Just the Facts, Ma’am: 2018 Vintage Mystery Challenge Sign-Up

January 1, 20184 Comments

New year, new vintage mystery challenge at My Reader’s Block! This year there’s a new format: the books we read must answer the questions “who,” “what,” “where,” “when,” “why,” and “how,” based on the detective notebooks provided. As you can see, I’ll be using the Golden Age notebook, which is for mysteries published before 1960.

2018 Vintage Mysteries Gold Card

I’m signing up for the minimum commitment of six books, one for each question. But if I read more, maybe I’ll level up! If you’re participating in this challenge, what book(s) are you most looking forward to? I’m most excited to read Lois Austen-Leigh’s The Incredible Crime — the author is a descendant of Jane Austen!

Bout of Books 18 Sign-up

December 22, 2016December 22, 20161 Comment

Looks like it’s that time again — time to sign up for another Bout of Books readathon! For those who don’t know, here’s what it entails:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda Shofner and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 2nd and runs through Sunday, January 8th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 18 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

My goals are (1) to read at least two books and (2) to participate in at least one Twitter chat. I’ll create another post at the beginning of the readathon to keep track of my progress and my challenge entries. One of my New Year’s resolutions is to be more active on the blog, and Bout of Books is the perfect opportunity to start 2017 on the right foot! If you’re interested in participating as well, click here to sign up, and keep your eye on the Bout of Books website for more information.

Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt 2017 Sign-up

December 19, 2016December 18, 2016Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again — time to sign up for next year’s challenges! I don’t want to overcommit myself, especially because 2016 was a pretty slow reading year for me, but of course I have to do Bev’s Vintage Mystery Challenge again! Just like last year, the challenge is a scavenger hunt: participants are asked to read at least six vintage mystery novels, and the cover of each book must contain an item on the scavenger hunt list.

2017-vintage

As you can see, I’m signing up for the Golden Age challenge (books published before 1960). Click here to learn more about the challenge and to sign up!

October 2016 readathon sign-up

October 21, 20166 Comments

Once again it’s time for Dewey’s 24-hour readathon, which will take place this Saturday, October 22! If you’ve never participated in the readathon before, it’s pretty self-explanatory — bookish folks around the Internet set aside 24 hours to do as much reading as possible. Of course, many people don’t participate for all 24 hours. I’ll definitely be taking some breaks, and I will probably go to bed at a decent hour because I have stuff to do on Sunday. But I’m really excited about giving myself some time this weekend to avoid chores and simply read! Here’s my readathon stack, although I definitely don’t expect to read all of these books:

Sound like fun? If so, it’s not too late to sign up! There are fun interactive challenges, a chance to win prizes, and numerous opportunities to connect with fellow book lovers! On Saturday I’ll create a new blog post where I’ll track my readathon progress, and I’ll also be chatting on Twitter @YouBookMe. Are you participating in this weekend’s readathon? If so, what are you planning to read?

R.I.P. XI Sign-Up

September 15, 20162 Comments

I’m pretty late to the party, but autumn is FINALLY on the horizon, which means it’s time for the annual R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril challenge at Stainless Steel Droppings! The challenge simply asks participants to read at least one book that fits within one or more of the following genres:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Gothic
Horror
Dark Fantasy

The challenge has several tiers depending on how much you feel like reading, and there are also options to watch movies or play games (video or tabletop) that fit into the challenge genres! Personally, I’m going to tackle Peril the First and attempt to read four books.

rip-11-peril-the-1st

I’ve already read one mystery in September, The Darkness Knows by Cheryl Honigford (review to come). Other potential reads include Nevernight by Jay Kristoff, Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. I may also attempt Peril on the Screen by finally checking out “Stranger Things”!

Are you participating in this challenge? If so, what are you planning to read? If not, what kinds of books and movies get you in the mood for Halloween?

