The Criminal Plots Reading Challenge Returns

Well, I wasn't going to host the reading challenge this year because I haven't done a very good "host" job lately, but due to popular demand, I've created a new one for 2013.

To give you a rundown on how I did on my own challenge last year, here were the categories and the books I read that fit:

1. A novel with a weapon in the title: Before the Poison (Peter Robinson) and The Wrong Gun (Parnell Hall).
2. Novel published at least 10 years ago: The Gun Seller (Hugh Laurie 1998)
3.  Book Written by an Author from Your State/Providence: The Things That Keep Us Here (Carla Buckley)
4. Book Written by an Author using a Pen Name:  Lockdown (Sean Black)
5. Book Whose Protag is the Opposite Gender of the Author: Jack 1939 (Francine Mathews)
6. Standalone Written by a Series Author: Vanishing Point (Val McDermid), The Prophet (Michael Koryta), or 15 Seconds (Andrew Gross)

So what does the Criminal Plots III challenge involve? I'm glad you asked. This year's categories are as follows:

1. Novel with an animal in the title.

2. Two short stories written by two different authors who are new to you.

3. Book written by more than one person.

4. A YA crime novel. 

5. A book from a series optioned for televsion.  

6. A novel that's been nominated for an Edgar® in the last five years.

You can get all the details and sign up at the Criminal Plots blog. If you have any questions, email me. I'll put up the posts for each category over the weekend. And I'll have some contests to correlate with the categories throughout the year. I'll try very hard to be a better challenge host this year. Thanks to everyone who expressed an interest in participating again.

I'd really like to encourage some folks who aren't typically crime fiction fans to participate. Let them get a taste of what's in the genre. So, if you know of someone who could use a little nudge in the right direction, let them know about the challenge!

O.k., let the challenge begin!