A-Z Author Challenge - 2016

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Laura wrote: "I am a bit late, but I will do my best!..."

Welcome to the challenge & have fun with it.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Just finished P
Howard Pyle: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood

Only G and X left.
My A-Z Author Challenge

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

I don't know how you feel about Elizabeth Gaskell, but I read Ruth for my letter G it's one of the better books I've read this year.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Bob wrote: "I don't know how you feel about Elizabeth Gaskell, but I read Ruth for my letter G it's one of the better books I've read this year."

Oh nice idea -- G is actually the letter I don't have a plan for yet.

X will be Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet by Xinran

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Amazing progress, Kathy.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Sara wrote: "Amazing progress, Kathy."

Thanks

[siriusedward]

updated post 103.. now at 19/26...

D,M,N,Q and X,Y,Z left..

[Wreade1872]

Update Message 82. Well Iain Sinclair gets me my long awaited I and i think thats it. As done as i can be. An honorable bronze medal.
Having checked and double checked my to-do list, there isn't a Q or X in sight and my to-do list is far too long at the moment to warrant me adding things just for this challenge. Maybe i'll do a complete one next year.

A Voltaire aka François-Marie Arouet, Princess of Babylon
B Edgar Rice Burroughs The Mad King
C Charles Brockden Brown Wieland
D Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (radioplay)
E Eleanor Cameron Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet
F Frank Norris McTeague
G Giovanni Boccaccio The Decameron
H Tom Hood Petsetilla's Posy
I Iain Sinclair Slow Chocolate Autopsy
J Tove Jansson Moomins and the Great Flood
K Franz Kafka In the Penal Colony (short)
L Lucian of Samosata Lucian's True History
M Mervyn Peak Titus Groan
N E. Nesbit The Enchanted Castle
O George Orwell Keep the Aspidistra Flying
P Pauline Elizabeth Hopkins One Blood
Q - -
R Raymond Roussel Impressions of Africa
S John Sladek The Muller-Fokker Effect
T Théophile Gautier Mademoiselle de Maupin
U Bertha Upton The Golliwogg's Polar Adventures
V Jules Verne The Begum's Fortune
W T. H. White The Ill made Knight
X - -
Y Yevgeny Zamyatin We
Z Heinrich Zschokke The Goldmakers Village

[Sara, Old School Classics]

Bravo, Wreade! I was taken by the fact that you have read some authors with which I am very familiar and yet I have not read one of these books. Wise decision not to add a book simply because the author has a name starting Q or X.

[Wreade1872]

Sara wrote: "Bravo, Wreade! I was taken by the fact that you have read some authors with which I am very familiar and yet I have not read one of these books. Wise decision not to add a book simply because the a..."

Thanks. I might be unwise next year ;) and add the Q and X but only if my main reading list is sufficiently culled.
I'm hovering around 80-100 books so i might be in a position to add a couple of randoms towards the end of next year. We shall see.

[Pink]

Wreade, that's a great looking list. I completely understand about not straining to include a Q or X book just for the sake of it. I'll probably be doing the same and skipping my last few letters, unless like you, I end up with some unexpected time at the end of the year!

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Those pesky last two letters! I"ve got G and X but luckily I do have books for those on my TBR list for this year -- so I am hoping to actually get them read and finish this challenge for 2016.

[Zoe]

I hadn't actually planned to do this challenge - I thought it would be too much, but the other day I listed everything to see how far I had gotten on serendipity.
A Margaret Atwood - The Blind Assassin
B Anne Brontë - Agnes Gray
C Albert Camus - The Stranger
D Alan Duff - Once Were Warriors
E
F
G Maurice Gee - Plumb
H Hermann Hesse - Siddhartha
I Washington Irving - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
J Shirley Jackson - The Haunting of Hill House
K Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis
L Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
M Daphne du Maurier - Rebecca
N
O George Orwell - 1984
P Sylvia Plath - The Bell Jar
Q
R Sethy John Regenvanu - Laef Mi Blong: From Village to Nation
S Tayeb Salih - Season of Migration to the North
T
U
V Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse 5
W Virginia Woolf - To the Lighhouse
X Xenophon - The Apology
Y Yeonmi Park - In Order to Live
Z Norbert Zongo - The Parachute Drop

Although I did read The Apology by Xenophon for this challenge. When I finish my Bingo Challenge I'll have E, N and U. I have lots of ideas for F. I don't know what to do with T and Q. :)

[Wreade1872]

Zoe wrote: "I hadn't actually planned to do this challenge - I thought it would be too much, but the other day I listed everything to see how far I had gotten on serendipity.
A Margaret Atwood - ..."

Thats a pretty darn good list :D . If your still looking for a T, i thought Mary Poppins (travers) and Idyll's of the King (tennyson) were both surprisingly awesome :) . Both pretty easy reads too.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Zoe wrote: "I hadn't actually planned to do this challenge - I thought it would be too much, but the other day I listed everything to see how far I had gotten on serendipity.- ..."

