Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Week 1. Woo hoo! Should seem like forever ago that we were starting 2016's challenge and really, it seems like yesterday!

Hello to our 6,553 members! This is significant because in October, we had 1,800 so BAM! Check that out!

In this, our first checkin for 2017, we'll share what books we've read this week and which prompts, if any, they fulfilled for the challenge. We also have a Question of the Week. Sara or I will open the weekly checkin thread every Thursday morning around 9 a.m. EST. So here we go ...

On Sunday, 1/1, I finished A Lion Called Christian: The True Story of the Remarkable Bond Between Two Friends and a Lion for "cat on the cover." This was a Kindle Daily Deal that I couldn't resist. You may have seen the YouTube video that went around last year. These two guys in their 20s bought a lion cub at Harrod's in London in the 70s. The story is how they raised him for a period of time and then took him to Africa to live on a wildlife preserve. It was exactly the quick light read that I needed to get started for the year.

I also read The Highest Tide for my IRL book club's pick and that, much to my dismay, does not fit any of the prompts! But I really enjoyed this book. Coming of age story of a 13-year old boy in Olympia, WA (USA) who is obsessed with tidal sea-life.

I've started my "career advice" book with #GIRLBOSS and may finish that yet today. Kindle says it's only a 2.5 hour read and I'm already 26% through it. I'll hold off on any recommendation until I am finished with it.

Question of the week: Let's mix it up and talk about Goodreads this week. What's your favorite thing about Goodreads? (Disclaimer: I am not employed by nor endorsed by GR in any way. ;-)

I love this group! But that's an easy answer. My favorite feature/tool is the book tracking options. I love shelving books and marking my progress. It satisfies my unnatural need to make lists.

On the app, I love the SCAN an ISBN feature. When I see a "real" book I like or when I start a real book, I scan the ISBN and it loads the book and its details making it easy for me to shelve where appropriate.

Now it's your turn! What's news with you?

I just finished reading "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka. Unfortunately, I can't figure out what category to fit it into. It doesnt seem to fit. Nevertheless, it was a great read on a boring, snowy day. :)

I love Goodreads because of the feature that I can keep track of what I have read and how much progress I have made with my reading. I am kind of a progress addict! :D

Week One already in the books and guess what! The book I read doesn't fit any categories. LOL - off to a great start. But in all seriousness, I really want to finish up The Luxe Box Set so I'm not mad about it. I started at the tail end of 2016 and you know me and series - I gotta marathon them so I don't forget any of the details.

So I finished book two - Rumors and I also have book 3 and 4 checked out from the library and ready to go.

Last night I started our group read. One of my resolutions is to participate in our group reads more often this year. So I started The Winter People. I only got through Part 1 last night because I was tired.

QOTW OHH good question. I loooove GoodReads. I agree, it does fuel my obsession for lists, and tracking, and numbers, and page counts... The feature I like most? Can I say this group? None of my friends IRL are avid readers - so its really refreshing to have book discussions with people who have the same passion as me.

One feature I hate? That stupid Reply button...I with it would group the comments together instead of that initialized thing it does.

Wow! I can't believe how much this group has grown in just the last couple of months! It's exciting to see so many people wanting to challenge themselves in their reading life (and to chat with us about it!) I can't wait to dig into more fabulous books in 2017.

I have finished two books so far this year:

Heidi by Johanna Spyri. This was a favorite movie of mine as a child (and reading the book has prompted me to check the movie out from the library), but the book has lingered on my shelf for years. The book is an older copy published in the 1960's, and there is an inscription in the front cover addressed to Mildred from her teacher Miss Greene (dated June 1974). So fun to come across inscriptions! I used this book for my book with a title that's a character's name. It would also work for a book by an author from a different country (unless you happen to be Swiss) and several other prompts.

The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus: How to Get Big Things Done in YOUR "Workshop" All Year Long by Eric Harvey. This is for the career advice prompt. I was dreading this category as I really don't like self-help books. I picked the audio version up a few weeks ago when it was on sale for 99 cents. It was also only about 2 hours long. Done!

