Last year I decided to pass on participating in any reading challenges reflecting that I wasn’t particularly active on the blog around the New Year. By the time I had picked up the pace again we were several months into the year and it felt like the moment had passed.
I can’t promise that I will be much better about blogging regularly this year but I do want to take on a couple of challenges to give a little focus to my reading. This page will collect any challenges I am working towards and track my progress.
The Japanese Literature Challenge 14
The Dolce Bellezza blog is hosting a Japanese Literature challenge. There are no set goals, just a commitment to read Japanese novels either in translation or the original Japanese between January and March. I have a lot of Japanese mystery fiction in my TBR pile so this seemed like a great prompt to focus my efforts on getting that mess under control.
Vintage Scattegories
Bev @ My Reader’s Block is running this vintage mysteries challenge. You can compete in the eras labeled as the Golden (pre-1960) and Silver (1960-1989) ages. I am going to aim at completing all 40 for the Golden Age but probably 8-10 at the Silver age level – wish me luck!
Progress
Golden Age (Pre-1960) – 15/40
Silver Age (1960-1989) – 10/40
| Category | Book Selection and Link to Review |
|---|---|
| 1. Colorful Crime: A book with a color or reference to color in the title | GOLDEN AGE: Ride the Pink Horse by Dorothy B Hughes |
| 2. Murder by the Numbers: A book with a number or quantity in the title | GOLDEN AGE: Three Act Tragedy by Agatha Christie |
| 3. Amateur Night: A book with a detective who is not a P.I.; Police Officer; or other official investigator (Nurse Keate, Father Brown, Miss Marple, etc.) | GOLDEN AGE: The Chocolate Cobweb |
| 4. Leave It to the Professionals: A book featuring cops, private eyes, secret service, professional spies, etc. | |
| 5. Jolly Old England: A mystery set in the United Kingdom | |
| 6. Yankee Doodle Dandy: A mystery set in the United States | GOLDEN AGE: Dreadful Summit by Stanley Ellin |
| 7. World Traveler: A mystery set in any country except the U.S. or U.K. | SILVER AGE: Murder at Mt. Fuji by Shizuko Natsuki |
| 8. Dangerous Beasts: A book with an animal in the title | GOLDEN AGE: The Black Lizard and Beast in the Shadows by Edogawa Rampo |
| 9. A Calendar of Crime: A mystery with a date/holiday/year/month/etc. in the title | |
| 10. Wicked Women: A book with a woman in the title–either by name (Mrs. McGinty’s Dead) or by reference (The Case of the Vagabound Virgin) | SILVER AGE: Henrietta Who? by Catherine Aird |
| 11. Malicious Men: A book with a man in the title–either by name (Maigret & the Yellow Dog) or by reference (The Case of the Haunted Husband) | SILVER AGE: Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto |
| 12. Murderous Methods: A book with a means of death in the title (The Noose, 5 Bullets, Deadly Nightshade, etc.) | GOLDEN AGE: Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers SILVER AGE: Monk’s Hood by Ellis Peters |
| 13. Staging the Crime: A mystery set in the entertainment world (theatre, musical event, pageant, Hollywood, etc) | GOLDEN AGE: Who Killed Dick Whittington? by E. & M. A. Radford |
| 14. Scene of the Crime: A book with the location of the crime in the title (The Body in the Library, Murder at the Vicarage, etc) | GOLDEN AGE: Death in the Clouds by Agatha Christie |
| 15. Cops & Robbers: A book that features a theft rather than murder | |
| 16. Locked Rooms: A locked-room mystery | SILVER AGE: Murder in the Crooked House by Soji Shimada |
| 17. Impossible Crimes: Any other impossible crime (locks not necessary) | |
| 18. Country House Criminals: A standard (or not-so-standard) Golden Age-style country house murder | GOLDEN AGE: Heads You Lose by Christianna Brand |
