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I'll attempt an alphabet challenge this year, feel free to join in! If we have enough contestants I'll throw in a giveaway towards the end of the year.

The rules are simple, make a post in this thread with lines from A to Z. Then once you read a book for every letter of the alphabet, edit them into your post until you complete the list. Some letters may be tricky but I'll give it a go and if I get stuck I'll just ask for recommendations here.

Is it for SFF only? Cause I'm doing this challenge in another group for the books I already own to finally read the stuff I've bought. But there are some among them which aren't SFF. Otherwise I could put this challenge here as well.

Here's my list:

A - Annihilation A very interesting read, worth experiencing once. Not sure if I'll be reading the sequels, because I'm afraid they will take away from the mystery.
B -
C -
D - Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom - very disappointing, poorly executed modern one trick pony of a book.
E -
F -
G -
H -
I -
J -
K - Killing Commendatore: Haruki Murakami keeps growing on me, every book appears deceptively simple but you just can't get enough of his style of writing. Also I think he is getting the hang of actual endings!
L -
M -
N - Neptune's Brood: Vorkosigan Saga meets publishing house pressure and poor world building.
O - One Summer: America, 1927. A very interesting book which explores numerous subjects and origins of many of modern concepts.
P -
Q -
R -
S - Saturn's Children: Ew, steer clear. A book where two gimmick ideas do not hold water and added pervy parts are there only for the shock value.
T - Thinking, Fast and Slow. A nice book overall, but here and there it felt dated and at times narrow-minded
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

Feel free to join and copy paste my list!

Gabi wrote: "Is it for SFF only? Cause I'm doing this challenge in another group for the books I already own to finally read the stuff I've bought. But there are some among them which aren't SFF. Otherwise I co..."

No, I'll keep it open to all genres, including non-fic. Go with whatever works for you.

Then here I go :D

A -
B - Bear Head
C - Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
D - A Deadly Education
E - Their Eyes Were Watching God
F - Fate of the Fallen
G - The Green Man's Foe
H -
I - Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe
J -
K -
L - Little Eyes
M -
N - Norwegian Wood
O -
P -
Q -
R - Rhythm of War (already the second read, this somehow turns into my comfort mental disability read)
S -
T - Touch
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y - The Years of Rice and Salt
Z -

Me too!
A -
B -
C -
D -
E -
F -
G -
H -
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N -
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

Joining in!
A - Attack Surface
B -
C -
D - A Deadly Education, YA magic school that tries to kill you and a sully teen girl whom no one like except for local knight in shining armor
E - Emissaries from the Dead
F -
G -
H - Homeland
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N -
O -
P - A Promised Land
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

Rules-wise there are a lot of titles starting with a/the - do we count the nearest noun or articles?

Oleksandr wrote: "Rules-wise there are a lot of titles starting with a/the - do we count the nearest noun or articles?"

I'd say this is a personal challenge, so whatever the person thinks is best, goes. I will probably exclude "A"s and "The"s, just because it's a habit.
Example,: The Island I would count as "Island, the"

Oleksandr wrote: "Rules-wise there are a lot of titles starting with a/the - do we count the nearest noun or articles?"

Definitely! I'd say "a" and "the" don't count - otherwise it will be difficult.

ETA: sorry Art, was posting at the same time.

I'm in! Could be fun!


A -
B -
C - Caste, by Isobel Wilkerson --- Very powerful and shockingly informative.

D -
E -
F -
G -
H -
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N -
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

I like the idea of adding a few words about the book, Cynthia.

Thanks. If everyone would do that, we could treat these lists as guidance for our own reading as we try to fill in the last letters.
And I've already run up against a complication. All three of the books I'm currently reading are C's! LOL!