I'm still chugging away atWashington: A Life. I also started reading The Táin: From the Irish epic Táin Bó Cúailnge after a coworker (and fellow folklore enthusiast) recommended it. And I am working through Anna Karenina and A Heart Like His: Intimate Reflections on the Life of David

My goal is to stick with the more challenging books while my beginning of the year momentum lasts. I have several easy reads that I can save for the inevitable reading ruts.

Question of the week: I love being able to track my books - what I've read, what I want to read - and I love all the stats on book pages, longest book you've read, etc. Without Goodreads I would never be able to keep up with all the lovely books I want to read!

This week I read The Girl With the Lower Back Tattoo by Any Schumer and have tentatively put it as my book about an interesting woman. I usually end up doing a bit of shuffling so it may not stay there! I also made a good start on The Little Paris Book Shop but not sure where it will fit as it's a book club pick. I also joined a mini group of ladies here doing the same challenge with our kids. I'm counting only 1 book per night (my kid is 2 so it's picture books) and mostly no rereads will count except for where it's necessary as in the adult challenge. So far I've only switched out the 800 page one and think I can make the others work (I changed 800 pages to a book by an author who usually writes for adults)

QOTW: I love talking about books, keeping track of my reading and reviewing books so I love that Goodreads is an outlet for this. I don't feel that it is as easy to interact though as it could be. I wish it were a bit more like Facebook where the comments could be responded to like sub threads. It's also difficult to keep up with so many members so I kind of wish we could have some sub grouping almost but no idea how it would work!

Week One: I finished Two By Two by Nicholas Sparks yesterday. This fulfilled the "bestseller in 2016" prompt. I am now moving on to Red Rising by Pierce Brown, for my "first book in a series I haven't read yet". So I think I am off to a good start.

My favorite thing about Goodreads is the ability to track what I have read and to see at the end of the year what I read.

Wow, week 1!!

I've made a strong start to my 2017 Challenge and finished two (very short) books.

For "reread that makes you smile," I reread a Xmas picture book, How Murray Saved Christmas.

For "recommended by a librarian," I read Smile. I found this on an online list of librarian recommendations, and was happy to read it because both my daughters have been telling me to read it.

QotW You ask some hard questions! I guess my favorite thing is the satisfaction I get from organizing my books into shelves. I've got A LOT of shelves, and I'm often adding new ones. I joined GR a long time ago and it feels like "home" now. The layout is aesthetically pleasing, it's easy to use, and I love the Groups feature, especially this group! This group feels like home now too!

Yay first check-in of 2017!! I'm determined to actually finish my challenge list this year, I never have! Although last year I read more than I have any other year of being on Goodreads so I was proud of that. I graduated from graduate school in December, so I'll have more time to read for pleasure, until May when our first baby boy is due! We'll see how downhill my reading goes then!!

This week I finished (on 1/1) Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between and really enjoyed it. It was a good quick, light read that I needed to start my year out strong. Gilmore Girls holds a very special place in my heart, so reading her stories of making the series the first time and then the Year in the Life was really fun. I wasn't planning on reading books off of the advanced list of the challenge but this one fulfilled the bestseller in 2016 prompt, so there ya go!

I'm now reading a book for the January group read, although it's not the book that was voted on. I'm reading Winter. I just finished Cress last month and thought this was a perfect read for January's challenge. I'm a little annoyed that it's over 800 pages because I get really bored with books that are that long, but I'm trudging along!

QOTW: Like a lot of you have already said, I too love being able to track my books and progress as I read. I like to see that percentage read! I also love this group because I get so many great recommendations of books to read! I have very few friends IRL that are avid readers, so I use this group so much!! I also enjoy keeping track of books that I've read and separating them into my favorites so it's quick and easy to give others recommendations.

Let's see I just started Heat Wave last night it's really good probably will finish it by this weekend. I started harry potter and the chamber of secrets as well.
This is my first time being REALLY involved with GR and I just LOVE IT! The fact I am able to keep track of the books I want to read and have read is awesome! and being that I'm OBSESSED with books the scanner is AWESOME! Plus you can have friends and groups on here to help with recommendation with books is also pretty cool. :)

I started this week out by reading A Study in Silks. It's my steampunk novel. I'm finding it super hard to get through, but I think it's just because there are so many elements of the book that I don't like. I'm almost finished with it. I made sure to pick the harder prompts to read first also because if I get them over now reading towards the end of the year will be fun.

