An additional Annual Challenge for 2017 - A-Z

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Finished my 5th - G (a gift) - The Barbershop Girl by Georgina Penney 4★s

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Maureen]

Finished book 6 :
H - Read a Horror book

Bird Box by Josh Malerman

an interesting 'horror' read- others give it much better reviews than I did - If you like horror books , you may like this

my review : https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Janine]

Finished my 5th

G - Gift Book
Daughter Of Australia by Harmony Verna 5*

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Janine wrote: "Finished my 5th

G - Gift Book
Daughter Of Australia by Harmony Verna 5*"

Wasn't it great Janine!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Finished my 6th - K - kissing on cover - The Soldier’s Woman by Kelly Lyonns 5★s

Review to follow closer to publication

[Maureen]

Read my 7th book -
Y - Read a book by an author who is Younger than you

Blood Men by Paul Cleave

One of my favorite authors and my favorite on going series ! 5 star read !
My review-https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[MichelleG]

Hi,
I finished my 5th :)

B - Best selling novel: Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty (AA). Rated 5★stars
D - Dog on the cover: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Rated 5★stars
S - Part of a Series: Forbidden Fruit by Kerry Greenwood (AA). Rated 5★stars
T - Time Travel book: The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Rated 2★stars
W - Features a Witch: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Rated 5★stars

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Finished my 7th - "Y" - Author younger than me - Pieces of a Lie by Rowena Holloway 5★s

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Loz]

Finished my 3rd. Realised one of my January ch reads fit the "M - Multiple Countries" challenge, so bonus... though it was only a 1.5★ read for me. Not my thing at all! Come Back to Me Review

M - Set in Multiple countries: Come Back to Me by Sara Foster AA 1.5★
S - Read a book which is part of a Series: Saving Grace by Fiona McCallumAA 3★
Y - Author who is Younger than you: About Last Night by Belle Aurora
AA 3.5★

[Bree]

Yay! Finished my first:
S - Read a book which part of a Series: Moonlight Falls on Seven Sisters by M.L. Bullock 3 stars
Read my review here

[Kathryn]

All the books I've read so far fit within this challenge, so I'm at 4/26.

B - Read a Best selling novel – The Last Painting of Sara de Vos – Dominic Smith (AA) - 4.5★

H - Read a Horror book – Finders Keepers - Stephen King - not strictly horror, although the villain is pretty creepy and does some horrific things - 4.5★

P - Read a book with Paranormal aspects – Palace of Tears by Julian Leatherdale (AA) - 3.5★

T - Read a Time Travel book - Hollow City - Ransom Riggs - 4★

And I'm currently reading O - Book with an Orange cover – Mr Wigg - Inga Simpson (AA)

[Kathryn]

MichelleG wrote: "Hi,
I finished my 5th :)

B - Best selling novel: Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty (AA). Rated 5★stars
D - Dog on the cover: [book:The Art of Racing in the Rain|..."

Wow - a lot of 5 star reads to kick off 2017 for you, MichelleG!

[Chloe]

I've read two books so far:

P - Paranormal aspects: The Good People AA READ 4 stars

review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

T - Time Travel book: The Memory Painter: A Novel READ 3 stars

review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Maureen]

read my 8th book

W - Read a book that features a Witch : It Takes a Witch by Heather Blake 2★

Not the best book- I was hoping it would be better
my review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Chris]

Hi Brenda, would this be violet enough for the letter V?

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

I don't think so Christina... very little violet there, just under the author's name. Sorry! Can you find something else do you think?

[Chris]

Brenda wrote: "I don't think so Christina... very little violet there, just under the author's name. Sorry! Can you find something else do you think?"

Absolutely. Shall keep looking.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Good luck :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Finished my 8th - "L" - from a friend's LIST - Murder on a Midsummer Night by Kerry Greenwood 4★s (Phrynne)

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Karen]

I'm going to join in as a slightly late addition here, but I really like the sound of this challenge! List to be completed later/as I go

-29/1 Updated with more books!
-9/8 Update trying to keep track of all these darn books

Progress: 16/26

A - Award Towers of Midnight - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson (Goodreads Fantasy winner 2010) ~4 stars
B - Best selling novel Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta (AA) ~4 stars
C - Colourful CoverIncarnate - Jodi Meadows

D - Dog on the cover The Tiger and the Wolf - Adrian Tchaikovsky

E - Escape from someone or something Walking The Tree - Kaaron Warren (AA)
F - characters Fight and make up
G- a book that was a Gift The Black Prism - Brent Weeks ~5 stars
H - a Horror book The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories - H.P. Lovecraft ~4 stars
I - an author with the same Initials as you And I Darken - Kiersten White
J - an author whose name starts with J The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie
K - Kissing on the front cover The Winter King - C.L. Wilson (Close to kissing anyways...) ~3.5 stars

