Transcript below:
Transcript
Well, hey friends! Roger here. Welcome to my channel Roger’s Reads. So today, I’m doing my TBR for the Pop Sugar Challenge — the reading challenge of 2021. And Pop Sugar is a media company and every year they put on this reading challenge. There are usually about 40 books or so, each with different prompts that you need to do. If you notice, I have some gaps in my bookshelf and that’s there because I have all these books piled up next to me. I actually have 50 books here that I hope to read in the coming year. So without further ado, let me get started.
In the challenge, I’m just going to read the prompts. I’m going to show you the book. I’m not going to talk about the synopsis of each book otherwise we’ll be here all day! And I’m going to put all the prompts below so then you can decide whether you’d like to do this challenge on your own. You know, it’s come to my attention every year and this is the first time that I’m going to do it. And I might even do a monthly vlog recording my adventures as I move through my Pop Sugar TBR. So let’s get cracking. Oh wait. Before I get started I want to also say the prompts need to be books from your TBR. This could be either your physical TBR on your shelves or on your Goodreads TBR or your to be read list, I guess.
So the first prompt is a book that’s published in 2021. And I actually do not have a book for this yet because it’s going to be a book published in the upcoming year. So that’ll probably be a Book of the Month Club or another book that has come to my attention.
Number two: an auto futurist book. And for that, I’m going with the Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi. This has been on my list for a while to read so I’m kind of glad I’m finally getting around to it.
Next one is: a book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover. For that one I’m going with the Anatomical Shape of the Heart and this is by Jen Bennett.
A book by an author who shares your zodiac sign. And Garth Nix shares my zodiac sign so I’m going to go with Sabriel by Garth Nix. And I have not read any other books by this author so I’m kind of looking forward to it. And I have a couple of other options such as Kindred by Octavia Butler and actually I think VE Schwab is a cancer as well, so yeah.
A dark academia book: for that one, I’m going with shades of darkness by AR Kahler. And I’ve had mixed experiences with this author. I read the first book of their Runebinder series which I really liked. I hated the second one. So this is the third book that I’m gonna be reading by this author — although I think he goes by Alex in those books — in the Runebinder Chronicles rather than AR. So this is a dark story that takes place at a university so that meets that challenge.
A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title. So that one, I’m going with Iron Trial by Cassandra Clare.
A book where the main character characters works at your current dream job. At this point of the game, I’m not… I don’t plan on searching out my dream job but there’s a book on my shelf entitled The Girl with No Shadow by Joanne Harris. This is a sequel to Chocolat. This book takes place — follows a woman who runs a little chocolate shop in Paris and I thought for the sake of this challenge, I would call working at a chocolate shop in Paris my dream job.
Number eight: is a book that’s won the Women’s Prize for Fiction and that’s a book that I have on audiobook actually. It’s called Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. And this just won the Women’s Prize for Fiction so I’m looking forward to it. And this follows Shakespeare’s son. So this has received a lot of accolades so I’m looking forward to getting to that one.
Next up is: a book with a family tree. And for that one — “we were liars” by e lockhart. And in the beginning of this book there is a family tree.
I’m at number 10: a bestseller from the 1990s. This is Speak by Laurie Anderson — by Laurie Halse Anderson. This is another book I’m looking forward to getting to but I keep forgetting about it on my shelf. So I’m going to get to it now.
A book about forgetting: for this one is, Before I Go to Sleep by Jo Watson, and I think this follows a character who who forgets everything every morning — every morning when they wake up. So it sounds intriguing. You know me. I love books about memory and forgetting and things like that.
A book that you have seen on someone else’s bookshelves: for this one I’m going to go with Letter to the Sky by John Boyne. And Simon from Savidge Reads, I do believe — it was on his bookshelf or he talked about this book. And I got it — well it was a Book of the Month Club book a while back and I haven’t read it yet so this year.
Number 13 is: a locked-room mystery. For this, I’m going with the book entitled Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty. And I actually have that one in audio book format so I’ll be listening to that in the coming year.
Number 15: is a genre hybrid. For this one, I chose A Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. So this is a young adult, fantasy, historical novel, so a couple of different genres this could fall into.
A book set mostly or entirely outdoors. this is a phenomenon I went with The Girl from Everywhere by Heidi Heilig. Most of this story takes place on a ship I do believe.
Number 17. A book with something broken on the cover. And for that one, I’m going to go with The Many Lives of John Stone. We see we have broken glass on the cover. And this is by Linda Buckley-Archer.
A book by a Muslim American author: for that one, I went with Love From A to A and that was written by S.K. Ali.
A book that was published anonymously: I do believe for that one I went with The Shadows by Alex North. I believe Alex North is a pseudonym for this author and nobody knows what the real name of this author is — or at least last that I heard.
A book with an oxymoron in the title: for that one, I went with I Woke Up Dead at the Mall.
A book about do-overs or fresh starts: for that one I went with In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren. And this was actually December’s Book of the Month Club but I’m not going to read it until the beginning of a January.
Number 22 would be: a magical realism book.
The Secret Ingredient of Wishes. So I think this follows a woman who has the ability to grant wishes.
Next up is: a book set in multiple countries. For that, I went with Washington Black and I do believe this takes place in several different countries.