The thing I like about good reads is that my friends from out of state can see what I'm up too and also the fact that I can track my progress. It helps me see where I'm at. I also like the fact that it links with my kindle account so I never have to enter the books I start.

The last thing I like about it is being able to find others that like to read.

I've just finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows which is my book set in wartime. I'm starting Most Wanted which is my librarian recommendation.

I like that GR can track my books in a way other than the pictures I post on IG-- the statistics they offer on the annual reading goal is fascinating to me but I love those types of things.

I had a GREAT start to my reading year, and so continuing the excellent year I had in 2016 - nice!

For "A book of letters" I have read Dracula
And for "A book with a month or day of the week in the title" I read April - or actually the whole volume 2, which in the Danish edition has all 3 months in the title :-)

I love that I can make my own bookshelves and then arrange and re-arrange the books however I want (nerdy, but I am sure, that I am not the only one LOL)

I'm halfway through "Climb: Tragic Ambitions on Everest" by Anatoli Boukreev. Anatoli was a guide with one of the Everest expedition companies in May 1996 when a number of climbers were trapped on top of Everest in an unexpected storm. It's another perspective about what happened (vs. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer).

I'm new to Goodreads -- but I like that it offers the opportunity to take part in interesting reading challenges.

Tara

I completed only one book this week - Ella Minnow Pea: A Progressively Lipogrammatic Epistolary Fable. Ever since I read about it in the 'A book of letters' prompt, I was itching to start! So I started at exactly midnight of 31stDec/1st Jan and finished it by evening.

Then I started two books together - The History of the Alphabet, which is my pick for an audiobook and The Difference Engine, my pick for steampunk.

I love History of the Alphabet (and the podcast this book was spun off, History of the English Language), but Difference Engine has been somewhat confusing (I'm only 5% in though).

I started on our group read today - The Winter People, but am planning to use it for 'Book from a genre you usually never read', rather than 'season in title'.

QoTW: Groups - because I find the best book recommendations! Very few of my IRL friends read and fewer share my book-taste - so GoodReads to the rescue! I also looooove the Year-in-Books feature - that book collage is awesome!

Hi, everyone!

I completed two books this week. The first was Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, from Missiles to the Moon to Mars by Nathalia Holt (and I think that lengthy title pretty well explains what it's about!). When I started it, I was thinking it was the book that the movie Hidden Figures was based on and I wanted to read the book before seeing the movie, but in fact the movie is based on a book entitled, in a much too straightforward fashion, Hidden Figures. Go figure ;-) The book works for book with a subtitle or book about an interesting woman.

I also read Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. Believe it or not, her parents didn't name her Banana (!), so I'm using it for a book by an author who uses a pseudonym. It's a short, wonderful read and I highly recommend it.

QoTW: I love GR for organizing my books and for knowing what friends and family are reading. We share books much more often now that we're all on Goodreads! I really like the groups, too, and belong to a few.

I finished no book this week but I started on January 1st with a big one: Fall of Giants. I like it a lot so far and it will fill the prompt during wartime.

QOTW: Like all of you i love Goodreads for the tracking feature. I like to put books in my to-read-list.

I'm so excited for our first check-in of the year! I read When in French: Love in a Second Language for my book with a subtitle. I really enjoyed it. I recommend it for anyone who has struggled to learn a second language but you have to really love the construct and grammar of language to truly enjoy this book. She delves into parts of speech and cultural differences in language, particularly the differences between English and French. I am struggling to learn French at the moment so I kind of related to her, though she was living in Geneva while I'm living in Oklahoma. C'est la vie!

QOTW: I love the end of year statistics. It makes me feel like I truly accomplished something by seeing all of the books grouped together and the page count.

olá, hi. this week I finished Vaticanum from José Rodrigues dos Santos - an portuguese author that I admire; yesterday started Summer'sisters from Judy Blume( season and family'member in title) and enjoyed the first parts of the narrative. I like goodreads because helps me to list the books I read and gives suggestions for another titles(that is'nt a thing that I need, because I have entire shelves of books to read, but in that way I know new titles and his reviews.

Hello all, and welcome to all the new members!