Joining in too!
As I'm a bit of a contrarian, I started with the Z to go backwards 😋

A -

B - The Brass Queen (Elizabeth Chatsworth)
B - Beneath the Sugar Sky (Seanan McGuire)
B - Brindille (Frédéric Brrémaud)

C - Les chercheurs de pharaons (Michel Duino) - non-fiction that reads like a thriller - review
C - The Cryo Killer (Jason Werbeloff)
C - Come Tumbling Down (Seanan McGuire)

D - Down Among the Sticks and Bones (Seanan McGuire)

E - Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire)
E - Endgame (Aisha Tritle) - short SF-novella
E - L'Examen (Sylvain Neuvel)
E- The Engineering of Coincidence: a scientific explanation of magic (Robert Ramsay)

F - Fractals: Fractal Images (Jack Cleveland) - non-fiction

G - Het gefluister van de bladeren (Sarah McCoy) - feelgood based on facts
G - Go the Fuck to Sleep (Adam Mansbach)

H - Hotel Lonely Hearts (Heather O'Neill) - magical realism

I - Het ijs (Anna Kavan)
I - In an Absent Dream (Seanan McGuire)

J - Jij en ik & andere verhalen (Jojo Moyes) - feelgood short stories about love
J - Jours de sable (Aimée de Jongh)

K - De kleine Odessa - Het Levende Boek (Peter Van Olmen)
K - Een kracht ontwaakt (Petra Doom)

L - Last One at the Party (Bethany Clift) - dystopian debut - review

M - A Most Magical Girl (Karen Foxlee)
M - Mimic (Daniel Cole)
M - The Minders (John Marrs)

N - Notes from a Public Typewriter (Michael Gustafson)
N - New Caviar (Stephany Brandt)

O - One Day All This Will Be Yours (Adrian Tchaikovsky)
O - The Old Equations (Jake Kerr)
O - De Overstap (Anthony Horowitz)

P - Les prescrits (Arnaud Elysiem)
P - Het perfecte leven van mevrouw Parrish (Liv Constantine)

Q - Qualityland (Marc-Uwe Kling)

R - Rode rozen en tortilla's (Laura Esquivel)

S - The Silent Companions (Laura Purcell)
S - Sweet Harmony (Claire North)
S - Silver in the Wood (Emily Tesh)
S - Shaking Hands with Death (Terry Pratchett)
S - Shadowology (Vincent Bal)
S - Something to Live For (Richard Roper)
S - The Silver Arrow (Elbert Hubbard)

T - Tourmaline (James Brogden)
T - Ternary (Kristin L. Stamper)
T - Thames Mudlarking: Searching for London's Lost Treasures (Jason Sandy)
T -To Read or Not to Read (Vincent Hobbes)

U -

V -

W - What Was Your Name Downriver? (Anthony Lowe)
W - The Wound of Words (Deborah Makarios)
W - Words With Friends With Benefits (Jeremy Sterling)

X -

Y - Your letter (Hyeon A Cho)

Z - 1 - Zon (Lucinda Riley) - Dutch version of The Sun Sister - review
Z - 2 - Zolang er leven is - Het tweede geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 85 jaar (Hendrik Groen) - review
Z - 3 - Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology (Cory O'Brien)

Art wrote: "I like the idea of adding a few words about the book, Cynthia."

Very good idea, indeed. I hope I'll remember doing it myself.

Sure. Let's try:

A -
B -
C -
D -
E -
F -
G -
H -
I -
J -
K -
L -
M -
N -
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

I'm game. I've already got about 75 books mapped out for 2021 so I'll plug them in and see where I am. They change a lot during the year though.

