Richard's A - Z Author Challenge

[Richard]

Decided that this is a great idea so I have started putting my a-z list together while reading my current book. That's me sorted for "M"... Now I just need to decide what to read for the rest of the alphabet.

I have also vowed to ONLY read books that contribute to the challenge for the duration! Shouldn't be a problem as I don't have anything on my physical to-read shelf so will need to source all of these as I go.

So far, I have only peppered my challenge list with a few titles. Here it is so far!

A - Margaret Attwood - Oryx and Crake
B - Christopher Brookmyre - Country of the Blind
C - Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
(CURRENT) M - David Mitchell - Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Soet
S - J D Salinger - Catcher in the Rye
T - John Twelve Hawks - The Golden City
V - Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five
W - Mark Watson - A light hearted look at murder

[Bill]

Is The Golden City the second or third book in the series that starts with The Traveller?

[Em]

You don't have any books on your physical to-read shelf? You are clearly a person with far more self control than most of us - I think I've approaching 100 which is a little excessive but there are far, far worse than me within this group!!

Good luck with challenge - I can't wait to read the David Mitchell, have loved his other books.

[Richard]

Bill wrote: "Is The Golden City the second or third book in the series that starts with The Traveller?"

Hi Bill - The Golden City is the 3rd in the Traveller Series. I picked up the first some time ago on a whim. I wasn't expecting much and was pleasantly surprised. Certainly good enough for me to want to read the 3rd. I will post ratings and comments as I work my way through them.

[Richard]

Em wrote: "You don't have any books on your physical to-read shelf? You are clearly a person with far more self control than most of us - I think I've approaching 100 which is a little excessive but there are..."

Hi Em - We have 5 kids from 3 to 13. This place is total carnage 100% of the time. Any errant books left unattended will be ripped up, coloured in and turned into paper aeroplanes. I can't read anything more than once (very few exceptions) so I have a small space for 6-10 books, locked away from the kids. Once I have read them they generally do the rounds and end up in our local charity shop.

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel]

Em wrote: "You don't have any books on your physical to-read shelf? You are clearly a person with far more self control than most of us - I think I've approaching 100 which is a little excessive but there are..."

All the books listed on my tbr shelf here on goodreads are physically in my house - over 1000 when I last checked! Oh to have just one or two or even a hundred!

OMG just checked and there are 1014!

[Richard]

Lynne - The Book Squirrel wrote: "All the books listed on my tbr shelf here on goodreads are physically in my house - over 1000 when I last checked! Oh to have just one or two or even a hundred! "

If I had room for a thousand books I don't know what I would do!

[Lynne - The Book Squirrel]

You throw out the dining room table and chairs, get a huge bookcase (mine is 8ft long and 6ft 8in high), a sofa and a bookshelf coffee table and enjoy!

[Richard]

A couple of additions here:

A - Margaret Attwood - Oryx and Crake (unread)
B - Christopher Brookmyre - Country of the Blind (unread)
C - Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (unread)
F - The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (unread)
H - John Twelve Hawks - The Golden City (unread)
I - Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go (unread)
M - David Mitchell - Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Soet (currently reading)
P - Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club (unread)
S - J D Salinger - Catcher in the Rye (unread)
V - Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five (unread)
W - Mark Watson - A light hearted look at murder (unread)

[Bill]

Richard wrote: "Bill wrote: "Is The Golden City the second or third book in the series that starts with The Traveller?"

Hi Bill - The Golden City is the 3rd in the Traveller Series. I picked up the first some ti..."

I enjoyed the first as well, quite an interesting concept. I haven't read the others yet and it'll probably be awhile as my To Read list is quite extensive.... Not that that stops me from buying more books.. :0)

[Richard]

Here is my updated list so far:

A - Margaret Attwood - Oryx and Crake (unread)
B - Christopher Brookmyre - Country of the Blind (unread)
C - Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (unread)
D - Jeffery Deaver - The Bone Collector (unread)
E - Ben Elton - Blind Faith (unread)
F - F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby (Next in line)
G - William Gibson - Neuromancer (unread)
H - John Twelve Hawks - The Golden City (unread)
I - Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go (purchased)
J - P. D. James - The Children of Men (unread)
K - Dean Koontz - Relentless (unread)
L - Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (unread)
M - David Mitchell - Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Soet (Nearly Finished)
N - Jo Nesbo - The Snowman (unread)
P - Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club (unread)
S - J D Salinger - Catcher in the Rye (unread)
V - Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five (unread)
W - Mark Watson - A light hearted look at murder (unread)

I still need some recommendations for:

O,Q,R,T,U,X,Y,Z

FYI: The following site (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/) is worth a look. It isn't aesthetically pleasing but it does allow browsing of fiction authors by surname. A must-visit for anyone looking at doing the A-Z challenge!

