This is the finalized list of categories for this mini challenge but I will be posting another thread for actual discussions after Jan. 1st......

1.) In the village of Blarney, there's one magic stone...... An historical mystery featuring Ireland.

2.) It's a Pirate's Life for Me! HF mystery involving pirates, piracy, etc.

3.) Off to Visit The Wizard! HF mystery involving magic, sorcery, etc.

4.) Take 'er Easy There, Pilgrim. HF mystery which occurs or involves a pilgrimage/ journey to a holy place.

5.) What Befalls Me? Another HF mystery in which there is illness of some sort.

6.) Pyramids, Scarabs, Ankhs and Ra!! HF mystery set in, around or involving Egypt.

7.) Oooh, Spooky! HF mystery with a hint of the paranormal or what appears to be paranormal.

8.) It's All in the Family. Could a member of one's own family be involved????

9.) Could It Be Me? HF mystery in which the protagonist is suspect.

10.) In Your Own Backyard. HF mystery in the States.

11.) Water, Water Everywhere! HF mystery in which water is involved in the location of the mystery.

12.) A Bad State of Decay! Historical mystery that's been on your shelf the longest.

Bonus: An Historical mystery that won a book award.

Since this is actually a Mini Challenge, only 8 of the above books will be required to complete this challenge. The challenge will begin on Jan. 1st, 2012 and will end on Dec. 31st,  2012. On Jan. 1st of 2013, I will have DH draw a name from those who have completed the challenge and that person will receive a book from their WL (my choosing) or 1 credit. Those who want to complete the entire challenge will be doing so on their own accord and for the satisfaction of reading all of these interesting books.

Hope you all have fun with this! Thanks for your participation.

I think the categories are brilliant Jeanne.  Good job!

Thanks Letty!

I don't know how I managed to double post!!!!

Love 'em.  Great job!

<....gleefully perusing my bookshelf....>

Awww, Jeanne!  You just made my day!  Thanks!  

We're doing good so far, huh? Y'all aren't giving me any hints so far as to how many books should be the minimum requirement though. Hmmm.......

Well for me I would do them all, but 8 sound good I think.

OOHH..Jeanne, these sound great!  I agree with Letty on the number (and on the fact that I'd probably try all of them too!)

Maybe 2012 will be the year of historical mysteries for me.  2010 was deflowering, where I read all of the Big 3 for the first time.  2011 is a mish mash of trying to clear up my TBR.  Yep...sounds like mysteries for 2012!

Christa - I too have been trying to clear up my TBR and now I find that I have very few historical mysteries on my shelf - GASP! I'm either going to have to hit the library or see if any of those on my kindle will work. How the heck did I let this happen???

Glad to see that you are all in favor of the topics so far - I might add or fine tune some yet.....

OH YES,

HF mystery is my favorite. WONDERFUL TOPICS, JEANNE. These are easy to understand. I am involved in several challenges and some of the topics in other challenges (which I should not join) are like ----WHAT?????? 

Mary

This sounds great! I have a lot of HF mysteries on my TBR so this should be fun!

I hope it will be Aubree! i still have some more ideas but I'm wondering if I shouldn't save them for future challenges - don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, you know?

I think you've got a good group of topics here, Jeanne.  I would save others for 2013!  (Holy cow...that sounds very far away)

Okay, I changed one of the categories and now this is it! I decided to take us to Egypt. See topic # 6.

I think that is a great edition Jeanne, I am still making my way through the Amelia Peabody series. So that would fit in.

I think it would be great if we all looked over our bookshelf and then posted Available Books That Will Fit The Challenge.  We can do it for this mystery challenge, and for Christa's challenge when she posts that.  That would make it easier to acquire some of the books needed, and I'd rather order from you folks anyway...

I forgot to say first:   Brilliant categories, Love.....(with a British accent)

I would add two extra credit categories:  

13.   Award Winner book

14.   TBR book languishing on the shelf for the Longest time.  I have some that have been there for 4 years.  I bet somebody could come up with a cute name for this.

Good ideas Pamela!  How about we call that last one "A Bad State of Decay" ? Unless someone has a better idea.......?

There's going to be a separate historical MYSTERY challenge?  Oh JOY! 

Diane

Okay, I'm going to put Pamela's suggestion for the book on your shelf the longest on the list and I'll make the Award Winner a bonus. We'll save the "book of your choice for next year. Is everybody okay with that? I just can't let this thing get any bigger - phew!

The other decision that I've made ( and I think that I can hear the rumblings now) is that since some of us have a LOT more time to read than others, I'm going to try to do this as fairly as possible. The challenge will start on Jan. 1st of 2012 and it will end on 12/31/ 2012. For all of those who have read 8 or more books by then, I will put the names in a "hat" and have DH draw the name to see who is the winner of a book from their WL. I think that this is the most equitable way to do this, thereby giving everyone a chance. For those of you who choose to complete the entire challenge, I applaud you and will figure that you are doing so simply for the joy of reading these great books!  I'm also figuring that this is a way to slow some of you down so you have a chance to work on the other HFchallenge.

I've changed the Subject line on this thread to enable us to use it for discussions of the books. Christa - will that mess things up in the ToC thread?