My reads in October 2011 & Challenge summary

I've had a nice solid month of reading in October, as you can tell from the ratings I gave:

1. 4.3, 13 RUE THERESE, Elena Mauli Shapiro (30 October)- Kindle
2. 4.4, CAUGHT, Harlan Coben (29 October)- audio
3. 4.7, THE DEAD HAND OF HISTORY, Sally Spencer (26 October)
4. 4.2, AN ASSISTANT MURDERER, Dashiell Hammett  (22 October) - Kindle
5. 4.2, IN DESPERATION, Rick Mofina (22 October)- Kindle
6. 4.3, RING OF FIRE, Peter Klein (20 October)- Australian author
7. 4.4, DEAD MAN'S WHARF, Pauline Rowson (17 October)- Kindle
8. 5.0, STAGESTRUCK, Peter Lovesey (13 October)
9. 4.2, SO COLD THE RIVER, Michael Koryta (10 October)
10. 4.6, FIVE LITTLE PIGS, Agatha Christie (7 October)- Kindle
11. 4.6, OUTRAGE, Arnaldur Indridason (4 October)- Kindle
12. 4.5, THE FIRE ENGINE THAT DISAPPEARED, Maj Sjowall & Per Wahloo (3 October)- Kindle
13. 4.4, BEGGARS BANQUET, Ian Rankin  (2 October) - audio
14. 4.4, THE BODY IN THE LIBRARY, Agatha Christie (1 October)  

Just over half, 8 titles, were read on my Kindle.

My pick of the month just had to be  STAGESTRUCK by Peter Lovesey which I rated at a 5.0.
It is a Peter Diamond mystery that will particularly appeal to those who have attended performances in Bath's Theatre Royal, exploring back stage workings, and theatre hoodoos such as the grey ghost and dead butterflies. But wound through it all is a cleverly and tightly written plot, two deaths, and a range of believable characters. And throughout, Peter Diamond is trying to discover what event in his past gave him an aversion to theatres. 

Challenges: see a detailed overview at Reading Challenges Update

I made some progress on various reading challenges during October too.
I have now equalled the total number of books I read in 2010 and am just 6 from my target for 2011 of 142 books.
I'm making good progress on the e-book reading challenge - up to 58 e-books now but a long way off 100, so regretfully I won't complete that one.
I'm one book off claiming a "crown" with 50 books in the British Books Challenge.

Completed Challenges for 2011

• Historical Fiction Challenge
• Nordic Challenge
• Aussie Author Challenge
• Cruizin' thru Cozies
• 2011 Global Reading Challenge

Challenges needing a bit more attention

• Agatha Christie Reading Challenge - one book to go for this year's target
• Outdo Yourself - 6 books to go
• Ireland Reading Challenge - 3 books 
• Vintage Mystery - 2 books
• Canadian Book Challenge 2011-2012 - I've slipped behind schedule a bit - 3 more books for this year.
• New Zealand  - 2 books
• British Books - 1 book to my crown.