Popsugar Reading Challenge Update!

Hello out there!  After a flag in my reading due to a few very busy weeks at work, I'm back up to my regular pace, and thought I'd check in with my reading challenge.  I'm slowly whittling away at the categories, while mixing in a good number of non-challenge books as I do.  So, since the last time we spoke, these are the categories I've completed, and what I have left to do.

Completed
-A book based on a true story.  For this, I decided to use The Dressmaker, which relies heavily on the sinking of the Titanic and the trials that followed.  I originally intended this title to fulfill the category of "A book that takes place in your hometown," for Washington, DC (my adopted hometown) but felt that not enough of the narrative took place in DC for it to really count.  Luckily, it fulfills this category instead!

-A book your mom loves.  My mom loves The Thorn Birds, and after reading it, I really enjoyed it to.  What I did not enjoy so much was that, while I was reading it, I left it on the nightstand and her devil dog Fiona (they were visiting at the time) decided it looked like a good chew toy, so I had to buy the library a new copy.  Which was more difficult than it sounds because the book isn't published in hardcover anymore!

-A book with antonyms in the title.  I hadn't even realized I completed this category until Jeffrey Cook, author of Foul Is Fair, pointed out that his title counted for it!  Doi!  How could I have missed that?  Well, it's a bonus, because I didn't think I'd have it done yet, but I do!  Ha!

-A book with bad reviews.  I technically used Maggie Shipstead's Seating Arrangements for this, after seeing the reviews when I finished the book, but you could easily count Katie MacAlister's Improper English, too.  Neither of these absolutely tanked in ratings, but the reviews, upon scrolling through, certainly aren't favorable.


In Progress
I'm reading several books for the challenge right now, so I thought I'd separate those out, too!

-A book that became a movie.  As planned, I'm using Monuments Men for this one.

-A book more than 100 years old.  I'd originally planned to use 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea for this, but I really wasn't feeling that, so I'm reading A Little Princess instead.  It was originally published in 1905, so it works!

-A book that came out the year you were born.  I started Outlander for this category, as planned.  It's...not quite what I thought it was?  We'll see!


Still to Go
-A classic romance.  I picked up Anna Karenina at a used bookstore a while back, so I'm going to use that one.

-A book written by someone under 30.  Oh, this was a hard one to find a candidate for, because all of the authors I thought were really young are actually older than I thought!  Oi.  So, very reluctantly, I have decided to take up Veronica Roth's Divergent.  I've avoided it until now, but now it seems to have become unavoidable.

-A popular author's first book.  I wanted to go with a big author for this one, and because Terry Pratchett died recently, I've settled on The Carpet People.

-A book from an author you love but haven't read yet.  Well, I absolutely adore Tamora Pierce, but for some reason I haven't read Battle Magic yet, so that will fill this category.

-A Pulitzer Prize-winning book.  Like pretty much everyone else out there, I'm going to knock this one out with All the Light We Cannot See.

-A book at the bottom of your to-read list.  My to-read list is in a constant state of flux and doesn't really have a concrete "bottom," so at some point I'll just pick the most recently added book (which is, by default, at the bottom) and read that.

-A book that scares you.  I have no idea for this one, honestly.  Horror books don't actually scare me, so I think I might have to go with some nonfiction that's terrifyingly true.  We'll see where that goes.

-A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't.  I was a good student and read the books I was assigned, and I could only think of one exception that wasn't an actual textbook: Affairs of Honor.  It's apparently about early congressmen, senators, etc. being bitchy to each other, so it shouldn't be too bad of a read.

-A book from your childhood.  The obvious one that comes to mind is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.  This might finally give me the excuse to order that new box set I've been eyeing up...

-A book with a love triangle.  I've gotta fill this one with Endless Knight, Kresley Cole's sequel to Poison Princess.  I loved Princess (review here), but haven't cracked Endless yet.  But it has definitely got a love triangle.

-A book set in high school.  Pretty sure that Perks of Being a Wallflower is going to flesh out this category.  I kind of hate books set in high school, but Perks is supposed to be great, so I hope it won't let me down!

-A graphic novel.  Sharaz-de is a graphic novel inspired by 1001 Arabian Nights, and I've been eyeing it up for a while now.  Plus, Scheherazade is pretty much my favorite fairy tale ever.

-A book that takes place in your hometown.  After finding that The Dressmaker didn't really work for this one, I've re-directed myself toward Second Position by Katherine Locke.  This takes place in DC.

-A play.  I haven't decided on this yet, though I'll probably keep it basic and do Shakespeare.

-A banned book.  Well, books in the US are never actually banned by the government, but according to a list of frequently challenged books, The Kite Runner fits this category.  I read A Thousand Splendid Suns, also by Hosseini, several years ago and liked it, so this should be a good contender.


-A book you started but never finished.  I swear to year, this is the year I finally take down Vellum, which I have started multiple times but have never been able to complete.  But this time, I will do it!