Mount TBR Reading Challenge 2018

**Challenge Complete. See my wrap-up post HERE.**

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2018
Host: Bev @ MY READER'S BLOCK

Guidelines

• Sign-up anytime before November 1, 2018.
• Choose a level of participation. Once you choose, you're locked in for at least that many books. You can increase your level; all books counted for lower levels carry over towards the new level.
• Books must be owned by you prior to January 1, 2018. No library books.
• Books can be counted for other challenges.
• Reviews aren't required, and a blog isn't necessary.
• Rereads may count (see challenge announcement page for details).
• Audiobooks and E-books may count if they are yours and they are one of your primary sources of backlogged books.
• You may count any "currently reading" book that you begin prior to January 1– provided that you had 50% or more of the book left to finish in 2017.
• "Did Not Finish" books can be counted, under some circumstances (see challenge announcement page for details).
• You can submit a list in advance, or add your books as you read them.
• There will be quarterly check-ins.

Challenge Levels:

1. Pike's Peak: Read 12 books from your TBR pile/s
2. Mount Blanc: Read 24 books from your TBR pile/s
3. Mt. Vancouver: Read 36 books from your TBR pile/s
4. Mt. Ararat: Read 48 books from your TBR piles/s
5. Mt. Kilimanjaro: Read 60 books from your TBR pile/s
6. El Toro: Read 75 books from your TBR pile/s
7. Mt. Everest: Read 100 books from your TBR pile/s
8. Mount Olympus (Mars): Read 150+ books from your TBR pile/s

✸ I'm signing up at the first level (Pike's Peak), so I'll be trying for 12 books from my TBR pile.

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.
● See the challenge announcement page HERE.
● See the challenge headquarters page HERE.
● See the review pages:

JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC.

● See the quarterly check-in pages:

• Check Point #1 (March) [See my #1 Check-in post HERE.]
• Check Point #2 (July) . [I forgot about checking in during July. Bummer.]
• Check Point #3 (October) . 
• Check Point #4 (December) 

MY READING LIST (Books I've read, with links to reviews):

1. Five Children and It. E. Nesbit (pub. 1902; read in March) 
2. Just Kids. Patti Smith (pub. 2010; read in February) 
3. A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple #5). Agatha Christie (pub. June 1950; read in January) 
4. Vintage Murder (Roderick Alleyn #5). Ngaio Marsh (pub. 1937; read in January) 
5. Time Out of Joint. Philip K. Dick (pub. 1959; read in April)
6. The Cottingley Secret. Hazel Gaynor (pub. 2017; read in April)
7. The Quiet American. Graham Greene (pub. 1955; read in May) 
8. Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels. Katherine Anne Porter (first pub. 1939; read in May)
9. At the Mountains of Madness. H.P. Lovecraft (first pub. 1936; read in May)
10. When You Reach Me. Rebecca Stead (pub. 2009; read in June)
11. The Mystery of the Blue Train (Hercule Poirot #6). Agatha Christie (first pub. 1928; read in July)
12. A Morbid Taste for Bones (Brother Cadfael #1). Ellis Peters (first pub. 1977; read in September) 
13. The Night She Died (Inspector Thanet #1). Dorothy Simpson (first pub. 1980; read in October) 
14. Last Bus to Woodstock (Inspector Morse #1). Colin Dexter (first pub. 1975; read in October) 
15. Last Seen Wearing (Inspector Morse #2). Colin Dexter (first pub. 1976; read in October) 
16. 
    

Books I'd Like to Read in 2018 (many of these have been on the shelves for a LONG time):

