Cruisin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge 2011

Socrate's Book Reviews is hosting a Crusin' thru the Cozies Reading Challenge in 2011.  The challenge runs January  - December.

Even though she will be hosting a cozy challenge for the full year, I still plan to host the Cozy Mystery Challenge April - September like I have in previous years.  In fact, I think I'll even sign up for Socrate's challenge myself!

If you cozy fans are interested in participating in 2 challenges next year (because of course I hope and pray you'll still participate in mine) please visit her blog for more info on the challenge.

psst...I'll even let you count cozies that you read for my challenge for her's too...isn't that nice of me?

Books list is complete!

Thank you everyone for filling out the form and letting me know what books you read for this challenge and including a link to your review (when there was one).

I do have the list of books read for the Cozy Mystery Challenge 2010 updated and complete.  Feel free to browse through it next time you are in need of a good cozy read.

Here's a LINK but you can also get it by clicking on the tab towards the top of the page.

We have winners!

Thanks again to everyone who participated in this challenge!  You all did so great and I'm so happy to see so many cozy mystery lovers out there.

I finally have the winners for the books.  Congrats to everyone who won!

Beth C.won Souther Ghost.
Trudy M.won Bookmarked for Death
Carol A.won Death of a Party.
Vickie B. won The Christie Caper and Last Writes.

I'm hoping to mail the books this weekend, along with the bookmarks.

Sticky post for Forms

If you completed the challenge and are ready to complete the form, please click HERE.

After you fill out the form above, please fill out this form to be entered into the giveaway. 

If you want to enter your SEPTEMBER books read, please click HERE.

To view the complete list of books read , please click HERE. 

**This is a STICKY post and will remain at the top**

Cozy Mystery Challenge is now over!

I can't believe it's that time already..time for the challenge to be over!

I bet you all did great!!!!

I'm going to leave the September reads form open through the 15th.  This gives people a chance to link up all their reviews.  If you want to link reviews for other months, please just link them all on the September form since I won't be checking the other forms to see which are new additions to the list.  After the 15th I will then update the page that has all the books read and links to your reviews.

Please make sure you also complete the form for having completed the challenge and for the give-aways!  The last chance to sign-up for the give-aways is 10/15 at midnight, central time.  I'll use random.org to pick a winner and will post the info that weekend.

I'm going to start making the bookmarks and getting those sent out too.  Everyone is going to get the same one this year.  I finally came up with a design this week and I'm hoping to make most of them this weekend.  I hope you like it..it's a surprise until you receive it!

I want to thank all of you for participating this year!  I had so many more from last year.  It's exciting to see this one grow each year.   Of course, as of right now I plan to host this one again in 2011.  Same place, Same time.  Hope to see you all come back and feel free to bring a friend.

I know that for me personally, I had started to drift away from cozies even though I love them and this challenge made me read more and fall back in love with the genre.

Last month of the challenge!

I can't believe we are already at the end of the challenge!   This one always seems to go by so fast.  You all have read an amazing amount of cozies this year.  I should know, I just spent 3 or 4 days entered them all on the new page.   I admit to be way behind in reading all your blogs, rest assured I will get to it so I can see your challenge wrap-up posts and read all those reviews that you linked too.

We have already had 7 people completed the form showing they have completed this challenge...way to go!

For those of you who have completed the challenge or as you complete the challenge this month don't forget to fill out that form.  Don't forget that those who do will get a bookmark as a prize for completing this challenge.

I'm also giving away several used books I've come across that are cozies.  Once you complete the challenge, don't forget to fill out that form as well to be entered into the giveaway.


Good luck everyone!

Complete list of Books read for this challenge

I created a page for this blog where I listed each of the books read for this challenge and links to all reviewed.

I did have this on the side bar, but with blogger making pages so much easier now, I decided to switch it over because it would be easier for you (especially if you were wanting to print off a list) and me.

All books read April - August are listed.  I'll update the September books read once the challenge is over. 

I added a link at the top of this blog, and also on the right, however if you use google reader or a similar program, here's the link.

Enjoy! 

September - Books read

August - Books Read

August Books Read

July - Books Read

July Books Read

Giveaways for the challenge participants

As promise all participants who complete the challenge will receive a bookmark (which still hasn't been designed or made my yours truly).

However, I also have several books I'm offering as well!   I hope you like them.  I acquired all of these at a huge used book sale that was in my town in May.  A couple of them I bought because I thought I needed them for series I'm reading, only to find out I already owned them.  A couple I bought because I thought cozy readers would enjoy them and they were the right price for a giveaway.  I can't promise that they didn't come from smoke free or pet free homes though, so please keep that in mind if have you any major allergies.  I don't notice any smoke or pet smells, but that doesn't mean they aren't there.  I also have a dog, but these books have been in my library since I got them and the door is always closed so my dog is rarely in there.  Most are in like new condition, only 2 of them have enough wear to them that you would know automatically they were used.

If you are interested in any of the following books, please fill out the form (after you have completed the challenge).  I'll use random.org to pick the winners once the challenge is over.  You can pick more than one book and you are eligible to win more than one book.

(I ask for the first and last name so that if you win, I can find your address from when you submitted the completed challenge form.  I don't want there to be any confusion if I only ask for first name and last initial)

June - Books Completed

June - Books Read

Completed Challenge - form

For those who haven't participated before: please know that I don't share your mailing address and full name with anybody.  I am asking for this info so I can mail out the bookmarks and prizes.  It's much easier for me to gather the info this way instead of emailing each participant and hoping the emails don't go to spam or are lost, etc.  This is secure as well.  The form goes to my account and I'm the only one who has access to it.

