Reading Wrap-Up 2018!

In my previous post I updated you personally.  I ask you to aim prayers and wishes, like a beam of helping light:  to ensure my cat is safe and gets home.  Help whoever sees him contact us.  By sharing good energy at the same time, with the extra work we have done searching:  we will succeed and Conan will be home!

Let’s update each other literature-wise.  I am thrilled to have a lot of new subscribers with my dear long-time ones.  I imagine you have noticed I run a quartet of reading themes, which some call “challenges”.  It is time for my players to guess this year’s mystery logo but I am inviting everyone to play along:  see below!  :)

My first thought when venturing to create my own groups, was moving the calendar up a month.  We can count our reading from January to December but who wants to fiddle with wrap-ups at Christmastime?  If you are in a lot of them or keep reading until December is finished:  reviews and link-up are a scramble, when January is a lot freer.  Running Feburary to January is stress free.

The next thing I wanted to eliminate was exclusion to Canadians I saw from time to time, or countries outside the host’s.  My year-end prize is humble, a choice of second-hand book or some other sweet little item from my personal collection.  But it is open to every member of my group, wherever you live.  And you don’t need to do backflips to qualify for the draw, nor to succeed in my themes.  Being a member and sharing what you do end up reading is enough:  there is no quota.

We needed a general gathering place for all mysteries, not cut into genres and all three Celtic countries.  In Ethereal books, I am also first to combine all spiritual literature with the paranormal and fictional supernatural;  fantasy included.  Anything remotely metaphysical is gathered in Ethereal.

Lastly, my Gentle Spectrums group fulfills the fun of word-association and general contents, with broader categories that made many more books easy to fit in.  The colour challenges bugged me:  allowing one book per hue, in the whole spectrum of colour.  I say keep sharing!  Seeing how many we get with red and orange is challenge enough but is inclusive instead of prohibative!  My own ideas were born and I am excited that they will be noticed more visibly next year.

Many hosts are creative and talented.  I loved their logos and when they were taken from books, I wondered which ones they were.  The hosts didn’t say and I thought:  a-ha!  I will make a game of that.  Therefore every year, I open everyone to identifying our “My Kind Of Mystery” book logo.  I explained in my previous post, that with membership low and our minds on getting our cat home, I didn’t roll out the chats and games I have in mind.  I will return to a prize for each of the groups when membership rises.  In fact, if players don’t object, I am going to save “Game #2” for next year, on our activity page called “My Kind Of Mystery Games“.  It works better with more players and allows me to make the new sign-up pages earlier, which is another key to bringing in more participants.

Last call to members of all four groups, if you want to be in the year-end prize draw, you should let me know anywhere.  :)  And since we are so small, would my readers like to play along and guess the mystery logo clue?  Here it is!

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~ GAME #1 ~

Identify this year’s 2018 mystery group logo!
Which book is it, which author, and original publishing year?
Guesses are unlimited:  RIEDELFascination(at)gmail(dot)com.

~ Clue ~

The cover I chose for our 2018 group is not the one I own but I find it the most beautiful.  I have not read this novel yet but this version suggests paranormal content but the categorization is something I favour anyway:  gothic mystery.  My first clue was to put it up and see if you recognized it.  Since it is time to draw a prize, which I will do December 11, on with go with the whole array of obvious clues.

It is a recent release (for me, that is 2010 onward), originating in England with this cover.  This title is about a character.  It was reissued in Canada and the United States one month after, with a cover and title about a place.

The clue with which to really work well, is that the English authoress’ last name, resembles an American author of Greek-inspired children’s fantasy adventures.  His are blockbuster films, in which Pierce Brosnan has appeared.  I have seen the first two and like them, myself.  This gives you enough to work with, or recognize right off the bat, therefore any little bit of effort will bring in answers!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

I thank all 2018 players for keeping me company!  I watched for comments and you seemed to prefer reading your selections and filling-up the review buttons.  It was easy to visit those I could find at Goodreads.  I don’t know if it is a WordPress problem or a slow internet issue but I cannot comment on Blogspot pages that use captchas.  I want you to know I love all of you entries.

I open the wrap-up updates to everyone!  It is fun to take stock of the types of books that received our attention.  If you have any questions, about our present or coming reading theme year, just ask.

How many mysteries did you read?  My own posts are not updated yet but I have read 52.
How many ethereal books did you read?  I have read 32.
How many Celtic books did you read?  I have read 12.
How many Gentle Spectrums categories do your books fit?  I haven’t tallied mine yet but usually exceed 4 books per category.

I hope you are planning a wonderful Christmas, or any celebration you have at this time of year.  At a work supper, my spouse is receiving thirty-year recognition at his job!  It will be a fun outing in the citiy.  I am doing Christimas cards starting today and by next week-end, we will decorate.  We have a lot of summer and autumn basket plants all over and love it.  There is no rush:  my Dad & I just exchanged late birthday presents.  We wish all of you God’s blessings and a merry Christmas!  Yours sincerely, Carolyn.

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