A -
B -
C -
D -
E -
F -
G -
H -
I - Isle of the Dead (Jan group read)
J -
K -
L -
M - Mockingbird by Walter Tevis (in progress - liking it a lot)
N -
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

I'll give it a shot:

UPDATED May: 15/26

A - Among Others by Jo Walton
B - The Boys, Volume 1: The Name of the Game by Garth Ennis
C - The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin - An interdimensional race war
D - Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
E -
F - Finna by Nino Cipri
G -
H - Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
I - Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny
J -
K -
L - The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
M - The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick
N - Network Effect by Martha Wells
O - Oblivion Song, Vol. 1 by Robert Kirkman
P -
Q -
R - Red Dust by Yoss
S - Stormsong by C.L. Polk
T - The Taiga Syndrome by Cristina Rivera Garza
U -
V -
W - We Stand On Guard by Brian K. Vaughan & Steve Skroce - In 2112, Americans invade Canada for its water...
X -
Y -
Z -

I looked back over my reads in 2020 and I came pretty close to covering the alphabet without even trying. The only letters I missed were X and Y, but I did have a 3 an 8 and a Ф.

I have to go back to 2019 to find a Y.
There are no X's anywhere in my history here for any year, though I did mark XX as "to read" during 2020. (In retrospect, I do remember reading X'ed Out. I wonder why I never entered it here.)

My V almost feels like a cheat, but I'll count it: Victor LaValle's Destroyer.
The fact that I read in French sometimes helped get the Q: Que la belle meure.
If you are looking for a Z, you can try mine: The Zanzibar Cat.

Ed wrote: "If you are looking for a Z, you can try mine: The Zanzibar Cat."

As I already read Zon and I'm reading Zolang er leven is - Het tweede geheime dagboek van Hendrik Groen, 85 jaar now, that are already 2 books for the letter Z.
But your title intrigued me, so I put it on my TBR-list. Thanks for the tip, Ed!

Thanks for the valuable input, Ed. Great stuff.

I will be giving it a shot, but I think I will wait until I have read a few books before I start marking them down.

I wonder if this happens naturally.. or if you have to go and search out books with the less common letters? I'll take a look after I've read a few books, I think :)

Upon further reflection... I'll go ahead and start the list :)
19/26

A - All You Need is Kill (Manga that inspired the movie "Edge of Tomorrow)
B - Brothers of Baker Street (unique modern mystery with a Holmesian twist)
C - Crossroad Blues (a medicore Blues-focused Mystery)
D - Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (Jan read.. not my fav)
E - Escape to Venus (Perry Rhodan English reprints..fun classic scifi)
F - The Final Reflection (Star Trek Novel that's an in Universe Novel)
G - Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (Vorkosigan Finale/Epilogue.. I'll miss you!)
H - His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire Book 1.. who knew the re-read would get me two slots on this challenge!)
I - Isle of the Dead (the better of the 2 Jan reads, but still not great)
J -
K - Kindred (disturbingly awesome book about antebellum south)
L - Light of the Jedi (First book of the new High Republic Era of Star Wars)
M -Menace of the Mutant Master (Perry Rhodan #18)
N - Night Fire (Bosch #22)
O - Once and Future King (May's read!)
P - Parable of the Sower (Octavia Butler is really good!)
Q -
R - Ross Poldark (Classic Historic Fiction... better than I expected)
S - Space Barrier X (Perry Rhodan #16.. still stuck on Venus)
T - Throne of Jade (Book two of the Temeraire series.. great re-read!)
U - Unknown (short story collection from the magazine... subbing in since it's sci-fi)
V -
W -
X -
Y - Yarrow (80s fantasy about a writer who writers her dreams)
Z -

Joe wrote: "I wonder if this happens naturally.. or if you have to go and search out books with the less common letters? I'll take a look after I've read a few books, I think :)"

Closer to the year's end one usually need to search for a few titles with specific names

Discussion pasted here from another thread about book availability for hard letters like X.


message 63: by EdJan 03, 2021 12:29PM
Ed Erwin | 525 comments

If you are trying to read books starting with every letter, Xenocide could be your friend!


message 64: by Oleksandr, a.k.a. ZJan 04, 2021 02:12AM
Oleksandr Zholud | 2855 comments
Mod

Ed wrote: "If you are trying to read books starting with every letter, Xenocide could be your friend!"

