Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A book set in or around a body of water.


I loved this idea and I'm so happy to see it made it onto our 2025 list!! What will you read?


Listopia list is Here: A Book Set in or around a Body of Water

To the Lake: A Balkan Journey of War and Peace by Kapka Kassabova - nonfiction, sounds anthropological set in Eastern Europe. Or Playground by Richard Powers or Ultramarine by Mariette Navarro.

Alice Albinia has two nonfiction works that would fit this prompt: Empires of the Indus: The Story of a River and The Britannias: An Archipelago's Tale which is a tour of the islands that surround Great Britain.

I've already read Tom Lake, but it's a perfect fit for this prompt in case others like Ann Patchett. Meryl Streep narrates on audio, so that's a bonus.

I have two books with Lake in the title...but I can't decide if either is set on or near water, although I suspect both are about lake locations. Does anyone know these books: Iron Lake and Crow Lake?

If you haven't gotten to Gideon the Ninth yet and want a sci-fi pick for this, most of the book actually takes place on an island in the middle of a body of water. and it's literally my favorite book so i have to recommend it

Is The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren near a body of water? It's on my holds list still.

Bea wrote: "I have two books with Lake in the title...but I can't decide if either is set on or near water, although I suspect both are about lake locations. Does anyone know these books: [book:Iron Lake|17582..."



I read Crow Lake years ago, and I know I loved it, and it wasn't my usual kind of book, and I've been meaning to read more by Lawson ever since. I do not remember a big body of water. There is a pond on the property, and the protagonist is a biologist so she spends time at the pond observing things while she's visiting her family. A pond is, technically, a body of water!

Nadine in NY wrote: "I read Crow Lake years ago, and I know I loved it, and it wasn't my usual kind of book, and I've been meaning to read more by Lawson ever since. I do not remember a big body of water. There is a pond on the property, and the protagonist is a biologist so she spends time at the pond observing things while she's visiting her family. A pond is, technically, a body of water!"

Thanks, Nadine, that helps.

I wanted to reread The Odyssey and that will fit in here.

The Light Between Oceans has been on my To Read list for a LONG time, after watching the incredible movie with Vikander and Fassbender. Now I finally have a reason to crack it open! (Central to a lighthouse and marine towns)

Remembering that I loved The Pisces by Melissa Broder and that it fits this prompt.

Books I've read and recommend:

Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Uncharted Waters
Raised in Ruins: A Memoir
Black Rock Bay
We Were Liars
Stillhouse Lake

We, the Drowned was a really good book that’d be perfect for this

I've got at least 3 on my TBR! My book club is reading Three Men in a Boat for February, so I'll use that. But there's also The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, and James, Percival Everett's retelling of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from Jim's point of view.

There's a lot of good books for this on the listopia! I'm going to read Playground.

If you’re looking for a mystery Megan Miranda’s last 2 books have both involved bodies of water

If We Were Villains is probably my favorite book of 2024 - the only one I've read twice this calendar year - and there's a lake on campus that features in the story.

I just picked up The Suspect. It's the basis for the TV show Murder in a Small Town (which looks good, but I haven't watched it). It takes place in Western Canada and the ocean (bay?) has already been mentioned several times in the first couple of chapters.

A group I'm in is reading this book in 2025 so it works perfectly.

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

I never got around to reading Paula Hawkins newest book, The Blue Hour, this year, so I've put that one on hold at my library and tentatively penciled it in for this category.

Her books used to get so much buzz, but it seems like no one has been talking about this one, which is confusing.

Nadine in NY wrote: "I never got around to reading Paula Hawkins newest book, The Blue Hour, this year, so I've put that one on hold at my library and tentatively penciled it in for this category.

Her..."


I read it last month already so can't count it towards this new challenge. It never crossed my mind but it certainly fits here. I hope you like it. Paula Hawkins is one of my top favorite authors alive. She is a very good writer but this newest novel was underwhelming to me and I felt let down.

For those that like a little mystery/horror, I remember The Loch being an interesting read.

For those that like something more in the vein of "chick-lit":
Lost Lake
The Cuban Heiress
The Bookstore on the Beach
The Lights of Sugarberry Cove

For those that love comics and graphic novels:
This One Summer
The Girl from the Sea

For the more YA crowd:
The Wicked Deep
The Drowning Summer
Wake (this whole series should work)

Hi all, a swimming pool will also count I assume? (English is not my first language).

