Sudoku

[Marla]

Sudoku
Four- or Six-Block Series Finishers (SMALL)

Goal -- to make progress on your unfinished series.

4x4
4x4 - Round #2
6x6
6x6 - Round #2
6x6 ~ Round #3

Duration: Dec. 1 2022- Nov. 30, 2023.

How it works:
Below are ten templates. Choose one or more. Each one is an unsolved Sudoku puzzle containing at least one "clue" number in each of the four or six "blocks."

You will read series books of series you have already started when you begin the challenge to match the numbers in the puzzle BUT - and here's where it will require some advance planning, particularly for people who like to read series in order! - you MUST use one of the following two options:

1) Read all the numbers in the upper left square first. You may read the numbers in that block in any order (example: if the three numbers in your block are 7, 6, and 4, you can read those in any order, but you must finish all three of them before moving to the next block.) Then you must read all the numbers in the square to the immediate right of the first block and so on, finishing each block before beginning another, going in order from top row, left to right, through the middle row, left to right, through the bottom row, left to right, OR

2) In advance of reading, choose and post a block order. In other words, you might choose template 2, and decide to read the blocks in this order: 3, 1, 2, 4, or 4,2,1,5,6,3 etc. If you choose this option, you MUST post your order before you begin the challenge. Blocks are "natively" numbered 1-4 or 1-6 from left to right starting with the top row, so if you were to choose the first example layout above for a four-block, it would mean you were starting with the bottom left block, and then moving to the top left, and so forth. You may read the numbers in each block in any order (example: if the three numbers in your block are 7, 6, and 4, you can read those in any order), but you must finish all three of them before moving to the next block in your puzzle.

Special rule regarding #1 -- For squares containing the number 1, you may do one of the three following options.

1) Because this is a "series finisher" challenge, you can use #1 to read any half-step (0.5, 1.2, etc) book (of any length: the page requirement is waived for this) from an ongoing series you are reading, or, of course a series #1 for a series you have started out of order.
OR
2) You can choose to begin a new series by reading any series #1 of any series you haven't started. After you have read this #1, that series becomes eligible to be read in this challenge (including other puzzles if you have signed up for more than one). In other words, let's assume you're doing the blocks in order. There's a #1 in block 2. You read a series #1 of a new series to fulfill that requirement. If, in block 3 there is a #2, you can then read the #2 in the series you just started.
OR
3) You may use the #1 to read any book whose series position is higher than 9 (i.e. 10, 15, 22, etc.) in a series you have already started.

You may not read any series book from any series you had not already started when you began the challenge UNLESS you read #1 of that series in accordance with rule 2 above FIRST.

I have chosen ten puzzles to give you different total book counts and varying series # counts: choose whichever one(s) appeal(s) to you most. Each template has its own post: just copy and past the template you want into your challenge post. NOTE: The puzzle image WILL NOT PASTE but the rest of the template will. The images are just there to help you choose, and to give me something to work from in developing the challenge.

If it is important to you to have the image, I am providing some source code with each template (read the instructions accompanying the code to get it to work) that you can use to paste the image into your post

[Marla]

Sudoku 4x4
Duration: 12/1/22 - 11/30/23
Progress: 8 of 8
Completed: 3/12/23

Figure 4-1


✅ Block 1
#2 - Jane Hawk #2 - The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz (12/1/22)
#3 - The Shadow and Bone Trilogy #3 - Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo (1/8/23)
#4 - Cormoran Strike #4 - Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (1/4/23)

✅ Block 2
#1 - Shopaholic #1 - Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella (1/13/23)

✅ Block 3
#1 - Legendborn #1 - Legendborn by Tracy Deonn (1/19/23)

✅ Block 4
#2 - Cutler, Sutter & Salinas #2 - Promise Not to Tell by Jayne Ann Krentz (1/26/23)
#3 - Girl Meets Duke #3 - The Wallflower Wager by Tessa Dare (3/12/23)
#4 - Dublin Murder Squad #4 - Broken Harbor by Tana French (2/20/23)

Total books read with this template: 8
Distribution list

#1—2
#2—2
#3—2
#4—2

[Marla]

Sudoku 6x6
Duration: 12/1/22 - 11/30/23
Progress: 20 of 20
Completed: 6/11/24

Figure 6-1


✅ Block 1
#1 - Cane Brothers #1 - A Not So Meet Cute by Meghan Quinn (12/1/22)
#4 - The Last Vampire #4 - Phantom by Christopher Pike (1/7/23)

✅ Block 2
#1 - Turing Hopper #1 - You’ve Got Murder by Donna Andrews (1/31/23)
#2 - Amos Decker #2 - The Last Mile by David Baldacci (1/27/23)
#4 - Anna Pigeon #4 - Firestorm by Nevada Barr (6/9/23)
#6 - Psy-Changeling #6 - Branded by Fire by Nalini Singh (2/25/23)

✅ Block 3
#1 - London Highwaymen #1 - The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian (7/15/23)
#3 - he Brown Sisters #3 - Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert (8/9/23)
#5 - Fever #5 - Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning (7/12/23)
#6 - Alvarez and Pescoli #6 - Deserves To Die by Lisa Jackson (10/18/23)

✅ Block 4
#1 - The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King (11/13/23)
#3 - O'Malley #3 - The Truth Seeker by Dee Henderson (10/22/23)
#4 - Outcast #4 - Wurm War by Christopher Golden (2/11/24)
#5 - Odd Thomas #5 - Odd Apocalypse by Dean Koontz (11/1/23)