Bout of Books 17: Sign-Up

August 22, 2016Leave a comment

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, August 22nd and runs through Sunday, August 28th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 17 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

It’s time for yet another round of Bout of Books! I have several books checked out from the library, and they’re all due back soon, so I figure this is the perfect opportunity to tackle them! Here’s what I’m hoping to read this week:

David D. Levine, Arabella of Mars — I’m about 75% done with this one, and I’m liking it a lot! Three words: Regency space opera!
Julianne Donaldson, Edenbrooke — I’ve already read and enjoyed Donaldson’s other novel Blackmoore, so I’m sure I’ll like this one too!
Chris Cleave, Everyone Brave Is Forgiven — A World War II novel that caught my eye, although I honestly don’t know much about it. This is the biggest gamble of the bunch, but I’m optimistic.
Erika Johansen, The Invasion of the Tearling — I quite liked The Queen of the Tearling and have been meaning to read this sequel for a while.

I’ll be chronicling my progress in another post, so stay tuned! Are you participating in Bout of Books this time? If so, what are you planning to read?

Bout of Books 16: Sign-up

May 9, 20161 Comment

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 9th and runs through Sunday, May 15th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 16 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

Once again, it’s time for Bout of Books! I always enjoy this event, even though I don’t usually manage to read very much…but for me, it’s really the challenges and the socializing that make it fun! I’ll probably post some of my progress and challenge entries on the blog, but I’ll also be participating on Twitter @YouBookMe. I don’t have an official book stack, although I am hoping to finish One Perfect Day: The Selling of the American Wedding by Rebecca Mead and perhaps (FINALLY) get to The Raven King! Are you participating in Bout of Books this round? Will you be there for tonight’s Twitter chat at 9pm EDT? And what are you planning to read?

Once Upon a Time X Sign-up

March 22, 2016Leave a comment

Art courtesy of Melissa Nucera.

Spring has finally begun, which means it’s time for Carl’s annual Once Upon a Time reading event! The challenge runs from March 21 to June 21, and the basic goal is simple: read books that fit within the genres of fantasy, fairy tales, mythology, and/or folklore. You can also read short stories, watch movies and TV shows, and play video games that explore these genres. The challenge has several levels, so it’s easy to participate whether you’re planning to read 20 fantasy novels or just one. I’m hoping to read several books this spring that will qualify, but I’m only going to sign up for “The Journey,” which asks me to read at least one book. Some possibilities include: The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater, The Storyteller and Her Sisters by Cheryl Mahoney, and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. As a bonus, I may also watch the 1999 version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in June, since it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it. If this challenge sounds exciting to you, be sure to sign up here! And if you’re already planning to participate, what will you be reading?

Bout of Books 15 Sign-up

December 28, 2015December 28, 2015Leave a comment

The New Year is upon us, and what better way to start things off than with another round of Bout of Books? If you’ve never participated in this event, it’s a fun, low-pressure way to kickstart your 2016 reading goals! Here’s the official spiel:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, January 4th and runs through Sunday, January 10th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 15 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. – From the Bout of Books team

I’m still catching up with my 2015 reviews, so I haven’t really started thinking about my 2016 reading yet! But I suppose my goal will be to read at least 1,000 pages during the week. If Bout of Books sounds like something you’d be into, visit the blog and sign up here!

Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt Sign-up

November 13, 20152 Comments

So we’re alarmingly close to the end of 2015, which means it’s time to start looking at 2016 challenges! One of my perennial favorites is the vintage mystery challenge hosted by Bev at My Reader’s Block. For the past few years, the challenge has been a game of Bingo, but this year she’s switching things up: participants must complete a scavenger hunt by finding certain objects on the covers of their books. For more information (and the lists of items), check out the sign-up post! I’m going to do the Golden Age list, but I’ll probably only read the six-book minimum instead of a different book for every single item. Some options include:

Dorothy L. Sayers, The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club
Georgette Heyer, No Wind of Blame
Nicholas Blake, A Question of Proof
Elizabeth Daly, Unexpected Night
John Bude, The Lake District Murder
Phoebe Atwood Taylor (writing as Alice Tilton), The Cut Direct