2015 A to Z Challenge

[Christine]

A to Z Yearly Challenge

The A to Z Challenge is something of a classic to me, so let’s do it again!

You have two options:
Level I = 26 books: Use either the book title or the author’s first or last name to match each letter in the alphabet.

Level II = 52 books: Complete one set of the alphabet using only book titles and a second set of the alphabet using only author’s first or last name.

A few simple rules:
Please disregard the words A, An, and The as the first word in book titles.
Each book can be used for only one letter. If you use the book title you may not also use the same book for the author’s name.
You may use the same author’s name multiple times if you read multiple books by the same author.
For the letter X, I will accept that letter anywhere in the title or author’s name, not just as the first letter. (For example, author Ja x Garren, and title ‘E x treme Measures’

Duration of challenge: January 1 – December 31, 2015

Here is an alphabet template you may copy and paste if you’d like:

A:
B:
C:
D:
E:
F:
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I:
J:
K:
L:
M:
N:
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P:
Q:
R:
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[Christine]

Note: You may back-date with books you started since January 1.

[Veronica]

Since I didn't make the Level II (52) challenge last year, I'm going to try the Level I (26) challenge this year.

13/26

A: The American Heiress1/13/15
B: Bowen, Rhys - Murphy's Law 2/19/15
C:
D: Darkness Falls 1/2/15
E:
F: Fortune's Pawn - Rachel Bach 4/2/15
G:The Greatest Knight 1/15/15
H: Huber, Anna Lee - The Anatomist's Wife 2/10/15
I:
J:
K:
L:
M: Mistress of the Art of Death 1/10/15
N:
O: Owl and the Japanese Circus 2/5/15
P:
Q:
R: Rosett, Sara - Secretive 2/6/15
S: Succubus Blues 1/28/15
T:
U: Undercity 1/7/15
V: Venkataraman, Barbara - Death by Didgeridoo 1/30/15
W: Who Buries the Dead - CS Harris 3/10/15
X:
Y:
Z:

[Sarah]

A:
B: The Book of Were-Wolves - Sabine Baring-Gould 1/29/15
C:
D: Day, Sylvia - Spellbound 1/7/15
E:
F: Forgotten Treasures: 25 Short Fiction Tales - Lisa Kessler 2/23/15
G:
H:
I:
J:
K:
L:
M: Make A Wish: a Christmas Encounters Novella - AC James 1/4/15
N:
O:
P:
Q:
R:
S: Shawntelle Madison - Bitten By Deceit 1/26/15
T:
U:
V: Viola Rivard - Claimed by the Alphas: Part One 3/1/15
W: Wendig, Chuck - Confessions of a Freelance Penmonkey 3/30/15
X:
Y:
Z:

[Marianne]

A:
B:
C:
D:
E:
F:
G:
H:
I:
J:
K:Kiss of Snow 1/8/15
L:
M:
N:
O:
P:
Q:
R: Rafe 1/6/15 (Didn't finish, but read enough to review)
S:
T:
U:
V:
W: Winter's Destiny 1/4/15
X:
Y:
Z:

[Johanna]

I am going to give this a try... I'll start small and just go for the 26 books.

16 of 26 Read

A: Amulet, Vol. 1: The Stonekeeper - Kazu Kibuishi 1/30
B: Blood Bound - Patricia Briggs 1/3
C: Crazy For You - Jennifer Crusie 2/13
D:
E:
F: Francesca Lia Block - Blood Roses 1/9
G: Gail Carriger - Etiquette & Espionage 1/21
H: Higgins, Kristan - The Best Man
I:Iron Kissed - Patricia Briggs 2/9
J: James, E.L. - Fifty Shades of Grey 1/19
K: Kelley Armstrong - Bitten 2/5
L: Laini Taylor - Daughter of Smoke & Bone 2/14
M: Moon Called - Patricia Briggs 1/1
N: Nicholas Sparks - Safe Haven 2/2
O:
P: Palacio, R.J. - Wonder 1/30
Q:
R: Robyn Carr - Virgin River 2/17
S: Soulless - Gail Carriger 1/23
T:
U:
V: Vaughn, Carrie - Kitty and the Midnight Hour 1/14
W: Written in Red - Anne Bishop 1/8
X:
Y:
Z:

[Julia]