| 19. Murder on the High Seas: A mystery involving water | GOLDEN AGE: Murder on the Enriqueta by Molly Thynne |
| 20. Planes, Trains, & Automobiles: A book with a mode of transportation in the title | |
| 21. Murder is Academic: A mystery involving a scholar, teacher, librarian, etc. OR set at a school, university, library, etc. | GOLDEN AGE: Love Lies Bleeding by Edmund Crispin |
| 22. Things That Go Bump in the Night: A book with something spooky, creepy, gothic in the title (The Skeleton in the Clock; Haunted Lady; The Bat; etc) | |
| 23. Repeat Offenders: A mystery featuring your favorite series detective or by your favorite author or reread an old favorite | GOLDEN AGE: The A. B. C. Murders by Agatha Christie |
| 24. The Butler Did It…Or Not: A mystery where the butler is the victim, the sleuth…(gasp) the criminal…or is just downright memorable for whatever reason. | |
| 25. A Mystery by Any Other Name: Any book that has been published under more than one title (Murder Is Easy–aka Easy to Kill [Christie]; Fog of Doubt–aka London Particular [Christianna Brand], etc.) | |
| 26. Dynamic Duos: A mystery featuring a detective team (Holmes & Watson; Pam & Jerry North; Nero Wolfe & Archie Goodwin, or a little-known team that you introduce to us) | |
| 27. Size Matters: A book with a size or measurement in the title (Death Has a Small Voice; The Big Four; The Weight of the Evidence; etc.) | GOLDEN AGE: The Nothing Man by Jim Thompson |
| 28. Psychic Phenomena: A mystery featuring a seance, medium, hypnotism, or other psychic or “supernatural” characters/events | SILVER AGE: Black Aura by John Sladek |
| 29. Book to Movie: A book that has appeared on screen (feature film or TV) | GOLDEN AGE: The Lodger by Marie Belloc Lowndes |
| 30. The Old Bailey: A courtroom drama mystery OR a mystery featuring a judge, lawyer, barrister, district attorney | |
| 31. Serial Killers: Books that were originally published in serial format (from the pulp era) OR a book that includes three or more deaths–all committed by the same person. | SILVER AGE: Desire to Kill by Anna Clarke |
| 32. Killed in Translation: A work that originally appeared in another language and has been made available in English–original publication date determines Gold or Silver Age–OR if your native language is not English, then a work that originally appeared in English which you read in your native language. | SILVER AGE: A Kiss of Fire by Masako Togawa |
| 33. Blondes in Danger: A variation on “Colorful Crime.” A book that features a blonde in the title (The Blonde Died First; The Case of the Black-Eyed Blonde) or another shade of hair color (The Case of the Substitute Brunette) | |
| 34. International Detectives: A variation on “World Traveler”–but instead of the crime being set in another country, the detective is not from the U.S. or U.K. | |
| 35. Somebody Else’s Crime: Read a book that someone else has already read for the challenge. | |
| 36. Genuine Fakes: Read a book by an author who wrote under a pseudonym (Josephine Tey [Elizabeth Mackintosh]; Nicholas Blake [Cecil Day Lewis]; etc.) | |
| 37. Hobbies Can Be Murder: A mystery that involves a hobby in some way: stamp, coin, book collecting, etc; knitting; birdwatching; hunting; etc. | |
| 38. Snatch & Grab: Read the first book you pick up off your shelf or TBR stack/s | GOLDEN AGE: The Mystery of a Butcher’s Shop by Gladys Mitchell SILVER AGE: A Judgement in Stone by Ruth Rendell |
| 39. I’ve Got You Covered: Pick a book to read based on the cover | |
| 40. Get Out of Jail Free: One per customer. You tell me what special category the book fits and it counts–the only thing I won’t accept is “It’s a vintage mystery!” The genre/time period is a given. | SPECIAL CATEGORY: It’s A Kind of Magic SILVER AGE: The Magician’s Wife by James M. Cain |
