I got the idea for this challenge as I was scrolling through the alphabetized selections on Book Outlet one winter weekend. It’s a little like meandering through the library because the books are so diverse and interesting. So the plan was formed! What if I read one book for each letter of the alphabet, one list with book titles and one list with authors? The goal is to try genres and topics I wouldn’t normally be drawn to and expand my knowledge in new ways. I also have to go in order, not skipping around from letter to letter.
I began back in March 2021 and the list below shows what I’ve read so far! I’ll continue to update as I go:
ALPHABET FICTION TITLES
American Royals by Katharine McGee (2019) || read in March 2021 (review)
Baker’s Daughter, The by Sarah McCoy (2012) || read in April 2021 (review)
Color of Bee Larkham’s Murder, The by Sarah J. Harris (2018) || read in April 2021 (review)
Dog Stars, The by Peter Heller (2012) || read in April 2021 (review)
Escape Room, The by Megan Goldin (2019) || read in May 2021 (review)
Full Cupboard of Life, The by Alexander McCall Smith (2003) || read in May 2021 (review)
Girl You Left Behind, The by Jojo Moyes (2012) || read in June 2021 (review)
House At the End of Hope Street, The by Menna Van Praag (2013) || read in June 2021 (review)
Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger (1998) || read in September 2021 (review)
Japantown by Barry Lancet (2013) || read in October 2021 (review)
Kite Runner, The by Khaled Hosseini (2003) || read in April 2022 (review)
Lightkeeper’s Wife, The by Sarah Anne Johnson (2014) || read in April 2022 (review)
Mandibles: A Family, 2029-2047, The by Lionel Shriver (2016) || read in May 2022 (review)
News of the World by Paulette Jiles (2016) || read in May 2022 (review)
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenistsyn (1962) || read in June 2022 (review)
Plainsong by Kent Haruf (1999) || read in July 2022 (review)
Quintland Sisters, The by Shelley Wood (2019) || read in July-August 2022 (review)
Reckoning at Gossamer Pond, The by Jaime Jo Wright (2018) || read in August 2022 (review)
Still Life by Louise Penny (2005) || read in September 2022 (review)
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger (2019) || read in September-October 2022 (review)
Unsettled Ground by Claire Fuller (2021) || read in November-December 2022 (review)
Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (2009) || read in December 2022 (review)
Welcome to Lagos by Chibundu Onuzo (2018) || read in January 2023 (review)
XO by Jeffery Deaver (2012) || read in January 2023 (review)
You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson (2021) || read in April 2023 (review)
Zetty by Debra Whiting Alexander (2017) || read in March 2024 (review)
ALPHABET NON-FICTION TITLES
All the President’s Men: The Greatest Reporting Story of All Time (1974) || read in April-October 2021 (review)
Beneath the Tamarind Tree: A Story of Courage, Family, and the Lost Schoolgirls of Boko Haram (2019) || read in November 2021 (review)
Communism and the Conscience of the West (1948) || read in November 2021-February 2022 (review)
Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture (2018) || read in February-May 2022 (review)
Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West (2012) || read in May 2022 (review)
Filter Bubble, The (2011) || read in May-June 2022 (review)
Good Daughter, The (2011) || read in June 2022 (review)
Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, An Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work (2012) || read in June-July 2022 (review)
Indestructible: The Unforgettable Memoir of a Marine Hero at the Battle of Iwo Jima (2006) || read in August 2022 (review)
Just Send Me Word: A True Story of Love and Survival in the Gulag (2012) || read in January-February 2023 (review)
Killing It: An Education (2018) || read in February-March 2023 (review)
Light’s Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath (2015) || read in March 2023 (review)
Meat Racket, The: The Secret Takeover of America’s Food Business (2014) || read in March-April 2023 (review)
Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War (2015) || read in May-June 2023 (review)
Overspent American, The: Why We Want What We Don’t Need (1998) || read in June 2023 (review)
Politics of Envy, The (2020) || read in June-July 2023 (review)
Q’s Legacy: A Delightful Account of a Lifelong Love Affair with Books (1985) || read in July 2023 (review)
Reporter Who Knew Too Much, The (2017) || read in October-November 2023 (review)
Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work (2009) || currently reading in November 2024
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ALPHABET AUTHORS
Adler, Tamar. An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace (2011) || read in April 2021 (review)
Bessieres SJ, Albert. Wife, Mother & Mystic: Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi (1952) || read in May 2021 (review)
Cahalan, Susannah. The Great Pretender (2019) || read in June 2021 (review)
Donohoe, Kathleen. Ashes of Fiery Weather (2016) || read in June 2021 (review)
Eldredge, John. Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad (2020) || read in September-October 2021 (review)
Finkbeiner, Susie. All Manner of Things (2019) || read in January 2022 (review)
Gentill, Sulari. The Woman in the Library (2022) || read in May 2022 (review)
Hannah, Kristin. The Four Winds (2021) || read in May-June 2022 (review)
Ivey, Eowyn. To the Bridge Edge of the World (2016) || read in October 2022 (review)
Jacobsen, Annie. Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program that Brought Nazi Scientists to America (2014) || read in December 2022-January 2023 (review)
Koomson, Dorothy. The Ice Cream Girls (2010) || read in February 2023 (review)
Lim, Thea. An Ocean of Minutes (2018) || read in February 2023 (review)
Monago, Ellie. Neighborly (2018) || read in March 2023 (review)
Nothdurft, William. The Lost Dinosaurs of Egypt (2002) || read in April-May 2023 (review)
O’Neal, Barbara. When We Believed in Mermaids (2019) || read in May-June 2023 (review)
Pearce, AJ. Dear Mrs. Bird (2018) || read in June 2023 (review)
Quindlen, Anna. Black and Blue (1998) || read in June 2023 (review)
Rodriguez, Paula. Urgent Matters (2023) || read in July 2023 (review)
Schneider, Bishop Athanasius. The Catholic Mass: Steps to Restore the Centrality of God in the Liturgy (2021) || read in September-November 2023 (review)
Turner, Nancy E. Light Changes Everything (2019) || read in December 2023 (review)
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