Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion
General
>
Doing Past Challenges After the Fact
I did that the second half of last year. I did the challenge in 2015, but the 2016 list didn't thrill me so I didn't do it. I came back to the challenge in 2017, but too late to finish. After I finished the 2018 challenge in August, I challenged myself to finish the 2016 and 2017 lists by the end of the year. I didn't read 100 new books, though. The first thing I did was use the books I'd read in 2016 and 2017 to tick off prompts. Then I read new books for the remaining prompts. I think I had about 40-ish prompts left.
It feels rewarding to see all my checklists completed. Good luck!
I started participating in 2017 but I didn't finish that year (didn't even read 50 books...) My reading jumped way up last year and I finished by November (and was mostly done well before then and reading off-prompt books) so I think this year if something similar happens I'll try and go back and finish the 2017 prompts that I still have open. I am trying a couple of other, smaller challenges this year though so those might still have me occupied.
I was introduced to Pop Sugar in late February 2016, and managed to finish that year right at the end of December. In both 2017 and 2018 I started right on January 1 and finished earlier - this year as early as end of August. Feeling a little at a loss at not having a challenge to puzzle over whether the book I am reading fit a prompt, I decided at the end of 2017 to go back and fill in prompts on 2015 challenge if a book wasn't being used for the current year. I'm about 2/3's done with 2015, and it is highly unlikely I will finish it without actually planning reading as the remaining prompts are not the types of things I just casually read - like a graphic novel.I do love figuring out if what I happen to pick up to read will fill prompts though. I almost wish that Pop Sugar went back many years farther! ;-)
And yes, at some point, I will actually make a point of finishing 2015.
There seems to be a common theme among many of the readers in this group - we are a bit neurotic about books and lists and "shoulds." And I love us!I sort of participated in 2015, did a bit better in 2016, even better in 2017, discovered this group for 2018 and completed the challenge for the first time. I considered going back and finishing the other years, but decided that it was too much. I like starting the year with a clean slate, and I decided against doing other challenges unless I finish this one early. I want reading to keep being fun and not a chore.
Good luck with finishing all the Challenges. You are braver than me.
Haha, I have backlists of all of the challenges from their beginnings already planned out. Realistically, I know its never going to happen, but it sure is fun to think about :-)
Actually this pushed me to look over my list of 'read' books from the last few weeks and I was actually able to plug 2 more into 2015! I am now down needing 7 more books to complete 2015, and I actually have 5 of them identified. Now that's doable alongside 2018!
I knew I shouldn't have read this thread, this is totally making me want to go back and fill in the previous challenges (2018 was my first one)! lol
Really happy to find this thread. My first attempt was 2018, but I tried to complete the challenge in order, relying on library books. It proved uncooperative based on waiting lists, so I'm giving myself more flexibility this year. I do stick to my TBR list as much as I can, trying to go back and get the early ones out of the way as much as possible. It's helping me read books that I routinely pass over for "new" books coming out.I am very goal-oriented, though, and am challenging myself to finish last year's list as well as this year's. I hadn't thought of going farther back --- but definitely planning to once I wrap up 2018 & 2019.
I am just going to pretend I didn´t see this thread...
Johanne wrote: "I am just going to pretend I didn´t see this thread..."Excellent idea Johanne 😂
Same here! I started in 2015, but lagged off and didn't finish after 10 reads only. Now my youngest child is almost 3 ans I'm kicking up my reading! I'm doing the 2019 challenge this year, but plan on doing the 2015-2018 challenges over the next few years as "bonus" reads. So hopefully, books I'll read that don't fit the 2019 prompts should fit the 2015-2018 prompts.Here's to more diverse reading!
When I completed the 2018 challenge, I had a few weeks left to read whatever I liked. I decided to go to the 2017 challenge and start on that while I waited for the new year to come in. I really want to complete all challenges from 2015 onwards, so at the moment I'm listening to past challenge reads on audiobook, whilst reading on kindle for the 2019 challenge.
I looked over the previous years and used the discussion threads to find books of interest to me for the prompts that I liked the best.
I haven't done this for PopSugar because I've been doing them as they come out, but I have done it for other challenges including Book Riot and Modern Mrs. Darcy, if I find the list interests me enough that I'm strongly motivated to do it. I'm doing last year's Bookish #KillYourTBR challenge instead of the one that came out this year because I like 2018's prompts better.
Mod
Hahaha! yes! we have found "our people"!!
Johanne wrote: "I am just going to pretend I didn´t see this thread..."If only I could! I actually wish I had seen this thread in September when I was finished with the 2018 PS and ATY challenges and hit a reading slump because I decided to try to knock off some doorstoppers and some turned out to be a slog.
I am going to try not to start a plan yet but if I finish my main challenges early this year I am definitely going back to 2015.
