2025 Reading Challenge discussion

PROGRESS: 55/60

🔖January #3 - Primary action takes place in this month: Faceless Killers

oshizu wrote: "Oh, Carmen! Soooooo many mysteries read!!!!..."

Yes, oshizu, and a lot that I cannot fit into any prompt 😞.

It's a pity we didn't find this challenge before, fortunately next year we can plan the list more accurately 🤣

Updated msg #5

June #3. Primary action takes place in this month: When Gods Die

April #7. Title has a word starting with "A": The Absent One

Progress: 27/36

Carmen wrote: "oshizu wrote: "Oh, Carmen! Soooooo many mysteries read!!!!..."

Yes, oshizu, and a lot that I cannot fit into any prompt 😞.

It's a pity we didn't find this challenge before, fortunately next year we can plan the list more accurately 🤣..."

LOL, Carmen! I'm in!

PROGRESS: 56/60

🔖December #2 - Author's birth month: El asesinato de Cenicienta/Mary Higgins Clark

PROGRESS: 57/60

🔖September #6 - Original publication month: The Scam

PROGRESS: 59/60

🔖August #4 - Academic setting: El secreto



🔖August #5 - Other August holiday : El lejano país de los estanques (Patron saint's day in a little village in Mallorca)

Progress: 28/36

October #2. Author's birth month: Jim Butcher, Death Masks

Carmen, you only have one more book to go!
I almost asked you to raise your challenge goal, but I don't want you to run out of mysteries to read for next year!
LOL

This is going great!!!
I would like to change my goal to 47.

September update msg 6: 42/47

Mie wrote: "This is going great!!!
I would like to change my goal to 47.

September update msg 6: 42/47"

I've updated your goal.
That is a lot of mysteries, Mie!
We still have three months left in 2019. Are you sure that "47 books" will be enough of a challenge? *waggles eyebrows

Haha, I will probably read more than 5 mysteries in 3 months - the problem is matching them to the remaining prompts 😜

oshizu wrote: "Carmen, you only have one more book to go!
I almost asked you to raise your challenge goal, but I don't want you to run out of mysteries to read for next year!
LOL"
I think I still have 7 in my TBR list for this year, and maybe I'll go for some more, LOL

I'm going to aim to...70?

Carmen, I just took a look at your ROLL THE CREDITS tbrs.
Maybe you can fill the rest of your remaining prompts with mysteries? Or with very short books? *coughs.

oshizu wrote: "Carmen, I just took a look at your ROLL THE CREDITS tbrs.
Maybe you can fill the rest of your remaining prompts with mysteries? Or with very short books? *coughs."
Well, well...don't even start to give me ideas 🤣🤣

PROGRESS: 60/70

🔖September #3 - Primary action takes place in this month: The Scapegoat
by Daphne du Maurier

Carmen wrote: "PROGRESS: 60/70

🔖September #3 - Primary action takes place in this month: The Scapegoat
by Daphne du Maurier"

60 books, Carmen! I feel like such a slacker, lol!

Progress: 31/36

Oct #8. Month-related item on cover (spooky scene): Certain Dark Things
May #6: Original publication month: Brownies and Broomsticks
Apr #7: Original publication month: Death at La Fenice

PROGRESS: 61/70

🔖March #2 - Author's birth month: The Black Dahlia/James Ellroy

PROGRESS: 62/70


🔖October #8 - Month-related item on cover (pumpkin, mask, spooky scene, fall scene, etc.) Halloween Hijinks by Kathi Daley

Progress: 35/36
(but I need 2 more books to complete 3 tasks in each month)

Sep #2: Author's birth month - C.S. Harris, Why Mermaids Sing
Jun #6: Original publication month - Penance
May #2: Author's birth month - Tana French, In the Woods
Mar #9: Money has major role - Arsenic and Old Paint

@Mie @Carmen and any other mystery lovers out there

Let's start thinking about how to satisfy our mystery addiction in 2020.
My Reader's Block is hosting the 2020 Calendar of Crime challenge, which is basically the same prompts for another year.