[Susan]

Richard....I've recently read my first Christopher Brookmyre, and loved it....I shall definatly be reading more.
I use fantastic fiction a lot, it's really useful.

[Nick 2E0NAQ]

Yes susan, that is a handy site to use. I use it nearly as much as goodreads.

[Bill]

Some suggestions for your missing letters, Richard -

O - Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost
R - David Rotenberg - The Shanghai Murders
T - Barbara Tuchman - The Guns of August
Z - Roger Zelazny - The Chronicles of Amber

[Richard]

Bill wrote: "Some suggestions for your missing letters, Richard -

O - Michael Ondaatje, Anil's Ghost
R - David Rotenberg - The Shanghai Murders
T - Barbara Tuchman - The Guns of August
Z - Roger Zelazny ..."

Thanks Bill... I might take a look at these.

[Richard]

Here is my (potential) final list. It is subject to change but this is what I am targeting. Another advantage to doing this before I own the books is that I can take full advantage of the 3for2 at Waterstones. It sucks when I can only decide on two books and end up buying only one!

A - Margaret Attwood - Oryx and Crake (unread)
B - Christopher Brookmyre - Country of the Blind (unread)
C - Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (unread)
D - Jeffery Deaver - The Bone Collector (unread)
E - Ben Elton - Blind Faith (unread)
F - F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby (unread)
G - William Gibson - Neuromancer (unread)
H - John Twelve Hawks - The Golden City (Currently Reading)
I - Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go (unread)
J - P. D. James - The Children of Men (unread)
K - Dean Koontz - Relentless (unread)
L - Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (unread)
M - David Mitchell - Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Soet ( * * * * )
N - Jo Nesbo - The Snowman (unread)
O - Michael Ondaatje - Anil's Ghost (unread)
P - Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club (unread)
Q - Patrick Quinlan - Smoked (unread)
R - Alastair Reynolds - Century Rain (unread)
S - J D Salinger - Catcher in the Rye (unread)
T - Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr Y (unread)
U - Lisa Unger - Beautiful Lies (unread)
V - Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five (unread)
W - Mark Watson - A light hearted look at murder (unread)
X - Can Xue - Five Spice Street (unread)
Y - Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (unread)
Z - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the Wind (unread)

[Richard]

For M I just finished The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Soet by David Mitchell which was a fantastic read. Four **** for this and will be queuing for his next book.

[Ian, Former Moderator]

That looks a really interesting list Richard - I've only read 4 of them - D, F, N and S - so will be looking forward to hearing what you think of the others as you get through them.

[Richard]

Ian wrote: "That looks a really interesting list Richard - I've only read 4 of them - D, F, N and S - so will be looking forward to hearing what you think of the others as you get through them."

Hi Ian. I will certainly make sure I post updates as and when I finish each one. Am right at the beginning of what I think is going to be quite a journey. I have no idea how long this will take.

[Richard]

Just finished H - The Golden City by John Twelve Hawks. 2*. OK but just OK.

Now reading F - The Great Gatsby

Thinking about switching my W for E.B. White - Charlotte's Web. Recently found an old edition online for my Wife and have not read it before.

[Richard]

Final list here... Going to stick with it... Already ordered some of these on e-bay!