Cool how many you have without even trying.

[Zoe]

Wreade1872 wrote: "Zoe wrote: "I hadn't actually planned to do this challenge - I thought it would be too much, but the other day I listed everything to see how far I had gotten on serendipity.
A [author:Margaret Atw..."

Thanks, I'll check those out. :)

[Pink]

Four to go.....Q, U, V and Z...very similar to my A-Z title challenge!

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Only two left, J, & X

[Anetq]

Looking for a Q I'd want to read I looked up the french author I read last year, and how great is this: Raymond Queneau has written a book called Zazie in the Metro Author Q AND Title Z!
Guessing I'm not the only one doing both challenges, I thought I'd share :)

With 2 months to go I still need E Q V X Y. Have lined Eco, Xenophon, Yan Lianke and a few Vs up for the rest.

[Laurie]

Anetq wrote: "Looking for a Q I'd want to read I looked up the french author I read last year, and how great is this: Raymond Queneau has written a book called Zazie in the Metro Author Q AND Title ..."

Darn, I wish I had known about Zazie in the Metro a few days ago. I still need a Q author and a Z character for a challenge in another group. I'm reading something else for the Z character right now. I might read a different Queneau book for the author challenge though.

[Anetq]

Laurie wrote: "I might read a different Queneau book for the author challenge though" I read his Exercises in Style last year - strange (as it is what it says) but fun - nice and short too.

[Pink]

Anetq wrote: "Looking for a Q I'd want to read I looked up the french author I read last year, and how great is this: Raymond Queneau has written a book called Zazie in the Metro Author Q AND Title ..."

Oh that sounds fun and I like that it ticks off two challenges at once! If I don't use it for this year, I'll make a note for future A-Z challenges. Thanks for letting us know :)

[Zoe]

U Sigrid Unset - Kristin Lavransdattar, N Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita!

[Kathleen]

Anetq wrote: "Looking for a Q I'd want to read I looked up the french author I read last year, and how great is this: Raymond Queneau has written a book called Zazie in the Metro Author Q AND Title ..."

Thank you for mentioning this--it looks great, whether I need a Z or not!

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Finished my Author challenge

A: Anna Akhmatova: Anna Akhmatova
B: Kai Bird: American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
C: Dia Calhoun: The Phoenix Dance
D: Cameron Díaz: The Longevity Book: The Biology of Resilience, the Privilege of Time, and the New Science of Aging
E: Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: The Little Prince
F: Sally Fisher: The Tale Of The Shining Princess
G: Neil Gaiman: Odd and the Frost Giants
H: Amanda Hocking, Frostfire
I: Kazuo Ishiguro: The Buried Giant
J: N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season
K: Rudyard Kipling: Just So Stories
L: Morgan Llywelyn: Red Branch
M: James A. Michener: Tales of the South Pacific
N: Wendy Watson Nelson: What Would a Holy Woman Do?
O: David M. Oshinsky: Polio: An American Story
P: Howard Pyle: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood
Q: Anna Quindlen: Miller's Valley
R: Marilynne Robinson: Housekeeping
S: Anna Sewell, Black Beauty: Original and Unabridged
T: Adrian Tchaikovsky: Empire in Black and Gold
U: Sigrid Undset: Kristin Lavransdatter
V: Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa: The Bhagavad Gita
W: Nancy Werlin: Impossible
X: Xinran: Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet
Y: Jane Yolen, Xanadu 2
Z: Charlotte Zolotow: The Storm Book

[Andrea AKA Catsos Person]

Congrats!

I thill haven't taken on any A-Z challenges with group, though I have done others.

A nice accomplishment for finishing--and ahead of schedule too!

[Pink]

Well done Kathy :)

I'm gonna have to give this specific attention if I want to finish those last few tricky letters, or leave it unfinished. I'm unsure yet.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Kathy it can be a small world sometimes, Dia Calhoun lived across the street from my house in the sixties. The fact that she is an author doesn't surprise me a bit. Imagination in abundance even when she was young.

Oh, congratulations on finishing.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Bob wrote: "Kathy it can be a small world sometimes, Dia Calhoun lived across the street from my house in the sixties. The fact that she is an author doesn't surprise me a bit. Imagination in abundance even wh..."

Okay that is a cool story.

[Loretta]

Wow Kathy! Excellent job! :). Congrats! :)

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Thank you all.

[Anetq]

X done - and a proper classical classic at that: Xenophon's The Symposium from 360 BC. One of those things I wouldn't have read if I didn't need an X, but interesting - and it did remind me of Plato's Symposium, which I read at school or Uni. So there: Silly challenge, serious reading?

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Anetq wrote: "X done - and a proper classical classic at that: Xenophon's The Symposium from 360 BC. One of those things I wouldn't have read if I didn't need an X, but interesting - and it did r..."