So in that case don’t forget The Lido by Libby Page and The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green.

For this prompt I want to read the last one because I liked her first novel about the book club.

Ginny Myers Sain's work almost always has some connection to water in her stories. If you like mysteries and thrillers that have slight paranormal aspect, Dark and Shallow Lies and One Last Breath are solid choices.

Technically it's almost Jan. 1st so I've started my book for this prompt:


Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Already about to start ch. 3. This book is very interesting so far. I love the personification the author uses. The way the author describes the ship breaking apart is like it's a living creature. It's literally chilling. If I'm feeling this great about this book this early on, I get the feeling I'm going to enjoy this.

I think I’m going to read Silent Spring some if which is about poisoning water with pesticides

JocelynS wrote: "Hi all, a swimming pool will also count I assume? (English is not my first language).

So in that case don’t forget The Lido by Libby Page and The Shelly Bay Ladies Swimming Circle by Sophie Green..."




I think a swimming pool is a clever interpretation for this prompt!


In answer to your question about English, most English speakers will interpret "body of water" to mean "a naturally occurring body of water, like a pond, lake, or ocean." But I don't think it should preclude a swimming pool.


Another good swimming pool book is The Most

There are just SO many choices on my TBR Bookshelf....after going through them I will be reading:

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins


HAPPY READING!!

Impossible Causes by Julie Mayhew may fit this prompt. set on an isolated island, the sea/ocean is frequently referred to.

No Idea if that would work, to me it does, but i read A Tale Told By Traitors this year and really enjoyed it. They are on a ship most of the time.

For my MM readers out there, Private Charter also takes place on a boat. its a 5stars for me.

I think i will finally read the sequel to the Girl From Everywhere, The Ship Beyond Time as its been sitting on my TBR for years - and im trying to read books i own this year!

Finished reading: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

4 star read for me. Excellent. I got whiplash getting back into reality because I was so deep in this.

Treasures of the Lochs
This is suspenseful YA Christian fiction, involving a modern-day treasure hunt in Scotland, with a bit of supernatural thrown in. Blending historical fact and Scottish legend within an action-packed adventure, Treasures of the Lochs is an exciting, powerful story of faith, friendship, and redemption. The target audience is teenage and above (some parts would be too intense for younger readers). This book is a 2024 NIEA Finalist in Religion Fiction. It also hit Amazon#1 New Release for Christian Fantasy. I hope you’ll check it out.

I went with "Three Men in a Boat" by Jerome K. Jerome.

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-...

Finished James by Percival Everett

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A couple of scenes in Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch take place in a river, and Peter's girlfriend is a river goddess.

I also read James. I really liked it. 5 stars.

Flat Water by Jeremy Broyles

I read Into the Drowning Deep. It's one I've been sitting on for a few years. I should have read it sooner because I really enjoyed it.

I just read the short story collection The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power and some of the stories involve a body of water. Would I be able to count this book towards this category?

Cathern wrote: "I just read the short story collection The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power and some of the stories involve a body of water. Would I be able to count this b..."


If you think it counts, then it counts. (I'm not familiar with that book so I have no personal opinion.)

Is it too much of a stretch to go with The Bone Tree it's set in mississipi, in the swamps. Technically a body of water?

Aimee wrote: "Is it too much of a stretch to go with The Bone Tree it's set in mississipi, in the swamps. Technically a body of water?"

Sounds good to me.

I'm reading Incantations over water by Sharanya Manivannan. The blurb reads, "On full moon nights, from deep within the lagoons of Mattakalappu, Ilankai, mysterious sounds emerge. During the three decades of civil war, it is said, those sounds had ceased. The mermaid Ila, who has lived in those waters for a long, long time, speaks and sings about her world (and the worlds of mermaids everywhere). Her stories weave together cultural history, eco-consciousness, political reality and personal longing – and always, the magical."

Anshita wrote: "I'm reading Incantations over water by Sharanya Manivannan. The blurb reads, "On full moon nights, from deep within the lagoons of Mattakalappu, Ilankai, mysterious sounds emerge. D..."

That sounds amazing! I already completed this prompt, but I'm going to add this book to my TBR anyway!

Swapped my original pick for this one to this:

Finished Drowning by T.J. Newman

My Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I read James