Is X on a cover replaces X in the title, like:
Little Brother (Little Brother, #1) by Cory Doctorow
?


message 65: by Kateblue, 2nd star to the right and straight on til morning0 minutes ago
Kateblue | 3140 comments
Mod

It's not my game, so I cannot say, but I think yes. Any of the more difficult letters should be given some slack in choice of books

Thanks for the suggestion, Ed, but I'm probably going to go and find an Xmen book for X. I am certainly not going to slog though Xenocide again. I read it years ago, remember nothing about it except I thought it was a slog. Although I was one of the people that didn't like that (view spoiler)[Ender was sent away from Earth at the end of Ender's game, (hide spoiler)] so my initial read may been somewhat overshadowed by that.

But any good suggestions for hard letters would be appreciated!

Update

A -
B - Brown Girl in the Ring - in progress
C -
D -
E -
F -
G -
H - Houston, Houston, Do You Read?
Technically a novella, so I'll pick up a novel later.
I - Isle of the Dead - in progress
J -
K -
L -
M - Mockingbird
Oddly, the first 3 books I finished this year were all "M".
N -
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S -
T -
U - Use of Weapons - in progress
V -
W -
X - at a loss on this one, unless I do an X-Men anthology
Y -
Z -

Kateblue wrote: "But any good suggestions for hard letters would be appreciated!."

E: Browsing the H/N list, I came across Emergence by David Palmer. Sounded interesting and my library has a copy.

O: Out Of Space And Time Volume 1. I picked up the two volumes of this Clark Ashton Smith collection some years ago. Imaginative, Lovecraftian horror stuff.

Q: I'll be reading Queen of Angels by Greg Bear, 1991 H/N nominee. Paper copy on my shelf.

U: Currently reading Use of Weapons, the third of the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks. All three have been excellent, fast-moving stories, but none H/N nominated.

V: Voices by Ursula K. LeGuin. It is book 2 of her "Annals of the Western Shore" YA trilogy. The 3rd book, Powers, was the 2009 Nebula winner, so to get to that, I plan to read the trilogy.

Z: Zero History by William Gibson. The 3rd book of his Blue Ant trilogy, I have this on my shelf at home. I read book 1, Pattern Recognition a long time ago, so this is another case of finishing out a trilogy.

For anyone wanting to read some X-Men comics for this challenge... I'd recommend buying the Marvel Epic Collections.. they are large Black volumes that contain 20ish comics in them for $30-$35 each.

I would not start at vol. 1 though, as the early stories are pretty painful... I'd go with either vol. 5 'Second Genesis' (where the 'All-New' X-Men start... Storm, Wolverine and Nightcrawler, to name a few), or the soon to be released vol. 7 'Fate of the Phoenix', which contains the Dark Phoenix Saga (which the movies were sorta based on).

There are some decently interesting more current ones, but most have a fair amount of baggage that a casual fan might struggle with.

I’ve got a few of those, and I can highly recommend the Dark Phoenix saga. They’ve tried to execute this twice in film and they’ve both been terrible. The original story builds tension over the course of 15 issues or more, over several other stories and a year in real time, and you just can’t capture that in a two hour movie. Binging it in combined form really pulls the story together.

I’ve also read a Marvel Masterworks edition of the first several “new� X-Men stories which are a little older and not quite so polished as Dark Phoenix. I actually have issues 104 & 105 in my collection, plus a long run of around 150 issues starting at 137, the finale of Dark Phoenix.

Sooooo.......if I do pick up an X-Men collection, I’ll have to search a bit to find something I haven’t read.

Hey Art, I have to tell you I read the sequels to Annihilation. Trust me they do not take away the mystery. If you liked Annihilation you'll probably really enjoy the sequels. If you thought it was just ok the sequels are not really necessary. I feel like the first book can be a stand alone novel.