Awesome

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Nineteen of the twenty six authors were new to me, glad to have this finished.

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Congrats Bob.

[Laurie]

Challenge complete!!

26/26 completed on 11/8/16

A Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun
B Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove
C Ta-Nehisi Coates - Between the World and Me
D Charles Dickens - Bleak House
E Laura Esquivel - Like Water for Chocolate
F Edna Ferber - So Big
G Shirley Ann Grau - The Keepers of the House
H Kent Haruf - Our Souls at Night
I Kazuo Ishiguro - A Pale View of Hills
J Tove Jansson - The Summer Book
K Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis
L Laila Lalami - The Moor's Account
M Haruki Murakami - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
N Vladimir Nabokov - Lolita
O Eugene O'Neill - Anna Christie
P Orhan Pamuk - My Name is Red
Q Anna Quindlen -How Reading Changed My Life
R Carlo Rovelli - Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
S Johanna Spyri - Heidi
T Daniel Tammet - Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant
U Loung Ung - First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
V Tarjei Vesaas - The Ice Palace
W Richard Wright - Native Son
X Qiu Xiaolong - Death of a Red Heroine
Y Banana Yoshimoto - Kitchen
Z Fareed Zakaria - In Defense of a Liberal Education

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Yea! for you Laurie! And now I have a new list for next year's challenge. Good thing we keep all of our old threads.

[Zoe]

Laurie wrote: "Challenge complete!!

26/26 completed on 11/8/16

A Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun
B Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove..."

Awesome! Congrats!

[Pink]

Well done Laurie!

[Laurie]

Thanks ladies. And yes, Kathy, I think we all troll old lists to get help with those difficult letters.

[Brina]

Wow everyone, great job. I never officially did the challenge but I am going to go back through my books to see how close I have gotten. Next year I have decided is an open year with no challenges.

[Loretta]

Laurie wrote: "Challenge complete!!

26/26 completed on 11/8/16

A Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Half of a Yellow Sun
B Fredrik Backman - A Man Called Ove..."

Great Laurie! Congrats! :)

[Anetq]

Laurie wrote: "Challenge complete!!
Congrats! Interesting books too - can I ask how you liked Pamuk? (i've had him shelved for a decade now, but not read anything)

[Laurie]

Anetq wrote: "Laurie wrote: "Challenge complete!!
Congrats! Interesting books too - can I ask how you liked Pamuk? (i've had him shelved for a decade now, but not read anything)"

It was okay but odd. I think I would like to try Snow next year and see if I like it better. I definitely think he is worth reading though.

[Kathleen]

Wow--congratulations to Laurie and Kathy! Impressive lists!

[Anetq]

Done!!

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi We Should All Be Feminists
Bolaño, Roberto: Antwerp
Christensen, Inger Det malede værelse (The Painted Room)
Deledda, Grazia: Honest Souls
Enzensberger Hans Magnus: Den store vandring
Foer, Joshua: Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything
Gordon, Kim: Girl in a Band
Hedayat, Sadeq: Levende begravet
Ikstena, Nora Livets fest aka. Dzīves svinēšana
James, Peter Dead Simple
Knapp, Jake Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days
Lagerlöf, Selma The Treasure aka Hr. Arnes penge
Michaëlis, Karen The Dangerous Age aka "Den farlige Alder"
Némirovsky, Irène: Fire in the Blood aka Feber i blodet
Oksanen, Sofi: Renselse aka Purge aka Puhdistus
Panduro, Leif: Øgledage aka "Lizard days"
Queneau, Raymond: Zazie in the Metro
Ramsay, Caro: Absolution
Saurraute, Natalie: Tropismer
Taubes, Gary: Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It
Ugrešić, Dubravka Thank You for Not Reading
Vincent: Shanghajet
Winterson, Jeanette: Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
Xenophon: The Symposium
Yann: Den store hornugle
Zola, Émile: For en nats kærlighed (novellas: Pour une nuit de amour)

[Pink]

Anetq wrote: "Done!!

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi We Should All Be Feminists
Bolaño, Roberto: Antwerp
Christensen, Inger Det malede værelse (The Painted Room)
Deledd..."

Great work! Well done on finishing!

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

Anetq wrote: "Done!!..."

Congrats to you Anetq!

[Laurie]

Well done, Anetq!!

[Anetq]

Thanks all! and good luck to those still inching towards the finish line!
I'd like to recommend these writers:
Modern out of eastern Europe: Nora Ikstena and Oksanen Sofi.
Classic and nordic: Lagerlöf Selma 1858-1940., Karin Michaëlis
And finally: NEMIROVSKY IRENE and Winterson Jeanette

Thanks for the Pamuk review @Laurie - I'll give him a go, if for nothing else, then to be able to give my paper copies away after reading them :)