The Challenge Factory discussion

Fall into Winter
Duration: October 1 - December 31

This is a simple self-monitored 3-month challenge inspired by the change of seasons. Choose your level, find your books and have at it!

Levels
Easy - one spell out, one book from each of 3 other groups
Medium - one 5+ letter spell out, 5 more books from at least 4 other groups
Hard - two spell outs with one of 6+ letters, 7 more books from at least 4 other groups
Crazy - two 6+ letter spell outs, 9 more books to include at least one from each group

Task Groups

1. Spell Outs:
Fall, Leaf, Acorn, Frost, Raking, Pumpkin, Harvest, Hayride, Hunting, Sweater, Corn Maze, Football, Halloween, Christmas, Cornucopia, Thanksgiving, Haunted House

2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words.

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.

Q & A

Is there a page minimum for this challenge?

No. If it works for you it works for me.

Participants

Caraina
Denise
Finnish Denise
Gabby
Geri
LaurLa
Lucy
Meg
Mrs W
Susan

Fall into Winter
Duration: October 1 - December 31, 2025
Medium - one 5+ letter spell out, 5 more books from at least 4 other groups

F - Fluke, Joanne, Key Lime Pie Murder - 10/15/25
A - A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz - 10/2/25
L - Lowry, Lois, The Giver - 10/10/25
L - Letcher, Lucy & Susan, Southbound - 10/17/25

L - Lucky Man - Michael J. Fox - 11/3/25
E - End of Story - AJ Finn - 11/22/25
A - Anne McCaffrey - Dragonsong - 10/22/25
F - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson - 11/30/25

A - Anthony Horowitz - The Twist of a Knife - 11/4/25
C - The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen - 10/6/25
O - Oyeyemi, Helen - Boy, Snow, Bird - 10/21/25
R - Rimmer, Kelly - The German Wife - 10/9/25
N - Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo - 10/14/25

F - Freida McFadden - The Coworker - 11/2/25
R - Rachel Lynn Solomon - What Happens in Amsterdam - 11/19/25
O - Osborne, Bella - The Library - 11/23/25
S - Stage, Zoje - Baby Teeth - 10/21/25
T - Taylor Jenkins Reid - Maybe in Another Life - 10/14/25

R - Resistance by Anita Shreve - 11/30/25
A - The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein - 11/25/25
K - Kaliane Bradley - The Ministry of Time - 11/6/25
I - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab - 10/27/25
N - Nick Medina - Sisters of the Lost Nation - 10/18/25
G - Grady Hendrix - Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - 10/17/25

Fall into Winter
October 01 - December 31, 2025

Hard - two spell outs with one of 6+ letters, 7 more books from at least 4 other groups

1. Spell Outs:
Fall, Leaf, Acorn, Frost, Raking, Pumpkin, Harvest, Hayride, Hunting, Sweater, Corn Maze, Football, Halloween, Christmas, Cornucopia, Thanksgiving, Haunted House



2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words.

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.

I will try easy but hopefully can get to medium:

1. Spell Outs:

F: Man's Search for Meaning Viktor E. Frankl 9 Oct
R: 60 Songs That Explain the '90s Rob Harvilla 12 Nov
O: Isabel OSMOND The Portrait of a Lady Henry James 14 Nov
S: A Secret Sisterhood: The Literary Friendships of Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, George Eliot & Virginia Woolf Emily Midorikawa 22 Nov
T The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore Evan Friss 18 Oct

Fall, Leaf, Acorn, Raking, Pumpkin, Harvest, Hayride, Hunting, Sweater, Corn Maze, Football, Halloween, Christmas, Cornucopia, Thanksgiving, Haunted House

2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.
Jane Austen 25 Oct AUTUMN TREES
The Pumpkin Spice Café Laurie Gilmore 8 Nov

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.
Knickerbocker's History of New York Washington Irving 25 Oct

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words.
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Stuart Turton 12 Oct

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.
Before We Forget Kindness Toshikazu Kawaguchi 26 Oct (Christmas)

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.
March Geraldine Brooks 8 Nov (United States, from Turton)

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FALL INTO WINTER
October 1 - December 31


Medium - one 5+ letter spell out, 5 more books from at least 4 other groups

Task Groups

1. Spell Outs:
F - Friendly Fire by Marliss Melton (10/5/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
R - Rachel Hawkins wrote The Wife Upstairs (11/2/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
O
S - Stay Awake by Megan Goldin (10/2/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
T - The Decoy Girlfriend by Lillie Vale (10/11/25 ⭐⭐)


2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.

🎄An Island Christmas - Christmas is in the title and that holiday is in December.

