PopSugar Reading Challenge 2021 discussion

For the week of Jan 1-9.

For this first week I read 2 books! Which being back at school I’m pretty happy with.

First I read ‘Crazy Stupid Bromance’ by Lyssa Kay Adams, which is the 3rd book in the bromance book club series (which I HIGHLY recommend. They are hilarious yet still have a pretty awesome romance to read about. This also fit into my category of a TBR book i got for free because I got an e-book from my library.

I also read ‘Bookish and the Beast’ by Ashley Poston, which is also a 3rd book in the series Once Upon a Con. I also love this book, it is a beauty and the beast retelling with a great modern twist. I also used this for a TBR book I meant to read last year but didn’t.

How’s everyone else’s first week?

My first week was great, partly because of the New Year's holiday giving me extra time to read. I read 4 books towards the challenge.

1.Bending the Paw by Diane Kelly - which is the 9th book in the Paw Enforcement series. It's a cute cozy mystery series about a police officer who is trying to make her way up to detective. Stories are told from her point of view, her K-9 partner's point of view, and the point of view of the unknown suspect. I used it for the "book with under 1,000 reviews" category.

2. The Athena Protocol by Shamim Sarif. This one was only okay for me. I liked the premise, but it couldn't hold my attention as much as thrillers usually do. Nevertheless, it fit the "book set in multiple countries" category, as it is set in Cameroon, the United Kingdom, and Serbia.

3. This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman by Ilhan Omar. Yes, it's about a politician, but it's mainly her memoir. I used it for the "book by a Muslim American author" category.

4. Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald. This is another thriller, but I used it for the "book about art or an artist" category. The main character is an artist, and the Japanese art of kintsugi is a recurring theme in her life.

I finished my first book last week The Death Cure. I used it for "a book you've seen on someone else's shelf" as it was on my teen's shelf ;) I may try to finish the series this year

Thanks for setting this up! Great idea. This week I was able to fulfill "A book with Something Broken on the cover" & "A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021". For that second prompt, I read "The best American Travel Writing 2011", because I can't wait to go all the places when it's safe to do so. I've been having trouble finding a book for "A book with oxymoron in the title" and would love suggestions :)

In the first week, I finished:

"Wild Seed" by Octavia Butler for Afrofuturism on Kindle. I actually started this the last week of December but finished in the new year.

"Murder by Other Means" by John Scalzi for a book with <1000 reviews. This was an audiobook, I had started at the end of December but finished in the new year.

"A Study in Scarlet Women" by Sherry Thomas on audiobook. I used this for body positivity-but it is a little of a stretch. I might reassign this one later.

Starting late, but in week 1 I definitely read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins and Sister Outsider by Audre Lorde