Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

Hooray for short books!! I have a shelf for books <200 pages, but even some of those take me more than one sitting these days - too many other things taking up my time. So I might read a graphic novel for this.

Listopia is here

One sitting can depend on how long you're willing to be sitting for. Did the last two Hunger Games books in one sitting.

Ann Patchett just released a book about all the dogs they have had in her bookstore, Parnassus Books, over the years. It's short and fun, The Shop Dogs of Parnassus.

The Shop Digs of Parnassus

This is a prequel to one of Sarah Addison Allen's books. Free on Kindle. Waking Kate

I am going with Every Heart a Doorway

Nothing But Blackened Teeth
A Spindle Splintered
Riot Baby
The Deep

I'll probably slot in a graphic novel or a poetry collection.

I had a theatre professor who impressed upon us that plays should ideally be read in one sitting, as it would be seen on stage, so that one can feel that emotional journey all at once without interruption. I'm always trying to add in more plays and graphic novels on my challenges, so this is a great prompt.

Well, I have been known to read 300 to 400 page book in one sitting if engrossed...

I would probably opt for graphic - Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening and Monstress, Vol. 2: The Blood I can vouch for. I have Monstress, Vol. 3: Haven in my TBR.

A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P. Djèlí Clark is a novella and can work for this prompt

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5... oscar and the lady in pink

If you're into nonfiction, there's a whole series called Hourly History available through amazon. They cover a wide variety of topics.

I have Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander.

Some picture books worth the read even if you are an adult

Sulwe
Lift
Drawn Together
We Are Water Protectors
Lindbergh: The Tale of a Flying Mouse
Armstrong: The Adventurous Journey of a Mouse to the Moon
The Heart and the Bottle
Cicada
Wishes
Ocean Meets Sky
Flotsam
Reading Beauty
I Talk Like a River

this one really make me laugh, thanks Nadine
The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors

and the granddaddy of all picture book/graphic novel/ nobody knows what to call it because it is it's own beautiful thing
The Arrival

Wide Sargasso Sea

The Old Man And The Sea

The House on Mango Street

Poetry books are always perfect so I chose An American Sunrise

My local library is doing a group discussion on Last Night at the Lobster by Stewart O'Nan. It seems to have great reviews and is short and sweet! I plan to use that for this prompt.

The funny thing about this prompt is it says "you can read in one sitting", and not that you have to read it in one sitting hah!

Agreed, Christina, I noticed that, too!

I could have read The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt last night in one sitting, if I wanted to rush through it. It's a scrapbook like story of a young woman growing up in the 1920s. Fun topic, with lots of ephemera on each page, so less words to read. And for those who are looking for author recommendations (another challenge category), I remember it had praise from Audrey Niffenegger on the back.

The author has another book like it, The War Bride's Scrapbook, although I haven't read it.

The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong (Novel) Vol. 1 is under 400 pages and for me, I can hit that in a single sitting. Plus I'm dying to find a place to put this book in.

Ain't Burned All the Bright looks amazing

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
No Place Like Oz by Danielle Paige
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw

Cozy mysteries are often fun, quick, easy reads. I will go with one of those 🙂

This can be read in one sitting. It is so good.

I just read The Bird Tribunal in one sitting, so I suppose that's the book I'll use for this one!

The Strange Library would also be a good option.

Binti (Binti 1), 90 pages.

One sitting
Hugo Award winner
Own voices

I knocked out 3 categories on 1 January.

Looking for opinions here - what is the shortest a book can be? Basically, when is a short story no longer a short story.

If it is bound up between two covers by itself, the story is a book to me, no matter the word count.

If a story is over 50 pages, I would call it a novelette, novella, or novel, but it has gone past what I consider a short story.

Nick wrote: "Looking for opinions here - what is the shortest a book can be? Basically, when is a short story no longer a short story."


Good question, and I don't know the answer. The answer is different for everyone, but I don't even know the answer FOR ME!!

I think, if a short story was released on its own (as a free Tor short or as an author promotion, for example), and it's got a Goodreads entry, then it is its own entity, and it is eligible to be used for a reading challenge. I think I would not feel comfortable using something less than 20 pages, but that limit is going to be different for everyone. I've already checked off a category with a 56 page book (and it wasn't this category), so clearly I feel okay with that.

For this challenge, I listened to Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey. At a little over 5 hours I was able to listen to it in one day. I cannot recommend this audiobook enough. The author narrates her own memoir and her telling of her story is brave, compelling, and completely heart-wrenching.

Depends on the genre and author. But the one I could read in one sitting is The Maze Runner

Gillian Flynn has a short story book: The Grown up (64 pages)
The Grown Up

I've been slowly picking my way through Dean Koontz's Nameless series in between other things, they're all super short (written for Amazon and free on Kindle even without Unlimited) and can definitely fit the bill here.

A Light in the Attic - book of poems so it is short and easy to read

Julie wrote: "For this challenge, I listened to Memorial Drive: A Daughter's Memoir by Natasha Trethewey. At a little over 5 hours I was able to listen to it in one day. I cannot r..."