L - a book from a friends TBR List The Gathering Storm - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson ~4.5 stars
M - set in Multiple countries
N - Neglected to read The Blood Mirror - Brent Weeks ~4 stars
O - Orange cover - This Shattered World - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (AA) ~4.5 stars

P - Paranormal aspects Obernewtyn - Isobelle Carmody (AA) ~4 stars
Q - Question in the title Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Philip K. Dick ~3 stars
R - Goodreads Rating higher than 4 A Memory of Light - Robert Jordan & Brandon Sanderson ~5 stars
S - part of a Series Crossroads of Twilight - Robert Jordan ~3.5 stars
T - Time Travel Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts One and Two - John Tiffany ~2 stars
U - you know will be Uncomfortable to read Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
V - Violet cover Their Fractured Light - Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner (AA) ~5 stars

W - a Witch The Witches of Eileanan - Kate Forsyth (AA)
X - X in the title Froi of the Exiles - Melina Marchetta (AA) ~3.5 stars
Y - by an author who is Younger than you
Z - Zoo in the title OR a Zoo is a big part of the story The Zookeeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman

[Li'l Owl]

Hi Karen,

I've got a few suggestions. They all fall in the Fantasy genre. I don't know if these will be accepted or not. The closest I can come up with are 23 years old now, and were published in their teens:

Nancy Yi Fan


Swordbird. This one is on Amazon Kindle for $4.99 (US). 256 pages. This sounds like it would be good. Might have to look into it for myself!

Alexandra Adornetto

Halo I found this on Amazon Kindle for $7.09 US. This one is 496 pages!


Ghost House Kindle $9.99 US. 320 pages

Note; Alexandra Adornetto is the pen name of Alexandra Grace. She's an Australian author, too!

The next one is in the fantasy genre. The book was published before he was 23 years old.

Christopher Paolini


Eragon This one is on Amazon Kindle for only $1.99 US! It's another long book, 528 pages, though. Mine is a paperback and the words are fairly large. It doesn't look too daunting! I have this on my list for several challenges, including my personal challenge for 2017. I've been wanting to read it for a long time and am just now getting to it! I have the next 2 in this series, too.

Hope this helps. =o)
I'll keep looking.

[Li'l Owl]

Karen,
Found a few others, but again, I'm not sure they will work.

Veronica Roth


Divergent. Published around age 21-22.

Kaleb Nation


The Farfield Curse. He was 21 when this was published. He's 28 now.

Sorry I couldn't find a published author who is actually under 23 now, in 2016-17. At least not in the fantasy genre. Still, maybe these will be interesting to you even if they don't qualify. Good Luck! =o)

[Marianne]

forgot to post this earlier, finished my first
G. Book that was Gift from Veronica at the last get together (thanks!!)
Hester and Harriet by Hilary Spiers 5★s https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

Karen wrote: "I'm going to join in as a slightly late addition here, but I really like the sound of this challenge! List to be completed later/as I go

**If anyone knows of any authors -preferably fantasy or sci..."

Hi Karen! It would be hard for you to find a current author under 23 so do as Owl suggests and find one where the book was published when the author was under 23. Owl's suggestion of Eragon is a really good one. Great book and I believe he was 16 or something silly like that when it came out!!!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Hi Karen (sorry we didn't take our young members into account when working out this challenge!)

I have just had 20 by Vatsal Surti brought to my attention. This book was published in December and he is 20. He wrote his first novella To Desire at 17 :) So here's another one you can look at!

[Rachael]

Feeling like I am on track and might actually get this challenge done (I often fall one or two short on the quarterly challenges). However it is early days...

Finished my second book

M - Multiple Countries: Southern Ruby AA . I thought this was going to be a chapter in Aus, chapter in USA but it turned out it was 3/4 in USA. A good read although not my fav by this author. 3*

[Kathryn]

Brenda wrote: "Hi Karen (sorry we didn't take our young members into account when working out this challenge!)

I have just had 20 by Vatsal Surti brought to my attention. This b..."

I'm even finding that category hard, and I've got a decade (and then some!) on Karen! It's also hard because authors often don't put their birthdates out there (which is understandable!), so if I think they look younger than me (and a lot do!), I look at what they've done so far in their lives and often realise that they can't possibly be younger than me with all that experience!!

I know Hannah Kent is young, but I can't remember whether she was younger than 23 when she wrote Burial Rites. If I get desperate, I can give her next book, The Good People, a go.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

I don't have any trouble Kathryn - pretty much everyone is younger than me ;)

[Kathryn]

Brenda wrote: "I don't have any trouble Kathryn - pretty much everyone is younger than me ;)"

And therefore with less experience, wisdom and maturity!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

LOL!

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

And then Michael informed us the other day that Diana Gabaldon was born in 1952 and Haruki Murakami in 1949.
I was amazed!

[MichelleG]

Hi all, are we going with authors age when published? or current age? Or date of birth?

