6 Books to Get You Started on the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge
Just because you’re doing the 2024 Read Harder Challenge doesn’t mean you can’t sign up for other reading challenges! In fact, in my experience, the kinds of people who do the Read Harder Challenge are also the ones who have several more reading challenge trackers in their dedicated reading journals. You all are dedicated and ambitious booklovers!
That’s why every other week in the Read Harder Newsletter, I’ll be sharing recommendations for other reading challenges from across the internet, plus readathons and other bookish activities you should know about.
Today, I want to talk about the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, which is always a buzzy one. I’m going to give a recommendation for each of the top six (of 50) prompts, but let me know if you’d like to see more, and I can do some follow-ups in future newsletters.
1. A book with the word “leap” in the title
Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker
2024 is a leap year, so why not use that extra time to curl up with a leap day romance? Cara learns while visiting Ireland that it’s a tradition there for women to propose on a leap day…and the next morning, the day of her flight home, she wakes up wearing a tinfoil ring with a guy she doesn’t recognize in her bed. Whoops. Finn (and his dog) tag along with her to LA, trying to convince Cara to give this marriage a chance.
Alternate options: Leaping Beauty: And Other Animal Fairy Tales by Gregory Maguire, The Salmon Who Dared to Leap Higher by Ahn Do-hyun, and The Cat, the Cash, the Leap, and the List by Sue Campbell.
2. A bildungsroman
Real Life by Brandon Taylor
A bildungsroman is a coming of age story about a novel about the “moral and psychological growth of the main character.” This a common theme for YA books, but it is not isolated to that age category. Wallace is a queer Black man from Alabama attending university in the Midwest, struggling to find a place to belong even amongst his friends. Brandon Taylor is an acclaimed author with a poetic writing style that will draw you in.
Alternate options: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery, and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. For even more, check out this Book Riot list of 24 of the Best Coming of Age Novels!
3. A book about a 24-year-old
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
I’ll be the first one to say this book isn’t for everyone, but it’s one of my favorites. Rachel is a 24-year-old with mother issues, repressed queerness, and an eating disorder that controls her life. Over the course of the book, she learns what it would be like to let go and feed her appetites. It’s hard to be in her head, but the writing is darkly funny, and it’s a cathartic experience to read. Content warnings for detailed descriptions of eating disorders, fatphobia, homophobia, and some discussion of zionism.
Alternate options: That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming, My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh, and Night Film by Marisha Pessl.
4. A book about a writer
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
This is not going to be a difficult prompt to fulfill: author main characters are easy to stumble on. I think this one would be a great pick, though, because it not only has a novelist main character, but it’s also a metafictional book about the nature of storytelling.
Alternate options: Misery by Stephen King, IQ84 by Haruki Murakami, and A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand.
5. A book about K-pop
Gorgeous Gruesome Faces by Linda Cheng
You didn’t expect my recommendation for this prompt to be horror, did you?? Sunny was once one-third of a K-pop group, until one fateful night, when a ritual went wrong, and one of the girls jumped to her death. Now Sunny has entered a K-pop competition to try to get back in touch with the remaining ex-groupmate, Candie, but there’s something sinister going on in the competition, and Candie is involved.
Alternate options: I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee, Idol Thoughts by J. S. Lee, and Once Upon a K-Prom
by Kat Cho.
6. A book about pirates
Tell No Tales: Pirates of the Southern Seas by Sam Maggs and Kendra Wells
I think pirate romance novels are about to blow up in popularity this year, but that’s not the only genre that completes this prompt! A favourite soapbox topic of mine is that more adults should read middle grade comics, and this title is a great option. It’s based on the real-life story of Anne Bonny, queer pirate queen. Look, if you’re going to be completing both the POPSUGAR and Read Harder challenges, you could stand to include some quick, fun reads like this comic!
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, and Hunt on Dark Waters (Crimson Sails, #1) by Katee Robert.
Those are my recommendations for the first six prompts of the 2024 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge. Let me know in the comments: are you trying to complete the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge? Are there any other reading challenges you’re doing this year? And would you like more POPSUGAR Reading Challenge recommendation lists in the future? Let’s chat about it!
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