A Novel Challenge: 2015 Vintage Mystery Bingo Reading Challenge

January 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015

The Vintage Mystery Bingo Hall will be open for gaming again in 2015, so get out your daubers and be prepared to shout "Bingo!" I have scrambled the cards and switched out a few of the categories for brand new square challenges in the hopes of keeping it interesting. Categories with an asterisk in the square are explained a little more fully in the rules.

Here are the rules:
* All books must be from the mystery category (crime fiction, detective fiction, espionage, etc.). The mystery/crime must be the primary feature of the book--ghost stories, paranormal, romance, humor, etc. are all welcome as ingredients, but must not be the primary category under which these books would be labeled at the library or bookstore.

*Challengers may play either the Silver Age or Golden Age Card—or both. For the purposes of this challenge, the Golden Age Vintage Mysteries must have been first published before 1960. Golden Age short story collections (whether published pre-1960 or not) are permissible provided all of the stories included in the collection were originally written pre-1960. Please remember that some of our Golden Age Vintage authors wrote well after 1959--so keep an eye on the original publication date and apply them to the appropriate card. Silver Age Vintage Mysteries may be first published any time from 1960 to 1989 (inclusive). Again, Silver Age short story collections published later than 1989 are permissible as long as they include no stories first published later than 1989. Yes, I admit my dates are arbitrary and may not exactly meet standard definitions of Golden or Silver Age.
*Challenge runs from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2015. Sign up any time between now and November 4, 2015. Any books read from January 1 on may count regardless of your sign-up date. If you have a blog, please post about the challenge and a little bit about your commitment—if you’re going Silver or Gold…or maybe some of each. Then sign up via one of the linkys found below. And please make the url link to your Challenge post and not your home page.(Links that do not follow this rule will be removed.) If you decide to go for broke and try to score on both cards, you only need sign up once--pick a card, any card for your link.
*One Free Space per card—you may use your Free Space to cover any spot on the board. The Free Space book must fulfill one of the categories from the card, but it may fulfill ANY space you like—even a category you have already fulfilled. For example…if you are having trouble finding a book to meet the “mode of transportation” category, but you really need that space to complete a BINGO then you may read a book that meets any other category on the board and use your Free Space to claim the “mode of transportation” space.
*No double-counting. A book may not count for both the original category (say, "Woman in the Title") and as the Free Space to replace "mode of transportation." A second "Woman in the Title" would need to be read to complete the Free Space and replace "mode of transportation."
*BINGOS may be claimed by completing all spaces in a row--horizontally, vertically, or diagonally. You may also claim a “Four Corner” BINGO by reading a book for each of the four corners plus two more spaces—any two. A valid BINGO must have six complete spaces.
*PRIZES! Any challenger who completes one BINGO will be eligible for a drawing at the end of the year for a book from the prize list. Any challenger who completes two or more BINGOs (either from the same card or BINGOs from each card) will automatically be offered a book from the prize list. Any challenger who covers a card by completing all categories will automatically be offered a book from the prize list (as referred to in the "two or more BINGOs" section) PLUS will be eligible for a bonus prize drawing at the end of the year. Two complete cards will earn two entries in the drawing.
*The categories are open for interpretation—within reason. Many of these categories were featured in the 2013 version of the challenge and it may help to refer to the 2013 Challenge List. If you have doubts whether a potential book will meet a category or have a somewhat unusual interpretation, please email me at phryne1969 AT gmail DOT com.
—The “Out of Your Comfort Zone” is absolutely up to you. For me—that will most likely mean hard-boiled or spy/thriller—but if that’s what you prefer, then you might go for a nice cozy mystery.
—Borrow = from the library, from a friend, using free electronic downloads. In my world “own” means that you have purchased the book or received it as a present.
—Historical = the bulk of the story must take place at least 15 years prior to the date the book was written. Flashback storytelling is fine as long as modern events either frame the historical tale OR the historical events are absolutely vital to the modern portion of the story. Example: The Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Date of publication will determine Silver or Golden status.
—TBR First Lines = randomly select four books from your TBR stacks. Read only the first sentence of each one and choose which book to read for this square based on that sentence.
*You are welcome to count these books towards any other challenges as well.
*I would love to see reviews of your challenge books, but it is not necessary to participate. If you do not have a blog, post to the comments that you intend to join and then post again at the progress site (see below) when you have completed your challenge (include a list of books read and which categories you have completed). If you use a Free Space, please indicate what category the book read is actually from and which space is being claimed.
*You are welcome to change your mind about what square a book qualifies for until you have claimed a Bingo using that book in a certain square. Once books are used to claim a Bingo, they are tied to those spaces.