2025 Reading Challenge discussion

Spooky Spelling
October 1-October 31, 2021

It’s the spooky season! For this challenge, spell out scary/creepy/spooky words or phrases with the first letters of words in your book titles. For instance:
G - Girl with the dragon tattoo
H - House on the Cerulean Sea
O - One Two Three
S - the Secret Garden
T - Tightrope

To participate, just tell the group leader your word(s) and how many books you will read for the challenge. Boo!

Thanks to Marleen who created this challenge and will be our challenge leader

👻Welcome to spooooky season folks!👻 Are you planning on reading some spooky books this month? For this challenge the books themselves don’t have to be spooky, you just have to use the first letter of a word in the title to spell out something spooky, scary, or creepy. I’m curious to see what words or phrases you will spell out!

To sign up for the challenge, post a message letting me know how many books you plan on reading.

When posting your progress throughout the month, please include your original (sign-up) message number plus the current progress using the format below:
Update to message #xx: books read/books pledged
(Example: Update to message #16: 3/5)

If you decide to drop out of the challenge, please don't delete your original sign-up post, because that changes all the message numbers. Just update and let me know. Thanks!

I will update the participants list below at least on Wednesdays and Sundays.

Have fun!

👻🎃🕷👻🎃🕷👻🎃🕷👻🎃🕷👻🎃🕷👻🎃🕷

Making spooky plans:
🎃Anissa (msg #82) 0/7
🎃Christina (msg #99) 0/5
🎃Megan (msg #55) 0/9

Spooking along:
🕷Bobbi (msg #19) 2/6
🕷Colleen (msg #60) 3/7
🕷D.L. (msg #3) 4/7
🕷Rachel (msg #21) 4/7
🕷Tamie-lee (msg #36) 1/8

All spooked out:
👻Alison (msg #28) 6/6
👻Alyana (msg #6) 5/5
👻Amy (msg #75) 6/6
👻Anne Hawn (msg #30) 5/5
👻Beverly (msg #20) 10/10
👻Carmen (msg #9) 14/14
👻Carri Carey (msg #22) 10/10
👻Debra Digs (msg #8) 8/8
👻eatsleepreadreview (msg #33) 6/6
👻Janine (msg #35) 6/5
👻Kimber (msg #7) 5/5
👻Lynn (msg #23) 11/7
👻Marleen (msg #11) 5/5
👻Megan BG (msg #31) 4/4
👻Mystique (msg #73) 13/13
👻Nicole (msg #137) 5/5
👻oshizu (msg #48) 7/7
👻Patricia (msg #41) 5/5
👻Samantha (msg #66) 5/5
👻Sarah (msg #37) 5/5
👻Sarah (msg #38) 9/9
👻SarahKat (msg #4) 11/11
👻Shari (msg #27) 7/7
👻Tari (msg #52) 5/5
👻TerryJane (msg #5) 14/14
👻The Book Girl (msg #10) 20/20


updated through message 209

My word is Zombies.

Progress: 4/7

✔ Z: Zombie Moon
O
✔ M: Mary Anne Saves the Day
✔ B: Bras & Broomsticks
I
✔ E: Epiphany with Tea: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
S

Hi Marleen! I'll sign up for 11!

11/11

✔G: A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson (genre) library phys
✔R: The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste
✔I: The Invention of Sound by Chuck Palahniuk
✔M: The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

✔R: A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
✔E: The Emerald City of Oz by Eric Shanower
✔A: Armada by Ernest Cline
✔P: The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine by A.W. Tozer
✔E: Edinburgh Twilight by Carole Lawrence
✔R: The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy J. Keller
✔S: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

SPOOKY SPELLING - Monthly Challenge
Duration: October 1 - October 31, 2021
Progress: 14/14 -- COMPLETE

👻 W - The Woman in the Photo
👻 O - The Oysterville Sewing Circle
👻 L - The Less Dead
👻 F - Find Me Gone
👻 M - Murder In Mesopotamia
👻 A - The Lost Apothecary
👻 N - Nala's World: One Man, His Rescue Cat, and a Bike Ride around the Globe

👻 B - Booked
👻 E - The Echo Killing
👻 W - The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
👻 I - Mother Teresa: In My Own Words
👻 T - The Girl in the Tower
👻 C - Circe
👻 H - Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War

Hi Marleen! I'm in for 5 books. Can I spell out Ghost too?

