2025 Reading Challenge discussion
ARCHIVE 2021
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**Sharon's 2021 Challenge
date
newest »


Going to try for 24-30 probably do more
WHO: 0/x
Solve cases featuring a main character (sleuth, perp, victim, or suspect) with a unique profession. Be sure they’re distinct; a chef, baker, caterer, and pastry chef are all in the culinary profession.
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7.
WHAT: 0/x
1. Has a punny title.
2. Written by an author of color.
3. Has a four-word title.
4. A crime fiction subgenre you rarely or never read.
5. Has a color in the title.
6. Has a plant or animal on the cover.
7. Related to the yearly or quarterly theme (state theme)
WHEN: 0/x
When did the dastardly deed take place or get reported?
1. In summer.
2. In the 1800s or earlier.
3. During an official holiday.
4. Between nightfall and sunrise.
5. During a special event (festival, convention, party, etc.)
6. Reported (original publication or reprint) in your birthday month.
7. Reported (published) in 2021.
WHERE: 0/x
Where did the dastardly deed take place?
1. In the capital city of your country of residence.
2. In a different capital city.
3. “At home."
4. At a workplace.
5. Inside or on the premises of a public venue (hotel, restaurant, airport, etc.).
6. In a Nordic country.
7. In or near a body of water (beach, river, etc.)
HOW: 0/x
For this category, each means of murder must be distinctly different.
For example, pistols and rifles are both firearms; knives and daggers are too similar.
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WHY: 0/x
What motivated you to choose a particular case?
1. Your favorite mystery author or series.
2. Your favorite mystery subgenre.
3. Appears in a Goodreads listopia (which one?).
4. Won a literary prize for crime fiction (which one?).
5. Read by a fellow participant in this challenge (who?)
6. A cold case (among your TBRs for over a year).
7. Average Goodreads rating of 4 stars or above..
Updating Your Progress
To update your progress in the Active Investigators list, you’ll need to post an update comment using the format below. Let us know when you get a new promotion!.
Update to msg x: (cases solved)/(cases pledged)
Where “x” refers to the number of your original (sign-up) post.
We enjoy and appreciate your sharing what books you are reading for the challenge.
However, the most important info is your message number, current progress and new promotion info.
Ranks
Whenever you post a progress update, be sure to let us know if you’ve earned a promotion!
*Neighborhood Snoop: Less than 1 case in each category
*Gumshoe (6 cases): 1 case in each category
*Crime Scene Investigator (12 cases): 2 cases in each category
*Undercover Operative (18 cases): 3 cases in each category
*Forensic Analyst (24 cases): 4 cases in each category (24 books)
*Special Agent in Charge (30 cases): 5 cases in each category
*Assistant Chief of Detectives (36 cases): 6 cases in each category
*Chief of Detectives (42 cases): 7 cases in each category

Duration: January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021
0/26
Read a book with a character to fit for each letter of the alphabet. You can use the first letters of a character's first or last name. You may only use one character per book, and you may use memoirs/biographies/autobiographies for this challenge.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z

Duration: January 1 to December 31, 2021
15/20
Back by popular demand! This challenge encourages you to dive into and make progress on all those wonderful series out there, just waiting for your attention and time. You can read them all for this challenge: long series, short series, companion books, and novellas!
The only rule is that a qualifying book must be described by Goodreads as part of a series.
You don’t need to read the whole series at once. Feel free to finish a series or two that you began in 2020 or earlier, try out the first book in several series, or just enjoy that long-awaited sequel!
Challenge Tiers
As you update your challenge, let the challenge leader know which tier you’ve reached and it will be updated on the participants’ list below.. The tiers are:
1-10 books: Series Dabbler
11-20 books: More than a Vacation Reader
21-30 books: Shelf Stacker
31-40 books: Under the Covers Reader
41-50 books: Serious about Serials
51+ books: Serial Slayer
Bishop/Special Crimes Unit



Lucy Stone



Boston Jane Trilogy



Women's Murder Club

J.D. Robb

Hannah Swenson

Kingdom Keepers


Alex Rider


Duration: January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021
0/18
This challenge requires you find books that have certain colors in their covers or in the title. Let the challenge leader know how many you would like to do and post your number below!
1. Read a book with "White" or any shade of white in the cover (ivory, cream, bone, etc...).
2. Read a book with "Pink" or any shade of pink in the cover (rose, magenta, salmon, etc...).
3. Read a book with "Red" or any shade of red in the cover (maroon, brick, scarlet, etc...).

4. Read a book with "Orange" or any shade of orange in the cover (apricot, ginger, carrot, etc...).

5. Read a book with "Yellow" or any shade of yellow in the cover (blond, chartreuse, canary, etc...).

6. Read a book with "Green" or any shade of green in the cover (sage, lime, jade, etc...).

7. Read a book with "Light Blue" or any shade of light blue in the cover (teal, sky, cerulean, etc...).

8. Read a book with "Dark Blue" or any shade of dark blue in the cover (indigo, denim, navy, etc...).
9. Read a book with "Purple" or any shade of purple in the cover (lavender, plum, orchid, etc...).

10. Read a book with "Brown" or any shade of brown in the cover (tan, mahogany, coffee, etc...).
11. Read a book with "Black" or any shade of black in the cover (grey, slate, coal, etc...).

12. Read a book with a Metallic color in the cover (gold, silver, bronze, etc...).
13. Read a book with at least 5 colors on the cover.

14. Read a book with a geometric pattern on the cover (rainbows, stripes, polka dots, floral pattern, mosaic, etc...).
15. Read a book with an ugly (to you) cover.
16. Read a book with two or more color words in the title (yellow gold, black & white, etc...)
17. Read a book with the word “Color” in the title.
18. Read a book with a word describing color in the title (rainbow, stripes, polka dots, shiny, mosaic, etc...)
Books mentioned in this topic
Tippy Toe Murder (other topics)Hidden Salem (other topics)
Bound for Murder (other topics)
One Bad Apple (other topics)
The Claim (other topics)
More...
101/101
Dismal fail on updating this with the books I read for the year, but I did reach my goal!
*** books to read in 2021