• Afternoon Men. Anthony Powell 
• American Eve. Paula Uruburu 
• The Art of Mending. Elizabeth Berg 
• The Bell. Iris Murdoch 
• The Bell Jar. Sylvia Plath 
• The Berlin Stories. Christopher Isherwood 
• The Black Prince. Iris Murdoch 
• Black Sun. Geoffrey Wolff 
• The Book of the Dead. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• Busman's Honeymoon. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• The Cabinet of Curiosities. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• Cast, In Order of Disappearance (Charles Paris #1). Simon Brett 
• The Children's Book. A.S. Byatt 
• The Cottingley Secret. Hazel Gaynor 
• Cutwork (Needlecraft Mysteries #7). Monica Ferris 
• Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Philip K. Dick 
• The Enchanted April. Elizabeth von Arnim 
• The Europeans. Henry James 
• Family Album. Penelope Lively 
• The Fencing Master. Arturo Pérez-Reverte 
• Five Red Herrings. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• Flaubert's Parrot. Julian Barnes 
• Foundation. Isaac Asimov 
• Framed in Lace (Needlecraft Mysteries #2). Monica Ferris 
• The Ghost Writer. Philip Roth 
• The Glass Room. Simon Mawer 
• Hanging By a Thread (Needlecraft Mysteries #6). Monica Ferris
• The Haunted Bookshop. Christopher Morley 
• High Rising (Barsetshire #1). Angela Thirkell 
• How It All Began. Penelope Lively 
• How to Be Human. Paula Cocozza 
• Identity. Milan Kundera 
• Invitation to the Waltz. Rosamond Lehmann 
• Istanbul Passage. Joseph Kanon 
• Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte 
• July and August. Nancy Clark 
• Jumping the Queue. Mary Wesley 
• Just Kids. Patti Smith 
• The Lake House. Kate Morton 
• Last Bus to Woodstock (Inspector Morse #1). Colin Dexter 
• Last Seen Wearing (Inspector Morse #2). Colin Dexter 
• Let the Devil Sleep (Dave Gurney #3). John Verdon 
• Los Alamos. Joseph Kanon 
• Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. Eric Hodgins 
• Mrs. Malory and a Death in the Family. Hazel Holt
• Mrs. Malory and a Necessary End. Hazel Holt
• The Moonstone. Wilkie Collins 
• Murder At the Vicarage (Miss Marple #1). Agatha Christie 
• A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple #5). Agatha Christie 
• Murder Must Advertise. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• My Sister's Bones. Nuala Ellwood 
• The Mystery of Lewis Carroll. Jenny Woolf 
• The Night She Died (Inspector Thanet #1). Dorothy Simpson 
• The Nine Tailors. Dorothy L. Sayers  
• Oracle Night. Paul Auster 
• The Pale Horse. Agatha Christie 
• Prater Violet. Christopher Isherwood 
• Prophecy. S.J. Parris 
• Providence. Anita Brookner 
• Relic. Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• The Road to Lichfield. Penelope Lively 
• The Secret Keeper. Kate Morton 
• The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (Inspector Morse, #3). Colin Dexter
• Silver on the Tree (The Dark Is Rising series, final book). Susan Cooper 
• The Sisters: The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters. David Grafton 
• The Talented Mr. Ripley. Patricia Highsmith 
• The Takeover. Muriel Spark
• Time and Again. Clifford D. Simak 
• Two Serious Ladies. Jane Bowles 
• The Spoils of Poynton. Henry James 
• The Unicorn. Iris Murdoch 
• Unnatural Death. Dorothy L. Sayers 
• When the Music's Over (DCI Banks #23). Peter Robinson
• When You Reach Me. Rebecca Stead 
• A Wreath of Roses. Elizabeth Taylor 
• The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion 
• The Young Widower's Handbook. Tom McAllister 

2018 European Reading Challenge

**Challenge complete. See my wrap-up post HERE.**

Hosted by: Rose City Reader

Dates: January 1, 2018 - January 31, 2019

Guidelines (quoted from the announcement page):

The idea is to read books by European authors or books set in European countries (no matter where the author comes from). The books can be anything – novels, short stories, memoirs, travel guides, cookbooks, biography, poetry, or any other genre. You can participate at different levels, but each book must be by a different author and set in a different country – it's supposed to be a tour. 

• Books should be read between January 1, 2017 and January 31, 2018.  If you participated in the 2017 European Reading Challenge, you can only count books read in January 2017 for one year -- either the end of the 2017 challenge or the start of the 2018 challenge -- you don't get to count one book for both challenges. 
• You do not have to commit to your choices now; and you can change your mind about books at any time. 
• Overlap with other challenges is allowed -- and encouraged! 
• Re-reads count. 
• Audiobooks count. 
• E-books count. 
• Self-published books count. 
• There will be a page for linking your reviews. Reviews are not necessary, unless you are going for the prize, in which case only books reviewed count.
• If you do not have a blog, put your reviews or reports in a comment on the announcement post. 
• There will be a page for posting links to wrap-up posts. 

Levels of participation:

1. Five Star (Deluxe Entourage): Read at least five books by different European authors or books set in different European countries.
2. Four Star (Honeymooner): Read four qualifying books.
3. Three Star (Business Traveler): Read three qualifying books.
4. Two Star (Adventurer): Read two qualifying books.
5. One Star (Pensione Weekender): Read just one qualifying book.

List of Countries:

Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and Vatican City.

✹ I'm signing up for the Three Star ("Business Traveler") level.

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.
● See the challenge announcement page HERE.
● See the review page HERE.
● See the page for challenge wrap-ups HERE.


MY READING LIST (books I've read, with links to reviews):

1. United Kingdom: How to Be Human. Paula Cocozza
2. Ireland / Irish Author: The Dead House. Billy O'Callaghan
3. Italy: A Long Time Coming. Aaron Elkins (set in Milan)

Nonfiction Reading Challenge 2018

***Challenge complete. See my wrap-up post HERE.***

Host: Doing Dewey
Dates: January - December 2018

Guidelines:

• Read nonfiction.
• Set your own goals. Read as much as you want from any nonfiction genres.
• Sign up by January 15th.