A book set somewhere you’d like to visit in 2021. Not sure where I want to visit in 2021 but I decided to go with A Parisian from Kansas. I wouldn’t mind visiting Paris in the coming year but we’ll see. Hopefully, 2011 won’t be as much of a dumpster fire as 2020.
Next up is a book by a blogger, vlogger, youtube creator, or other online personality: that one I went with Looking for Alaska by John Green. For those of you who don’t know, John Green and his brother Hank Green have maintained the Vlogbrothers vlog and they’ve been at it for quite a few years already.
Twenty-six – -a book whose title starts with Q, X or Z. For that one I went with A Queer History of the United States for Young People. I’ll probably read this during the month of June for Pride month.
Twenty-seven — a book featuring three generations — grandparents, parents, and child. For that: A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum. And I believe this follows three generations of women.
A book about social or social justice issue. So that I went with The Boy in the Black Suit. I believe this is about police brutality and racism.
A book set in a restaurant. So here, I’m going with: Last Night at the Red Lobster — Last Night at the lobster… Last Night at the Lobster. And I read this book actually many many years ago and I remember I absolutely loved it. And I’ve been wanting to reread it because I really enjoyed it so this is a good chance to do so.
A book with a black and white cover. And for that, I went with Middle Game by Seanan McGuire, another book i’ve been wanting to read.
Thirty-one: is a book by an Indigenous author. For that one, I’m going with There There by Tommy Orange and I actually bought a kindle version of this book quite some time ago so hopefully I’ll be getting to it this year.
A book that has the same title as a song. And for that one, I went with Revival by Stephen King and the song is by Gregory Porter. And actually, I was surprised how many books on my bookshelves were actually are also names of songs. That was very interesting.
Thirty-three: a book about a subject you are passionate about. Well, I love stories about ghosts so I went with The Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter… right? And this is the second book in the Jackaby series. I read the first one a while ago and have been meaning to continue on with this series.
Thirty-four: a book that discusses body positivity. For that one, I went with Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy. A book found in a Black Lives Matter reading list. For that one, All-American Boys by Jason Reynolds.
A book in a different format than what you normally read. For that one, I’m going to go with Heartstopper 2. I’ve been meaning to continue on with this series. I read the first book and absolutely loved it. And actually the fourth book is coming out in 2021 so I need to read number two and three. So again, this is a graphic novel. It’s a format I usually don’t read or I read rarely.
A book that has fewer than one thousand reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. So the last I time I checked, The Chosen by Taran Matharu. I think it only had 300 reviews, so I chose this one
A book you think your best friend would like: For this one, I went with The Hazelwood by Melissa Albert, right? Yes, Melissa Albert. I love the cover.
A book about art or an artist: for this one I went with The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton. And this was a Book of the Month Club selection quite a while ago that I never read.
A book everyone seems to have read but you: for that one I went with The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
And your favorite prompt from a past Pop Sugar challenge. So I went with the 2020 challenge which is: a book with a book on the cover. For that one I chose: The Book Jumper and it’s written by Mechthild Gläser. I love the cover too. Very cool cover. And I think this is at least a duology and I do have the second one. And I don’t know if there’s any more after that but I have to check.
Okay, so those are the 30 books. Now there was…. there’s also an advanced part of this which is 10 additional books. So I’m going to try to do that as well so it’ll be 50 books total.
So the first one is: the longest book by pages on your TBR list. With that one, I’m going with The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. And I actually have that on my other my bookshelf in the other room. I forgot to bring it out here. And I think that has like 1200 pages, 1100 pages, something like that. So that will take me a while to get through.
The shortest book which is now what we have Venus is a Boy, and this is by Luke Sutherland.
The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover. And you know, I love the covers for the Gemina series — for the Illuminae series, I guess it’s called. And very beautiful covers. But yeah, I read the Illuminae book quite a while ago and — so now I want to continue on with the series.
The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover. For that one, I went with Before I Fall. Hideous cover, I think. But that’s just my opinion.
A book that’s been on your TBR list for the longest amount of time. For that one, I’m going to go with Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. This has been on my list for quite some time. I may have read this in high school but I don’t remember. But I bought it a long time ago and I have never read it so it’s time to do so.
A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn’t: that one I went with Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi. I love the cover. this is a bit of children this one is my favorite cover
A book for me Number seven: we’re on now a book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing. For that one, I’m gonna go with Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman, and that’s because I saw this author in person and I really — it was a memorable evening watching her talk about her book “When the World was Ours” — I think that’s the book she was talking about. But I do love books by this author. I’ve read a lot of other work so this one.
A book from your TBR list chosen at random. So for that one, I just went with Born of Illusion and this is Teri Brown.
Number nine — we’re almost there, the penultimate book: a DNF book from your TBR list. For that one, I chose Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks. I started reading this and just wasn’t feeling it so I didn’t finish it. So I guess I’ll have to finish it for this challenge.
And the last book in the advanced portion of this challenge is A Free Book from your TBR list. For that one, I went with Mind Games by Nancy Mehl. I actually won this in a Goodreads drawing.
So those are all the books that I’m reading from my physical TBR list in 2021 for the Pop Sugar challenge. Are you going to do this challenge? If so, let me know in the comments. So that about does it. As always, I thank you so much for watching. I really appreciate all of your support. And if you like this video, please click the “Like” button below as that really helps my channel out. And I’ll talk to you all in the next video. Roger and out!