I have done this for several years. I always do this with the author's last name and I try to find new to me authors, even better if they have been on my TBR shelves for awhile. 26/26
A: The Biology of Luck
B:The Shining Girls
C: The Girl with All the Gifts
D:The Cutting Room: Dark Reflections of the Silver Screen edited by Ellen Datlow
E: Boys Don't Knit
F: Canadian Pie
G: Best Boy
H:The Reluctant Fundamentalist
I: The Buried Giant
J: Silver Sparrow
K: Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World
L: Even This I Get to Experience by Norman Lear
M: The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon
N: Missing Reels by Farran Smith Nehme
O: Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor
P: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Q: Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero
R:Jackaby by William Ritter
S: X: A Novel by Ilyasah Shabazz
T: Osama by Lavie Tidhar
U: Geek Theater edited by Erin Underwood
V: Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
W: Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright
X: Motherbridge of Love by Xinran
Y: Land of Love and Drowning by Tiphanie Yanique
Z: The Boy Who Killed Demons by Dave Zeltserman
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

[Lokki]

Christine wrote: "Note: You may back-date with books you started since January 1."

I was just wondering how everyone was making the titles in their lists hyperlinks to the book? I'm new to this....

[Louise]

Looks like fun. I'll do the full set of 52.

Book read: 52/52

Titles - COMPLETE 21/2/15

A: Ancillary Sword 21/1/15
B: Blue Mars 18/1/15
C: Cosmic Engineers 22/1/15
D: The Deaths of Tao 25/1/15
E: Empire State 4/2/15
F: The Forever War 14/2/15
G: Green Mars 15/1/15
H: Hollow City 8/1/15
I: The Invisible Library 2/2/15
J: Joplin's Ghost 21/2/15
K: Kafka on the Shore 11/2/15
L: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 18/1/15
M: Maplecroft 6/2/15
N: Nearly Neptune 3/2/15
O: Old Man's War 26/1/15
P: Parasite 7/2/15
Q: Queen of the Dark Things 21/2/15
R: Red Mars 11/1/15
S: Skinwalker 18/1/15
T: Taken 5/2/15
U: Ultima 20/1/15
V: Valour and Vanity 9/2/15
W: Witch World 8/2/15
X: X-Rated Bloodsuckers 17/2/15
Y: The Year of the Quiet Sun 4/2/15
Z: Zoo City 24/1/15

Authors (by surname) - COMPLETE 4/5/15

A: Isaac Asimov - The Caves of Steel 7/3/15
B: Monica Byrne - The Girl in the Road 24/1/15
C: C.Robert Cargill - Dreams and Shadows 19/2/15
D: Philip K Dick - Time Out of Joint 15/4/15
E: Umberto Eco - Foucault's Pendulum 17/3/15
F: Jeffrey Ford - The Shadow Year 2/3/15
G: Mira Grant - Symbiont 8/2/15
H: Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring 3/2/15
I: Emmi Itaranta - Memory of Water 8/4/15
J: Graham Joyce - The Silent Land 9/4/15
K: Nancy Kress - Yesterday's Kin 7/2/15
L: Karen Lord - The Best of all Possible Worlds 24/1/15
M: Philip Mann - The Disestablishment of Paradise 1/2/15
N: Claire North - Touch 26/4/15
O: Daniel José Older - Half-Resurrection Blues 1/2/15
P: Tim Powers - The Stress of Her Regard 29/3/15
Q: Jaime Quaid - Boyfriend from Hell 5/4/15
R: Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Disappeared 6/4/15
S: Hiroshi Sakurazaka - All You Need Is Kill 29/1/15
T: Rob Thurman - Nightlife 1/3/15
U: Michael Underwood - Geekomancy 4/5/15
V: Joan Vinge - The Snow Queen 15/2/15
W: Jo Walton - Among Others 28/1/15
X: Can Xue - Five Spice Street 18/4/15
Y: Hiroshi Yamamoto - MM9 1/4/15
Z: Sarah Zettel - The Quiet Invasion 7/4/15

[Louise]

Lokki wrote: "I was just wondering how everyone was making the titles in their lists hyperlinks to the book? I'm new to this...."

Hi Lokki, if you look above the comment box you will see a link saying add book/author. Click on this and you will be able to search for and add a link to the book.

When you click on it you will see another link at the bottom of the search box that comes up saying link or cover. Pick the one you want.

So simple once you know how to do it, but it took me ages to figure it out as well!

[Lokki]

Louise wrote: "Lokki wrote: "I was just wondering how everyone was making the titles in their lists hyperlinks to the book? I'm new to this...."

Hi Lokki, if you look above the comment box you will see a link s..."

Thanks Louise! I'll give it a shot.

[Lokki]

Hi. I'm new to GR and new to this challenge, but I'm up for it. I'll try to do both the book and author challenge. I know I can read that many books no problem....just have to come up with all the letters. Should be fun.