🎄 - Cover lots of Christmas items;- tree, lights, wreaths

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.

→ An Island Christmas by Nancy Thayer - published October 28 2014 (Read 10/29/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
→Inheritance by Nora Roberts - published November 21, 2023 (Read 11/17/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐)
→Wreck the Halls by Tessa Bailey -published October 3, 2023 (Read 11/23/25 ⭐⭐⭐⭐)
→X Marks the Scot by Kaitlyn Dunnett- published November 28, 2017 (Read 12/6/25 ⭐⭐)

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words. FROST
Nora Roberts author of Inheritance (Read 11/17/25)
Tessa Bailey author of Wreck the Halls(Read 11/23/25)

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.

→Stay Awake takes place in the fall months - "What's today's date?" I type into the search bar on Google. "November 2," says the search result. p 44

→Hot Target (The Echo Platoon Series, Book 4): Military Romantic Suspense takes place in October - Even in mid-October, tourist crowed the streets. p530 ebook via Hoopla - (Read 10/16/25 ⭐⭐⭐)

→Wreck the Halls - takes place from December 1 - December 24 - "I have a good feeling about tonight," she said. "No one can stay mad at anyone for long on a snowy Christmas Eve." p334


→Window on the Bay by Debbie Macomber - takes place in October - The day was overcast and threatening rain, as it often did in October in the Pacific Northwest. p159 (Read 10/25/25⭐⭐⭐⭐)

→ An Island Christmas - takes place in December - "Archie! It's December! Who wants to go out on the water in this cold?" p50

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.

Fall into Winter
Duration: October 1, 2025 - December 31, 2025

Levels
Hard - two spell outs with one of 6+ letters, 7 more books from at least 4 other groups

1. Spell Outs:
Fall
F: First Lie Wins - Ashley Elston 10/3/25
A: Aura, Tessa - Felony at the Fall Festival: A Molly Montgomery Cozy Mystery 10/7/25
L: Learning to Speak Southern - Lindsey Rogers Cook 10/2/25
L:

Christmas
C: Chupeco, Rin - The Bone Witch 10/7/25
H: Howard Pyle - The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood 10/1/25
R: Running Barefoot - Amy Harmon 10/5/25
I: Incursion - J.T. Sawyer 10/9/25
S: Stolen Tongues - Felix Blackwell 10/4/25
T: Tatjana Soli - The Forgetting Tree: A Novel 10/5/25
M: McNeil, Gretchen - Ten 10/7/25
A: Alex North - The Man Made of Smoke 10/8/25
S: Sawyer, J.T. - Infestation 10/9/25

2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year. A Simple Lie - Mary Bush 10/2/25 (Published on November 21, 2019); Infection - J.T. Sawyer 10/3/25 (Published on November 8, 2017); The Spanish Daughter - Lorena Hughes 10/6/25 (Published on December 28, 2021)

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words. A Stir of Echoes - Richard Matheson 10/9/25

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season. 12 Hours of Halloween: a novel - Edward Trimnell 10/7/25

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.

Fall into Winter Challenge
October - December 2025

My Fall into Winter Challenge (msg 8)

Level ❱❱ Crazy
Books read ❱❱


1. Spell Outs
Harvest
🍁H ❱❱ The Huntress ❱❱ 10.18 ★★★
🍁A ❱❱ Accomplice to the Villain ❱❱ 10.31 ★★★★
🍁R ❱❱ Rescue Team
🍁V ❱❱ The Vampire Book Club ❱❱ 10.18 ★★★★
🍁E ❱❱ Enemy at the Wedding ❱❱ 10.14 ★★★★
🍁S ❱❱ Sanctuary ❱❱ 10.04 ★★★★
🍁T ❱❱ Turning Up the Heat


1. Spell Outs
Cornucopia
🍁C ❱❱ Cowboy, Sing Me Home
🍁O ❱❱ On Loverose Lane ❱❱ 10.03 ★★★★
🍁R ❱❱ Renewal After Dark
🍁N ❱❱ Night Driving
🍁U ❱❱ An Undeniable Rogue
🍁C ❱❱ Christmas with a SEAL ❱❱ 10.23 ★★★
🍁O ❱❱ Outlaw Seduction
🍁P ❱❱ Perfect Stranger
🍁I ❱❱ Irresistible In Love
🍁A ❱❱ At Her Service ❱❱ 11.30 ★★★


☑️2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period
🍁First Family series ❱❱ fall foliage ❱❱ State of Shock ❱❱ 11.16 ★★★★
🍁Nocturne Falls ❱❱ jack-o-lantern ❱❱ The Witch's Halloween Hero ❱❱ 10.15 ★★★★


