The Alphabet in 2009

I was reading about this A to Z Book Challenge at S. Krishna's Books. I've tried to do challenges in the past but my reading doesn't lend itself well to these things and I never end up finishing them. But, she participated in the challenge this year and it intrigued me. So, I thought, just for S&G I'd see how my reading of 2009 lined up with this challenge. I went back and looked at the rules of the challenge. You could read 26 books and do the A to Z by title or read 26 and do the A to Z by author. Or you could mix them and read 52 books. While the author's name or a word in the title was supposed to begin with the letter of the alphabet, a caveat was allowed for X - the X could appear anywhere in a word or name. It was actually rather interesting to look at my reading this way. Some letters I didn't think would be difficult, were, while others I thought would be difficult weren't. So, here's what I came up with from my reading in 2009:

A
(Author) - Lou Allin, MEMORIES ARE MURDER
(Title) - Garth Stein, THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN

B
(Author) - James Lee Burke, THE RAIN GODS
(Title) - Simon Lewis, BAD TRAFFIC

C
(Author) - Harlan Coben, TELL NO ONE
(Title) - James Lee Burke, LAST CAR TO ELYSIAN FIELDS

D
(Author) - Ted Dekker, ADAM
(Title) - Rosemary Harris, THE BIG DIRT NAP

E
(Author) - Halle Ephron, BIBLIOPHILE'S DEVOTIONAL
(Title) - Michael Lister, DOUBLE EXPOSURE

F
(Author) - Karen Fossum, THE WATER'S EDGE
(Title) - Brad Parks, FACES OF THE GONE

G
(Author) - Chris Grabenstein, THE CROSSROADS
(Title) - Tess Gerritsen, GRAVITY

H
(Author) - Gregg Hurwitz, TRUST NO ONE
(Title) - Craig McDonald, HEAD GAMES

I
(Author) - Ken Isaacson, SILENT COUNSEL
(Title) - Libby Fischer Hellmann, EASY INNOCENCE

J
(Author) - Craig Johnson, THE DARK HORSE
(Title) - Robert Fate, JUGGLERS AT THE BORDER

K
(Author) - Michael Koryta, THE SILENT HOUR
(Title) - Ridley Pearson, KILLER SUMMER

L
(Author) - Sophie Littlefield, A BAD DAY FOR SORRY
(Title) - Linda Fairstein, LETHAL LEGACY

M
(Author) - Brian McGilloway, GALLOW'S LANE
(Title) - Robert Crais, THE MONKEY'S RAINCOAT

N
(Author) - Jo Nesbø, THE REDBREAST
(Title) - Inger Frimansson, ISLAND OF THE NAKED WOMEN

O
(Author) - Karen Olson, THE MISSING INK
(Title) - Tom Schreck, OUT COLD

P
(Author) - Louise Penny, STILL LIFE
(Title) - Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Q
(Author) - Spencer Quinn, THEREBY HANGS A TALE
(Title) - Diane A.S. Stuckart, THE QUEEN'S GAMBIT

R
(Author) - Les Roberts, PEPPER PIKE
(Title) - Tom Schreck, ON THE ROPES

S
(Author) - Michael Stanley, SECOND DEATH OF GOODLUCK TINUBU
(Title) - Reed Farrel Coleman, WALKING THE PERFECT SQUARE

T
(Author) - James Thompson, SNOW ANGELS
(Title) - Ken Bruen & Reed Farrel Coleman, TOWER

U
(Author) -
(Title) - Don Winslow, A COOL BREEZE ON THE UNDERGROUND

V
(Author) -
(Title) - John Shannon, PALOS VERDES BLUE

W
(Author) - Kate Wilhelm, COLD CASE
(Title) - Timothy Hallinan, BREATHING WATER

X
(Author) - C.J. Box, FREE FIRE
(Title) -

Y
(Author) - Yasmina Khadra, DEAD MAN'S SHARE
(Title) -

Z
(Author) -
(Title) -

So, without trying, I almost made that challenge! It was fun to look at the authors and titles that way. I know I've said this before, but this was an incredible year of reading for me. I probably won't make 100 books this year, maybe 96 or 97, but such a large percentage of those were excellent reads.

Hope you found an alphabet full of great reads as well! Happy Reading!