I finished two books this week, both for this challenge:

- Devil in Winter for "a book with one of the four seasons in the title" - Kleypas is a really good writer, but her heroes are too alpha-y for my tastes. Probably the last one I'll read of hers.
- Business Cat: Money, Power, Treats for "a book with a cat on the cover" - Much darker than I anticipated, but still quite funny!

I'm currently reading 4 books - 2 for this challenge (The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective for "a book you bought on a trip" and Bread, Wine, Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love for "an audiobook") and 2 for Around the Year (Lady Cop Makes Trouble and The Dare and the Doctor, though I don't remember what prompts I'm using them for).

QOTW: My favorite part of GoodReads is definitely how it lets me connect with other readers! I honestly find its functionality really frustrating, but I love the groups :D

This week I finished 2 books unrelated to the challenge. First, I completed a book that I started reading in December, Are Numbers Real?: The Uncanny Relationship of Mathematics and the Physical World. I also polished off Chimpanzee as it was due back to the library and I didn't want to renew it (again). It was short so I easily managed to get it read in a day.

My other big task was to assess the books I currently have checked out from the library and begin looking at my pile of owned-but-not-read books to figure out what I have on hand that fits the challenge. I'm sure I'll begin a challenge book this week, once I knock out one or two of the 7 (gulp) books I am currently reading. Most likely I will begin The Winter People to participate in the group read.

QotW
I am a sucker for data--I love looking at the statistics for the books I've read in the last 9 years! This is the first time I've participated in any sort of group activity, although I did (unsuccessfully) attempt the 2016 Popsugar Challenge on my own.

I just finished my selection for the January read "a book with one of the four seasons in the title: "One Crazy Summer" by Rita Williams-Garcia.

I started with The Madman’s Daughter for the family member in the title prompt from the Advanced list. I did not like the book at all and I will not be reading any of the other titles in that series. I felt the story was too predictable and cliche. Perhaps it was intended to be this way, but I don't think the author added to the retelling of a classic story.

I just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. I enjoyed this book immensely. My only complaint is that I wanted more. I read this book for the A Book of Letters prompt.

I have checked out The Winter People from the library and I will start that book tonight.

QOTW: I just discovered the Goodreads app and I'm still figuring out how I am going to use it. I do love that this challenge has gotten me to pick up and read books again. I've been way overindulging on Netflix/Hulu/Amazon prime.

Hi! This week I'm continuing to read On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I was excited to begin this for prompt #14 "a book Involving travel. It's been on my list for awhile and I actually am not that fond of it. I'm not sure if it's the writing style or the plot but I intend to see it through to the end.

My favorite part about Goodreads is the way it lets you categorize books. I like adding books to my TBR and having them all in one convenient place. I also like being able to track exactly how far I am along in a particular book. My favorite thing about this is seeing the percentage finished going steadily up, especially if it's a big jump. Quite the motivator!

Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "Hello all, and welcome to all the new members!

I finished two books this week, both for this challenge:

- Devil in Winter for "a book with one of the four seasons in the title" - K..."

OMG Business Cat: Money, Power, Treats! How did I not think of that for this challenge?! I was planning to read A Man Called Ove for the cat category, but maybe I'll read Business Cat instead.

Also, since you mentioned earlier that you're planning to read a lot of romance, I recommend one of Mary Balogh's books in her Survivor's Club series for the "disability" category; (starts with The Proposal. I'm planning to readThe Escape)

Well I finished a couple of books from my list this week:

A book with an unreliable narrator:
The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
A book with pictures :
Are You My Mother? Alison Bechdel

QOTW: I love that I can of course keep track of what I am reading, have read, and want to read. BUT I love the reading challenges, both the year long, and this PopSugar challenge is great so far! And finally, I love that I can follow other readers with similar tastes to help me find ALL OF THE BOOKS!

Sara wrote: "This week I finished 2 books unrelated to the challenge. First, I completed a book that I started reading in December, Are Numbers Real?: The Uncanny Relationship of Mathematics and the Physical Wo..."

Wow, I've never heard of Chimpanzee or the Numbers book, both sound fascinating and I've added them to my TBR and started following your reviews!

My overall goal is the finish the Challenge, and then move on the Advanced Challenge if I have the time to at least complete some of it.