Set your own goals:

• Read X nonfiction books
• Read X% nonfiction
• Read nonfiction in certain categories
• Read X books from a list, such as buzzfeed’s important nonfiction you should be reading, the winners of the Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, or something from a  Goodreads list.

⁕ I'm going with the first option here, and just reading as much nonfiction as I can. Hope to read at least four books that qualify.

See my original post about the challenge HERE.
See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.
See the challenge announcement/sign-up page HERE.
For review linkup, see the Nonfiction Friday posts HERE.


MY READING LIST (books I've read, with links to reviews/notes):

1. Balthus: Cats and Girls. Sabine Rewald (2013; art/art history; 176 pages)
2. Just Kids. Patti Smith (2010; memoir; 304 pages)

POSSIBILITIES (A) - Books I'd definitely like to read this year.

• Blue Nights. Joan Didion (autobiography/memoir)
• Books. Larry McMurtry (memoir)
• Just Kids. Patti Smith (memoir)
• The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws. Margaret Drabble (autobiography/memoir)
• South and West: From a Notebook. Joan Didion (essays, notes)
• The Year of Magical Thinking. Joan Didion (autobiography/memoir)

POSSIBILITIES (B) - Other books I'm considering; many from my TBR stacks.

• American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century. Paula Uruburu (history) 
• A Circle of Sisters: Alice Kipling, Georgiana Burne Jones, Agnes Poynter, and Louisa Baldwin. Judith Flanders (history)
• Clover: The Tragic Love Story of Clover and Henry Adams and Their Brilliant Life in America's Gilded Age. Otto Friedrich (biography) 
• Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader. Ann Fadiman (essays)
• A Gentle Madness: Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books. Nicholas A. Basbanes (cultural history)
• The Hemingses of Monticello. Annette Gordon-Reed (history)
• Here at The New Yorker. Brendan Gill (literary history) 
• A History of Reading. Alberto Manguel (history) 
• In Cold Blood. Truman Capote (true crime) 
• The Last Pre-Raphaelite: Edward Burne-Jones and the Victorian Imagination. Fiona MacCarthy (biography, art history)
• The Life of Emily Dickinson. Richard B. Sewall (biography)
• Max Perkins: Editor of Genius. A. Scott Berg (literary history)
• The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the Whimsical, Thoughtful, and Sometimes Lonely Man Who Created "Alice in Wonderland". Jenny Woolf (biography)
• The Sisters: Babe Mortimer Paley, Betsy Roosevelt Whitney, Minnie Astor Fosburgh: The Lives and Times of the Fabulous Cushing Sisters. David Grafton (biography, history)
• The Writing Life. Annie Dillard (autobiography/memoir)

...

2018 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

**Challenge complete. See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.**

Host: Amy @ Passages to the Past
Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2018

Guidelines:

• Choose your level.
• Read any sub-genre of historical fiction (Historical Romance, Historical Mystery, Historical Fantasy, Young Adult, etc.)
• You don't need a blog to participate.
• There will be a monthly link for reviews.

Levels:

1. 20th Century Reader - 2 books
2. Victorian Reader - 5 books
3. Renaissance Reader - 10 books
4. Medieval - 15 books
5. Ancient History - 25 books
6. Prehistoric - 50+ books

My goal: "Victorian Reader" (5 books).

● See my original post about the challenge HERE. 
● See my challenge wrap-up post HERE. 
● See the challenge announcement/sign-up post HERE.
● See the pages for linking reviews: January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December .


MY READING LIST (books I've read, with links to reviews):
1. Holmes Entangled. Gordon McAlpine (2018; set in early 20th Century)
2. The Cottingley Secret. Hazel Gaynor (2017; set in early 20th Century) [review linked up 10/04/2018]
3. Pale Horse, Pale Rider: Three Short Novels. Katherine Anne Porter (1939; pre-WWI setting)
4. When You Reach Me. Rebecca Stead (2009; set in 1970s) [review linked up 7/09/2018]
5. A Morbid Taste for Bones (Brother Cadfael #1). Ellis Peters (1977; set in Medieval Wales)
6. A Shadow on the Wall. Jonathan Aycliffe (2000; set in Victorian England)


POSSIBILITIES (some books I'd like to knock off my TBR pile):