WOW that is my choice for Anisfeld-Wolf award winner. I love her poetry and I look forward to her memoir. I had no idea it was so short!! Now I am looking forward to it even more!!! I'll see if I can get the audiobook - I love a good audiobook.

Nadine in NY wrote: "Nick wrote: "Nick wrote: "Looking for opinions here - what is the shortest a book can be? Basically, when is a short story no longer a short story."


Good question, and I don't know the answer. The answer is different for everyone, but I don't even know the answer FOR ME!!

I think, if a short story was released on its own (as a free Tor short or as an author promotion, for example), and it's got a Goodreads entry, then it is its own entity, and it is eligible to be used for a reading challenge. I think I would not feel comfortable using something less than 20 pages, but that limit is going to be different for everyone. I've already checked off a category with a 56 page book (and it wasn't this category), so clearly I feel okay with that."

I agree that this is a personal guideline. I typically don't count something that is less than 40-50 pages in length. But I rarely read something that short, so it isn't that big a deal for me. I kinda like the 100-page limit but do not worry if something happens to be 75 pages or so. I know that doesn't answer your question specifically, but it can give you an idea of how different each person's definition may be... 😁 Since Nadine and I have different limits. And that is okay. It is up to each individual reader to determine for themselves. 👍😋

Mark wrote: "Binti (Binti 1), 90 pages.

One sitting
Hugo Award winner
Own voices

I knocked out 3 categories on 1 January."
And what an excellent read!

On a whim I read, well... listened to, Pippi Longstocking. At about 2 1/2 hours it was a quick read. I probably could have read it faster if I had the physical book since it's only 160 pages. I typically read faster than the audiobooks, which I have set at 1.2 speed. I think I read at about 1.4. I know this because there have been a few times were I listened to the book and read along at the same time.

Nick wrote: "Looking for opinions here - what is the shortest a book can be? Basically, when is a short story no longer a short story."

My only rule is that I have to be able to add it to goodreads for the challenge. Beyond that, it can be any length for me.

A few more choices

I made a list of shortest/easiest books on my TBR, if anyone's interested:

The Trial by Franz Kafka
The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (148 pages)
Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (~150 pages)
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
Strength of Stones by Greg Bear (science fiction, 224 pages)
Furies: A Poetry Anthology of Women Warriors (Poetry collection, 112 pages)
Nights of the Round Table and Other Stories of Heroic Fantasy by Tanya Huff (short fiction collection, 133 pages)
Swan's Braid and Other Tales of Terizan by Tanya Huff (short fiction collection, 127 pages)
Way Station by Clifford D. Simak (Hugo award winner, 238 pages)
Jack of Shadows by Roger Zelazny (science fiction, 218 pages)
Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin (nonfiction, 209 pages)
The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon (horror, 215 pages)
Binti by Nnedi Okorafor (first book of a trilogy, all 3 are novella length afrofuturist science fiction)
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark (116 pages)
If This Goes On Science fiction collection, 279 pages
One World: A global anthology of short stories by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, New Internationalist Short fiction, 194 pages
The Void Between Emotions by Sumiko Saulson (138 pages)
The Lesson by Cadwell Turnbull (science fiction, 290 pages)
The Haunter by Kendra Alvey (YA fantasy/horror? 286 pages)
Paths of Glory by Humphrey Cobb (WWI fiction, 228 pages)
Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov (196 pages)
The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett (first Discworld book, 293 pages)
Tomboyland: Essays by Melissa Faliveno (essays, 254 pages)
Tamora Carter: Goblin Queen by Jim C. Hines (fantasy, 278 pages)
“All the Real Indians Died Off”: And 20 Other Myths About Native Americans by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (nonfiction, 226 pages)
Outbreak: A Crisis of Faith: How Religion Ruined Our Global Pandemic by Noah Lugeons (nonfiction, 199 pages)
The Philosopher Queens: The lives and legacies of philosophy's unsung women by Rebecca Buxton (nonfiction, 207 pages)
The Cobbler's Boy by Elizabeth Bear and Katherine Addison (fantasy, 190 pages)
The Secret Talker by Geiling Yang (155 pages)
Light Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton (178 pages)

Well I ended up doing The Giving Tree, a classic.

I just read The Gray Horse, by the cutest seven year old, Caroline Mason. Definitely read it in one sitting and the proceeds help her purchase Ozzie!

I added The Governess Affair to my kindle yesterday, hoping I'd find a few uninterrupted hours to read it. Then we lost power! Perfect :) Finished it just after the power came back on.

I finished Star Wars: Myths & Fables .

There were some good stories in it but I would rate it around a 5/10 (or 3 stars).

I listened to the audiobook of The Getaway by Greer Hendricks.

I have the book Uncivil by Keegan Eicherman set for this prompt, but was wondering if it would be a cheap way out if I chose one of the books that I read to my toddler? I read to him everyday? 😉

For this one, I read The Grownup

I love Gillian Flynn, but this one was just ok to me. 3/5.

Other Words for Home

Read Weather by Jenny Offill (186 pages).

Really enjoyed this - a woman muses on life with her husband and child, her brother, buddhism, climate change, end of the world and Trump. Much funnier than it sounds.

My edition has quotes on the cover from Ocean Vuong. Jia Tolentino and others if you are looking for that prompt.