What I propose is for us to do the Just the Fact's Ma'am Challenge, also created by My Reader's Block. But instead of reading only vintage mysteries, we could read mysteries published or set in any year. Here's the link:
https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2...

What do you think? I'm tempted to type up all the prompts just so we can see them (and start planning). LOL

This challenge is the creation of My Reader's Block. For details, see their blog here: https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2...
---

2020 JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM
Duration: January 1 through December 31, 2020

WHO
1. An academic
2. An actor/actress
3. A professional is main sleuth
4. In the medical field
5. A journalist/writer
6. An artist/photographer
7. A vicar/religious figure
8. A Watson narrator (first-personal peripheral)
9. Librarian/bookstore owner/publisher
10. Lawyer/barrister/judge, etc.

WHAT
1. Person's name in title
2. Number in title
3. Color in the title
4. An animal in the title
5. "Means of murder" in the title
6. Written by more than one author
7. Comic/humorous novel
8. Inverted mystery (howdunit)
9. Includes letters, diary excerpts, or other correspondence
10. Title with a literary allusion in it

WHEN
1. During a recognized holiday
2. Set in Victorian era
3. Time/date, etc. in ititle
4. Timing of crime is crucial
5. During a weather event
6. Set during WWI or WWII (obvious wartime setting)
7. Set pre-1880
8. Set during trip, vacation, etc.
9. During a performance of any sort
10. During a special event: birthday, village fete, etc.

WHERE
1. At a country house
2. Set in a capital city
3. On an island
4. At a school
5. Set in a small village
6. In a hospital/nursing home
7. Any country but US/UK
8. An outside location
9. At a theater/circus/other place of performance
10. In a locked room

HOW
1. Death by drowning
2. Crime involved fire/arson
3. Death on "wheels" (any vehicle used to murder)
4. Death by strangulation
5. Death by knife, dagger, etc.
6. Death by shooting
7. Death by blunt instrument
8. Unusual murder method
9. At least two deaths by different means
10. Death by poison

WHY
1. It won an award of any sort
2. It made a "Best of" list
3. Author's first or last name begins with the same letter as yours
4. Author from your country
5. Out of your comfort zone
6. Author NOT from your country
7. A character has a job similar to yours
8. Read by fellow challenger
9. Because "Simon says" (see explanation below)
10. Book made into TV/film/play

For Simon Says:
Simon (that's the challenge creator) says to read the book at the bottom of your current TBR stack. If you don't have a stack, but have a TBR shelf--then read the book at the right-hand end of your shelf. If you have so many books that they're not really organized into stacks or shelves, then go to your hoard (list, whatever) and pick a book at random. You're on your honor to not put any thought into it. Just grab one.

oshizu wrote: "This challenge is the creation of My Reader's Block. For details, see their blog here: https://myreadersblock.blogspot.com/2...
---

2020 JUST THE FACT..."

oshizu - I missed the current challenge but LOVE this idea for 2020 and would definitely join in for this or any mystery challenge the group wants to do.

@Margie

Thank you for your pledge of future participation in an unofficial mystery challenge.
The prompts of Just the Facts, Ma'am seem to strike a nice balance between offering a challenge without being too frustrating.
I'm waiting for feedback from Mie and Carmen, too. :D

Carmen, I needed to post this before you read all your mysteries in 2019, LOL!

I love this

Sorry... Time difference... I’m up now... And I’m IN 👩‍✈️

oshizu wrote: "Carmen, I needed to post this before you read all your mysteries in 2019, LOL!..."

Don't worry, I think I have mysteries for a lifetime, LOL!

This challenge looks really great, though we have to put our best detective skills to work and find books that just fit the facts, Ma'am...😎

Of course I'm in.
Elementary, my dears!