That being said, I made an exception by starting my 800 page book 11/22/63 last month so I had a chance to finish all 52 prompts (I'm a slow reader). About 90% finished and loving it. I noticed that many people put this one for their 800 page book. You won't be disappointed.

Up next is The Winter People for the group read. I have it checked out of the library and everything!

Favorite part about GR is tracking what I've read, and the ability to go back and see when I had read something. Also, to see what other people are reading/recommending/putting in their TBR pile so I get ideas and find books that I didn't even know were out there.

Nadine wrote: "Thegirlintheafternoon wrote: "Hello all, and welcome to all the new members!

I finished two books this week, both for this challenge:

- Devil in Winter for "a book with one of the ..."

Thanks for the recommendation, Nadine! I've never read any Balogh, but I'll check it out. And Business Cat would be a good, low-stakes way to cross that prompt off your list.

I finished 5 books this week, all of which work towards the challenge.

The Pull of The Moon works for # 3 a book of letters;

We Are All Welcome Here for #13 a book by or about a person who has a disability

The Art of Mending for #29 a book with an unreliable narrator;

The Brimstone Key for #22 a steampunk novel. Could also work for #17 a book involving a mythical creature

Devil's Dream #28 a novel set during wartime.

Currently reading Gutshot Straight which will count for #23 a book with a red spine.

QOTW: I have just gotten involved with Goodreads, but I like keeping track of what I've read, and I like being able to set up books I'd like to read as well.

Mike wrote: "My overall goal is the finish the Challenge, and then move on the Advanced Challenge if I have the time to at least complete some of it.

That being said, I made an exception by starting my 800 pages book 11/22/63 last month... "

I will use that book for my month or year prompt. I can't wait since I bought it last year and I love Stephen King.

Happy 2017 everybody! I finished two books this week, but both were for other challenges - I read Scrappy Little Nobody and Lumberjanes, Vol. 1: Beware the Kitten Holy. Both were fun, fast reads, the perfect way to ease into the new year.

I also started The Swerve: How the World Became Modern this week. It'll be my "book you bought at a used book sale" for this challenge, but I'm only a couple chapters into it so far.

QOTW: I agree with everyone else above about loving the statistics aspects of GR! I am also very forgetful and so just having a running TBR so that I don't forget what I want to look for next at the library is what drew me to the app in the first place ;)

Since I was on vacation, and then 20 hours on planes/layovers, I was able to start this year strong.

For a book by an Author from a country that you've never visited, I read Born a Crime (South Africa).

For a book with pictures, I read The Demon Ororon, Vol. 1 (and the rest of the series).

For a book based on mythology, I read American Gods.

And I've started Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School for a book with career advice.

In other years I've had spurts where I've read 3 books in a day, and then months of reading nothing. My goal this year is to read at least a book a week no matter what.

Happy New Year to all! This week I listened to the audio version of X by Sue Grafton, and am using it to fill the audiobook prompt.
Today I am starting Stars Above, and potentially using it to fulfill the book about an immigrant or refugee prompt. I am leery about reading books from the advanced section right away, so i may try to use it for a different category.
QotW: I love discovering new books that I may not have otherwise read, as well as connecting with other book worms!

So I have read Kerstin och jag by Astrid Lindgren. It's in Swedish and fulfils the book with the red spine prompt. I just moved to near the town where Astrid Lindgren was born but have only ever read one of her books, although I used to watch the Pippi Longstocking cartoons when I was younger. So I thought I ought to read some more. Swedish is my second language so it is good to read in Swedish sometimes.

I have also read Hollow City by Ransom Riggs. It's the second book in the series about Miss Peregrine's Peculiar Children and was for the book with pictures prompt. I really enjoyed the first book in the series and I wasn't disappointed by this one. They released the film last year but I refuse to watch it until I have read part 3.

I am currently part way through All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. I bought it last year as part of another reading challenge where I had to read a book about mental illness but I never got round to it (I read 2 other books for that category instead). So it was still on my "to read" pile. Apparently it's being made into a movie coming out this year, so it fulfills that prompt.

As for the question, I have always read a lot but for me Goodreads has allowed me to keep up with what friends are reading and opened me up to a whole range of books I would not have thought about before. It's particularly important to me since I moved to Sweden 6 years ago. As a native English speaker, my access to books written in English is a bit limited. I can't go browse the bookstore like I used to. So it's nice to be able to see what others are reading so I can keep up with what's out there.

