Each year, I get together with a group of friends to play Halloween Bingo, a Bingo game with twenty-five squares on it, each of which has a theme to which I have to match a horror, mystery, fantasy or science fiction book. There are sixty-one possible squares. One square is ‘Called’ each day through September and October. A Bingo is achieved by having a straight line of five squares that have been called and where the player has read an appropriate book for each of the five squares since the start of the game.
It’s a wonderful excuse to binge read in my favourite genres while being prompted to try things that I might not normally pull to the top of my TBR pile.
The first square will be called on 1st September but reading for the game starts now, so, from today until Halloween, my reading will be focused on reading the twenty-five books I need to play Halloween Bingo. Instead of doing #FridayReads, from Sunday 8th September,, I’ll be posting Sunday Summaries, giving the state of play, the books I’m going to read next and mini reviews of what I’ve read in the past week.
Every player is given a unique Bingo Card. This is mine:
Part of the fun of Halloween Bingo is ransacking my TBR shelves to find the best fit for each square. For me, best means a book I’ll enjoy and that isn’t too long to read in a couple of days, I also like to have a mix of ebooks and audiobooks that I can read in parallel. I know that no plan lasts over the entire game but I like to start with a target reading list Here’s this year’s list:
Each year, I generate markers that I use to track my progress week by week. This year, I’m going with a gargoyle theme. These are the four markers:
My reading starts today. Here are the four books that I’ll be reading in Halloween Bingo Week 1:
I’m reading ‘Dead Man’s Folly‘ for the Vintage Mystery square. It’s a the thirty-fourth Poirot mystery and it was published in 1956.
A charity murder game at a Devon house turns into the real thing…
Sir George and Lady Stubbs, the hosts of a village fête, hit upon the novel idea of staging a mock murder mystery. In good faith, Ariadne Oliver, the well known crime writer, agrees to organise their murder hunt.
Despite weeks of meticulous planning, at the last minute Ariadne calls her friend Hercule Poirot for his expert assistance. Instinctively, she senses that something sinister is about to happen…
Beware – nobody is quite what they seem!
I’m reading ‘Realms Of Ghosts And Magic‘ for the Urban Decay square. It’s the first book in an Urban Fantasy series that I’ve heard good things about.
When the fae beckon, very few resist. Even fewer return. As a veil witch, I’m used to taking out the supernatural trash. Everything from poltergeists to vampires, you name it and I’ve dealt with it. So opening a paranormal cleanup business just seemed to make sense. If I’m already dealing with the pests, why not get paid?
But when I accidentally breach the faerie realm to encounter a girl recently reported missing, start seeing the ghost of a witch whose disappearance has never been solved, and discover a Book of Shadows that opens only for me, I can’t just go back to business as usual. Especially when I also gain the interest of a sexy and mysterious mage. Timing is everything, and even as my desire grows, a little voice inside keeps reminding me to step carefully. I know all too well that, in the supernatural world, opening doors means facing consequences. In this case, those consequences might just mean never being heard from again.
I’m reading ‘In Bloom‘ for the Splatter square. I’m expecting it to be bloody. This is the second book in the serial killer trilogy that began with the wonderful ‘Sweetpea‘. It’s the same killer, but this time she’s pregnant.
Rhiannon Lewis should be happy.
Her cheating fiancé is in jail – framed for the depraved killing spree she committed. Her ex-lover is chopped up and buried where no-one will find him.
But there’s one small problem. She’s pregnant.
And as much as Rhiannon wants to continue working her way through her kill lists, a small voice inside is trying to make her stop.
Now Rhiannon has to choose – motherhood or murder.
I’m reading ‘Death Of A Bookseller‘ for the Murder & Mayhem By The Book square. It seems like a perfect fit.
Roach – bookseller, loner and true crime fanatic- is not interested in making friends. She has all the company she needs in her serial killer books, murder podcasts and her pet snail, Bleep.
That is, until Laura joins the bookshop.
With her cute literary tote bags and sunny smile, she’s everyone’s favourite bookseller. But beneath the shiny veneer, Roach senses a darkness within Laura, the same darkness Roach possesses.
And as curiosity blooms into morbid obsession, Roach becomes determined to be a part of Laura’s story – whether Laura wants her in it or not.
Mike Finn's Fiction 