2021 Monthly Challenges > October - Spooky Spelling
Duration: October 1 - October 31, 2021
Progress: 5/5

🎃G: The Good Sister - read on 10/08/21
🎃H: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - read on 10/23/21
🎃O: One of Us Is Next - read on 10/04/21
🎃S: Shutter Island - read on 10/25/21
🎃T: Then She Was Gone - read on 10/18/21

✨✨✨ COMPLETED ✨✨✨

This sounds fun. 🎃 Count me in!

G~ ✔🎃
H~ ✔🎃
O~ ✔🎃
S~ ✔🎃
T~ ✔🎃

Finished!🎃10/16

Hi Marleen. Please put me down for 8 books.
Black Cat

Progress 8/8
Completed

✔ B .. Bloodchild by Octavia E. Butler
✔ L .. Lifeblood by Werner A. Lind
✔ A .. Andromeda Nebula by Ivan Efremov
✔ C .. Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King
✔ K .. Knock by Fredric Brown

✔ C .. The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup
✔ A .. If You Tell: A True Story of Murder by Gregg Olsen
✔ T .. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice

Hola, Marleen!
Count me in, please 😉

PROGRESS: 14/14 😱

Not very spooky but...seasonal 🎃
S Simply Irresistible✔
A The Amazing Mrs. Pollifax✔
M Monumental Propaganda✔
H Hickory Dickory Dock✔
A All That Remains✔
I Las inquietudes de Shanti Andía✔
N Naughty Neighbor✔

M Man's Search for Meaning✔
A Of Marriageable Age✔
C Claudius the God✔
U Uncommon Vows✔
M The Magicians of Caprona✔
B Beastly✔
A From Sand and Ash✔
(Macumba is a syncretic religion practiced in Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It is sometimes considered by non-practitioners to be a form of witchcraft or black magic.)

SPOOKY SPELLING - Monthly Challenge
Duration: October 1 - October 31, 2021
Progress 20/20 🙌🏻

F- Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity-✅
R -Roll with It- ✅
A- The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story -✅
N-One-Third Nerd-✅
K -Anna K: A Love Story-✅
E - The Fragile Earth: Writing from The New Yorker on Climate Change- ✅
N - Whisper Network- ✅
S- 19 Love Songs- ✅
T-The Surrender Tree: Poems of Cuba's Struggle for Freedom - ✅
E- This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate- ✅
I - Invisibility- ✅
N - The Night Circus- ✅
---------------------------------------------------
D -Behind Closed Doors- ✅
E - Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower- ✅
V - Fat Chance, Charlie Vega- ✅
I -Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend- ✅
L - I Am Legend and Other Stories- ✅
I-Trees in Trouble: Wildfires, Infestations, and Climate Change- ✅
S-Granny Torrelli Makes Soup- ✅
H - Oil and Honey: The Education of an Unlikely Activist- ✅

I’m doing at least a 5 letter word, holding off on deciding my word until I know what I’ll be reading with my TBR Twin, so I’ll know what letters to work with.

Progress 5/5

✅D voordat De koffie koud wordt
✅E Equal rites
✅M a good girl's guide to Murder
✅O the murders Of molly southbourne
✅N Needful things

Welcome aboard all! You’ve got some great words and phrases picked out!

Alyana wrote: "Hi Marleen! I'm in for 5 books. Can I spell out Ghost too?"

Sure! Any word or phrase you want to pick is good 🤗

Kimber~☆♡Love of Books♡☆ wrote: "This sounds fun. 🎃Not sure which word yet,but count me in!"

Welcome! I’ve put you in the list without a goal for now, just post an update later once you have decided your word or number of books 🤗

How does this work for me? I've never done this before

Marleen wrote: "Kimber~☆♡Love of Books♡☆ wrote: "This sounds fun. 🎃Not sure which word yet,but count me in!"

Welcome! I’ve put you in the list without a goal for now, just post an update later once you have decid..."

Hi
Im doing 5 books. Word Ghost. Thank u!!

