Pop Sugar Reading Challenge

The Devil Wears Prada by Laura Weisberger fulfilled the “Book with an Item of Clothing or Accessory on the Cover” for the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. The cover on my copy sported a red, high-heeled shoe. I also chose the novel for its setting, a fashion magazine house, a rarity these days. What can I say about The Devil Wears Prada ? There was a lot of name-dropping, much description of clothing, accessories, and shoes, and way too much debasing of humans. I had already seen the movie when I read the novel this summer. The amazing Meryl Streep played our own Miranda Priestly. The woman is perfection, and I pictured her as I read the novel. I won’t say I didn’t like the story. There were tons of funny, poignant and ridiculous scenes to keep the momentum of the book going. But it was repetitive. Miranda abuses her power over Andrea. Andrea fusses and hates over Miranda. Miranda abuses her power. Andrea rebels and fusses and continues to ruin her life. The scenes were gre

The Hours by Michael Cunningham fulfilled the “Book that Takes Place in a Single Day” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. The novel spans the day of three women in three different points in time: Virginia Woolf, Clarissa Vaughn, and Laura Brown. I should have read Mrs. Dalloway first. I ’m feeling like my blog is a Debbie Downer. In college, I was an Education/English major. We had to concentrate on a subject at UCONN even if we planned to teach elementary school. I love books and took varied classes in the English department from Shakespeare to Kiddie Lit. (Note: The famous (infamous?) Sam Pickering taught the Kiddie Lit class. He was the inspiration for Keating in The Dead Poet’s Society, but unfortunately , no Robin Williams.) With these classes under my belt (two Shakespeare, two American Lit, short story, kiddie lit, poetry, author study on Nadine Gordimer, and a few more), I can say I ’ve read my fair share of literary fiction, and classics. And most b

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson fulfilled the “Book Published Posthumously” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. Mr. Larson died in November 2004. The novel was published in Sweden in 2006, then translated to English in 2009. It is the second in the Millennium Series. I opted to read this long story because I had a copy in the house. My other choice was Agatha Christie ’s autobiography, another enormous book. Thinking a novel would flow faster, I chose the 700-page novel vs the 500-page tome. I don’t know if I was wrong or not, but I started the tale in February. I finished it at the beginning of July. So there ya go. The story follows up the life of Lisbeth Sanders after the whole crazy first book. Yes, crazy—too many plots, too many words, not enough editing. I can say the same for this book but first the plot. If you skip to the second half of the novel, the storyline turns to a murder of two Millennium reporters about to release an expo

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer ’s Stone by J.K. Rowling fulfilled the “Reread a Favorite Book” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. The classic story of the boy who lived will always be one of my favorite stories of all time. In case you ’ve been asleep for the past twenty (yes, twenty) years, HP and the Sorcerer’s Stone is a wonderful fantasy novel about a young man, neglected by his aunt and uncle guardians, who finds out he’s a wizard. He enters a fantastic world of magic, mythical creatures, and true friendship. His journey is fraught with both magical problems and those of a new kid at school. That’s the easy version of the tale. It’s also a battle between good and evil that spans seven amazing books. ’Nough said. This would be my third pass on Sorcerer ’s Stone. The first was paper and the last two times, I listened to the great Jim Dale read the novel. In retrospect, I should have got the Stephen Fry version of the audio. Then I’d compare and contrast.

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood fulfilled the “Book about Family” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. The novel spanned the life of the protagonist, Iris Chase, from her childhood until her eighties. The story explored her immediate family, her husband, her in-laws, and her own family of daughter and granddaughter. I will spoil big here because I don’t think I can talk about the book without sharing all. Let ’s talk format first. Atwood is a genius. Her books, though not happy, skippy trips in the park, have profound messages that make you think. In The Blind Assassin , she completed this with an oddly formatted book. She went back and forth in time but also in and out of a novel with another novel. If the average author had taken on such a challenge, the book would have been schizophrenic. But it ’s Atwood, so the technique was amazing.   I kinda wish I had read the paperback rather than listen, just to see how she structured the chapters. Even with the a

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie fulfills the “Own Voices” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. I’m so glad I read this book. Most of the story takes place on a Spokane Indian reservation in the state of Washington. It ’s a first-person narrative of a fourteen-year-old boy who lives on the “rez” and opts to school elsewhere. The author of the book read the audiobook. It was perfect. The tale spoke to me on many levels. For one, it was a story of a fourteen-year-old kid trying to make his way in the world. I have a daughter the same age. I can relate to their struggles on some level. But our poor character Arnold, or Junior as he is called at home, has so much more to deal with than my suburban, white child. The author portrayed his battles beautify and added hope in every act. Kinda made me want my kiddo to just get over it, but that ’s now how it works for teens or anyone, really. Anyway, Arnold is a warrior and a hero.

There There by Tommy Orange fulfilled the category “Book Told from Multiple Points of View” in the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. The novel easily fit the category as it was told by over ten characters. There There was an interesting read, in that it explored the lives of Native Americans who live near Oakland, California. When we think Natives, Indian, Native Americans, many of us assume a reservation or a casino. I ’m from Connecticut and had no idea how many Native Americans lived in the area until the casino opened and the second one went up from another tribe. I felt naïve for not knowing anything about them. Mr. Orange created an odd structure for the book. The story included interview-like passages and straight narrative. I loved the portrait of the various people and their struggles. Their daily lives illustrated their culture. Not everyone had a good life. Not everyone had healthy or happiness. Some were even criminals. But they had hope until the end. **

Pinned for Murder by Elizabeth Lynn Casey fulfills the “Book about a Hobby” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. The novel has a librarian as a protagonist whose hobby is sewing. She is part of the Sweet Briar Ladies Society sewing circle in small-town South Carolina. Cozy mysteries are my jam. I picked up the first one in the series because the main character is a librarian. I ’m hoping one day to write a cozy mystery series based in a library. Reading the book was research, therefore tax-deductible. **wink** I can sew but I’m not very good at it. The occasional project comes up, but not often or, really, ever. My lack of a similar hobby didn’t detract from the novel. The story was perfect for the category. Sewing-themed activity and talk peppered the book. The women use their love of sewing to grow closer together, be a community, and a support system for each other. And ****spoiler*** knowledge of sewing, fabrics, patterns, thread (I ’m trying not to spoil

The Mirror Crack ’d Side to Side by Agatha Christie fulfilled the “Book with Featuring an Amateur Detective” category of the PopSugar 2019 Reading Challenge. Man, I love an Agatha Christie. Miss Marple was our sleuth in this tale. Not my favorite by the author but a steady example of the genre. Ms. Christie published the novel in 1962, aging our heroine, Miss Marple, appropriately. Our plucky detective can no longer run around as she did in days of old. She ’s almost housebound and is forbidden to garden. It was hard to read the story without her out with her flowers. Though in her dotage, Miss Marple’s mind is as sharp as ever. She hears about a murder in a great house not too far from her own and investigates. (Actually, the local detective gives her a consult and her doctor encourages the man to include Miss Marple in the investigation. Good for her mind, he says, and he’s not wrong.) I found the novel a little …what’s the word…stretched? I love Miss Marple and Agatha