Happy 2017! I'm so excited to be starting fresh, and I'm really excited about this years prompts. I'm starting to catch a cold however.. but maybe that will just give me more time this weekend to read.

I am about to finish Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for "a book you've read before that never fails to make you smile." I was planning on getting some harder prompts out of the way first, but I received the illustrated version for Christmas and I just couldn't wait! It's very beautiful.

I also love that though the U.S. version is still "Sorcerer's Stone", the actual book has not been edited, so the British terms and spellings have been fun to spot out. For example, Dudley's first word is shan't, not won't. And Marge was not vacationing on Majorca, but the Isle of Wight. It's been fun to pick out the tiny differences. It also made me realize how many times (and how well I know) this book.

QOTW: My favorite aspect of Goodreads is tracking the books I've read/want to read. I also get immense satisfaction from checking off books on my TBR, and finishing books on my currently reading!

I finished Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda for "an Espionage Thriller" and hated it.

But I started True Grit for "Bestseller from a Genre you don't usually read" (Western) and am liking it, and started Salt: A World History for "a book about food" also liking it.

This is so fun!

I read The Winter People which I really liked and flew through.

I needed a change of pace after that, so I read Sarah, Plain and Tall for another challenge that asked for a Newbery winner and am listening to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz in the car. I'm just reading both of them for the first time and love them both!

I love Goodreads because I can track my progress, and add books to lists. It satisfies my need to cross things off lists :) And I love being able to scan on the app. Such a fun feature!

I am off the a great start by finishing the audio book The Prophecy Con (second book in a comedic fantasy series) which contains a mythical creature-a unicorn.

I also read a book with pictures: The Wild Robot. One of my students recommended it to me.

I have also started a reading plan that will take me through the Bible in a year (a book with 800 or more pages).

QOTW
Two things I like about good reads: the book recommendations and participating in book groups. It has definitely enhanced my reading since I joined a little over a year ago.

I read "Moominland Midwinter," a quick easy one for the season in the title category. I think I'm going to start Pratchett's "Going Postal" next for Book with a Red Spine because our copy has a red spine and I've never read it. I also need a laugh. :-)

I am currently reading The Atlantis Gene as "the first book in a series you haven't read before". It is SO good! The chapters are short, which I like, and the story has many different character perspectives which gives it a really unique feel. I'm about a quarter of the way through, and I am totally loving it.

I also have been listening to Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as my audiobook selection. It's nice because I've already read the books, so I can listen to it while doing chores, getting ready for the day, the drive home, etc. without feeling like I'm missing something.

The best part about Goodreads (for me) is the list compilations. There have been so many books on my "to read" list that I have completely forgotten about because I never wrote them down. So this has been awesome.

This week I finished the audiobook The Preacher by Camilla Läckberg, a swedish author in the crime genre. The Preacher is her second crime novel and this book put her on the map. However it has a few years to it (2004) which I think is noticable because crime novels written today is very much different from the older ones. I dont really know what makes the difference, but its definitely something different. Do you get what I mean?

I love goodreads because it makes me able to share my readings and take part of what other people and friends are reading.

Best regards/ Louisa, Gothenburg Sweden

I finished the aptly named Food: A Love Story for my book about food this week.

Next I dove into Winter People for the group read and am having a hard time putting it down. Is my lunch over? Do I need to get off the bus? Do the dishes? Go to bed? Yes, but I just want to keep reading. Can't wait to finish it up (probably tonight!), it just so engrossing.

Have also been doing a bunch of planning, have a few books out from the library and my spreadsheet is coming along nicely.

QOTW
I like the book tracking, that way I have a list of all the books I got bored of and know that I need to come back to one day. My attention span could probably use some work. But the challenge is certainly helping me stay focused and excited!

This is my first reading check-in! I finished Christmas in My Heart, A Second Treasury: More Heartwarming Tales of Holiday Joy for the prompt "A book with a red spine".