If you prefer not to fill this out, you do have the option to contact me/email me your address or I'll just assume you were not interested in receiving a bookmark or being entered into a drawing for a price (post to come later regarding the prices).

I will create a list of those who have finished the challenge (first name only) along with a link to their wrap up post (if they have one) and the number of books completed for this challenge.

How one writes a mystery (although a bit more gory than a cozy)

I saw this on Kittling Books and just had to share.

List of books read on sidebar

I wanted to let you know that I'm working on listing all the books read (at least those submitted) on the right sidebar of this blog.   If a link to an online review is provided, I will link the review.   You can see that there are a couple that are indented a bit, those are linked.  Otherwise just move your mouse over the list and if the courser changes to a finger point, you can click and go to a review.   Also, if you see a number behind the list, that indicates how many times it was read (obviously if there is no number that indicates it was read only once).  If we had more than one person read the book and also review it online, I'll have to list the book and link each review individually.

I'm just getting started with this, so the list will grow slowly but surely.  I also won't plan on putting any books for the current month until the current month is over.


Keep up the good work, you all are doing awesome with this challenge!

May Reads - Please let us know what books you completed for this challenge in May

****Updated 6/10/2010****

I have removed the form so it doesn't accidentally get updated with the June reads. If you read a book in May and didn't get a chance to submit it before I took the form away, please leave a comment and I'll manually add it.

Also..all books read in May are now listed on the sidebar!

Books read in May

April was an impressive month!

You all had a great month in April! I believe 90 books were read for this challenge...I'm impresssed!

Thanks everyone you filled out the form. I know I link the form so all can see what books have been read and by whom, but I do plan to list them all on the sidebar. It's probably going to take me a bit to get it done, but I'll get it done. If you reviewed the book online and included a link I'll try and include that too so we can all read your review.


I hope May is just as impressive!!!

(Oh..and I sent the form to stop accepting entries for April, however if you do need to add a book, please either email me or leave a comment and I'll add it for you. Thanks!)

Did you finish a book (for this challenge) in April?

If you do, please let us know what you read!  The form isn't required but I always think it's fun to see what othe cozies everyone is reading for this challenge.

Books completed in April

Holy Guacamole! Somebody already finished the challenge!

First off....I'm excited and surprised by the number of books you have all read for the challenge this month!  Very impressive.  I just knew Cozy Mystery readers were the best.

I'm especially surprised that Deborah from Books, Movies, and Chinese Food has already finished the challenge with, get this, 10 books!   Holy Smokes and Congratulations Deborarh!  I think you deserve a round of applause.

I suppose this means I need to create the post for the Challenge winners, er I mean, finishers, so I can start collecting mailing addresses for the bookmarks huh?  Hopefully I'll have that up by the end of the week.

Congrats again Deborah!

It's time to sign-up for my annual Cozy Mystery Challenge!

What is a cozy some of you might ask?  Good question!  To make it brief: a cozy mystery is a mystery that doesn't normally have any rough language, sex scenes, or gruesome details about the killing, and the main character is normally an amateur detective.  Many times you will notice that a cozy mystery series also revolves around food or a hobby, although this isn't a requirement.  The Cozy-Mystery website does a great job of listing what a cozy mystery is and also contains a list of authors who write cozies (you can also browse series by theme! Seriously!  I just noticed that and they have a section for paranormal..I'll be checking that out soon.).

This year the challenge means a bit more to me than in past years.  My friend Barbara (she went by Heidi on her blog) passed away last April.  She had signed up for the challenge but never had a chance to participate in it.  Barbara is the one who got my hooked on cozies.  Since she has passed I haven't read as many cozies as I would like, partly because I don't have her to talk to about them all the time and partly because reading her descriptions and what she read always kept me abreast of the cozy mystery world and excited about starting new series.   I'm hoping that by hosting the challenge this year I get back in the swing of reading more cozies.

Now, without further ado, the rules:

1. The challenge runs April 1st, 2010 through September 30, 2010.
2. The goal is to read at least 6 cozy mysteries, one for each month.  You can choose to read more, but you must read 6 in order to complete this challenge. You don't have to read 1 each month, you can read them whenever you like, you just have to read at least six.
3. While you can overlap with other challenges, please try to have at least 2 of the books only count towards this challenge.
4. Prizes you ask?  Everyone loves a prize! Everyone who completes this challenge will get a bookmark made by yours truly (even if I don't mail them in a timely manner - I will mail them.)
5. Sign-up using the dedicated form.  The form can be found in another post or here's a direct link.  While it would be great if you signed up before April 1st, last year I had several people who wanted to join but didn't learn about the challenge until after it had started. Therefore you can sign up anytime between now and September 1st.

Questions?  Leave a comment and I'll answer them.

oh..and the picture you ask?  That's a picture of part of my bookcase (I only have one right now).  These are almost all my mysteries, it is all my cozy mysteries.  I'm actually kinda out of room and that's why it looks so messy. 

Sign Up Form!

Thanks and Good luck!

First, don't forget that the challenge officially starts on Thursday!  I can't wait!  I have several cozies I want to read and have been waiting to read during the challenge months.

Good Luck everyone!

Also I just wanted to thank everyone for signing up for this challenge.  I think I have a record breaking number this year, 53 of you signed up!  Wow!  I never thought I would have that many participants..I'm giddy with excitement.  I'll have to come up with a super cool bookmark this year.

I still need to visit many of your blogs, I've been a bit busy lately and haven't had time.  I hope to do that soon though.

Cozy Mystery Challenge Participants