Reed wrote: "How does this work for me? I've never done this before"

You can pick any word or phrase you like that is related to scary things or the spooky season in general. If you plan on reading a lot of books in October you could do something long like ‘haunted house’, or otherwise something short like ‘boo’. Then in October for each letter of your word, you read a book where a word in the title starts with that letter. You can see a few examples in this thread of people who have already planned their books. I hope that helps!

If you want to join in, post here which word or how many books you want to read. I’ll keep track in the participant list of everyone who posts their progress throughout the month.

Kimber~☆♡Love of Books♡☆ wrote: "Im doing 5 books. Word Ghost. Thank u!!"

Great, I updated your goal 🤗

Hiya! I'll be trying 6 with the word zombie.


October 2021
Progress: 4/6

🎃Z Zombie, Ohio 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️ 10/11
🎃O Ophie's Ghosts 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️ 10/7
🎃M My Heart Is a Chainsaw 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️ 10/20
B The Burning Girls
I The Initial Insult
🎃E Eileen 🧟‍♀️🧟‍♀️ 10/9

Fun! I'm signing up for 5...spelling out WITCH...and then 5 with the word ILLUSION in the title! Happy Halloween everyone!!! 10/10

W What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty

I If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood by Gregg Olsen

T The Temptation of Adam by Dave Connis

C Caleb by Charles Alverson

H Haunted House Murder by Leslie Meier

1. The Illusionist's Apprentice by Kristy Cambron
2. The Apollo Illusion by Shari Lopatin
3. The Illusion of a Girl by LeeAnn Werner
4. An Illusion of Thieves by Cate Glass
5. City Of Illusions by Ursula K. Le Guin

Spooky Spelling
October 1-October 31, 2021

Even though this challenge is done, I'm still going to try to finish it up and get the rest of the books read. But ended up reading four out of seven for the challenge itself.

5/7


P: 10/23 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
H:
A : 10/19 ⭐⭐⭐. 5
N:
T: 11/18 ⭐⭐⭐.5
O: 10/31 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
M: 10/13 ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sign me up for 10, please!

T: The Travelling Cat Chronicles
H: Her Perfect Family
U: The Unwritten, Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity
M: The Maidens
P: The Portrait of a Mirror

S: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
K: The Kite Runner
U: An Unkindness of Ghosts
L: The Lying Game
L: The Last Anniversary

Spooky Spelling
October 1-October 31, 2021

It’s the spooky season! For this challenge, spell out scary/creepy/spooky words or phrases with the first letters of words in your book titles.

I'll commit to 7 books and see what I can make from those titles!

11/7 as of October 31

DONE!!

Letters available:
P H M C A M G A A K K C O T M C O S H T B A A T S A T F T I L O A L P G T W T B L O N H

GHOST
GHOSTS
BATS
GOOP
THWACK!
MASK
MASKS
BLOB
BLOBS
GLOW
CAMPING
PLOTTING
GALLOPING

🎃Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
October 2 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃Cat & Mouse (Alex Cross #4) by James Patterson
October 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃Go Ask Alice by Anonymous/Beatrice Sparks
October 7 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃Krik? Krak! by Edwidge Danticat
September 9 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃Children of the Mind (Ender's Saga #4) by Orson Scott Card
October 15 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃City of Silver: A Mystery by Annamaria Alfieri
October 17 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
October 19 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃The Sound and the Furry (Chet & Bernie #6) by Spencer Quinn
October 23 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
October 24 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃Pop Goes the Weasel (Alex Cross #5) by James Patterson
October 26 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
🎃The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
October 31 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Loving all the words! You’re all added to the list 🤗

Does this mean we can only use the first letter of the first word (ignoring A, An, and The) of the title?

Or can we use the first letter of any word of the title?

Example: Project Hail Mary
Can I only use "P"?
Or could I use "P" or "H" or "M"?

Thank you for leading this one!

Lynn

Lynn wrote: "Does this mean we can only use the first letter of the first word (ignoring A, An, and The) of the title?

Or can we use the first letter of any word of the title?

Example: [book:Project Hail Ma..."

