So how did I do this year in retrospectively completing the POPSUGAR reading challenge? Not too bad, as long as I'm able to use books in more than one category. I've left blank the categories that I don't think I covered.

A book published in 2021 - Damascus Station (David McCloskey) and A Desolation Called Peace (Arkady Martine)

An Afrofuturist book

A book that has a heart, diamond, club, or spade on the cover

A book by an author that shares your zodiac sign - An Unsuitable Job for a Woman (P. D. James)

A dark academia book - We Ride Upon Sticks (Quan Barry) might count here, it is about witchcraft and a high school field hockey team after all

A book with a gem, mineral, or rock in the title - Flour Water Salt Yeast (Ken Forkish)

A book where the main character works at your current or dream job - A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Finch), the main character is a gentleman sleuth

A book that has won the Women's Prize for Fiction - no winner, but I did read the shortlisted My Sister, The Serial Killer(Oyinkan Braithwaite) and Where'd You Go, Bernadette? (Maria Semple)

A book with a family tree

A bestseller from the 1990s - The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith, 1998)

A book about forgetting 

A book you have seen on someone else's bookshelf

A locked-room mystery

A book set in a restaurant - It's not really set at a restaurant, but Flour Water Salt Yeast has parts that talk about Forkish's bakery, so I'm counting it.

A book with a black and white cover - Lost and Gone Forever (Alex Grecian)

A book by an Indigenous author - Kaui Hart Hemmings, the author of The Descendants, is herself descended from a native Hawaiian woman who married a Protestant missionary, which I'm going to count.

A book that has the same title as a song - Gun Street Girl (Adrian McKinty, song by Tom Waits)

A book about a subject you are passionate about - I don't know if I'd say I'm passionate, but Sovietistan (Erika Fatland) did scratch a persistent itch I have regarding the Central Asian former Soviet republics.

A book that discusses body positivity - The Relentless Moon (Mary Robinette Kowal) has a character who is being treated for an eating disorder, but she has to keep it quiet as she could lose her job as an astronaut if it becomes public. 

A book found on a Black Lives Matter reading list

A genre hybrid - Interior Chinatown (Charles Yu) is my pick here, as it's had to ascribe to any one particular genre.

A book set mostly or entirely outdoors - Sweetness and Blood, Michael Scott Moore's book about surfing.

A book with something broken on the cover

A book by a Muslim American author 

A book that was published anonymously

A book with an oxymoron in the title - would A Desolation Called Peace (Arkady Martine) count here? Can desolation be peaceful?

A book about do-overs or fresh starts - I think The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith) fits here, as the main character gets a fresh start when she opens the agency.

A magical realism book

A book set in multiple countries - Sovietistan (Erika Fatland, writing about the five Cenral Asian countries formerly part of the Soviet Union)

A book set somewhere you'd like to visit in 2021 - Bruno and the Carol Singers (Martin Walker) - set in France, which I did actually go to in 2021.

A book by a blogger, vlogger, YouTube video creator, or other online personality - Turtles All the Way Down (John Green)

A book whose title starts with Q, X, or Z - Zen in the Art of Writing (Ray Bradbury)

A book featuring three generations (grandparent, parent, child) - Three generations are mentioned in Lost and Gone Forever (Alex Grecian), though saying they're featured may be reaching. Born a Crime (Trevor Noah) may be a better fit, assuming I'm not misremembering the presence of a grandparent.

A book about a social justice issue - Raise a Fist, Take a Knee (John Feinstein) tackled issues of racism and social justice in sports.

A book in a different format than what you would normally read - if we include audiobooks as reading, Paddle Your Own Canoe (Nick Offerman) would count here, as I almost never listen to audiobooks. 

A book that has fewer than 1000 reviews on Amazon or Goodreads - The Pigeon Tunnel (John Le Carre)

A book you think your best friend would like - I'm going with Born a Crime (Trevor Noah), which was recommended to me by my wife/best friend.