• Alias Grace. Margaret Atwood 
• The Alienist. Caleb Carr 
• The Children's Book. A.S. Byatt 
• The Conjurer's Bird. Martin Davies 
• The Cottingley Secret. Hazel Gaynor 
• The Crystal Cave (Arthurian Saga #1). Mary Stewart 
• The English Patient. Michael Ondaatje 
• Flora. Gail Godwin 
• The Fountain Overflows. Rebecca West 
• A Gentleman in Moscow. Amor Towles 
• Girl in Hyacinth Blue. Susan Vreeland 
• The Glass Room. Simon Mawer 
• The House of the Spirits. Isabel Allende 
• I Am Madam X. Gioia Diliberto 
• The Last Painting of Sara de Vos. Dominic Smith
• Los Alamos. Joseph Kanon 
• Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper. Harriet Scott Chessman 
• A Mercy. Toni Morrison 
• The Mists of Avalon. Marion Zimmer Bradley 
• Number the Stars. Lois Lowry 
• Remarkable Creatures. Tracy Chevalier 
• Rules of Civility. Amor Towles 
• The Secret Keeper. Kate Morton 
• The Summer Before the War. Helen Simonson 
• The Virgin in the Garden. A.S. Byatt 
• When We Were Orphans. Kazuo Ishiguro 
• Wide Sargasso Sea. Jean Rhys 
• The Women in the Castle. Jessica Shattuck 

...

2018 Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge

**Challenge complete. See my wrap-up post HERE.**

Hosted by: Stormi @ Books, Movies, Reviews! Oh My! and Barb @ Booker T's Farm

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2018

Rules and Guidelines:

• Any book from the mystery/suspense/thriller/crime genres qualifies. Any sub-genres are welcome as long as they incorporate one of those genres.
• A blog isn't necessary to participate, but you do need a place to post your reviews to link up. (A blog, Goodreads, booklikes, etc.)
• Sign-up until April 15, 2018. Post your goal for the challenge and link it back to the sign-up page.
• Books should be novellas or novels (no short stories), and should be over 100 pages. 
• Books can crossover with other challenges.
• There will be a monthly link up to check your progress and show everyone your reviews. At the halfway mark and at the end there will be a giveaway for those participating.
• If you tweet about your progress or reviews, use the hashtag #CloakDaggerChal so others can find it.

Levels:

1. Amateur sleuth  (5-15 books)
2. Detective  (16-25 books)
3. Inspector  (26-35 books)
4. Special agent  (36-55 books)
5. Sherlock Holmes  (56+ books)

I'm signing up at the "Amateur Sleuth" level, and will try for 15 books.

See my original post about the challenge HERE.
See the challenge announcement/signup page HERE.
See the review linkups: JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC.
See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.


MY READING LIST (books I've read, with links to reviews):

1. Intruder in the Dark (Chief Inspector Littlejohn #43). George Bellairs (1966; police procedural)
2. A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple #5). Agatha Christie (1950; mystery)
3. Vintage Murder (Roderick Alleyn #5). Ngaio Marsh (1937; police procedural)
4. My Sister's Bones. Nuala Ellwood (2017; psychological thriller)
5. Miss Zukas and the Library Murders (Miss Zukas #1). Jo Dereske (1994; cozy mystery, amateur sleuth)
6. Coffin, Scarcely Used (Flaxborough Mysteries #1). Colin Watson (1958; police procedural)
7. Holmes Entangled. Gordon McAlpine (2018; mystery; historical mystery)
8. Give the Boys a Great Big Hand (87th Precinct #11). Ed McBain (1960; police procedural)
9. Murder in the Meadow (DI Hillary Greene #7). Faith Martin (2008; police procedural; originally published as Beside a Narrow Stream)
10. Tailspin. Sandra Brown (2018; romantic suspense; thriller)
11. The Mystery of the Blue Train (Hercule Poirot #6). Agatha Christie (1928; mystery)
12. A Long Time Coming. Aaron Elkins (2018; mystery; art-related)
13. Last Song Sung (Cullen & Cobb #3). David A. Poulsen (2018; mystery; private investigator)
14. Call for the Dead (George Smiley #1). John le Carré (1961; mystery/espionage)
15. A Morbid Taste for Bones (Brother Cadfael #1). Ellis Peters (1977; mystery; historical mystery)

POSSIBILITIES (books I'd like to knock off my TBR pile):

