Okay, I may be the only one to sign on but that is fine.  Since I finished the "big" challenge just this week, I thought it might be fun to tack on a mini challenge for the end of the year.  Unless this thread becomes way too cumbersome, we'll just keep lists and comments right here.  Add your post with your challenge list that you will edit as you complete books and then chime in with comments and suggestions as we go along.  Make sense?  Good!

The Mini Challenge: Read one book in each of the next three months that features a holiday in that month.  For instance, October is the month of Halloween so read a book that either has "Halloween" in the title or takes place around Halloween.  In November, choose Thanksgiving and in December choose Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa.  You must actually read the book with the holiday in the holiday month for it to count.  Halloween books that are read in November won't count (not that anyone is keeping track or anything!)

To make it interesting, lets see if we can come up with some different holidays to celebrate.  If the Pastafarians celebrate a holiday in Novemeber and there is a mystery about it, it works!!  If you can find a mystery about Festivus, read it!  Any Wiccan, Native American, Islamic, Hindu, Canadian, etc holidays will work! Just be sure to tell us what and when they are and make sure they happen during the fall months. We can all learn something as well. :)

Basically, we are looking at three months and three books.  Anyone who wants to double or triple-up on any of the months/holidays, good on ya!

Ready, set, go!!

October:  A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford Completed 10/28/11

November: Turkey Day Murder by Leslie Meier Completed 11/27/11

December: The Christmas Cantata by Mark Schweizer Completed 12/16/11 (I was going to read Not A Creature Was Stirring  by Jane Haddam but I finished the Schweizer book first.  I'll probably read the Haddam book as well but I'm not going to hurt myself over it! LOL

OCT. Muder at the Kennedy Center by Margaret Truman  ( World Teacher  Day  OCT. 5)

NOV. Murder is Binding by  Lorna Barrett  ( Book Lover's Day first Saturday in November.)

Dec.Not A Creature Was Stirring  by Jane Haddam  ( Christmas DEC 25)

Possible contenders:

OCT.  The Treacherous Teddy by John J. Lamb  (National Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day - Oct. 10) -  Done

NOV.  Perfect Sax by Jerrilyn Farmer (National Saxophone Day - Nov. 6 - Adolph Sax's birthday) - Done

DEC. Holmes for the Holidays by Martin H. Greenberg (Editor) - Done

I will try to do this, but probably not very hard, just too much happening at the moment. So many series books have books set at this or that holiday, but you often can't tell at all by the title...I'll stake my spot out and see what happens. LOL

OCTOBER:

NOVEMBER:

DECEMBER:

Cheryl

I am in for the challenge. No titles, yet.

Mary

I'm about half way through A Catered Halloween and I'm really not enjoying it much but since October ends on Monday, I figure I'll just stick with it.  I need to find a  November holiday book soon.  Any suggestions?  I'll scan my towering TBR to see if I can come up with anything.

Okay.  I finished A Catered Halloween and it was awful.  Bleh. At least I'm done.

October---NO PART IN YOUR DEATH by Nicolas Freeling  The book is written about murders in the month of  October in Munich Germany. The title sounded "spooky" like Halloween.

November---HEADSTONE by Ken Bruen This was chosen to fit the challenge because of the Zany Holiday--Nov 28th. It is MAKE YOUR OWN HEAD DAY.

December---Maigret's Christmas
Author: Georges Simenon    
Obviously, for Christmas in December

LeeAnne -

For Thanksgiving Mysteries - I used the key word 'Thanksgiving' and specified "Mystery Collection" and "Mystery Book" for location and item type, respectively, in my library system's online catalog...

A Catered Thanksgiving: a mystery with recipes by Isis Crawford

A Fatal Feast (a Murder She Wrote mystery) by Donald Bain

The Diva Runs Out of Thyme by Krista Davis

Of course, I'm still working on the bonuses of the original challenge, and too late to take part in this one! Good luck!

For November I picked up Turkey Day Murder by Leslie Meier.  This is a Lucy Stone mystery set in Tinker's Cove Maine and it is one of the later books in the series. I am nearly halfway through and so far it is a passable cozy.  I don't really see any real Maine in the book yet but that may come. Once I finish I will decide whether I want to go back and pick up the first six books to continue on with the subseqent eleven! I'm just happy that this one is better than my October selection!

Finished my November book (see above post) and I'm happy to report that it was much better than my October title.  Very cozy but very readable. Nice light entertainment that moves along quickly.  I think I'll look into the first titles in the series.  Now I have a wee break until I begin my December book. :)

I'll be watching to see any reviews of Christmas books here, I love mysteries set at Christmas.  I would have done this challenge if I hadn't had so many others going which I'm still finishing up.  The only Christmas book I have on the agenda so far is a re-read of Maeve Binchy's "This Year it Will Be Different", but that's not a mystery.

Diane

October---NO PART IN YOUR DEATH by Nicolas Freeling  The book is written about murders in the month of  October in Munich Germany. The title sounded "spooky" like Halloween.

COMPLETED FREELING.IT TOOK ME TWO TRIES TO "GET INTO" THE BOOK., BUT ONCE  I RE- STARTED  THE HENRI CASTANG MYSTERY AND CASTANG BEGAN SOLVING 3 MURDERS FROM PARIS TO MUNICH, I WAS HOOKED. THIS WAS A 233 PAGE PENGUIN PAPERBACK, PUBLISHED IN 1984. I WILL READ ANOTHER OF HIS BOOKS!!!

November---HEADSTONE by Ken Bruen This was chosen to fit the challenge because of the Zany Holiday--Nov 28th. It is MAKE YOUR OWN HEAD DAY.

HEADSTONE WAS ANOTHER GREAT JACK TAYLOR MYSTERY. THIS IS ABOUT A SERIAL KILLER AND HIS PALS WHO ATTACK A CERTAIN GROUP OF HARMLESS CITIZENS. 

December---Maigret's Christmas
Author: Georges Simenon     
Obviously, for Christmas in December

I WILL BEGIN THIS THURSDAY, IF NOT AT MIDNIGHT ON WEDNESDAY. IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER WONDERFUL READ BY GEORGES SIMENON. THIS IS FROM THE BOOKCOVER:

IT'S CHRISTMASTIME IN PARIS, AND THE GREAT DETECTIVE MAIGRET IS INVESTIGATING HOLIDAY MAYHEM IN THESE NINE DELIGHTFUL SHORT STORIES.

I am on schedule

Simenon is wonderful

Mary

Woohoo!  Finis!  I changed out my December book but...it was a Christmas story so it counts!  Merry Christmas everyone!