A book about art or an artist - Kirby: King of Comics (Mark Evanier) looked at the life of legendary comic book artist Jack Kirby.

A book everyone seems to have read but you - Normal People (Sally Rooney) seems like the best choice here, but A Visit From the Goon Squad (Jennifer Egan) or Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut) could also qualify.

Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR reading challenge - going with a book set in Scandinavia, which is my favorite prompt because I have book that fits it that I've not used elsewhere, The Sandman (Lars Kepler)

ADVANCED

So I didn't go to my TBR list to choose books specifically for these items, but I'll list what I did read from my TBR that I think would otherwise meet the challenge.

The longest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Grant (Ron Chernow), which I'd been meaning to read since I read Hamilton.

The shortest book (by pages) on your TBR list - Probably The Education of David Stockman (William Greider), given its start as a magazine article.

The book on your TBR list with the prettiest cover - I don't remember most of the covers, but do recall liking the design on The Descendants. 

The book on your TBR list with the ugliest cover - 

The book that's been on your TBR list the longest amount of time - probably Cat's Cradle (Kurt Vonnegut), as I've been meaning to read more Vonnegut for a while

A book from your TBR list you meant to read last year but didn't - likely On the Plain of Snakes (Paul Theroux)

A book from your TBR list you associate with a favorite person, place, or thing - For the Love of Europe (Rick Steves) combines all of these, as I associate going to Europe with my favorite person, seeing some of my favorite places, and doing some of my favorite things.

A book from your TBR list chosen at random - 

A DNF book from your TBR list

A free book from your TBR list (gifted, borrowed, etc.) - most of the books I read were from the library, so let's pick one I haven't used yet, A Gentleman in Moscow (Amor Towles)

 Book Log 2021 #66: Damascus Station by David McCloskey

Set in the early days of the Syrian uprising, CIA agent Sam Joseph is working with another agent to exfiltrate one of their sources. Their plan goes awry, and while Joseph gets away his colleague is arrested and disappears into the Syrian security apparatus, from which she does not return.

Seeking revenge and a way to infiltrate (and hopefully topple) the regime, Joseph recruits another asset, who is well placed to gain access to information. She's related to high ranking military officials, and injuries to a cousin has her rethinking her allegiance. But she may be too ideal a candidate, at least on one level, as she and Joseph fall in love during her recruitment and training. 

The pair return to Damascus, and it becomes clear that the regime is planning something big. Tensions grow as the asset puts herself, her family, and Joseph at greater risk each time she's pressed to find out more about what's coming. 

I really liked this book, both for its unique location (Syria doesn't show up that often in spy novels) and contemporary setting. It was also just quality spy fiction, showing how personal relationships and conflict are more at the heart of espionage than car chases and gadgets. Though there are some of those, too.

That's it for 2021. Happy New Year!

 Book Log 2021 #65: Raise a Fist, Take a Knee by John Feinstein

This book is Feinstein's examination of race and inequality in sports. The page linked above calls it "urgent and revelatory," but I didn't find too much in here that I didn't already know. It's good that someone of Feinstein's stature is writing about these issues, and the book is probably well positioned to challenge those who are of a "stick to sports" mindset. So perhaps I should think of it more as a gateway read to books that address these topics in greater depth. 

 Book Log 2021 #64: The Education of David Stockman by William Greider

David Stockman was the first director of the Office of Management and Budget under President Reagan, and a supply side true believer. His role put him center stage in enacting economic and tax policy that would see money "trickle down" from the richest individuals as they reinvested or spent money no longer being paid to the government.

But the reality of creating a budget often clashed with theory, which became clear in a series of interviews he conducted with Greider, who was working on a piece for The Atlantic. Most famously, Stockman noted "None of us really understands what's going on with all these numbers," one of several things he said that got him in hot water with Reagan. Stockman would become increasingly concerned with the large deficits being run up during Reagan's first time, and he'd leave the OMB in 1985.

This book is really an extended version of Greider's story (which I've linked to above). I read it in college, and picked it up again for a reading challenge where you had to re-read a book that made an impact on you. In this case, the impact is that the book confirmed for me that supply side economics is nonsense.