• The Book of the Dead  (Pendergast #7). Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
• The Bookwoman's Last Fling  (Cliff Janeway #5). John Dunning 
• The Cabinet of Curiosities  (Pendergast #3). Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• The Case of the Gilded Fly  (Gervase Fen #1). Edmund Crispin 
• Cast, in Order of Disappearance  (Charles Paris #1). Simon Brett 
• Cutwork  (Needlecraft Mysteries #7). Monica Ferris 
• Death at the President's Lodging  (Sir John Appleby #1). Michael Innes 
• Death in Disguise  (Inspector Barnaby #3). Caroline Graham 
• Death is a Word  (Sheila Malory #21). Hazel Holt 
• Death of a Hollow Man  (Inspector Barnaby #2). Caroline Graham 
• Dumb Witness  (Hercule Poirot #16). Agatha Christie 
• Faithful Unto Death  (Inspector Barnaby #5). Caroline Graham 
• Final Curtain  (Roderick Alleyn #14). Ngaio Marsh 
• Five Red Herrings  (Lord Peter Wimsey #7). Dorothy L. Sayers 
• Framed in Lace  (Needlecraft Mysteries #2). Monica Ferris 
• Gallows View  (Inspector Alan Banks #1). Peter Robinson 
• Hanging By a Thread  (Needlecraft Mysteries #6). Monica Ferris 
• In the Best Families  (Nero Wolfe #13). Rex Stout
• Last Bus to Woodstock  (Inspector Morris #1). Colin Dexter
• Last Seen Wearing  (Inspector Morris #2). Colin Dexter 
• The League of Frightened Men  (Nero Wolfe #2). Rex Stout 
• Let the Devil Sleep  (Dave Gurney #3). John Verdon 
• The Little Sister  (Philip Marlow #5). Raymond Chandler 
• Los Alamos. Joseph Kanon 
• The Man in the Queue  (Inspector Alan Grant #1). Josephine Tey 
• The Man Who Died Laughing  (Stewart Hoag #1). David Handler 
• Miss Zukas and the Library Murders  (Miss Zukas #1). Jo Dereske 
• The Moving Finger  (Miss Marple #4). Agatha Christie 
• Mrs. Malory and a Death in the Family  (Sheila Malory #17). Hazel Holt 
• Mrs. Malory and a Necessary End  (Sheila Malory #20). Hazel Holt 
• Murder Must Advertise  (Lord Peter Wimsey #10). Dorothy L. Sayers
• The Murder on the Links  (Hercule Poirot #2). Agatha Christie
• Murder, She Meowed  (Mrs. Murphy #5). Rita Mae Brown 
• Murder with Mirrors  (Miss Marple #8). Agatha Christie 
• The Mystery of the Blue Train  (Hercule Poirot #6). Agatha Christie
• Nemesis  (Miss Marple #12). Agatha Christie 
• The Night She Died  (Inspector Thanet #1). Dorothy Simpson 
• Origin  (Robert Langdon #5). Dan Brown 
• Pay Dirt  (Mrs. Murphy #4). Rita Mae Brown 
• Reliquary  (Pendergast #2). Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• Say It with Poison  (Mitchell & Markby #1). Ann Granger 
• The Second Confession  (Nero Wolfe #12). Rex Stout 
• The Sign of the Book  (Cliff Janeway #4). John Dunning 
• The Singing Sands  (Inspector Alan Grant #6). Josephine Tey 
• Still Life  (Chief Inspector Gamache #1). Louise Penny 
• Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd  (Flavia de Luce #8). Alan Bradley
• Too Many Clients  (Nero Wolfe #23). Rex Stout 
• The Wheel of Darkness  (Pendergast #8). Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child 
• When You Reach Me. Rebecca Stead 

...

Family Tree Reading Challenge

***See my challenge wrap-up post HERE***

Host: Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews
Dates: January - December 2018

Goal: "To read a book from the birth year of your selected family members. You do not have to mention them by name, unless you want. But do please list the years you'll be reading. You may include yourself in your 'family tree.' "

Number of books: three (or more) books (and three family members).

• See my original post about the challenge HERE.
• See my challenge wrap-up post HERE.
• See the challenge announcement/sign-up page HERE.

I'll be trying for at least one book from each of the following years: 1949, 1950, 1952, 1960.

MY READING LIST (books read, with links to reviews/discussions):

1. A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple #5). Agatha Christie (pub. June 1950)
2. Give the Boys a Great Big Hand (87th Precinct #11). Ed McBain (pub. 1960) 

POSSIBLITIES:

Published 1949:

• The Case of the Cautious Coquette (Perry Mason #34). Erle Stanley Gardner
• The Catherine Wheel (Miss Silver #15). Patricia Wentworth
• The Little Sister (Philip Marlow #5). Raymond Chandler
• Love in a Cold Climate. Nancy Mitford
• The Mating Season (Jeeves #9). P.G. Wodehouse
• Miss Silver Comes to Stay (Miss Silver #16). Patricia Wentworth
• The Moving Target (Lew Archer #1). Ross Macdonald
• The Second Confession (Nero Wolfe #15). Rex Stout
• The Sign of the Crooked Arrow (Hardy Boys #28). Franklin W. Dixon 
• A Tree of Night and Other Stories. Truman Capote 
• Trouble in Triplicate (Nero Wolfe #14). Rex Stout 

Published 1950:

• The Case of the Negligent Nymph (Perry Mason #35). Erle Stanley Gardner
• The Case of the One-Eyed Witness (Perry Mason #36). Erle Stanley Gardner
• Double, Double. Ellery Queen
• The Drowning Pool (Lew Archer #2). Ross Macdonald
• Henry Huggins (Henry Huggins #1). Beverly Cleary
• In the Best Families (Nero Wolfe #17). Rex Stout
• The Secret of the Wooden Lady (Nancy Drew #27). Carolyn Keene
• Strangers on a Train. Patricia Highsmith
• Three Doors to Death (Nero Wolfe #16). Rex Stout
• Time and Again. Clifford D. Simak
• To Love and Be Wise (Inspector Alan Grant #4). Josephine Tey  