✅ Block 5
#1 - The Legend of Eli Monpress #1 - The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron (3/16/24)
#2 - 24690 #2 - White Out by A.A. Dark (4/21/24)
#5 - Anna Pigeon #5 - Endangered Species by Nevada Barr (5/3/24)
#6 - Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger #6 - Arazan's Wolves by John Flanagan (3/11/24)

✅ Block 6
#1 - Ghost Hunter Mystery #1 - What's a Ghoul to Do? by Victoria Laurie (6/11/24)
#3 - A Magical Bakery Mystery #3 - Charms and Chocolate Chips by Bailey Cates (5/7/24)

Total books read with this template: 20
Distribution list

#1—6
#2—2
#3—3
#4—3
#5—3
#6—3

[Marla]

Sudoku 4x4
Round #2
Duration: 12/1/22 - 11/30/23
Progress: 8 of 8
Completed: 8/4/23

Figure 4-2


✅ Block 1
#2 - Legendborn #2 - Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn (2/17/23)
#3 - Maggie O'Dell #3 - The Soul Catcher by Alex Kava (4/4/23)

✅ Block 2
#3 - Alfred Kropp #3 - The Thirteenth Skull by Rick Yancey (4/5/23)
#4 - Enchanted Forest Chronicles #4 - Talking to Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede (6/15/23)

✅ Block 3
#2 - Summer #2 - It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han (7/17/23)
#4 - Study #4 - Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder (6/19/23)

✅ Block 4
#2 - Winter Black #2 - Winter's Curse by Mary Stone (7/29/23)
#3 - Virgil Flowers #3 - Rough Country by John Sandford (8/4/23)


Total books read with this template: 8
Distribution list

#1—0
#2—3
#3—3
#4—2

[Marla]

Sudoku 6x6
Round #2
Duration: 6/1/23 - 5/30/24
Progress: 20 of 20
Completed: 3/9/25

Figure 6-3


✅ Block 1
#1 - Rock Chick #1 - Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley (7/19/23)
#3 - Crazy Rich Asians #3 - Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan (8/6/23)
#4 - KGI #4 - Whispers in the Dark by Maya Banks (6/24/23)
#6 - Rizzoli & Isles #6 - The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen (6/1/23)

✅ Block 2
#2 - Joe Pickett #2 - Savage Run by C.J. Box (10/18/23)
#3 - Red Rising Saga #3 - Morning Star by Pierce Brown (8/15/23)

✅ Block 3
#1 - Don Tillman #1 - The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (12/3/23)
#3 - Dragonfire #3 - Kiss of Fate by Deborah Cooke (10/30/23)
#4 - The Inheritance Cycle #4 - Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (2/1/24)
#5 - Ranger's Apprentice: The Royal Ranger #5 - Escape from Falaise by John Flanagan (11/22/23)

✅ Block 4
#1 - Kate Shugak #1 - A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow (2/6/24)
#2 - The Rules of Scoundrels #2 - One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean (4/16/24)
#3 - The Murderbot Diaries #3 - Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells (2/7/24)
#4 - The Hunted #4 - Devotion by Ivy Smoak (2/17/24)

✅ Block 5
#3 - The Saint of Steel #3 - Paladin's Hope by T. Kingfisher (5/29/24)
#6 - Soul Screamers #6 - Before I Wake by Rachel Vincent (7/30/24)

✅ Block 6
#2 - Bow Street Runners #2 - Lady Sophia's Lover by Lisa Kleypas (11/9/24)
#3 - Michael Bennett #3 - Worst Case by James Patterson & Micheal Ledwidge (8/8/24)
#5 - Charley Davidson #5 - Fifth Grave Past the Light by Darynda Jones (8/14/24)
#6 - The Last Vampire #6 - Creatures of Forever by Christopher Pike (3/9/25)

Total books read with this template: 20
Distribution list

#1—3
#2—3
#3—6
#4—3
#5—2
#6—3

[Marla]

Sudoku 6x6
Round #3
Duration: 6/1/24 - 5/31/25
Progress: 12 of 12
Completed: 3/18/25

Figure 6-5


✅ Block 1
#1 ~ Chronicles of Brother Cadfael #1 - A Morbid Taste for Bones by Ellis Peters (6/22/24)
#5 ~ Armand Gamache #5 - The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (6/15/24)

✅ Block 2
#1 ~ Jedi Academy #1 - Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown (7/5/24)
#5 ~ KGI #5 - Echoes at Dawn by Maya Banks (8/5/24)

✅ Block 3
#2 ~ GhostWalkers #2 - Mind Game by Christine Feehan (11/15/24)
#4 ~ The Murderbot Diaries #4 - Exit Strategy by Martha Wells (9/27/24)

✅ Block 4
#3 ~ Bree Taggert #3 - Drown Her Sorrows by Melinda Leigh (1/20/25)
#5 ~ Hidden Legacy #5 - Emerald Blaze by Ilona Andrews (11/17/24)

✅ Block 5
#2 ~ Warcross #2 - Wildcard by Marie Lu (1/31/25)
#6 ~ Anna Pidgeon #6 - Blind Descent by Nevada Barr (2/24/25)

✅ Block 6
#4 - Seven Realms #4 - The Crimson Crown by Cinda Williams Chima (2/27/25)
#5 - Private #5 - Private Berlin by James Patterson & Mark Sullivan (3/18/25)

Total books read with this template: 12
Distribution list

#1—2
#2—2
#3—1
#4—2
#5—4
#6—1