27/52

Book Title

A
B - Burn for Me, Ilona Andrews (1/15/15)
C - City of Stairs, Bennet Robert Jackson (1/11/15)
D - Darkness Falls, Keri Arthur (1/18/15)
E
F - Fire Study, Maria Snyder (2/11/15)
G - Grave Secret, Sierra Dean (1/16/15)
H - Hot Blooded, Amanda Carlson (2/27/15)
I - Immune, Shannon Mayer (2/28/15)
J
K
L - Little Brother, Cory Doctorow (1/24/15)
M - Murder of Crows, Anne Bishop (3/11/15)
N
O - Owl and the Japanese Circus, Kristi Charish (2/2/15)
P - A Play of Shadow, Julie E. Czerneda (1/13/15)
Q
R - Raising Innocence, Shannon Mayer (2/28/15)
S - Stray, Rachel Vincent (1/29/15)
T - Taunting Destiny, Amelia Hutchins (2/16/15)
U
V
W - Warprize, Elizabeth Vaughn (2/2/15)
X - Extreme Exposure, Pamela Clare (2/5/15)
Y
Z

Author

A - Ilona Andrews, Clean Sweep (2/6/15)
B - Phillippa Bornikova, This Case Is Gonna Kill Me (2/5/15)
C
D
E - Hailey Edwards, Dog with a Bone (3/4/15)
F
G - G.L. Drummond, Arcane Solutions (2/13/15)
H
I - Frances Itani, Deafening (1/22/15)
J - JoJo Moyes, The Girl You Left Behind: A Novel (1/25/15)
K
L
M - Karen Marie Moning, Burned (02/01/15)
N
O
P
Q
R - Rachel Hartman, Seraphina (2/7/15)
S - Samantha Shannon, The Bone Season (2/9/15)
T
U
V
W - Jaye Wells, Deadly Spells (2/22/15)
X
Y
Z - Gabrielle Zevin, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry (1/23/15)

[Christine]

Welcome to the challenge! Have fun.

[Tamara]

Lokki wrote: "Christine wrote: "Note: You may back-date with books you started since January 1."

I was just wondering how everyone was making the titles in their lists hyperlinks to the book? I'm new to this...."

You have to use a bit of HTML. When you're editing a message click the (some html is ok) above the edit box on the right. It will show the syntax. The specific one you need for links is the href command.

[Lokki]

Tamara wrote: "You have to use a bit of HTML. When you're editing a message click the (some html is ok) above the edit box on the right. It will show the syntax. The specific one you need for links is the href command."

Thanks Tamara. Someone told me an easier way. Just use the 'add book/author' link (located right beside the 'some html is ok' link). Just put your cursor where you want the link to appear then click the add book and search for the book or author. Select it and it is added to your line of text. You can select for either a link or the cover picture to be used. Works like a charm.

[Tamara]

Lokki wrote: "Tamara wrote: "You have to use a bit of HTML. When you're editing a message click the (some html is ok) above the edit box on the right. It will show the syntax. The specific one you need for links..."

Thanks Lokki, never noticed that.

[Tamara]

What's one more challenge.
1/26

A:
B:
C:
D: The Devil You Know 1/22/2015
E:
F:
G:
H:
I:
J:
K:
L:
M:
N:
O:
P:
Q:
R:
S:
T:
U:
V:
W:
X:
Y:
Z:

[Marie]

can anyone suggest a good book or author starting with q x or z please

[Lokki]

Z
I was going to try , Keith Melton and I read Gabrielle Zevin, , which is not UF (does it have to be?) but was good.

X
I read , again not UF, and nothing to rave about but a solid read if you like that sort of thing (mom porn). I was going to try Alexadra Ivy's for the X author.

Q
I haven't decided on the Q book yet but I was thinking of possibly by Lyndsay Sands or by Jennifer Armintrout. For the Q author I was thinking of by Amanda Quick because it is sitting on my TBR shelf.

[Veronica]

I updated my original post. I'm sitting at 11/26 so far.

[Louise]

I have finished. 52 books read of 52. I have updated my list with everything I read.

[ladymurmur]

Marie wrote: "can anyone suggest a good book or authors starting with q x or z please"

I know it has been a while since your request. In case you're still looking, here are some authors/titles that I've found for these letters. Most I have not yet read myself.

Q -
Authors - Susan Kaye Quinn,
Titles - A Question of Will, The Queen Is Dead, The Queen’s Adept, The Queen's Dollmaker, The Quicksilver Project: Forbidden Portals, Quantum 7, Queen Mab: A Tale Entwined with William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet

X -
Authors - Xina Marie Uhl, Meg Xuemei X, Garth Nix,
Titles - Xor: The Shape of Darkness, Xenoform, Xposure, Xbestia: Book One Xenofreak Nation, X.I.A.