Rachelnyc wrote: "Johanne wrote: "I am just going to pretend I didn´t see this thread..."If only I could! I actually wish I had seen this thread in September when I was finished with the 2018 PS and ATY challenges..."
I am quite certain the thread will come back to haunt me with it´s siren song and promise of more challenges...
Rachelnyc wrote: "Johanne wrote: "I am just going to pretend I didn´t see this thread..."If only I could! I actually wish I had seen this thread in September when I was finished with the 2018 PS and ATY challenges..."
I just leave the idea of finishing 2015 in the background, not as a compelling current challenge but just something that it can fill with books not fitting current challenge. For example, I'm currently reading The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and I'm not yet seeing where it could possibly fit in 2019 PS. But I'm still only at the beginning...having just left Versailles... If I don't fit it into 2019 PS, then I'll look at 2015 PS. I've already slotted into ATY 2019 as book over 500 pages (I do double dip between ATY and PS unless I have 2 books during the year that fit whatever prompts I've doubled up).
I've been doing PopSugar since 2016, but didn't actually push myself to finish one until 2018. I read multiple books for prompts I like, and some I never got around to. 2018 was also the first time I kept a numerical count of my monthly reading, and when I got to about book 92, I made a real push to make it to 100. Last year, there was a prompt to read your favorite prompt from a previous challenge, and I used that to slot in any book I was reading that didn't fit 2018.
I decided to do a category from each of the previous years' challenges, just to give me more options. I can see how you could add a few prompts from just 2015, if you wanted. If I did that, I wouldn't stress myself, but just add them as needed.
I know some people were actually feeling a little rudderless after they finished their challenges mid-year (I didn't finish until some time in Oct.). I didn't feel that way, because I just kept reading books I wanted to, and piled up multiple books in several prompts.
This year, I've discovered the Modern Mrs. Darcy challenge, and since it's only 12 books, and has some really flexible prompts that work with my goals (to read 3 books by the same author, a book with a cover that attracted you, a book you've been meaning to read, etc.), I've added that list to my PopSugar list, which I keep in one of my reading groups on Ravelry.com (a site for knitters and crocheters).
I like the flexibility of my Ravelry post, but I don't see why you couldn't tack on a copy of another challenge to the end of the PS list in your Master List post here? Who would even notice?
I've never finished the challenge though I've been doing this since 2016. I am going to give finishing a try this year . . . and I have thought about going back to 2015 to do those prompts too. Usually each year I reach back to fulfill some prompts from earlier years. Really, it doesn't bother me that I haven't finished completely - as each year I have so much fun choosing the books and then reading from my list. I always read a lot of things I wouldn't have otherwise chosen.
Hi - I just am getting on the bandwagon with the challenge this year. I saw the great post listing all the other challenges and so what I decided to do is go through my reading list here and match up the books I read in 2015 with the challenges from 2015 and see if I could mark some of them off. So in 2015 I only read 10 books. I was able to match up all 10 of those books with challenges. I did the same for 2016 I read 24 but was only able to match up 12 of those with the 2016 challenge. Some of those books would have worked for the 2015 list but since I didn't know about nor did I read them in 2015 I didn't mark them off. That will just give me another opportunity to read a book in that prompt.
My plan moving forward, is to work with the 2019 list and as I find books I want to read that don't fit the current challenge I will refer back to the past lists. It will be a nice work on the list gradually that I can probably work on for years to come as there are so many books and so little time.
My thoughts on this topic is the opposite of most of yours - I do not want to read books now to post into previous years because apparently it matters to me that I read the book in the year of the list. To each their own neuroses.
I just discovered this reading challenge a couple months ago. I feel this crazy need to complete all the past challenges now as well as this year's. I'm going to try to do that over the next few years. I've already read 6 books so far this year! So I am hoping to complete the 2019 and 2018 challenges this year if I'm able to keep this pace. And then the following year I will do the 2020 and the 2017 list and so on. I love this challenge so far and am excited to read some of the books I have discovered. I tend to stick to the same genres and get bored after a while. I love some of these books I've read so far that I would not have picked out if not 'prompted' to.
Teri wrote: "My thoughts on this topic is the opposite of most of yours - I do not want to read books now to post into previous years because apparently it matters to me that I read the book in the year of the list. To each their own neuroses ..."Ha! I kinda feel the same. My approach ( even though I won't get to all of the past challenges....cant even finish the current ones....) was to use books that fell in that year or before. So if it was a book being made into a movie for that year, I found one, or if it was a book I wanted to read the previous year, I found one on my TBR. If its a 2015 challenge I won't list any books published after that year ( if that all makes sense)
Funny how we all are about our books and challenge rules :-)
At the beginning of last year, I decided that trying to complete the lists for both the Pop Sugar and Book Riot challenges was too demanding, even though most years I read more books than would be required to meet both challenges. I just didn't like the pressure of having to find books that fit, although of course some prompts were easy. I decided to read six books from each list, so one book book each month, and identified prompts I wanted to do, plus suggested titles for most of them. In the end, I never got around to reading books that fit most of those prompts but still managed to read at least six from each list just by a year-end matching of what I'd read to the full lists. I may still pursue a few of the prompts from last year that were most interesting. My plan for this year is NOT to have a plan, just to read and see what happens to fit (I may seek out a few books that meet specific prompts, just to feel like I'm actually working on the challenge and not being so passive). I've already been able to check off two on the Pop Sugar list.
