The Inaugural CRIMINAL PLOTS Reading Challenge

Welcome to my first ever Criminal Plots reading challenge! I hemmed and hawed over whether to add another reading challenge to the book blogging sphere, but with some help and encouragement from very good friends, I decided to take the plunge and here we are with Criminal Plots.

What I would hope for people who participate to get out of this challenge is exposure to the crime fiction genre. I know that is a bad word to some people, but really, it's nothing more than a classification. Authors have been breaking the genre rules for years now and even those who write within the guidelines write some pretty fantastic stuff. And if you're a crime fiction aficionado, I hope this challenge motivates you to read some books you've been meaning to read and haven't gotten to or it encourages you to read something you haven't tried before.

Rules of the Road:

So, what's involved in this challenge you ask? It isn't too difficult. It involves reading six books throughout 2011 (January 1 through December 31, 2011). One book should be read that fits into each of the following categories:

1. A book by a new to you author who's blurbed a book you enjoyed. So check out the cover of a crime fiction book you've enjoyed and see who blurbed that book and is also an author you've never read before.
2. A book that has been made into a movie. It doesn't have to be a movie you've seen but it can be. The book, however, should be one you haven't read before. (Examples: MYSTIC RIVER, L.A. CONFIDENTIAL, LONDON BOULEVARD, HOSTAGE, etc.)
   
3. A book with a protagonist opposite your own gender. So if you're female, the protagonist should be male; if you're male the protagonist should be female.
4. A book set outside the country in which you live.
5. A book that's the first in a new-to-you series.
6. A book by a 2011 debut author.

Other Important Details:

• You can read the books in any format you choose: print, audio, e-book, etc.
• You can read books from any sub-genre of crime fiction: hardboiled, P.I., police procedural, cozy, thriller, etc.
• You do not need to have a blog to participate.
• You can use the books for other challenges but one book cannot count for more than one category in THIS challenge.
• Books do not need to be pre-determined. You can choose them at any time throughout the year. And you can read them in whatever order you choose.
• At the conclusion, each participant that completes the challenge will be entered for a chance at one of three prize packs.

To sign up for this challenge, add your blog to the Mr. Linky below. Put your blog name in the top box and your blog's URL in the bottom box. If you do not have a blog, indicate that you are participating in the comments of this post. Also, if you run into any technical problems with Mr. Linky, you can add your blog name and URL to the comments.

On January 1st, six new posts will appear here, one for each of the categories involved. Each post will also have a Mr. Linky. Once you complete one of the categories and write your review, come to the post and add the link to your review. If you don't have a blog, then you will put your response to your book in the comments section.

If all works out well, we'll make this a yearly project. I hope you enjoy it. Also, if you have any questions, feel free to email me. I'm sure I'll be ironing out wrinkles as we go since this is the first go round.

Happy Reading!

*Since I made an error on the new Mr. Linkys, if you haven't signed up yet and still wish to do so, just leave your blog name and link in the comments here. You can access those who have already signed up on Mr. Linky by clicking the link. Sorry!