Update

A - Amberlough - Lara Elena Donnelly
B - Brown Girl in the Ring - Nalo Hopkinson
C - ***China Mountain Zhang*** - March MR
D -
E - ***Emergence - David Palmer*** - planned Feb read
F -
G -
H - Houston, Houston, Do You Read? - James Tiptree Jr
I - Isle of the Dead - Roger Zelazny
J -
K -
L -
M - Mockingbird by Walter Tevis
N - ***Neptune's Brood*** - Feb MR
O -
P -
Q -
R -
S - Shades of Milk & Honey - Mary Robinette Kowal
T -
U - Use of Weapons - Iain M Banks
V -
W -
X - Marvel Masterworks - Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2
Y -
Z -

Miriam wrote: "Hey Art, I have to tell you I read the sequels to Annihilation. Trust me they do not take away the mystery. If you liked Annihilation you'll probably really enjoy the sequels. If you thought it was..."

Totally missed this message. Thanks Miriam, I may take a look at it as I still have a copy around.

Great progress Allan, you'll be done with the list in a few months.

Love this idea, thanks Art!

A - Axiom's End
B - Beneath the Twisted Trees
C - The City of Brass
D - Daughter of Smoke & Bone
E - The Empire of Gold
F - Foundryside
G - The Gilded Wolves
H - The Haunting of Tram Car 015
I - The Invasion of the Tearling
J
K - The Kingdom of Copper
L
M
N - Nevernight
O - Of Sand and Malice Made (maybe "of" shouldn't count here...debating internally on this one ;) )
P
Q - The Queen of the Tearling
R - Rogue Protocol
S - Shorefall
T - To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
U - Uprooted
V - A Veil of Spears
W - Winter's Orbit
X
Y
Z

Wow, you're going strong! I'm slacking this year, playing Monster Hunter on PC, getting me full nerd on.

Art wrote: "Wow, you're going strong! I'm slacking this year, playing Monster Hunter on PC, getting me full nerd on."

Haha, I'm sure I'll slow down soon, I had a lot of weekends early this year that were too rainy to go hiking so I read all day instead! We all need to find our escape from reality wherever we can :) especially nowadays!

Anyone have any X recommendations? Kateblue and Ed had a few, but seeing if others have suggestions.

Updating

A - Amberlough
B - Brown Girl in the Ring
C - The Changeling - in progress
D - ***The Doors of Eden*** - planned for Mar
E - ***Emergence***- planned for Mar
F -
G -
H - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
I - Isle of the Dead
J -
K -
L -
M - Mockingbird
N - Neptune's Brood
O -
P - Piranesi
Q - ***Queen of Angels*** - planned for Mar
R -
S - Shades of Milk and Honey
T -
U - Use of Weapons
V -
W -
X - Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2
Y -
Z -

Just updated my list above, going faster than I thought!!

Nice work, Rebecca! 16 of 26 by March is great.

OK, I will try a few
4/17 books without links have not been been completed and some might change

A - Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow
B - The Book of Koli by M.R. Carey
C - Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
D - A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
E - End of Days definite
F - First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones
G - Gunmetal Magic by Ilona Andrews
H - The Heist
I - Indexing
J - John Dies at the End
K - Kill City Blues--was reading, will continue
L - Later by Stephen King
M - Mercy Blade by Faith Hunter
N - Nine Goblins--am reading, will continue
O - One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews
P - Phantom Evil by Heather Graham
Q - The Quick by Lauren Owen
R - Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire
S - Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
T - A Time for Witches by Craig Schaefer
U - Unlocked: An Oral History of Haden's Syndrome (Lock In, #0.5)
V - The Vanished Birds
W - The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
X - Xingu
Y - year of the one
Z - Zoey Punches the Future

I have read 50 books so long this year and most of them start with "M." Although some are short stories, and there is a short story that starts with "V." I have not been using the short stories on this list--but I might get desperate!

Ha, my first three books this year were "M". Lots of "B" and "C". I'm not counting novellas or short stories, I'm trying to fill it all in with novels. I've got E, T, L and Q all in progress right now, which will bring me to 15, with G and O in queue.