I discovered the Pop Sugar Challenge at the end of December so the 2019 challenge is my first. When I realized there were past years, my very first thought was that I had to go back and do those too. My reasons for doing it are equal parts the love of books/reading, the need to check boxes on lists, and the exposure to the wide range of material the prompts give. I will compare my 2018 reads to the 2018 list and see if they fill any of the prompts. From there I'll fill the prompts as I go with any reading that is NOT for the current challenge. Check back in 50 years to see if I finished the backlog...
Tracy wrote: "Haha, I have backlists of all of the challenges from their beginnings already planned out. Realistically, I know its never going to happen, but it sure is fun to think about :-)"I am the same way! I first learned about the challenge/group in 2017, and planned to do past year challenges. So far that hasn't happened, and I haven't been able to finish a challenge yet!..
I only finished half of 2018 so this year I'm committed to finishing the 2018 list and the entire 2019 list by the end of this year! And since I don't want to use one book for several prompts, that will have to be 75 books. So surely I won't be getting around to starting 2017's list but we'll see ;)
Theresa wrote: "I just leave the idea of finishing 2015 in the background, not as a compelling current challenge but just something that it can fill with books not fitting current challenge. For example, I'm currently reading The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and I'm not yet seeing where it could possibly fit in 2019 PS."The Gentleman's Guide can fit the family prompt or your fave prompt from a past challenge. Such a great read!
I'm planning on completing the 10 I missed in 2018 (I joined the challenge much later in the year) along with 49/50 for this year's (not sure I will do Lit Rpg.) I love the idea of checking back to do past challenges once I get those completed!
I, hoping to do this starting this year. I was first introduced to the challenge last year (3018) but, despite my best efforts, life got in the way and I didn't quite complete the entire challenge.
However, my life has taken a dramatic turn again, so I feel like I will have much more reading time this year (mostly due to starting haemodialysis this year so having 15 hours a week in which I'm literally doing nothing else!).
Once I'm through with the 2019 prompts, including advanced, I'm going to go back and start at the start. So if that's 2015? That's where I'll go back to. I was thinking I would just go back in reverse order, but I think I like the idea of starting at the start better, especially where some prompts are sort of 'follow on' prompts from previous year (like 'your favourite prompt from ... year').
Once I'm all caught up (might take me a year or two!) I'll take on a second challenge like ATY, or even have a second go around at PopSugar for that year! I often find more than one book I want to read for any given prompt, so it'll be fun to be able to go back and revisit them!
I first discovered the PopSugar reading challenge in the summer of 2016, and I started out by just seeing how many of the books I'd read that year already fulfilled the prompts. Then I went on to complete the challenge that year, and to continue doing so for the next few years.I like the idea, personally, of keeping up with the current challenge first, and then maybe going back and completing old challenges when I'm finished.
I may or may not go back and do the 2015 challenge one day. I considered it last year when I finished the 2018 challenge by July, but then I had started to feel like completing the challenge was "work" and I wanted to read some series recommended to me without worrying about prompts for a little while. Then it's fun to pick it back up and have help finding books to read when I start it again the next year.
If I do the 2015 challenge this year, I'll probably allow myself to count books I've already used this year for the 2019 challenge. As it is, I'm already doing two separate reading challenges and trying to get each book I read to fulfill something in both lists. So far I've done that with at least 15 of the 18 books I've read for challenges this year.
So I spent some time today adding the 2015-2018 challenges to my spreadsheet. I went through this years spreadsheet and added any book I have read this year and not counted towards the 2019 challenge. I am allowing Popsugar books to count towards my ATF or Nonfiction challenges, so if I had a book that counted towards one of them only I allowed it to be used to a prior popsugar challenge. I am trying first to include it in 2015 but if it doesn’t count for a 2015 prompt I’m looking in other years. No idea if I will ever finish prior years challenges but no harm in trying.
So I added up all the prompts between 2015-2019, which leaves 232 books to read. This would be doable this year except I require sleep. So I've made the goal of finishing the 2019 challenge in 2019 and as many past prompts as possible from 2015-2018. Thoughts?
