I DID IT!!!

Guys, I finished the POPSUGAR Book Challenge! And I beat Allison! To be honest, she could have kicked my butt - at one point I had at least 10 books to go when she had 3, but she didn't like her last categories, so I benefited, yippee!

By the numbers, this was 50 prompts, and I finished it in half a year. And I read other books too for a total of 57 books so far this year! This should easily be the most books I've ever read in a year - although I might read 1-2 books a month the rest of the year, ha.

So here's a breakdown of the prompts and books I read for anyone who might be interested, and that might be no one? Or maybe just Allison?

• Book made into a movie you've already seen: Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine [Cute/ok, hardly like the movie]
• True Crime: Columbine by Dave Cullen [Gripping]
• The next book in a series you started: Deeply Odd by Dean Koontz [Blah, loved some of this series but not this one]
• A book involving a heist: The Heist by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg [Meh, series that I won't continue with]
• Nordic noir: The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagerkrantz [Continue to enjoy these, not as good as original 3]
• A novel based on a real person: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly [Zzzzz, wanted to like this but didn't]
•  A book set in a country that fascinates you: The Maid’s Tale by Rose Plummer and Tom Quinn [Really interesting POV of one of my fave topics, the British aristocracy]
• A book with a time of day in the title: Goodnight from London by Jennifer Robson [Another of my fave topics - WW2 - and a great, mostly light read]
• A book about a villain or antihero: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snickett [Meh]
• A book about death or grief: If I Did It by The Goldman Family [OJ is a psycho]
• A book by a female author who uses a male pseudonym: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling [Dark, slow, didn't like many of the characters, stick with Harry Potter and Robert Galbraith]
• A book with a LGBTQ+ protagonist: Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertall [So good]
• A book that is also a stage play or musical: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon [Great read, last 1/4 got a little tedious]
• A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you: Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson [AMAZING]
• A book about feminism: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins [Yes, this was a stretch but there was a section that discussed feminism, ha. Fun, YA fluff]
• A book about mental health: Turtles All the Way Down by John Green [Good, not great]
• A book you borrowed or was given to you as a gift: 10 Habits of Happy Moms by Meg Meeker [Too long but liked the points]
• A book by two authors: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen [Not my fave thriller but a good read]
• A book about or involving a sport: Bleachers by John Grisham [Easy read by a great author]
• A book by a local author: Rotten by Lily Sayre [Lily is going places, cute story for kids]
• A book with your favorite color in the title: When Hitler Stole Pink Rabbit by Judith Kerr [A good WW2 book from a young girl who lived it]
• A book with alliteration in the title: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth [Skip the whole thing EXCEPT the parenting chapter]
• A book about time travel: The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry [Overwrought teen love but that's some of my fave, ha]
•        A book with a weather element in the title – The Hurricane Sisters by Dorothea Benton Frank [started out slow but got really good]
• A book set at sea: The Shark Club by Ann Kidd Taylor [I give it points for the ending surprising me]
• A book with an animal in the title: A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron [LOVED it! So sweet!]
• A book with song lyrics in the title: Holding Out For a Hero by Victoria Tan Viem [Blech, don't read it]
• A book about or set on Halloween: Trick or Treat Murder by Lisa Meier [Not bad but nothing special]
• A book with characters who are twins: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell [Not my fave by Rainbow but cute]
• A book mentioned in another book: The Witches by Roald Dahl [Really goofy, not his best]
• A book from a celebrity book club: The Lying Game by Ruth Ware [Lame]
• A childhood classic you’ve never read: Number the Stars by Lois Lowry [Loved it, want to read it with the kids]
• A book that’s published in 2018: Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella [Typical of her]
• A past Goodreads Choice Awards winner: Saint Odd by Dean Koontz [The last in the series redeemed the series after 2 or 3 stinkers in the middle]
• A book set in the decade you were born: Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell [Excellent]
• A book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to: Year Zero by Nora Roberts [It's Nora, 'nuff said]
• A book with an ugly cover: The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom [SO glad I looked past that ugly cover]
• A book that involves a bookstore or library: Still Me by JoJo Moyes [The best of the 3]
• Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 POPSUGAR Reading Challenges {I chose 'Female author'}: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins [Not as good as her others in this trilogy]

ADVANCED 

• A bestseller from the year you graduated high school: The Street Lawyer by John Grisham [The man can tell a story]
• A cyberpunk book: Cinder by Marissa Meyer [Fun YA, devoured all 4 books]
• A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place: Y is for Yesterday by Sue Grafton [I don't get people's love for this series]
• A book tied to your ancestry: In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson [Is it possible to be interesting and boring at the same time?]
• A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows [THE WINNER OF THE CHALLENGE!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE]
• An allegory: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle [How is this a classic? Yuck]
• A book by an author with the same first or last name as you: Chomp, Chomp Chomp: How I Survived a Bear Attack and Other Cautionary Tales by Allena Hansen [Kept me entertained but not super engaging]
• A microhistory: Educated by Tara Westover [Knock your socks off good]
• A book about a problem facing society today: Glory Over Everything by Kathleen Grissom (racism) [So, so, so, so good]
• A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge: Nine Women, One Dress by Jane L. Rosen [Allison gave me a winner!]

I would say the reason I like to do things like this is it forces me to read stuff I might not ordinarily pick or wouldn't know about without researching a prompt. Sometimes that results in a winner and sometimes it doesn't - either way, it introduces me to something new!

Now onto collecting my reward from Allison! Woot, woot!