2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge

Hi Blisses,

I won’t even bother telling you that I’m back from a hiatus. I’m just so tired of saying that. Hehe. So I’ll just talk about this reading challenge right away.

Last year, I joined this challenge and almost finished it. In fact I’m pretty sure I would’ve finished it if I hadn’t had to take care of some family matters. But it’s the new year, a new decade and I promise myself I will not dwell in the past. Let’s just move forward.

POPSUGAR Reading Challenge has 40 standard book challenge prompts. Aside from that, it has ten extra prompts considered as “advanced” and it’s easy to understand why they’re called that. So without further ado, here are the prompts for this year’s POPSUGAR Reading Challenge.

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1.) A book that’s published in 2020 – Havenfall by Sara Holland (March 03, 2020)

2.) A book by a trans or nonbinary author – Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

3.) A book with a great first line – Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
( “On the second Sabbat of the Twelftmoon, in the city of Weep, a girl fell from the sky.” )

4.) A book about a book club – The Bromance Book Club

5.) A book set in a city that has hosted the Olympics – Again, But Better by Christine Riccio (London)

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6.) A bildungsroman – The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow

7.) The first book you touch on a shelf with your eyes closed – A List of Cages by Robin Roe

8.) A book with an upside-down image on the cover – The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

9.) A book with a map – The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

10.) A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club – The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz (Recommended by @Lavendaire)

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11.) An anthology – Because You Love to Hate Me

12.) A book that passes the Bechdel test – Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

13.) A book with the same title as a movie or TV show but is unrelated to it – Save the Date by Morgan Matson (2012 Rom-Com film starring Mark weber and Lissy Caplan)

14.) A book by an author with flora or fauna in their name – Beauty by Robin McKinley (Robin)

15.) A book about or involving social media – Tweet Cute by Emma Lord (Twitter)

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16.) A book that has a book on the cover – Uprooted by Naomi Novik

17.) A medical thriller – Misery by Stephen King

18.) A book with a made-up language – The BFG by Roald Dahl (language-Gobblefunk)

19.) A book set in a country beginning with “C” – Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (Canada)

20.) A book you picked because the title caught your attention – The Game of Love and Death by Martha Brockenbrough

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21.) A book published the month of your birthday – I Can’t Make This Up by Kevin Hart (Publication Date: June O6, 2017)

22.) A book about or by a woman in STEM

23.) A book that won an award in 2019 – The Wicked King by Holly Black (Goodreads Awards – Young Adult Fantasy)

24.) A book on a subject you know nothing about – A Little History of Economics by Niall Kishtainy (Economics – sure I had subjects about it before but I still don’t know a thing about it)

25.) A book with only words on the cover, no images or graphics – Insomnia by Stephen King

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26.) A book with a pun in the title – Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

27.) A book featuring one of the seven deadly sins – The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (Greed and Envy being a retelling of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty)

28.) A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character – Scythe by Neal Shusterman

29.) A book with a bird on the cover – Song of the Dryad by Natalia Leigh

30.) A fiction or nonfiction book about a world leader – Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith

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31.) A book with “gold,” “silver,” or “bronze” in the title – Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik (Silver)

32.) A book by a WOC – Becoming by Michelle Obama

33.) A book with at least a four-star rating on Goodreads – Beard Necessities by Penny Reid (4.32)

34.) A book you meant to read in 2019 – Geekerella by Ashley Poston

35.) A book with a three-word title – Kiss Me Not by Emma Hart

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36.) A book with a pink cover – The Grace Year by Kim Ligget

37.) A Western – The Gunslinger by Stephen King (Fictional Western)

38.) A book by or about a journalist – The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson

39.) Read a banned book during Banned Books Week – The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

40.) Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR Reading Challenge – Love Hacked by Penny Reid (A Book with “Love” in the title)

Advanced

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1.) A book written by an author in their 20s – The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews

2.) A book with “20” or “twenty” in the title – Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella

3.) A book with a character with a vision impairment or enhancement (a nod to 20/20 vision) – Romancing the Duke by Tessa Dare (the hero has a vision impairment)

4.) A book set in the 1920s – The Diviners by Libba Bray (New York, 1920)

5.) A book set in Japan, host of the 2020 Olympics – Warcross by Mari Lu (fictional Japan)

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6.) A book by an author who has written more than 20 books – Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

7.) A book with more than 20 letters in its title Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall (21 letters)

8.) A book published in the 20th century – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling (original publication: June 26, 1997)

9.) A book from a series with more than 20 books – Glory in Death by J.D. Robb (47-50 books)

10.) A book with a main character in their 20s – The Foxe and the Hound by R.S. Grey (Heroine is 27 years old)

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Whoah, let me just note that even the standard prompts seem like advanced. All the prompts are quite interesting but they’re undeniably hard. Is it weird that I’m even more pumped up now? 🙂

As you can see, the list is blank. It’s because I don’t want to waste my time browsing books. I’ll just fill in the list as I go. I pledged 150 books for my Goodreads Challenge and I think it would be easy to squeeze 50 books for this reading challenge. And by the way, if you want to know more about this challenge, head over HERE and HERE.

How about you? Are you doing this challenge too? Any recommendations? Share your links and let’s chat.