Jackie wrote: "So I added up all the prompts between 2015-2019, which leaves 232 books to read. This would be doable this year except I require sleep. So I've made the goal of finishing the 2019 challenge in 2019..."That is exactly my plan. Then, if I choose, I can carry them into future years until I finish them.
@ Theresa I read that The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue fits the prompt for a book with a game or puzzle. Perhaps it comes later in the book.
I've found my tribe! I've read several books already that don't fit a prompt for this year so now I know what to do with them! You folks are the greatest!
2015 is the only year I didn't participate. I have thought about going back and doing it. Haven't gotten that far yet.
Jackie wrote: "So I added up all the prompts between 2015-2019, which leaves 232 books to read. This would be doable this year except I require sleep. So I've made the goal of finishing the 2019 challenge in 2019..."You don't necessarily have to make it 232 total books, if you allow a book to check off a box in each challenge. Say, if one year has "a book with blue cover" and another "a book with an animal on the cover" and another "a book written by a woman" then a blue book with a cat on the cover and a female author could count towards all 3 challenges.
I started with this challenge in 2017, so have been slowly plugging reads into past years' lists when I can't find a current challenge category for them. My priority is to keep up with the current year's lists, but fill in the past years' as I have time. There are always new books coming out that aren't part of my 2019 plan that I like to be able to fill in on some spreadsheet or another!
To update, I am 1 book short of completing the 2015 list (the book is Moby Dick, so I may never finish it!) and 2 books away from finishing the 2016 list. Still on track to "catch up" by the end of 2020.
I am trying to 'catch-up' on 2018's and do 2019's at the same time, but feel I will be in perpetual catch-up as I'm doing Popsugar, BookRiot Read Harder, Around the Year, Goodreads Summer and Reading Women challenges all at once!
Stephanie wrote: "To update, I am 1 book short of completing the 2015 list (the book is Moby Dick, so I may never finish it!) and 2 books away from finishing the 2016 list. Still on track to "catch up" by the end of..."I've now started retro-actively filling the challenges from 2015-2017 with books I read each year - anything I still haven't done will eventually be added to my master TBR list!
So I’ve finished 2015 and I have completed 24/41 in 2016, 11/52 in 2017 and 2/50 in 2018. I think I’ll probably finish all of 2016 and 2017 by the end of the year but maybe not 2018. That’s ok. I’ll keep working on whatever I don’t get done this year in the coming years.
Selwa wrote: " I have a terrible habit of buying books and promptly not reading them). .."
That's just a hobby separate from reading!
I do that also. I started doing PS in 2016 and one of my personal goals each challenge is to fit a book I already own in print or ebook into as many prompts as possible. That includes books newly 'collected' LOL!
I have done extremely well with that...at least 40 books each challenge. Even better...few have disappointed me!
How does everyone treat the prompts that say "this year" from the challenges? Would you use the year you read the book, or the year of the challenge? i.e. 2016: A book that's becoming a movie this year.
Julie wrote: "How does everyone treat the prompts that say "this year" from the challenges? Would you use the year you read the book, or the year of the challenge? i.e. 2016: A book that's becoming a movie this ..."Julie- I initially looked for a book that became a movie in 2016 and tried a couple of them but didn’t find anything I wanted to read to the end. So I opened it up to a book that became a movie.
Julie wrote: "How does everyone treat the prompts that say "this year" from the challenges? Would you use the year you read the book, or the year of the challenge? i.e. 2016: A book that's becoming a movie this ..."The only challenge I haven't done is 2015, so I've been trying to fit some of my "extra" reads into those categories this year. I've tried to stick with referencing the year 2015 for year-specific categories, but wasn't too strict about it. For example, I've been reading Jason Reynolds lately, so I went back and figured out which book he wrote before turning 30 to fulfill that prompt. I also had a TBR book published in 2015 since I've been trying to get through my "already owned but not read yet" pile. But I also included books published since 2015 that, of course, had I been doing this challenge back then, wouldn't even have been published yet. I think everyone makes the challenge what they want to - categories aren't meant to be so restrictive that you can't complete them.
Hi all. So I’ve now finished the 2016 challenge. That means this year I’ve finished 2019, 2015 and now 2016. I’m at 17/52 on 2017 and 3/50 for 2018. I’m just going to keep plugging away and see how much I can get done this year.
Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge
Books mentioned in this topic
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (other topics)The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (other topics)
Anyone else doing or have done something similar? I am nearly done with the 2015 list and hope to finish the 2016-2018 lists this year, then do 2019 and 2020 in 2020 to be "caught up."
The point of the challenges for me is to read widely and read more than I would otherwise, so I don't double up on prompts and try not to reread too much unless the prompt requires it, though I've allowed a few of my favorites to slip through.
After not reading for pleasure in a very long time due to having a lot of young children, these challenges have pushed me to make reading a part of my self-care and set an example of loving books for my kids.