#PopsugarReadingChallenge book 35: A book about magical creatures that aren't dragons. "David and the Phoenix," by Edward Ormondroyd.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-35-david-and-the-phoenix

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 34: A book with a nonverbal character. "Dog on It," by Spencer Quinn.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-34-dog-on-it

Prompt 45 - a book with a title that starts with the letter "Y" - August 15, 2025 - This book is messed up. I sincerely hope for all the authors out there that the publishing world is not this diabolical.

Rating ️ ️ ️ ️

#PopsugarReadingChallenge book 32: A book about a nontraditional education. "Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools that Built the Civil Rights Movement," by Elaine Weiss.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-32-spell-freedom

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 31: a book centering LGBTQ+ characters that's not about coming out. "Fingersmith," by Sarah Waters.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-31-fingersmith

Prompt from 2022 - A book written by a Pacific Islander author - August 5, 2025 - This book was a slow starter, and it has a lot of romance tropes going on, but the author does a great job of world-building. The plot picks up later in the book, and I want to read the next one to see what happens next.

Rating ️ ️ ️ ️

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 30: A classic you've never read. After reading "Jane Austen's Bookshelf," I looked up some of the books that inspired her, including "Lover's Vows," the play that is performed by the characters in "Mansfield Park."

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-30-lovers-vows

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 29: A book about an immigrant or Refugee. "The Good Immigrant: 26 Writers Reflect on America," edited by Nikesh Shukla and Chimene Suleyman.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-29-the-good-immigrant

Prompt 13 - a book rated less than three stars on Goodreads - July 22, 2025 - This book had a 2.8-star rating at the time I started reading this book. It's the third and final installment of The Atlas Six series. I was greatly disappointed. The intrigue was nonexistent, the writing pretentious, dry, and painfully slow. The ending was incredibly lackluster and not consistent with the previous novels.

Rating ️ ️ 1/2

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 28: A book about a happily single woman protagonist. "This American Ex-wife: How I Ended My Marriage and Started My Life," a memoir/polemic by Lyz Lenz.

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 27: A book with "Book" in the title, or 2 or more books on the cover. "Jane Austen's Bookshelf," by rare book dealer Rebecca Romney, added far too many titles to my TBR list.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-27-jane-austens-bookshelf

Prompt 32 - a book about an overlooked woman in history - July 10, 2025 - This book is centered around Martha Ballard, a midwife from Maine in the late 1700s. Although Martha's delivery record is incredibly impressive, no one knows who she is. Her legacy lives on through her female descendants, however, with one founding the Red Cross and another becoming the first female doctor in the US.

Rating ️ ️ ️ ️ 1/2

Prompt 33 - a book featuring an activity on your bucket list - July 9, 2025 - In this book, a group of four sail their boat to an atoll, which is on my bucket list. However, I don't have the murder and mayhem in this book on my list. The book was entertaining but not exciting.

Rating ️ ️ ️ 1/2

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 26: A book recommended to you based on your favorite book. "The Gate to Women's Country" by Sheri S. Tepper.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-26-the-gate-to-womens-country

Prompt 50 - a book of interconnected short stories - June 29, 2025 - This is a book of historical fantasy short stories. All of the stories are about fairies, but not the nice ones. These fairies are dark, ugly, conniving, murderous creatures. I bet they were fun to write.

Rating ️ ️ ️ 1/2

Prompt 31 - a book where music plays an integral part of the storyline - June 28, 2025 - This book is a historical fiction novel about a boy in the 1930s with an exceptional talent for playing the piano. He uses his music to escape his complicated family life.

Rating ️ ️ ️

Prompt 30 - a book that reminds you of your childhood - June 27, 2025 - I spent my childhood loving stories like Sherlock Holmes and always wondered why the main character couldn't be a girl. Sherry Thomas made my thoughts come to life with her Lady Sherlock series. This second novel is inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "A Scandal in Bohemia".

Rating ️ ️ ️ ️

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 25: a book featuring a married couple who don't live together. "Wide Is the Gate," from Upton Sinclair's Lanny Budd spy series.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-25-wide-is-the-gate

Prompt 43 - a book where nature is the antagonist - June 23, 2025 - This book is a historical fiction novel about the drought causing the Dust Bowl in the 1930s. It's an emotional depiction of the desperation and resilience of people trying to claw their way out of poverty. It's amazing how hope endures.

Rating ️ ️ ️ ️ 1/4

#PopsugarReadingChallenge Book 24: A book whose title starts with "Y".

"You & Yours," poems by Naomi Shihab Nye.

#Bookstodon

http://www.lauraruthloomis.com/whats-new/popsugarreadingchallenge-book-24-you-yours