Criminal Plots Reading Challenge 2011

Okay, here's my first challenge for next year. I like the criteria, and it will allow me to search for some new stuff to add to my reading choices. I love mysteries, murder mysteries especially. So I've got to face the fact that I can't force myself to read medieval historical fictions or memoirs if, in the little amount of time I have to read, I choose....mysteries.

This is from The Criminal Plots Reading Challenge website.

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.

Sounds interesting. I'll go for it, I just have to remember to post whenever I finish a book....I'm not good at remembering that at all.