Cozy Mysteries discussion

2017 Ultimate challenge

BASIC LEVEL (40)

[x] A book recommended by a librarian: 4321 by Paul Auster
[x] A book that's been on your TBR list for way too long: The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell on my thr list since July 2103
[x] A book of letters: The Faber Book of Letters by Felix Pryor
[x] An audiobook: A Cast-Off Coven by Juliet Blackwell
[x] A book by a person of colour: Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
[x] A book with one of the four seasons in the title: Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
[x] A book that is a story within a story: In Pale Battalions by Robert Goddard
[x] A book with multiple authors *: Four Weddings and a Sixpence: An Anthology
[x] An espionage thriller: The Paris Affair by Tracy Grant
[x] A book with a cat on the cover (Gee, this is a tough one for cozy mystery readers!): by Elizabeth Peters

[x] A book by an author who uses a pseudonym: The Snake, the Crocodile and the Dog by Elizabeth Peters (pseudonym for Barbara Mertz)
[x] A bestseller from a genre you don't normally read: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams (science fiction fantasy)
[x] A book by or about a person who has a disability: A Man of Some Repute by Elizabeth Edmondson
[x] A book involving travel: Sight Unseen by Robert Goddard
[x] A book with a subtitle: Henry VIII's Last Victim: The Life and Times of Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey by Jessie Childs

[x] A book that's published in 2017: Where the Dead Lie by C.S. Harris
[x] A book involving a mythical creature: The Water Devil by Judith Merkle Riley
[x] A book you've read before that never fails to make you smile: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis
[ ] A book about food
[ ] A book with career advice

[ ] A book from a nonhuman perspective
[ ] A steampunk novel
[x] A book with a red spine: A Siege of Bitterns by Steve Burrows
[ ] A book set in the wilderness
[ ] A book you loved as a child

[x] A book by an author from a country you've never visited: Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbø (Norway)
[x] A book with a title that's a character's name: Mort by Terry Pratchett
[x ] A novel set during wartime: In Farleigh Field: A Novel of World War II by Rhys Bowen
[x] A book with an unreliable narrator: Endless Night by Agatha Christie
[x] A book with pictures: A Thatched Roof by Beverley Nichols

[x ] A book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you: The Perplexing Theft of the Jewel in the Crown by Vaseem Khan
[x] A book about an interesting woman: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
[x] A book set in two different time periods: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
[x] A book with a month or day of the week in the title: Murder on Black Friday by P.B. Ryan
[x] A book set in a hotel: Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver

[x] A book written by someone you admire: Chronicles, Vol. 1 by Bob Dylan
[ ] A book that's becoming a movie in 2017
[ ] A book set around a holiday other than Christmas
[x] The first book in a series you haven't read before: Deadly Engagement by Lucinda Brant
[x] A book you bought on a trip: Old Filth by Jane Gardam

ADVANCED (12)

[ ] A book recommended by an author you love
[ ] A bestseller from 2016
[x] A book with a family member term in the title: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett
[x] A book that takes place over a character's life span: A Place of Greater Safety by Hilary Mantel
[x] A book about an immigrant or refugee: Exit West by Mohsin Hamid

[ ] A book from a genre/subgenre you've never heard of
[x] A book with an eccentric character: The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett
[x] A book that's more than 800 pages: Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
[x] A book you got from a used book sale: The Cottage Garden by Anne Scott-James
[x] A book that's been mentioned in another book: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. This book was mentioned in A Cast-Off Coven by Juliet Blackwell

[x] A book about a difficult topic (open to your interpretation of "difficult"): Passage by Connie Willis (life after death)
[ ] A book based on mythology



* This can be a collaboration between two or more authors à la James Patterson/any author, Mary Higgins Clark/Carol Higgins Clark or MHC/Alifair Burke, Iris Johansen and son, etc. -- or an anthology (collection of stories by multiple authors in one book).

2018 Ultimate Challenge

Basic level (40)

[ ] A book made into a movie you’ve already seen
[ ] True Crime
[ ] The next book in a series you started
[ ] A book involving a heist
[ ] Nordic Noir

[ ] A novel based on a real person
[ ] A book set in a country that fascinates you
[ ] A book with a time of day in the title
[ ] A book about a villain or antihero
[ ] A book about death or grief

[ ] A book with your favorite color in the title
[ ] A book with alliteration in the title
[ ] A book about time travel
[ ] A book with a weather element in the title
[ ] A book set at Sea

[ ] A book with an animal in the title
[ ] A book set on a different planet
[ ] A book with song lyrics in the title
[ ] A book about or set on Halloween
[ ] A book with characters who are twins

[ ] A book with a female author who uses a male pseudonym
[ ] A book with an LGBTQ+ protagonist
[ ] A book that is also a stage play or musical
[ ] A book by an author of a different ethnicity than you
[ ] A book about feminism

[ ] A book about mental health
[ ] A book you borrowed or that was given to you as a gift
[ ] A book by two authors
[ ] A book about or involving a sport
[ ] A book by a local author

[ ] A book mentioned in another book
[ ] A book from a celebrity book club
[ ] A childhood classic you’ve never read
[ ] A book that’s published in 2018
[ ] A past Goodread’s Choice Awards winner

[ ] A book set in the decade you were born
[ ] a book you meant to read in 2017 but didn’t get to
[ ] A book with an ugly cover
[ ] A book that involves a bookstore or library
[ ] Your favorite prompt from the 2015, 2016, or 2017 Popsugar Reading Challenge


Advanced (10)

[ ] A bestseller from the year you graduated high school
[ ] A cyberpunk book
[ ] A book that was being read by a stranger in a public place
[ ] A book tied to your ancestry
[ ] A book with a fruit or vegetable in the title

[ ] An allegory
[ ] A book by an author with the same first or last name as you
[ ] A microhistory
[ ] A book about a problem facing society today
[ ] A book recommended by someone else taking the POPSUGAR Reading Challenge