 Book Log 2021 #63: We Ride Upon Sticks by Quan Barry

Danvers, Massachusetts is a pretty quiet suburb of Boston, probably best known locally for Liberty Tree Mall. But in 1692, Danvers - then known as Salem Village - was in the thick of what we know today as the Salem wtich trials. Today, Danvers more or less stays out of the witchcraft business, letting Salem play it up for tourism dollars.

But the 1989 Danvers High School field hockey team may be an exception. An eclectic mix of girls (and one boy), the seniors on the team are determined to go out on a high note. And, in order to guarantee success, they may have invoked some dark magic.

As the season plays out it's hard to tell if the team's success is due to their skill, blind luck, or something more sinister. The tensions of the season, and potentially being in thrall to evil, weigh on the friends and teammates, who still have to face regular teenage pressures of school, dating, and the future.

I really enjoyed this book, especially as it's set at a time and place where I was roughly the same age as the characters (I'm older by a couple of years). I was also a little distracted trying to reconcile background facts with my own memories. But in a good way.

A good October reading assignment would be to read this and Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts. 

And finally, NHL teams renamed for defunct teams that played in their city/area, with the exception of San Jose. Rather than use a Bay Area defunct team I've gone with their current AHL affiliate, which also plays in San Jose.

ATLANTIC DIVISION

Boston Olympics (Eastern Hockey League)

Buffalo Norsemen (North American Hockey League)

Detroit Vipers (IHL)

Florida Rockets (EHL)

Montreal Voyageurs (American Hockey League)

Ottawa Civics (World Hockey Association)

Tampa Bay Tritons (Roller Hockey International)

Toronto Toros (WHA)

METROPOLITAN DIVISION

Carolina Thunderbirds (Atlantic Coast Hockey League)

Columbus Checkers (IHL)

New Jersey Knights (WHA)

New York Rovers (EHL)

New York Cougars (NAHL)

Philadelphia Falcons (EHL)

Pittsburgh Phantoms (RHI)

Washington Presidents (EHL)

CENTRAL DIVISION

Arizona Roadrunners (IHL)

Chicago Shamrocks (AHA)

Colorado Grizzlies (IHL)

Dallas Freeze (Central Hockey League 2)

Minnesota Fighting Saints (WHA)

Nashville South Stars (ACHL)

St. Louis Bandits (NAHL)

Winnipeg Moose (IHL)

PACIFIC DIVISION

Anaheim Bullfrogs (RHI)

Calgary Stampeders (Pacific Coast Hockey League)

Edmonton Flyers (Western Canada Senior Hockey League)

Los Angeles Aces (WHA)

San Jose Barracuda (AHL)

Seattle Metropolitans (Pacific Coast Hockey Association)

Vancouver Millionaires (PCHA)

Vegas Thunder (IHL)

 Book Log 2021 #62: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

The reading challenge I'm doing had a space for noir fiction, so I figured why not go right to the classics. 

This is the first outing for LA private detective Philip Marlowe, whose been hired by a retired general to investigate incidents involving his two daughters. The general's wilder daughter is being blackmailed by a local bookseller, and he wants Marlowe to sort it out (it's not encouraging that she's been blackmailed before). The general also wants Marlowe to find his other daughter's husband, who's gone missing. 

Both cases get complicated quickly, between the shifting relationships between those involved and an ever-growing body count. Marlowe finds himself in danger more than once - sometimes at the end of a gun, other times in the arms of a woman. 

I found it a little difficult to get established in the book due to the unique pace and style of noir/hardboiled crime fiction. But I got used to it pretty quickly and came to enjoy its twisty plot and cynical characters. There is an annotated version of the book which includes personal letters from Chandler as well as notes and essays about LA in the '30s. I may have to go back and give that a look.

But if you'd rather watch than read, there is also the classic 1946 film adaptation starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Which I actually haven't seen. May need to give that a look, too.