Good point, I suppose I have two novellas in there, but maybe I'll aim to replace them with novels later in the year. But no shame in using short stories and novellas, as Art pointed at, this is a personal challenge, so whatever the person thinks is best, goes. 50 books is really impressive Kateblue!!

Updating. *** designates H/N listed

A - Amberlough ***
B - Brown Girl in the Ring
C - The Changeling
D - Downward to the Earth
E - Emergence ***
F -
G - Glory Road *** (in progress)
H - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ***
I - Isle of the Dead ***
J -
K - Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
L -
M - Mockingbird ***
N - Neptune's Brood ***
O -
P - Piranesi ***
Q - Queen of Angels *** (in progress-delayed)
R - Road Out of Winter (in progress)
S - Shades of Milk and Honey ***
T - There Will Be Time ***
U - Use of Weapons
V -
W -
X - Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2
Y -
Z -

A nice progress, Allan, I should check my progress too

A - Attack Surface
B - The Bone Ships
C - Call of the Bone Ships
D - A Deadly Education, YA magic school that tries to kill you and a sully teen girl whom no one like except for local knight in shining armor
E - Emissaries from the Dead
F -
G -
H - Homeland
I - Iron Council
J -
K -
L -
M -
N - Neptune's Brood
O - The Only Good Indians
P - A Promised Land
Q -
R - Red Dust
S - Silver
T - Terra Nova. Antología de ciencia ficción contemporánea
U -
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

Ooooh, I forgot about this, ha! Update below:

A - Axiom's End
B - Beneath the Twisted Trees
C - The City of Brass
D - Daughter of Smoke & Bone
E - The Empire of Gold
F - Foundryside
G - The Gilded Wolves
H -
I - The Invasion of the Tearling
J - Jade City
K - The Kingdom of Copper
L - Legendborn
M - Mistborn: The Final Empire
N - Nevernight
O -
P - Piranesi
Q - Queens of the Wyrd
R - Red Rising
S - Shorefall
T - To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
U - Uprooted
V - A Veil of Spears
W - Winter's Orbit
X
Y
Z

Wow, Rebecca, you’re almost done!

Updating. *** designates H/N listed, new additions linked.

A - Amberlough ***
B - Brown Girl in the Ring
C - The Changeling
D - Downward to the Earth
E - Emergence ***
F - The Final Programme
G - Glory Road ***
H - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ***
I - Isle of the Dead ***
J -
K - Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
L -
M - Mockingbird ***
N - Neptune's Brood ***
O -
P - Piranesi ***
Q - Queen of Angels *** (started but delayed)
R - Road Out of Winter
S - Shades of Milk and Honey ***
T - There Will Be Time ***
U - Use of Weapons
V - Voices (about to start)
W -
X - Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 2
Y -
Z -

Amazing Allan!

I have Jade City checked out from the library for J
For Y I'm thinking of The Yiddish Policemen's Union
For Z I'm thinking of Zeroth Law

Still no idea for X...I may have to dip my toe into the X-men/women universe ;)

Thanks! A few of us read Yiddish as a buddy read a couple years ago. Mixed reactions overall but I liked it a lot, and it is one of the 26 double winners (Hugo & Nebula).

Lots of books with J and I have queued up:
L: Life During Wartime
O: Out Of Space And Time Volume 1
W: not sure yet but maybe The Wanderer ***
Y: The Year of the Quiet Sun ***
Z: Zoo City - won the Clarke & Red Tentacle awards; read one of her books a couple years ago and it was ok.

If you're going to dive into X-Men, my favorite story is X-Men: The Dark Phoenix Saga from 1976-77. They've tried and failed miserably at least twice to do this classic story in the movies. It's much better reading. If you're not familiar, these graphic novel compilations of 9-10 comics are right about 200 pages, so not real daunting. My local library has tons of these, so you might try your own, that might be a good route to find it.