Published 1952:

• The Birds and Other Stories. Daphne du Maurier
• The Case of the Moth-Eaten Mink (Perry Mason #39). Erle Stanley Gardner
• The Groves of Academe. Mary McCarthy
• Hemlock and After. Angus Wilson
• The Ivory Grin (Lew Archer #4). Ross Macdonald 
• The Mystery at the Ski Jump (Nancy Drew #29). Carolyn Keene 
• Prisoner's Base (Nero Wolfe #21). Rex Stout
• Ring Around the Sun. Clifford D. Simak
• The Sailor from Gibraltar. Marguerite Duras
• The Singing Sands (Inspector Alan Grant #6). Josephine Tey
• They Do It with Mirrors (Miss Marple #6). Agatha Christie

Published 1960:

• The Cricket in Times Square. George Selden
• Don't Tell Alfred. Nancy Mitford
• A Fine and Private Place. Peter S. Beagle
• Give the Boys a Great Big Hand (87th Precinct #11). Ed McBain
• The Heckler (87th Precinct #12). Ed McBain
• Hons and Rebels. Jessica Mitford
• How Right You Are, Jeeves (Jeeves #12). P.G. Wodehouse
• Pleasant Dreams: Nightmares. Robert Bloch
• Rabbit, Run. John Updike
• Take a Girl Like You. Kingsley Amis
• Too Many Clients (Nero Wolfe #34). Rex Stout  
• Venice. Jan/James Morris 
• What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Henry Farrell

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XII

Dates: September 1 through October 31, 2017
Hosted by: Estella's Revenge 

Guidelines:

✸ There are several different levels of participation:

• Peril the First: Read four books of any length, from any of the challenge categories.
• Peril the Second: Read two books of any length, from any category.
• Peril the Third: Read one book of any length, from any category.
• Peril of the Short Story: An extra option, for those who want to read shorter works.
• Peril on the Screen: Another extra option, for those who like to watch scary or suspenseful fare on the large or small screen.
• Peril of the Group Read: This year the group will be reading Slade House by David Mitchell.

✸ Choose books from the following categories:

• Mystery
• Suspense
• Thriller
• Gothic
• Horror
• Dark Fantasy
• Supernatural

✷ I'm signing up at the Peril the First level (four books), and I'll be combining that with Peril on the Screen and possibly Peril of the Short Story.

See my original post about the challenge HERE.
See the challenge announcement page HERE.
See the review site HERE.

MY BOOK LIST (books read, with links to any reviews/notes):

1. An Echo of Murder (William Monk #23). Anne Perry / category: Mystery (detective fiction)
2. See What I Have Done. Sarah Schmidt / category: Mystery (historical mystery fiction)
3. The Body in the Library (Miss Marple #3). Agatha Christie / category: Mystery (mystery fiction - amateur detective) 
4. The Graveyard Apartment. Mariko Koike; trans. by Deborah Boliver Boehm / category: Horror (haunted house)

MY SCREEN PERIL LIST, Part 1 (Movies):

1. Nosferatu (1922; directed by F.W. Murnau)
2. The Mummy (1932; the original with Karloff - I rewatch this one every year)
3. The Wolf Man (1942; another rewatch of a favorite show) 
4. The Relic (1997); directed by Peter Hyams, based on the thriller by Preston & Child)
5. Return of the Fly (1959; also one I think I'd seen before, but I really had no memory of it)
6. What Lies Beneath (2000; another favorite that I haven't seen in quite a while)
7. 
   

MY SCREEN PERIL LIST, Part 2 (TV Shows):

1. Garage Sale Mysteries: The Art of Murder (2016)
2. Garage Sale Mysteries: Murder by Text (2017) 
3. 
   

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Perilous Reading Possibilities:

• Beyond the Ice Limit. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• Blue Labyrinth. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
• The Book of Lost Things. John Connolly
• The Colony. F.G. Cottam 
• Doll Bones. Holly Black; illus. by Eliza Wheeler
• The Girl on the Train. Paula Hawkins
• The Haunted Hotel. Wilkie Collins 
• Lovecraft Unbound. Ellen Datlow, ed.
• The Midnight Side. Natasha Mostert
• My Sister's Bones. Nuala Ellwood 
• A Shadow on the Wall. Jonathan Aycliffe
• Shadow Ritual. Eric Giacometti and Jacques Ravenne
• A Song of Shadows. John Connolly 
• Strangers on a Train. Patricia Highsmith 
• This House Is Haunted. John Boyne
• When the Music's Over. Peter Robinson 

