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Dear RMFAO-ites,

We are here with a modified version of the Author Alphabet Challenge - A-Z Author Alphabet Challenge!
After an amazing suggestion from one of the most cherished members of RMFAO, Fran, and an insightful discussion with my co-moderators, Cheryl and Dagny, we all thought it would be better to make this challenge as straightforward as possible so that it can be completed along with the other yearly challenges.

So, for this challenge the rules are pretty straightforward - You have to read books for each letter of the first alphabet in the author's LAST name. And this is where it gets interesting and compelling - you can read any alphabet at any time and simply strike it off your list. The goal is to have all the alphabet struck off before the year's end.
RULE UPDATE: As the last 3 alphabets 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' are difficult to find in author last names, we have decided to combine them and be counted as ONE. So you can go for either of these 3 alphabets and count them all done. Now, this is not a compulsion, really nothing is in our challenges, so you can do this if you feel the need or else go ahead with having them as separate alphabets if you are able to find the titles with relative ease. However, you want.

And, that's it.

For example: If your first book is by Agatha Christie, strike off "C" from your list and then go ahead with your next read which can be by ANY author say Ray Bradbury (which would help you strike off "B") or Stephen King (getting rid of "K" from your list.)

If you read a book by an author who has 2 last names like Simone De Beauvoir then you strike either "D" or "B" off your list.

You can download this image here:

If you have any doubts or want to discuss anything with us, then simply drop a comment and one of the moderators will definitely get back to you regarding your query.

Please share your progress on this thread, just like we do on the other challenge threads.

Other challenges that you can participate in:
✒︎ RMFAO 2023 Genre Challenge
✒︎ RMFAO 2023 Classics Catchup
✒︎ RMFAO 2023 Audiobook Challenge
✒︎ RMFAO 2023 A-Z Title Alphabet Challenge
✒︎ RMFAO 2023 Title Link Challenge
✒︎ RMFAO 2023 Theme-Link Challenge
✒︎ RMFAO 2023 Series Challenge

PS: We'd like to thank Fran for the awesome idea of this challenge and Cheryl and Dagny for all their input to make it more exciting! <3

PPS: Fran will be the main host for this challenge.

Happy Reading!

Can we also have an alphabet challenge for title too? 😊

That’s something for Heena to decide. It is an interesting suggestion, though.

I'm in. How about we use the same thread for the Title Alphabet too and make sure to open the comment with if we are posting for Author Alphabet or Title Alphabet?
Or if we have enough people joining in then we can have a separate thread. I'm okay either way!
What do you guys think, Dagny and Cheryl?

Heena,

A separate thread for the Title Alphabet would be better. I suggest that you do not count "A, an, the" at the start of a title for the letters "A" or "T".

I vote for combining X, Y & Z 😊

Hello all my book friends. I am so excited about this challenge, and this one little idea has taken on a life of its own ;)
The only thing I ask is that you all take it easy on me since I've never hosted a challenge before ;) May you all have a safe holiday season and stay warm during all the winter weather.

Sherri wrote: "Can we also have an alphabet challenge for title too? 😊"

Sherri I think that's a wonderful idea!

Fran wrote: "Hello all my book friends. I am so excited about this challenge, and this one little idea has taken on a life of its own ;)
The only thing I ask is that you all take it easy on me since I've never..."

Thanks for hosting this challenge, Fran! You’ll just mainly have to answer questions, so it should go just fine.

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

Was a decision made on whether X, Y and Z would be combined?

I like how Elise has the whole alphabet showing to add as she goes instead of making individual posts. Also, do you guys "edit" your list when you have a book where one of the alphabet letters is taken and change it or once you've read it, it stays?

For example you have a title on the author's list for the letter "D" and you read another title that has a D author but you can't put it there because the D is already taken. Can you move the first D author to the title list if it's title alphabet letter isn't being used?

Dagny wrote: "The separate thread for the A-Z Title Alphabet Challenge is now started. Please let me know there if there are any changes or if I left anything out.

RMFAO 2023 A-Z Title Alphabet Challenge"

Thanks for doing that, Dagny! The A-Z Author Alphabet initial explanation post needs to be edited to tell about the X,Y,Z being one entry, too. However, since Heena created it, only she can edit it. Another way to edit it would be to copy post#1, delete it, then re-post it as your own. However, it wouldn't be in the first post position anymore and thus wouldn't work. I guess we wait until Heena comes back to fix it.

Wow! It's great that one small idea began so much discussion and additional ideas.
If anyone is feeling up to doing the letters X, Y, or Z as separate authors I did manage to find a couple of suggestions.
X: Xinran, is a Chinese author who writes about women in her country.
Xochitl Gonzalez (first name is X) - Olga Dies Dreaming
Malcolm X - The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Y: Rick Yancey (YA author has a wonderful Sci-fi series)
Jane Yolen (children's author and upper elementary)
W.B. Yeats
Malala Yousafzai
Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York
Z: Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
The Storied Life of A.J Fikry - Gabrielle Zevin
Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Emile Zola
Paul Zindel (children's author and upper elementary)

Hope this helps choose some new books. Several of these could also be used in other challenges as well (such as Zola and Yeats for the Classics Challenge).

🖌✏️Author Alphabet Challenge 🖌✏️

Completed = 0/26

(view spoiler)[
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(hide spoiler)]

🕰📚 In Reading Order 📚🕰

〰️����ٳ�〰️ wrote: " 🖌✏️Author Alphabet Challenge 🖌✏️

Completed = 0/26


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🕰📚 In Reading Order 📚🕰"

Hi Beth, I love this! How do you get the post to compress?

