I've had an idea to set up this reading challenge for a while now, but recently decided to put it into action when I realized that the latest In Death novel by author J.D. Robb,
Kindred In Death, was released the other day.
Kindred In Death is the 35th(!) installment in the well loved and very successful In Death series by romance author Nora Roberts who writes this series under the J.D. Robb pen name. The In Death series is futuristic romantic suspense series that consistently delivers an interesting, quality murder mystery; plenty of danger, intrigue and action; futuristic forensic methodology; and most of all, a riveting look into the professional and personal life of NYPSD detective Eve Dallas and her enigmatic lover and eventual husband, Roarke, along with a colorful cast of secondary characters.
If I did my research correctly, there are now 35 In Death stories published--30 full length novels and 5 novellas, with a 6th novella expected later this month. Clearly, Ms. Robb is doing something right as she continues to write these stories and readers continue buying, reading, and loving her work.
At this point, I've only read the first four books in the series, and even then, that was almost two years ago that I did so. You'd think I should be able to read these stories at least as fast as Ms. Robb can write them, but it appears I fall even further behind with each new In Death release. So to help remedy my own state of remiss, perhaps help motivate other readers who are similarly way behind in this series or to inspire readers to even start this series in the first place, I've decided to create an In Death Reading Challenge. I think this challenge may even be fun for readers who are already caught up in their In Death reading as they either revisit past books or simply enjoy watching the rest of us fall for this books for the first time.
Keep in mind that many, many libraries have the In Death series on their shelves, so you may not need to buy them if you don't want to or can't afford to. In other words, there's no excuse not to try one just one In Death book. Come on! You know you want to!
I will do this by myself if I have to, but would really love some company. So who's in?
CHALLENGE RULES:
+Open to anyone.
+Read one In Death book per month and make a post about it on your blog. It can be a review or just commentary, if you like. Please, please, PLEASE indicate somewhere at the beginning of your post whether or not your post includes spoilers in order to protect innocent eyes. It would also be great if you'd link back to this post in your monthly posts.
+If you don't have to have your own blog, I will permit readers to submit their posts to me to post on my blog. Please note this will be at my discretion. If I find anything in your post to be objectionable or inappropriate, I have the right to refuse to post it.
+Make your post on the last day of the month. This is for my benefit because I'm really awful at Reading Challenges and I need as much time as possible to procrastinate. I try to remember to do a reminder post one week before.
+If you miss a month, no worries. Just make it up if you want to. Or don't. This is for fun and generally not meant to cause anyone but me any stress. ;)
+Sign up to participate in the challenge in the comments of this post and then on the last day of the month, I'll make an In Death Series Challenge post in which we'll use Mr. Linky so we can find each other's posts easily. Or maybe I'll just do a link list. Maybe I'll be the only one in the challenge. Stay tuned.
+Feel free to grab the In Death Reading Challenge button for the sidebar of your blog. It would be great if you would link it back to this post. Thanks.
I'm open to starting the challenge this month or in December if enough participants are interested in an early start. Let me know in the comments.
EDITED TO ADD ON JANUARY 7, 2010
New Challenge Rules!
Sorry to complicate things for everyone who already signed up, but I decided to modify the rules for the challenge in hopes of well, making it easier for everyone. I thought about how stressful it can be for me to have to write book reviews for a certain book by a certain time and how it can zap the fun out of it all for me. I thought about how much I love the reading challenges that just require you to keep a running list of the books you've read, and decided I wanted to offer both options to the participants of this challenge. I hope these changes in rules make this challenge even more fun for you. Thanks for joining!
NEW RULES:
1. Anyone can join at any time.
2. Read one 'In Death' book by J.D. Robb per month, starting in January 2010 until you're caught up in the series.
3. To join, make a post on your blog about the challenge where you will keep a running list of the books that you'll edit as you go along. (See my own entry post
HERE as an example). Once you've made your entry post, come back to
this post and enter the link to your entry post in Mr.Linky below.
4. If you don't have a blog and you'd like to join the challenge, you can come back here and leave a comment as you read the books, or at the monthly 'In Death' Challenge post that I'll make on or around the last day of each month.
5. Reviews are optional. I will make a post on or around the last day of each month with a Mr.Linky for you to link any reviews or commentary from your blog so that we can find each other's posts easily and engage in some dialogue about the books.
6. If you miss a month, don't stress over it. This is all for fun and camaraderie! To motivate everyone from stay on track, however, I plan on awarding prizes at regular intervals (maybe every four months) to a randomly selected participant who has stayed on schedule for that time period.
7. Feel free to grab the 'In Death' Reading Challenge button on my sidebar for your blog.
8. Have fun!
The complete list of 'In Death' books, for your reference:
1. Naked In Death
2. Glory In Death
3. Immortal In Death
4. Rapture In Death
5. Ceremony In Death
6. Vengeance In Death
7. Holiday In Death
7.5. "Midnight in Death" (in the Silent Night anthology or the Three in Death anthology)
8. Conspiracy In Death
9. Loyalty in Death
10. Witness In Death
11. Judgment in Death
12. Betrayal in Death
12.5. "Interlude in Death" (in the Out of this World anthology or the Three in Death anthology)
13. Seduction in Death
14. Reunion in Death
15. Purity in Death
16. Portrait in Death
17. Imitation in Death
17.5. "Big Jack" (in Remember When novel)
18. Divided in Death
19. Visions in Death
20. Survivor in Death
21. Origin in Death
22. Memory In Death
22.5. "Haunted in Death" (in the Bump in the Night anthology or the Three in Death anthology)
23. Born In Death
24. Innocent in Death
24.5. "Eternity in Death" (in the Dead of Night anthology)
25. Creation in Death
26. Strangers In Death.
27. Salvation In Death
27.5. "Ritual in Death" (in the Suite 606 anthology)
28. Promises in Death
29. Kindred in Death
29.5. "Missing in Death" (in The Lost anthology)
30. Fantasy in Death
31. Indulgence in Death
31.5. "Possession in Death" (in The Other Side anthology)
32. Treachery in Death
33. New York to Dallas
33.5. "Chaos in Death" (in The Unquiet anthology)
34. Celebrity in Death
35. Delusion in Death
36. Calculated in Death
37. Thankless in Death
37.5. "Taken in Death" (in Mirror, Mirror anthology)
38. Calculated in Death
39. Festive in Death
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Original book list compiled by Kat of witandsin.blogspot.com, book titles added by me as release dates are available.
Places of 'In Death' Interest and where I did my research on the published In Death novels currently available:
J.D. Robb website
WikiInDeath
*NYPSD stands for New York Police and Security Department.
Use Mr.Linky to enter the Challenge.