission to take a bit of a break this month. I graduated last Saturday, so I barely had anytime to read with my family in town. And I'm participating in Camp NaNoWriMo this month, so most of my spare time is going toward that. I'll still check in on the off chance that I've read something, but I'm not expecting much until next month. I'm behind, but I'm confident that I can catch up later.

Happy reading to the rest of ya'll, and Happy 4th to the 'Mericans!

Also camp nanoing. So dont' anticipate I'll get as many done this coming up week as I did last week.

Last week though? Not so bad.

The Magicians by Lev Grossman for book 1 of my trilogy. I didn't love it but my nephew suggested it saying that the books really built and by the end it was one of his favorite books ever but the first one? A bit of a slog. I'm not seeing myself feeling that way about this triology so far, but we'll see.

Maurice by E.M. Forster which I'm putting in love triangle. This book wasn't published for years and years due to its LGBTQ plot. I'd seen the movie which is very true to the book, as it turns out. I enjoyed it, a lot.


The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett which I read for book I started but never finished. I started when I was a kid and got frustrated because I just wanted them to get to the freaking garden, already. OMG. I thought there would be fairie or something. No, it's just a garden. And I threw away the book in disgust.

Finally finished it. Very, very pollyanna... even for kids lit. And the second book I've read this year where being out of doors makes wheelchair bound people walk. Odd. My mom liked this book, too. Ugh. I would have preferred if their were fairies.

Started on the second book of the trilogy and am enjoying it more than the first.

4 books left: 2 from the trilogy. Book that scares you. And bottom of to do list. I could probably do them in the week and be done just a week past the mid way point of the year, but I think I'm going to go for one a week and be done by August first.

What to do after that? Sigh. I've really enjoyed this challenge.

I've had a really busy couple of weeks, I've been out of town for work and then had a friend visiting, so I haven't read much at all and forgot to check in last week. I did finish one book, although not for the challenge, and reached my Goodreads goal of 52 books! Woohoo!

Now I'm on my book at the bottom of my TBR, Save Me the Waltz, but I just can't get into it. July is another busy month for me, but hopefully I will manage to complete the challenge, I only have 4 more books to go included this one.

I will make a thread for this separately but since I've seen a lot of posts from members who expect to finish the challenge in the coming weeks, thought I'd add it here too.

This is the 2015 challenge from the Modern Mrs. Darcy blog. She has a great blog if you've never read it and has great entries in her Books and Reading section. Here's the link.

I found this challenge on Pinterest (of course) and have suggested it to fellow readers who are intimidated by 52 books. It's a 12-book challenge. Some of the prompts are the same as those we've done for PopSugar but then some have a unique twist. I particularly like "a book everyone has read but you."

I finished Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (book 1 of trilogy) which I really enjoyed. I also finished Every Day, Every Hour by Natasa Dragnic (originally in a different language) which I did not like and found it to be boring and it was EXTREMELY repetitive!

I started reading A Game of Thrones (turned into a tv show) and Naked (funny book).

I am at 25 books read.

I've finally finished "Shogun" for my published the year you were born prompt. Just started "Water for Elephants" today and I'm already a quarter of the way through. I'm using this one for my love triangle prompt. So far it's pretty good. My current pace may slow down a bit seeing as how I've started my new job. However, I do plan to read for at least an hour a day during the week and several hours during the weekend. Also, I want to thank the group as a whole for their suggestions, especially with the trickier prompts. This challenge has been a very rewarding experience.

I finally finished I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban for the memoir prompt. For such a short book it took me a while. Overall, I wasn't that impressed with the book. The book did have some very interesting information about the history of Pakistan and the Taliban and I find Malala's dedication to girls education extremely admirable. However, the book is not very well written.

My total for the year now stands a 26 books. I was hoping to reach 28 by the end of June, so I am a little behind my personal goal. But at least I am still keeping pace. Unfortunately, currently none of the books on my to read list are grabbing me so I have been re-listening to the audiobook of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Hopefully I can get back on track in the upcoming week.

I finished two books this week which is a first for me! "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks"- prompt based on true story. #2 "Unglued" by Lysa Terkeurst- One word title prompt. I had a terrible streak of below average books. I've chosen lots of light reading for the next few weeks!

Since the last check in, I've read 4 books. Of those four books 2 filled prompts.

I selected The Room for book originally written in another language. It wasn't my style of book but I suppose that's what this challenge is all about - going out of comfort zones for reading.

I also finished the Book Published this year category by reading P.S. I Still Love You.

This has me at 24 complete.

Right now, I'm working on three other categories - 500 page book, Book of Short Stories, and book owned but never read. I'm hoping that means on the next check in I'll be able to report that I've finished all three.

This last week I finished Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. I'm using for a book I started but didn't finish, as I checked it out of the library last fall, but had to return it before I got very far into it. I'm so glad I checked it out again! It was very, very good.

I'm at 34/52.

Finished The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to hit 27 this week. Also started The Leftovers for "book turned into TV show." Ready to start The Arsonist by Sue Miller for "book by author that I love." Way further than I ever thought I'd be in this challenge!