Z-
Authors - Zander Marks, Zachary Rawlins, Zane Grey, Ben Zackheim, Dima Zales, Richard Zagranski, Dave Zeltserman, Evelyn David, Zilpha Keatley Snyder
Titles - Zombie Kong - Anthology, Zoo City*, Zoned for Murder

*Zoo City by Lauren Beukes I have read, and strongly recommend it! Fantastic and unusual UF.

[Carol]

Level 1:


A
- allegiant (divergent, 3) - Veronica Roth

B
- the book thief - Markus Zusak

C
- city of heavenly fire (mortal instruments # 6) - Cassandra Clare

D
- dreams of gods & monsters ( daughter of smoke & bone #3) laini Taylor
- Days of blood & starlight (daughter of smoke & bone # 2)

E
- end of days (penryn & the end of days, -# 3) Susan e e

F-
- fairest (lunar chronicles#3.5)
- the fault in our stars - John green

G
- the girl who kicked the hornets nest (millennium # 3) -Stieg Larsson

H
- the husband's secret - liane moriarty

I

J

K

L
- lips touch - three times - laini Taylor
- looking for Alaska - John green
- lover awakened (black dagger brotherhood, 3) - j.r. Ward
- Love eternal (black dagger brotherhood , # 2) - Jr. Ward

M
- murder of crows (the others# 2) Anne bishop)
- me talk pretty one day - David Sedaris

N
- night of cAke & puppets (daughter of smoke & bone # 2.5) - Lanai Taylor
- never broken: songs are only half the story- jewel
- new & selected poems vol. 1 - Mary Oliver
- New & sledged poems vol. 2 - Mary Oliver
- Memoirs of a geisha - Arthur golden

O

P
- Paper Towns - John Green

Q

R
- rash - Pete hautman

S

T
- thirst - may Oliver

U

V

W:
- why I wake early - Mary Oliver

X

Y

Z

[ladymurmur]

Level II -

A-Z Title

A - Alice's Adventures in Underland: The Queen of Stilled Hearts by DeAnna Knippling
B - Boundary Crossed-Melissa F. Olson
C - The Chaplain's War-Brad R. Torgersen
D - Deadly Spells-Jaye Wells
E - The Egypt Game-Zilpha Keatley Snyder
F - The Far West-Patricia C Wrede
G - Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd-Holly Black
H - The Hanged Man-P.N. Elrod
I - The Immortal Circus: Act Two-A.R. Kahler
J - Jane and the Genius of the Place-Stephanie Barron
K - Kings of the North-Elizabeth Moon
L - Long Live the Queen-Kate Locke
M - Midnight Riot-Ben Aaronovitch
N - Necropolis-Xina Marie Uhl
O - Oath of Fealty-Elizabeth Moon
P - Pocket Apocalypse-Seanan McGuire
Q - Quite Contrary-Richard Roberts
R - The Runestone Incident-Neve Maslakovic
S - Sleeping Late on Judgement Day-Tad Williams
T - A Touch of Night-Sarah A. Hoyt;
U - Urban Necromancer-Phil Chard
V - Veiled-Benedict Jacka
W - Waistcoats & Weaponry-Gail Carriger
X - Xoe: or Vampires, and Werewolves, and Demons, Oh My!-Sara C. Roethle
Y - Yarn to Go-Betty Hechtman
Z - Zombie Zoology-Tim Curran


A-Z Author

A - Ben Aaronovitch-Foxglove Summer
B - Stephen Blackmoore-Broken Souls
C - Gail Carriger-Changeless
D - Felicia Day-You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir
E - Elliott James-Fearless
F - Faith Hunter-Black Water
G - Simon R. Green-Tales from the Nightside
H - Charlaine Harris-Day Shift
I - Ilona Andrews-Burn for Me
J - Benedict Jacka-Taken
K - Dean Koontz-Deeply Odd
L - Mercedes Lackey-A Tangled Web
M - Seanan McGuire-A Red-Rose Chain
N - Garth Nix-Clariel
O - Nnedi Okorafor-Binti
P - Cherie Priest-Chapelwood
Q - Susan Kaye Quinn, Third Daughter
R - Patrick Rothfuss-The Slow Regard of Silent Things
S - Maggie Stiefvater-The Raven Boys
T - Tanya Huff-Third Time Lucky: And Other Stories of the Most Powerful Wizard in the World
U - Michael R. Underwood-Hexomancy
V - Disenchanted & Co.-Lynn Viehl
W - Wesley Chu-Time Salvager
X - Necropolis-Xina Marie Uhl
Y - Rick Yancey-The Monstrumologist
Z - Vincent Zandri-The Shroud Key