Tasha☺ wrote: "I love this"

@Tasha

I hope you love the mystery challenge enough to join us next year!
You could read one or two prompts for each main theme (Who, What, Where, When How, and Why).
:)

oshizu wrote: "Tasha☺ wrote: "I love this"

@Tasha

I hope you love the mystery challenge enough to join us next year!
You could read one or two prompts for each main theme (Who, What, Where, When How, and Why).
:)"

definitely

PROGRESS: 63/70

🔖September #5 - Other September holiday: Master's Mates by Peter Corris

Progress: 36/37

December #6. Original publication month: Bewitched, Bothered, and Biscotti

My original goal was to complete three prompts for each month, but I accidentally read a fourth book for one month.
Anyway, I started with 18 books in August and have only one more book to go.

Incidentally, I'll be starting a new thread on December 1st for 2020 Just the Facts, Ma'am.
Or should I post it earlier, ladies? Mie and I have only one more book to complete this challenge. Carmen, you have 7 more books so you'll be finished next week, lol!
Thoughts? If a 2020 Blogs/Vlogs folder is created, we can just move our entire new Just the Facts thread over to that one,.

Also, once I create the new thread, I'll ask if anyone else wants to lead Just the Facts. Woooo, it's gonna be a fun challenge!

Since you have already been fantastic enough to write up all the prompts for us, I have just copied it to my own folder. So it doesn’t matter so much to me if it’s posted now or later.

And yes, I now only have one more book to read for this challenge - I was going to make a new post when I finished, but being the amazing challenge leader that you are, you have already noticed my progress 😉 Thanks, oshizu!

PROGRESS: 64/70

🔖November #8 - Month-related item on cover (turkey): Too Many Cooks by Rex Stout

Carmen, how did you like Rex Stout?
I've been thinking of read some of his mysteries....The Black Orchid, in particular.

Oshizu, whatever you do is fine with me.
I have some Christmas books in my list so I'll finish the challenge in December.
I'm really looking forward to making the list of books for the new challenge 😉

Thanks for your feedback, Carmen and Mie.
I'll probably create a new thread for Just the Facts in late November so it won't have to compete with the group's yearly challenges, LOL.

And, Carmen, let's not do ALL the yearly challenges again in 2020, okay? Hahaha. This year was exhausting!!!!

oshizu wrote: "And, Carmen, let's not do ALL the yearly challenges again in 2020, okay? Hahaha. This year was exhausting!!!!..."

Don't remind me!
Next year I'm thinking in reading only mysteries...

PROGRESS: 65/70

🔖September #8 - Month-related item on cover (means of travel): 4:50 from Paddington by Agatha Christie

This book fits in a lot of prompts for "Just the facts":
WHAT: Number in title
WHEN: During a recognized holiday (Christmas time)
WHERE: At a country house
HOW: 4, 9 and 10

oshizu wrote: "Carmen, how did you like Rex Stout?
I've been thinking of read some of his mysteries....The Black Orchid, in particular."

I've read two books by him so far (this one and "The Black Mountain".) They were ok, maybe a bit outdated in some issues, I gave 3 stars to both.

(Just in case: HOW - Death by knife 😉)

Update msg 6: 47/47 - COMPLETE ✔️🥳🎊🎈🎉

I might have one or two more prompts to fill, but if so, I will add them as bonus reads 🤩

Yay, congratulations! 🤸🏽‍♀️🤸🏽‍♀️🤸🏽‍♀️
Hope you enjoyed the challenge! :D

I LOVED IT - thank you so much for finding AND leading it 🤩 Can’t wait for the new one 👏👏👏

As soon as I finish it, I'll start a thread for the 2020 challenge so we can....um, start planning?
Looks like Carmen is already thinking about it, LOL! And I don't want to lose her tips.

Progress: 37/37

Challenge completed. Yay!

Woohoo, well done, oshizu 🥳📚✅

PROGRESS: 66/70

🔖January #9 - Snowbound country-house mystery: The Sittaford Mystery by Agatha Christie

Woooo, Carmen! Only 3 more to go!

PROGRESS: 67/70

🔖May #5 - Other May holiday (Walpurgis): La leona blanca by Henning Mankell