☑️3. Publication Date
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year
🍁Oct 1996 ❱❱ Bloody Bones ❱❱ 10.27 ★★★
🍁Nov 2014 ❱❱ Finding Southern Comfort ❱❱ 11.29 ★★★
🍁Dec 2013 ❱❱ Burns So Bad ❱❱ 10.28 ★★★


4. Authors
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words
🍁harvest ❱❱ initials HA ❱❱ Mate
🍁cornucopia ❱❱ initials AP ❱❱ Sounds Like Love ❱❱ 11.18 ★★★★


☑️5. Setting
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays during this season
🍁Thanksgiving ❱❱ Fourth and Goal ❱❱ 10.06 ★★★
🍁set in Fall ❱❱ Scandalous Virtue ❱❱ 11.05 ★★★★


6. Extra Challenge
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name
🍁Ali Hazelwood ❱❱ set in England ❱❱ Daydreamer
🍁Ashley Poston ❱❱ set in Scotland ❱❱ A Taste of Sin

Task Groups

1. Spell Outs:
Fall, Leaf, Acorn, Frost, Raking, Pumpkin, Harvest, Hayride, Hunting, Sweater, Corn Maze, Football, Halloween, Christmas, Cornucopia, Thanksgiving, Haunted House

2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words.

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.

Hi - is there a page minimum for this challenge?

LaurLa wrote: "Hi - is there a page minimum for this challenge?"

No. If it works for you it works for me.

Erica wrote: "LaurLa wrote: "Hi - is there a page minimum for this challenge?"

No. If it works for you it works for me."

Thank-you!

Fall into Winter
Duration: October 1 - December 31
Crazy - two 6+ letter spell outs, 9 more books to include at least one from each group

1. Spell Outs:
★H Hunting Season 4/10
★A An Adventure Brewing 6/10
★L The Lost Princess of Oz 2/10
★L A Loch of Grace and Greed 12/10
★O Of Claws and Fangs 29/11
★W When Life Gives You Legends 22/10
★E Escape from Bythos 8/10
★E The End of the Trucking World 18/10
★N A New Witch in Town (Not to Mention the Cat) 3/11


★H Heretical Fishing 4 11/10
★A A Brewtiful Life 24/10
★U Unlikely Guardian 3/10
★N A New Witch in Town (the Other Side of the Moon) 3/11
★T The Tin Woodman of Oz 3/10
★E Escape 11/11
★D Doors to Nowhere 22/10

★H Heartache 14/10
O
★U Up In Smoke: Stories From a Life on Fire 23/11
★S Surviving the Storms: Extraordinary Stories of Courage and Compassion at Sea 2/10
★E Sophie Escabasse: Witches of Brooklyn 11/11

2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.
★The Undead Detective: A Prequel Novella 11/10
★Blue Door Venture 9/11
★Tales from the Cafe 10/11

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.
★Oct 2014 Pack of Lies 4/10
★Oct 2023 What the Truck 9/10
★Oct 2018 Heir Today, Pawn Tomorrow 23/10
★Oct 2024 Hazalag: Everybody Loves Large Chests 27/10
★Oct 2019 Shattered Bonds 6/11
★Dec 2013 Ghost Thorns 13/11
★Dec 2013 Ghost Undying 13/11
★Oct 2015 Cutthroat Chicken 15/11
★Oct 2014 Salvage Trouble: Mission 1 18/11
★Dec 2014 A Smuggler's Conscience 18/11

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words.
★Second Story Man: Eric Ugland 12/10
★The Lantern of Lost Memories: Sanaka Hiiragi 6/11

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.
★More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop 14/10
★A Bear for Thanksgiving 3/11
★A Dragon for Thanksgiving 3/11
★A Bear for Christmas 7/11
★A Dragon for Christmas 11/11
★Decked 16/11

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.
★Theodosia and the Last Pharaoh 26/10 (Egypt)
★Bound Into Darkness 6/11 (America)

Fall into Winter
Duration: October 1 - December 31

Level: Crazy

Task Groups

1. Spell Outs:
Fall, Leaf, Acorn, Frost, Raking, Pumpkin, Harvest, Hayride, Hunting, Sweater, Corn Maze, Football, Halloween, Christmas, Cornucopia, Thanksgiving, Haunted House

H Hazelwood, Ali - Mate
A Kaylee Archer - Witch of the Wolves
L Lyla Sage - Soul Searching
L Leigh Bardugo - The Familiar
O Once and Future Me, The - Melissa Pace
W Willing Prey - Allie Oleander
E Elsie Silver - Wild Card
E Eowyn Ivey - Black Woods Blue Sky
N Nicole Lesperance - A Spell to Wake the Dead