A - Margaret Attwood - Oryx and Crake (unread)
B - Christopher Brookmyre - Country of the Blind (unread)
C - Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (unread)
D - Jeffery Deaver - The Bone Collector (unread)
E - Ben Elton - Blind Faith (unread)
F - F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby (Currently Reading)
G - William Gibson - Neuromancer (unread)
H - John Twelve Hawks - The Golden City ( * * )
I - Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go (unread)
J - P. D. James - The Children of Men (unread)
K - Dean Koontz - Relentless (unread)
L - Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (unread)
M - David Mitchell - Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ( * * * * )
N - Jo Nesbo - The Snowman (unread)
O - Michael Ondaatje - Anil's Ghost (unread)
P - Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club (unread)
Q - Patrick Quinlan - Smoked (unread)
R - Alastair Reynolds - Century Rain (unread)
S - J D Salinger - Catcher in the Rye (unread)
T - Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr Y (unread)
U - Lisa Unger - Beautiful Lies (unread)
V - Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five (unread)
W - E. B. White - Charlotte's Web (unread)
X - Can Xue - Five Spice Street (unread)
Y - Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (unread)
Z - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - The Shadow of the Wind (unread)

[Richard]

A few updates here. I made relatively short work of Gatsby followed by the FANTASTIC Ishiguro "Never Let Me Go" which I thoroughly enjoyed. Some changes in planning, I found of copy of Angel's Game on my Charity Shop travels so that brings a change on the Z front.

A - Margaret Attwood - Oryx and Crake (Currently Reading)
B - Christopher Brookmyre - Country of the Blind (unread)
C - Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (unread)
D - Jeffery Deaver - The Bone Collector (unread)
E - Ben Elton - Blind Faith (unread)
F - F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby ( * * * * )
G - William Gibson - Neuromancer (unread)
H - John Twelve Hawks - The Golden City ( * * )
I - Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go ( * * * * * )
J - P. D. James - The Children of Men (unread)
K - Dean Koontz - Relentless (unread)
L - Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (unread)
M - David Mitchell - Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ( * * * * )
N - Jo Nesbo - The Snowman (unread)
O - Michael Ondaatje - Anil's Ghost (unread)
P - Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club (unread)
Q - Patrick Quinlan - Smoked (unread)
R - Alastair Reynolds - Century Rain (unread)
S - J D Salinger - Catcher in the Rye (unread)
T - Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr Y (unread)
U - Lisa Unger - Beautiful Lies (unread)
V - Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five (unread)
W - E. B. White - Charlotte's Web (unread)
X - Can Xue - Five Spice Street (unread)
Y - Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (unread)
Z - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Angel's Game (unread)

[Richard]

Getting there... Thoroughly enjoying this challenge!

A - Margaret Attwood - Oryx and Crake ( * * * * * )
B - Christopher Brookmyre - Country of the Blind (unread)
C - Susanna Clarke - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (unread)
D - Jeffery Deaver - The Bone Collector (unread)
E - Ben Elton - Blind Faith (unread)
F - F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby ( * * * * )
G - William Gibson - Neuromancer ( * * * * * )
H - John Twelve Hawks - The Golden City ( * * )
I - Kazuo Ishiguro - Never Let Me Go ( * * * * * )
J - P. D. James - The Children of Men ( * * * )
K - Dean Koontz - Relentless (unread)
L - Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird (unread)
M - David Mitchell - Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet ( * * * * )
N - Jo Nesbo - The Snowman (unread)
O - Michael Ondaatje - Anil's Ghost (unread)
P - Chuck Palahniuk - Fight Club (unread)
Q - Patrick Quinlan - Smoked (unread)
R - Alastair Reynolds - Century Rain (currently reading)
S - J D Salinger - Catcher in the Rye ( * * * * )
T - Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr Y (unread)
U - Lisa Unger - Beautiful Lies (unread)
V - Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five (unread)
W - E. B. White - Charlotte's Web (unread)
X - Can Xue - Five Spice Street (unread)
Y - Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe ( * * * * * )
Z - Carlos Ruiz Zafon - Angel's Game (unread)

[Liz, Your Friendly Moderator]

Like your list, plenty of interesting titles. Sounds like you've enjoyed most of those you've read so far...

[Richard]

Liz wrote: "Like your list, plenty of interesting titles. Sounds like you've enjoyed most of those you've read so far..."

Totally... If it wasn't for this challenge I would never have picked up "Never Let Me Go" or "Oryx and Crake". I didn't realise how set in my ways I had become in my reading material. I certainly have a lot more of an open mind since starting this challenge.