You can use the first letter of any word in the title, so P H or M in your example. It can be hard enough to find the right letters to make a word, I figured we need all the spelling help we can get 😅

I going to try for 7 books. My word isn't very spooky, but it matches the season. I may change my word based on what books I'm able to find to read.

**UPDATED** I'm changing my word from Pumpkin to Ghostly to better go with the theme. 😊

SPOOKY SPELLING - Monthly Challenge
Duration: October 1 - October 31, 2021
Progress 7/7

👻G The Girl Who Drank the Moon
👻H The Healing Quilt
👻O One Degree
👻S Silver Lining
👻T The Tattered Quilt
👻L The Lost Apothecary
👻Y Everything I Never Told You

Hi Marleen...please sign me up for 6 books for this challenge! :)
My word is: SPIDER

Progress: 6/6 books read...as of 10/26/2021...**Complete**

√ S - Silent on the Moor
√ P - The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England
√ I - A Stitch in Time
√ D - A Master of Djinn
√ E - An Echo in the Bone
√ R - Royal Assassin

Welcome aboard Shari and Alison 🤗

I'd like to join For 5 books spelling ghost

G Small Great Things
H Hatchet Man
O The Other Mrs.
S Blood in the Snow
T The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

Goal: 4

B: Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess
A: I Am the Messenger
T: Troubles in Paradise
S: The Shining

Marleen, I made more reading plans for October and increased my goal in Message #5.

I'll still spell out WOLFMAN, but have added BEWITCH for a total of 14 books.

I'm in for 6 please

1/6

C - A Court of Mist and Fury
R - Relentless
A - Am I Normal Yet?
W - The Woman in the Window
L - Last Seen
Y - You Let Me In

Thanks

Bats, creepy crawlies, witches, and more ghosts, mwoohaha, welcome one and all 👻

Please sign me up for 5. I think I'm going to try and spell 'scare'.

Going to try for 8 to start with

Spooky Spelling
October 1-October 31, 2021
2/8

H - How to Train Your Viscount
A
U
N
T
I
N
G - Gothikana

Sign me up for 5 books(Magic)

5/5-COMPLETED

✅M-Much Ado About Nothing(1/10/21)
✅A-Animal Farm(20/10/21)
✅G-Girl at Sea(23/10/21)
✅I-Interview with the Vampire(25/10/21)
✅C-Charlotte's Web(22/10/21)

A little late but I am going to go for

H - Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
A - After the End - Claire Mackintosh
L - Lies, Lies, Lies - Adele Parks
L
O - Over My Dead Body - Jeffrey Archer
W- Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens
E - Everything I Never Told You - Celeste NG 1/10
E
N

Progress 1/9

Update to message 11: progress 1/5

✅E: Equal Rites

Welcome Janine, Tamie-lee, Sarah and Sarah! You’re all added to the list 👻

October has begun! Happy reading and spelling all!
And a quick reminder to please make sure to include your signup message number when you post progress updates throughout the month. This goes for everyone but especially for the two Sarahs, or I will for sure mix you two up 😅

This sounds fun! Can I join? please?
I'm going to spell Scary!
S - Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
C -
A - A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold
R - Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
Y -
Progress 3/5
I hope it was right!:)

Update to message #9

PROGRESS: 2/7 😱

S A

Update: Message #10

Progress: 3/12

Update: Message #36

Progress: 1/8

Welcome aboard Patricia, I’ve added you to the list!

Some great spooky progress already folks! 💀

Update to Message 4: 2/11

E and S

The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
The Emerald City of Oz by Eric Shanower

Update to message #9

PROGRESS: 3/7 😱

S A M

Hello, Marleen. I might be able to spell one word this month!
Please sign me up for seven book. 🧙‍♀️
My word is: MACABRE.

Progress: 7/7

✔️M - Malice in Wonderland: A Knitting Game Mystery
✔️A - Blanche Among the Talented Tenth
✔️C - The Baghdad Clock
✔️A - Agency
✔️B - Blanche Cleans Up
✔️R - Race of Scorpions
✔️E - Fool's Errand

planning post
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

UPDATE - message #33

1/6

Update: Message #10

Im flying right along due to a lack of school so now I am increasing my goal to 20 and adding the word "Devilish"

Progress 5/20 🎉