Tag Archives: reading

Addendums to the 2023 reading challenge

The PolyBlog
January 8 2023

I like the list of books I came up with for my reading challenge. However, that list was my tentative planning list before I worked on the other genre challenges that I belong to on FaceBook. For those, I’m doing a bit of planning below.

The PolyWogg Reading Challenge 2023

Cozy Mystery Reading Challenge for 2023

  1. Set in a different time period –> The Daughter of Sherlock Holmes by Leonard Goldberg
  2. Cozy companion that isn’t a dog or cat –> Secondhand Spirits by Juliet Blackwell
  3. Has a beverage recipe –> Death of a Kitchen Diva by Lee Hollis
  4. Paranormal or Magical Cozy –> Death Overdue by Allison Brook
  5. Set somewhere you’d like to vacation –> The Cracked Spine by Paige Shelton
  6. Sun, Moon, or Stars on the cover –> Deadly Summer Nights by Vicky Delaney
  7. A Cozy that matches the season –> WINTER: Chocolate Hearts and Murder by Patt Larsen; SPRING: Eggsecutive Orders by Julie Hyzy; SUMMER: Jealousy Filled Donuts by Ginger Bolton; FALL: The Cider Shop Rules by Julie Ann Winters;
  8. A Cozy opposite the season –> WINTER: Murder in the PaperBack Parlour by Ellery Adams;
  9. Male Author –> Death by Coffee by Alex Erickson
  10. Main character is different than you –> Death by Dumpling by Vivien Chien
  11. An author who uses initials –> Whose Body by Dorothy L Sayers
  12. A past Book Chat selection you haven’t read –> Elementary, She Read by Vicky Delany
  13. A library book –> Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters
  14. A reread –> Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
  15. Serves food you’d like to eat –> Catering to Nobody by Dianne Mott Davidson
  16. Includes a celebration –> Murder’s No Votive Confidence by Christin Brecher
  17. Includes a home project –> Dead Cat Bounce by Sarah Graves
  18. Judge a book by its cover –> Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanna Fluke
  19. Has a setting different from yours –> Real Murders by Charlaine Harris
  20. Read (part of) the rainbow: predominant purple –> Murder in G Major by Alexia Gordon
  21. Bonus Prompt #1 — Three cozies, same author –> I Scream, You Scream // ​Scoop to Kill // A Parfait Murder by Wendy Lyn Watson
  22. Bonus Prompt #2 — Cozy without murder –> The Unexpected Mrs. Pollifax by Dorothy Gilman
  23. Bonus Prompt #3 — Read the rainbow –> RED: Under Lock & Skeleton Key by Gigi Pandian // ORANGE: The Librarian Always Rings Twice by Marty Wingate // YELLOW: Decaffeinated Corpse by Cleo Coyle // GREEN: A Baffling Murder at the Midsummer Ball by T.E. Kinsey // BLUE: Caught Dead Handed by Carol J. Perry // INDIGO: Fame and Fortune and Murder by Patti Larsen // VIOLET: Her Royal Spyness by Rhys Bowen

The Tea and Ink Society Challenge

This site has the requirement that the books have to all be published before 1970. Hey, I was born before then, I guess I’m classic now too!

  1. January: A classic detective novel
  2. February: A book with a character’s name in the title
  3. March: A classic fairy tale collection
  4. April: A classic Japanese novel
  5. May: A book with a movie/TV adaptation you’ve already seen
  6. June: A classic set at sea
  7. July: A narrative poem or collection of poetry
  8. August: A classic by a Latin American author
  9. September: A Dickens novel
  10. October: A nonfiction classic
  11. November: A classic fantasy novel
  12. December: A classic set in a place you want to visit

The Cloak and Dagger Reading Challenge (#CloakDaggerChal).

The premise for this one is sheer volume:

  • 5-15 books – Amateur sleuth
  • 16-25 books – Detective
  • 26-35 books – Inspector
  • 36 – 55 – Special agent
  • 56+ books – Sherlock Holmes

The catch — of course, there’s a catch! — is that you can only count mystery, suspense, thriller and crime books. You can find the link at: https://carolsnotebook.com/2022/11/15/cloak-and-dagger-reading-challenge-2023/.

Let the reading begin!

The PolyWogg Reading Challenge 2023

The PolyBlog
January 8 2023

A number of years ago, I started a reading challenge for myself. A little creative, a little classic, a little gamification to up my reading quotient and broaden my reading selections. Then it morphed into a group and about 20+ people joined. Because of some personal issues, I left that group last year and let others run with it. I have no idea if it’s still active, but I went in search of “other sites” that I could haunt to get my reading-discussion/virtual-book-club fix. It didn’t really work for me. It turns out that when I’m not part of a … Continue reading →

Today I choose to simply read (TIC00013b)

The PolyBlog
July 21 2020

I love to read, but I find it hard to work into my schedule. Which is not to say my schedule is “full”, I just mean there aren’t natural times when I’m likely to read. When I was in elementary school, I would read in school when I was supposed to be doing school work, read while I walked home sometimes, read until supper, read until bed, and read on the way back to school the next morning where I would get three more books (I was in Grade 3 or 4 as I recall). Later, I would read on … Continue reading →

Reading Mark Manson’s “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck”

The PolyBlog
March 19 2020

As part of PolyWogg’s Reading Challenge 2020, I wanted to read the uber-popular “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck” by Mark Manson. I frequently avoid pop psych stuff as the analytical side is rarely up to my standards, but it is subtitled a “Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life”, and I’m willing to give it a chance. So I started keeping notes as I read it. Chapter 1: Don’t try The basic premise is that most self-improvement efforts are too vague or too generic to be helpful. They are all about getting more, doing more, having more … Continue reading →