Hello everyone,

Please read the Rule Update int he description above regarding the last 3 alphabets (X, Y and Z.)
For convenience, I'm adding it here as well:

RULE UPDATE: As the last 3 alphabets 'X', 'Y' and 'Z' are difficult to find in author last names, we have decided to combine them and be counted as ONE. So you can go for either of these 3 alphabets and count them all done. Now, this is not a compulsion, really nothing is in our challenges, so you can do this if you feel the need or else go ahead with having them as separate alphabets if you are able to find the titles with relative ease. However, you want.

Sherri wrote: "
Hi Beth, I love thi..."

You put a < then the word spoiler followed by >

When you are finished writing what you want to hide you use < / then the word spoiler followed by > . Unlike using bold, italics or strikes you have to put the entire word not the first letter between the symbols.

〰️����ٳ�〰️ wrote: "Sherri wrote: "
Hi Beth, I love thi..."

You put a

When you are finished writing what you want to hide you use . Unlike using bold, italics or strikes you have to put the entire word not the fir..."

Thank you for the help! :)

📚 2023 Author Alphabet Challenge 📚

Completed: 20/26

(view spoiler)[Adlakha, Sarah ~ She Wouldn't Change a Thing AB 5/5
Boydell, Natasha ~ The Woman Next Door AB 4/5
Colgan, Jenny ~ The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris EB 4/5
Donlea, Charlie ~ Those Empty Eyes AB 2/5
Elliott, Lauren ~ Steeped in Secrets AB 2/5
Fenton, Liz ~ Girls' Night Out EB 4/5
Geisler, Norman ~ Correcting the Cults EB 5/5
Hillier, Jennifer ~ Little Secrets AB 4/5
I
James, Lynsey ~ The Broken Hearts Book Club EB 4/5
Kane, Darby ~ Pretty Little Wife AB 3/5
Lord, Emma ~ When You Get the Chance AB 4/5
Michaels, Diane ~ Ellen at Sea EB 4/5
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O'Leary, Susanne ~ The Road Trip AB 3/5
Pattison, Vicky ~ My Sister's Wedding EB 5/5
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Rowling, J.K. ~ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince AB 5/5
Sparks, Leanne Kale ~ The Wrong Woman AB 4/5
Thompson, Aggie Blum ~ All the Dirty Secrets AB
Unger, Lisa ~ Confessions on the 7:45 AB 4/5
Valentino, Serena ~ Fairest of All AB 3/5
Watson, Sue ~ Ella's Ice-Cream Summer EB 4/5
X
Yeatman, Robin ~ Bookworm AB 3/5
Ziegesar, Cecily von ~ Cobble Hill AB (hide spoiler)]

My last book of 2022 got carried forward as the first book that I'll be finishing in 2023 and it is Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young striking Y from my list!!
Can't believe my luck :D

Heena wrote: "My last book of 2022 got carried forward as the first book that I'll be finishing in 2023 and it is Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young striking Y from my list!!."

A tough one out of the way!

Cheryl wrote: "A tough one out of the way!"

Yes!

Heena, how was Spells for Forgetting? It sounded really interesting, and it appears that its multiple narrators for the audio book. Did you read it or listen?

📚 2023 Author Alphabet Challenge 📚

Completed = 6/26

(view spoiler)[
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B. Bancroft, Lundy: Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men
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J. Jewell, Lisa: The Girls in the Garden
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R. Reid, Jenkins Taylor: Daisy Jones & The Six
S. Serle, Rebecca: In Five Years
T. Tevis, Walter: The Queen's Gambit
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W. Woodlief, Jennifer: A Bolt from the Blue: The Epic True Story of Danger, Daring, and Heroism at 13,000 Feet
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(hide spoiler)]
🕰📚 In Reading Order 📚🕰

〰️����ٳ�〰️ wrote: "Sherri wrote: "
Hi Beth, I love thi..."

You put a

When you are finished writing what you want to hide you use . Unlike using bold, italics or strikes you have to put the entire word not the fir..."

Thank you so much for this Beth, I don't get on here much(so hopefully you see this comment) this was cute and fun to try & do. I couldn't like your comment giving the advice, and I felt you needed acknowledgment, thank you again.

Here's my recent update on this challenge:

A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M - McCurdy, Jennette - I'm Glad My Mom Died - 1/5 (autobiography, non-fiction)
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
XYZ - Young, Adrienne - Spells for Forgetting (fantasy & cult thriller)

Fran wrote: "Heena, how was Spells for Forgetting? It sounded really interesting, and it appears that its multiple narrators for the audio book. Did you read it or listen?"

Hey Fran, sorry for the late reply. I just saw your message. It was good. I listened to the audiobook; the narrators are amazing and the book is really very heady and atmospheric, though for me it got a bit underwhelming towards the end. But the rest 95% of the book was AMAZING!

Here's my recent update on this challenge:

A
B
C - Conlon, Ciara - Get Organized: Do More in Less Time
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K - Koontz, Dean - The House At The End Of The World
L
M - McCurdy, Jennette - I'm Glad My Mom Died - 1/5 (autobiography, non-fiction)
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W - Warikoo, Ankur - Do Epic Shit
XYZ - Young, Adrienne - Spells for Forgetting (fantasy & cult thriller)

Brenda's Author Alphabet Challenge 2023
Completed: 3/26


A.
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C - Michael Connelly - The Last Coyote; finished 3/--/2023; 4 stars
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E.
F.
G.
H.
I.
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K.
L.
M.
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O - Susanne O'Leary - The Lost Girls of Ireland; finished 3/--/2023; 1.5 stars
P.
Q - Meghan Quinn - A Not So Meet Cute; finished 4/2/2023; 4 stars
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