C Conform - Ariel Sullivan
H Holly Smale - I Know How This Ends
R Rose, Jeneva - Dating After the End of the World
I Irresistible - Melanie Harlow
S Sophie Jordan - A Scar in the Bone
T Thief of Night - Holly Black
M Mara Rutherford - A Curious Kind of Magic
A Alchemy of Secrets - Stephanie Garber
S Stacey McEwan A Forbidden Alchemy


2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.
- Deja Brew



3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.
- Road Trip With a Vampire (pub 10/14/25)
- Female Fantasy (pub 10/14/25)
- The Haunting of Paynes Hollow (pub 10/14/25)
- Red City (pub 10/14/25)


4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words.
- Beauty and the Baller by Ilsa Madden-Mills


5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.
- Ghost Business


6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.
- Love at First Fright (England)
- The Book of Witching (Scotland)

Fall into Winter Challenge
Duration: 01 October 2025 - 31 December 2025
Level: Hard - two spell outs with one of 6+ letters, 7 more books from at least 4 other groups
Completed: 14/23

1. Spell Outs:

Fall, Leaf, Acorn, Frost, Raking, Pumpkin, Harvest, Hayride, Hunting, Sweater, Corn Maze, Football, Halloween, Christmas, Cornucopia, Thanksgiving, Haunted House

F: Frontier by Grace Curtis read 11 Nov 2025
R: The Retirement Plan by Sue Hincenbergs read 08 Nov 2025
O:
S: The Skeleton Takes a Bow by Leigh Perry 09 Nov 2025
T: Titanic - A Survivor's Story by Archibald Gracie read 14 Nov 2025

H: Hotshot by Clare Lydon read 24 Nov
A:
L: Leonardo and the Last Supper by Ross King read 24 Nov 2025
L: Legally Yours by Melissa Morgan read 25 Nov 2025
O: Old World War by Melissa F. Olson read 23 Nov 2025
W: When the Moon is Low by Nadia Hashimi read 21 Nov
E:
E:
N: The New Spymasters: Inside Espionage from the Cold War to Global Terror by Stephen Grey read 11 Nov 2025

2. TBR Squeeze/Series Catch Up:
Read any book on your TBR/Series Catch Up list that relates to the October - December time period - book must either have a word in the title or have something on the cover that relates to this time period.

3. Publication Date:
Read any book first published in October, November or December of any year.
The Indian Card: Who Gets to Be Native in America (first published 15 Oct 2024) read 14 Nov 2025

4. Authors:
Read any book whose author's initials can be found in any ONE of your spell out words.
Truth and Other Lies by Lyra Wolf read 28 Nov 2025

5. Setting:
Read a book set in the October to December time frame, or where there is a celebration of any of the holidays that occur during this season.
Role Model by Rachel Reid (Christmas) read 05 Dec 2025
The Long Game by Rachel Reid (Christmas) read 09 Dec 2025

6. Extra Challenge:
From any book read for #4 Authors, read a book set in a country that begins with a letter from the author's name.

Challenge Completed!

Fall into Winter
Duration: October 1 - December 31, 2025
Medium - one 5+ letter spell out, 5 more books from at least 4 other groups

F - Fluke, Joanne, Key Lime Pie Murder - 10/15/25
A - A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz - 10/2/25
L - Lowry, Lois, The Giver - 10/10/25
L - Letcher, Lucy & Susan, Southbound - 10/17/25

L - Lucky Man - Michael J. Fox - 11/3/25
E - End of Story - AJ Finn - 11/22/25
A - Anne McCaffrey - Dragonsong - 10/22/25
F - Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson - 11/30/25

A - Anthony Horowitz - The Twist of a Knife - 11/4/25
C - The Corrections by Jonathon Franzen - 10/6/25
O - Oyeyemi, Helen - Boy, Snow, Bird - 10/21/25
R - Rimmer, Kelly - The German Wife - 10/9/25
N - Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo - 10/14/25

F - Freida McFadden - The Coworker - 11/2/25
R - Rachel Lynn Solomon - What Happens in Amsterdam - 11/19/25
O - Osborne, Bella - The Library - 11/23/25
S - Stage, Zoje - Baby Teeth - 10/21/25
T - Taylor Jenkins Reid - Maybe in Another Life - 10/14/25

R - Resistance by Anita Shreve - 11/30/25
A - The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein - 11/25/25
K - Kaliane Bradley - The Ministry of Time - 11/6/25
I - The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab - 10/27/25
N - Nick Medina - Sisters of the Lost Nation - 10/18/25
G - Grady Hendrix - Witchcraft for Wayward Girls - 10/17/25

Fantastic work Susan!!