I am less than 100 pages away from finishing The Winter People for the group read and for "A book with one of the four seasons in the title". I will most likely finish this tonight and jump straight in to the next- "A book recommended by a librarian". The librarian asked me how much time I have to read and I probably should NOT have said "a lot" but it is true I have a lot more time to read compared to most people. I was afraid she was going to pull out a huge book! It looks like a challenge though at over 500 pages. She recommended Angle of Repose. I know nothing about this author or this book. Should be fun though. Isn't the point of this challenge to learn and stretch ourselves?

Also just to keep myself on track for the 800 pager and because Christ is a big part of my life I am reading Holy Bible: New Women's Devotional Bible because I haven't REALLY read the whole Bible.

QOTW: My favorite thing about goodreads is getting to read reviews from people who passionately dislike/like a certain book as much as you do. I don't have many people I know IRL who like to read the variety of books that I do and I have been searching for an active group to be a part of for awhile now that my children have crossed the bridge from babyhood. Also seeing the stats at the end of the year is awesome!

I'm currently working on three books for this challenge The Girl in the Steel Corset/Kady Cross for the steampunk task, A Man Called Ove/Fredrik Backman for the task a book you have read before that makes you smile (it is a book club pick so I'm happy to have the reread fit in this challenge), and Words of Radiance/Brandon Sanderson for more than 800 pages.

I like that GR lets me see what other people are reading and getting ideas. I also love the different reading challenges.

I read The Winter People/Jennifer McMahon for a the 2015 popsugar challenge it was a great book. I have been trying to read at least one book by McMahon each year.

All in progress:

The Princess Diarist in audio - Book about a person I admire

Evensong - book about an interesting woman - in this case a female Episcopal priest with an interesting past

The Summer Game - great book about baseball to be reading on these cold winter days.

Books read this week:
Darth Vader and Son- A book with a family member term in the title
Goodnight Darth Vader- A book with pictures
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda- A book with a red spine

QOTW: My favorite part of goodreads is reading reviews and see how people think differently about the same book.

I'm going to actually participate in a group this year. I did the challenge in 2015, and i kinda dwindled off on the last couple because the other people I know who started it fell off long before I did. Without anyone caring if I finished or not, I stopped caring so much, too. So yay, books!

This week: I read Warriors: Dawn of the Clans #1 as my book with a cat on the cover. It was ok. I got kind of frustrated with some of the writing tropes. Like it seemed that most the deaths were the female cats, serving to motivate the male cats. Got frustrating.

Mila 2.0 was my "book with a title that's a character's name". It was also just ok, finished it this morning. Again, got caught up in annoying YA tropes. Why does every YA book need to have some sappy romance in it? When the plot doesn't really require it? The premise was so interesting, the forced romance just wasted time.

Currently reading: Mockingbird Vol 1: I Can Explain. This one is so fun so far. This one is technically for the book riot read harder challenge, "superhero comic with a female lead", but I think I might count it on this one as "an unreliable narrator", since in one of the comic afterwards the author comes right out and says "This story is from Bobbi's perspective. Of course she's unreliable, who doesn't tell their stories to make themselves look best?". We'll see though, I might find something else that fits it better. Also I just wanted to read it.

As far as why I like Goodreads, I like knowing how many books I read in a year, makes me feel accomplished. Also like seeing how many books I've read total stack up. I knew I read a lot, now I can prove it, if it makes sense. :) Also fun seeing what my friends are reading, or what they think of books.

I'm half way through Winter by Marissa Meyer to fill the prompt "read a book with one of four seasons in the title" which I thought it was perfect. I'm not going to lie though this book was rolled in to the new year cause I failed and didn't finished it before like I wanted to so I don't if I'm like "cheating" but it's something that I'm already reading and it can fill in the category.

I finished reading The Winter People for the season prompt. I enjoyed it but it wasn't my favorite book.

I also finished The Absent One for an author from a country you haven't visited prompt. I really am enjoying this series.

I am currently listening to Wishful Drinking for the audiobook prompt.

I'm on a roll! Thanks to everyone for motivating me. I have always read a lot, but my book club ended and I realized I was reading the same genre (sci-fi/fantasy) and needed something to break me out of that and read some different things and this challenge is perfect for that! I'm also doing the Book Riot Challenge so I've read a few for that list as well.

QOTW: I always just used GR to keep track of what I've read and what I want to read. But now I'm starting to explore the groups and am enjoying that as well.