Screen Peril Possibilities:

• The Conjuring 2 (2016 film)
• Dream House (2011 film) 
• The Gift (2015 film)
• The Haunting (1963 film; I watch this every year) 
• Heavenly Creatures (1994 film)
• I Confess (1953 film; Alfred Hitchcock)
• Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013 film) 
• The Invisible Ray (1936 film) 
• The Maze (1953 film)
• Murder! (1930 film; Alfred Hitchcock)
• Perception (TV series, 2012-15) 
• Person of Interest (TV series, 2011-2016)
• The Uninvited (1944 film; another one I watch every time RIP comes around) 
• The Watcher in the Woods (1980 film)

Reading Challenge Addict: Keeping Track of My Challenges

Click here to declare your addiction and sign up.

Yes, I am a reading challenge addict. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that, but it's a reality and I have to face it. I always start out saying "only one or two this year," and inevitably end up signed up for a dozen or more (16 so far this year). So, I figure I might as well join the group and declare myself. Also hoping this will help me keep myself organized in 2017. (See my original blog post about the challenge HERE.)

My 2017 Reading Challenges:

2017 Category Challenge at Library Thing 

Reading Goal: 2 books each in 17 categories

Books Read:  

2017 Reading Challenge at GoodReads 

Reading Goal: 50 books

50 Book Challenge at Library Thing (2017)

Reading Goal: 50 books

Backlist Reader Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 12 books

Banned/Challenged Books Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 2-6 books

eBook Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 10 books

European Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 4 books

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 5 books

Monthly Keyword Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 12 books

New Authors Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 15-20 books

Newbery Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: No set number of books

New To Me Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 20 books 

Picture Book Reading Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: at least 6 books

R.I.P. Challenge XII

Reading Goal: Peril the First (4 books)

Read Scotland 2017 (@ GoodReads)

Reading Goal: 1-5 books

Vintage Mystery Cover Scavenger Hunt 2017

Reading Goal: at least 6 books

What's In A Name Challenge 2017

Reading Goal: 6 books

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2017 Picture Book Reading Challenge

Host: Becky @ Becky's Book Reviews

Dates: January - December 2017

Click here for rules and sign-ups

Click here to see my original post about the challenge.

Click here to see my Challenge Update posts.

Click here to see the Challenge Check-in post (April).

As Becky says, the goal of this challenge is "To have adults read more picture books. To celebrate the fact that picture books are for everyone!" The minimum number of books to read is six.

There are several reading options for this challenge, including a bingo card, a checklist, and an A to Z option; I'm going with Becky's checklist of categories/subjects/varieties:

_  1. An alphabet book
_  2. A counting book
✓ 3. Concept book: shapes or numbers or opposites or colors: Numbers - What They Look Like and What They Do (A Little Golden Book), by Mary Reed and Edith Osswald; illus. by Violet LaMont (first pub. 1955)
_  4. a book set on a farm or in the country
_  5. a book set in the city or in an urban area
_  6. a book set at the beach, in the ocean, or by a lake
_  7. a book with human characters
_  8. a book with animal characters
_  9. a bedtime book
_  10. a rhyming book
_  11. a book celebrating art
_  12. a book celebrating dance
_  13. a book celebrating music
_  14. a book celebrating family (parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, etc.)
_  15. a book about feelings, expressing feelings
_  16. a book with a twist (unexpected) ending
✓ 17. a book about pets (cats, dogs, fish): My Kitten, by Margaret O'Hair; illus. by Tammie Lyon
_  18. a book celebrating libraries or reading
_  19. a book translated into English (originally published in another language/country)
_  20. Mother Goose related
_  21. a book about adoption
_  22. a book by Gail Gibbons
_  23. a book by Jon Scieszka
_  24. a book featured on Reading Rainbow
_  25. free choice
_  26. out of print
_  27. wordless picture book
_  28. a book by Margaret Wise Brown
_  29. a board book
_  30. a book about trains or planes
_  31. a book about cars or trucks
_  32. a book about starting school
_  33. a book about friendship (sharing, caring, forgiving)
_  34. a book about being ME, about being unique, special, loved, etc.
_  35. a fairy tale
_  36. a twisted (adapted) fairy tale
_  37. a book about a holiday
_  38. a new-to-you author
_  39. a new-to-you illustrator
_  40. a book about new experiences (dentist, doctor, sleepovers, movies, playing sports, learning to swim, etc.)
✓41. a series book: Arthur's Nose (Arthur Adventure Series). Marc Brown (first pub. 1976)
_ 42. a book celebrating food (cooking, eating, trying new foods, eating healthy)
✓43. a book published before 1950: Millions of Cats, written and illus. by Wanda Gág (pub. 1928)
_ 44. a book published in the 1950s
_ 45. a book published in the 1960s
_ 46. a book published in the 1970s
_ 47. a book published in the 1980s
_ 48. a book published in the 1990s
_ 49. a book published in the 2000s
_ 50. a book published 2010-2016
_ 51. a book published in 2017
_ 52. a book by Dr. Seuss
_ 53. a book by Mo Willems
_ 54. a book by Jan Thomas
_ 55. a book by Eric Carle
_ 56. a book by Laura Numeroff
_ 57. a book by Patricia Polacco
_ 58. a book by Jon Klassen
_ 59. a book by Beatrix Potter
_ 60. a book by Kevin Henkes
_ 61. a book written or illustrated by LeUyen Pham
✓62. a Caldecott winner: Time of Wonder, by Robert McCloskey (1958 Winner)
✓63. a Caldecott honor: The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, by Chris Van Allsburg (1980 Honor book)
_ 64. a picture book biography
_ 65. a nonfiction picture book
✓66. a book from your childhood: Nurse Nancy (Little Golden Book), written by Kathryn Jackson; illus. by Corinne Malvern (pub. ca. 1950)
_ 67. a book you discovered as an adult
_ 68. a book celebrating writing, being an author or illustrator
_ 69. a library book
_ 70. an audio book
_ 71. a book about dinosaurs OR dragons
_ 72. nonfiction book about animals (or animal)
_ 73. a challenged book OR a controversial book
_ 74. a book that makes you laugh
_ 75. a book that makes you cry
_ 76. hate the text, love the art
_ 77. love the text, hate the art
_ 78. a book with a great cover
_ 79. a book with an ugly cover
_ 80. a book about toys
_ 81. a book about weather
_ 82. a picture book for older readers
_ 83. a book of jokes, riddles, tongue-twisters
_ 84. a book about seasons
_ 85. a song
✓86. a poetry book: Dark Emperor & Other Poems of the Night, by Joyce Sidman; illus. by Rick Allen (pub. 2010)
_ 87. a book by a celebrity
_ 88. a book published in Australia
_ 89. a book published in the UK
_ 90. a book about science or math
_ 91. a book about history or historical event
_ 92. a book about sports
_ 93. a book about celebrating birthdays
_ 94. a book about a President or world leader
_ 95. a book about another country
_ 96. a book celebrating faith
_ 97. a pop-up book, or, a book with cut-outs or flaps or fold-outs
_ 98. a bilingual book
_ 99. a television series that has been adapted to a book
_ 100. a book that has been adapted to a television series
_ 101. an adaptation of a myth or legend
✓102. a book about babies: The New Baby (A Little Golden Book), by Ruth and Harold Shane; illus. by Eloise Wilkin (first pub. 1948)

2017 New Authors Reading Challenge

Host: Literary Escapism

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2017

Guidelines:

• Read books by authors you've never read before.
• Crossovers with other challenges are allowed.
• You don't need a blog to participate.
• Set your own goal. You can choose to read 15, 25, or 50 new authors.

✹ I'm hoping to read at least 15-20 new authors.

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See the challenge announcement page HERE.
● To add a review, find the submission form HERE.
● See my wrap-up post HERE.


MY READING LIST (books I've read, with links to reviews):

1. David Baldacci: The Fix (Amos Decker #3). 
2. Sandra Block: The Secret Room (Zoe Goldman #3). 
3. Barbara Comyns: Our Spoons Came from Woolworths.
4. Amy Engel: The Roanoke Girls. 
5. David Handler: The Girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes (Stewart Hoag #9).
6. Siri Hustvedt: The Blazing World. 
7. Mariko Koike: The Graveyard Apartment. 
8. David Samuel Levinson: Tell Me How This Ends Well. 
9. Tom McAllister: The Young Widower's Handbook: A Novel. 
10. Sarah Schmidt: See What I Have Done. 
11. Lisa Turner: Devil Sent the Rain.
12. Larry Watson: As Good as Gone. 

...

2017 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Host: Passages to the Past

Dates: January 1 - December 31, 2017

Click here for rules and sign-ups

I'm signing up at the Victorian Reader level (5 books).

● See my original post about the challenge HERE.
● See the challenge review pages: JAN, FEB, MAR, APR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, OCT, NOV, DEC .

MY READING LIST (books I've read for the challenge, with links to reviews):

1. As Good as Gone. Larry Watson (pub. 2016, set in 1960s)
2. Magic by the Lake (Tales of Magic #3). Edward Eager (pub. 1957, set in early 1900s)
3. An Echo of Murder (William Monk #23). Anne Perry (pub. 2017, set in 19th Century England) 
4. See What I Have Done. Sarah Schmidt (pub. 2017, set in 1890s and early 20th Century Massachusetts) 
5. Our Spoons Came from Woolworths. Barbara Comyns (pub. 1950, set in 1930s London) 

...