If the age is authors age when published, then I think Anne Franks diary would cover most readers. I believe she started her diary at aged 12. (Sorry I can't link the book I'm on the app)

[Li'l Owl]

I wonder how much time it'll take to become a wise owl. Hmmmm.

I don't believe we are ever too old to learn, so perhaps being wise is to know you can also become wiser? Hmmm...

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

MichelleG wrote: "Hi all, are we going with authors age when published? or current age? Or date of birth?

If the age is authors age when published, then I think Anne Franks diary would cover most readers. I believe..."

The criteria says "an author who is younger than you" so that means now :) So whether she published at 45 or 25, it's what her/his age is now I think... And of course anyone who has passed away makes it confusing as well. Just interpret as best you can :)

[Kathryn]

MichelleG wrote: "Hi all, are we going with authors age when published? or current age? Or date of birth?

If the age is authors age when published, then I think Anne Franks diary would cover most readers. I believe..."

It would have to be age when published, wouldn't it? So the reason I would want to know their date of birth is so I could work out their age when a particular book is published.

[Li'l Owl]

Yes, wise Brenda. Christopher Paolini was the ripe old age of 15 when Eragon was published! It's just nuts!

This owl just knows how to use GOOGLE! Does that count for wise? =o)

[Kathryn]

Brenda wrote: "MichelleG wrote: "Hi all, are we going with authors age when published? or current age? Or date of birth?

If the age is authors age when published, then I think Anne Franks diary would cover most ..."

Oh - just saw your reply, Brenda. But I'm still going with age at publication because that seems most appropriate and makes the most sense to me :-)

[Dree]

Kathryn wrote: "Brenda wrote: "Hi Karen (sorry we didn't take our young members into account when working out this challenge!)

I have just had 20 by Vatsal Surti brought to my at..."


Pretty sure hannah kent was around 26 27 when burial rites was published :)

[MichelleG]

Thanks Brenda, I initially read it as the authors date of birth. So if the author was born after you then anything written by them would qualify. I was thinking, hypothetically of course, if you were born in 1970 then anyone born from 1971 would qualify as younger than you, right?

But it's always fun to speculate on different options lol ;)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

MichelleG wrote: "Thanks Brenda, I initially read it as the authors date of birth. So if the author was born after you then anything written by them would qualify. I was thinking, hypothetically of course, if you we..."

That it is! Everything is open to individual interpretation, especially with a ticklish one ;) Within reason, we won't slap your wrist ;)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Finished my 9th - "R" - Rating higher than 4 - I Liked My Life by Abby Fabiaschi 4.5 rating 4.5★s

Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Niamh]

Since the start of the year, I have read three books for this challenge:
J - I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson 4.5★
O - Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta AA 4★
R - The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion AA (4.01 rating) 4★

[Phrynne, Series Queen!]

MichelleG wrote: "Thanks Brenda, I initially read it as the authors date of birth. So if the author was born after you then anything written by them would qualify. I was thinking, hypothetically of course, if you we..."

I thought the same as you Michelle , that the author needed to be born after you were and then any of that author's books would count. But then we realised we had not thought about our younger members. Their choices are somewhat restricted!!!

[Karen]

Thank you so much for the suggestions Owl! I think you may have put more effort in your search for me than I did for myself, awkwardly enough.
I read Eragon ages ago, it was one of my favourites as a young teen! :P
I may give either Swordbird or Divergent a go though. And thanks to everyone else who gave suggestion too!

MichelleG wrote: "Hi all, are we going with authors age when published? or current age? Or date of birth? ...
I thought of it as an author whose age is currently younger than yours, but since I'm only 23 and there don't seem to be very many published authors whose books are known enough yet, I'm going to interpret it as the author's age when the book was published.
i.e. Paolini was 16 when publishing Eragon, so anyone older than 16 now could read that.


...also it seems weird to know I'm one of the youngest here, I had no idea before this challenge!

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Karen wrote: "Thank you so much for the suggestions Owl! I think you may have put more effort in your search for me than I did for myself, awkwardly enough.
I read Eragon ages ago, it was one of my favourites as..."

I think we have younger members than you Karen :) Perhaps not active ones, but our ages range from quite young to quite not so young ;)

[MichelleG]

That's true Pyrynne, I hadn't thought of that.

If it makes it any easier for the younger members, I found the website Teen Can Write Too, they have a page which lists the 2015 Books by Teen Authors, that might help with the young authors selection/s :)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

Well spotted Michelle :) Thanks for sharing.

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

I must make a point of thanking both Owl and MichelleG for their efforts in helping out the other members :) It's very appreciated guys!

[MichelleG]

Brenda wrote: "I must make a point of thanking both Owl and MichelleG for their efforts in helping out the other members :) It's very appreciated guys!"

Oh your so sweet Brenda :) I'm always happy to help where I can, I know I've asked for help more than once ;)

[Brenda, Aussie Authors Queen]

That's fine - but it really is helpful to us. For whatever reason we're not around to help out, it's great to know you guys pick up the slack when you can ;)