A- Z Challenge 2020 Complete!

Hey y’all! I know it’s almost the end of January, and that 2020-related posts are practically passe by now (I guess?), but I still have a fab one left for you. Yay! 😁 In 2020, not only did I read a totally bonkers amount of books by my standards, but I also successfully tackled the A-Z title challenge, or the alphabet challenge, or whatever you want to call it! Meaning for each letter of the English alphabet, I read a book with a title that started with that letter.

“But wait!” you cry. “What about those crazy end letters, like V and X and – my god – Z?!“

Yep, I got those covered too. Actually, one of my last letters I got was P, and I was surprised by how many options there were for Y and Q. Who knew? X’s are still an untapped market though. Come on, authors, take your cue!

Anyway, I did manage to do it! Below is a lovely little gallery of 26+ covers from books I read spanning the alphabet. There are some letters that have more than 1 book listed because I just couldn’t choose. Some books felt too important to my overall reading experience of the year to leave them out! You’ll find a little about each book after the gallery listing, too, in case you’re curious. I’m confident there will be titles that few people have read or heard of, so get excited! 🎉

The gallery of A-Z

The summary of A-Z

A – Arthas by Christie Golden is a WoW fantasy that was wild at every turn and packed with lore. Anna K. by Jenny Lee is something I NEVER would have thought possible: a YA adaptation of anything written by Tolstoy. Who knew?!
B – Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook is a graphic novel of a tumultuous time in South Korean history focused on censorship and government control.
C – The Cat I Never Named by Amra Sabic-El-Rayess is the best book I read all year. READ IT. Comeback by Lyn Ashwood and Rachel Rose is a fantastic debut novel
D – Down Under by Bill Bryson is his signature humour and research dedicated to Australia. The Dragon of YNYS by Minerva Cerridwen is an unexpected gem of a read where everyone is kind and accepting and loves each other.
E – The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo is a perfectly lyrical example of what can be done in a short amount of pages.
F – Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin is a re-read of my favorite witchy book that always makes me crave Macbeth. Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson is also a re-read that never fails to pick me up when my mental health needs a boost.
G – Good Talk by Mira Jacob is a clever graphic novel that explores race and relationships through her conversations with strangers, family, toddlers, and more.
H – How to be Married by Jo Piazza is a great book even for people who aren’t married to explore a bit of how marriage, love, and relationships are handled across the world.
I – Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez is an astonishing amount of concrete examples of how women are ignored or forgotten about in the creation and design of SO many things (ovens, medication, cars…). I’m Not Dying With You Tonight by Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal is a snapshot in time during a town-wide riot that feels like an eternity.
J – The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan is the kind of classic I’ve been trying to read more of, and inspired a Cover Roulette post.
K – K-Pop Idol Diaries by Go Futa is a fun drama of a girl joining a K-pop group… of all guys. Plus I got to do an interview with the author!
L – Lexicon by Max Barry is a book I first heard of when I was probably twelve, first bought when I was 24, and first read…. last year. AND IT WAS SO GOOD. Language, mystery, psychology. Incredible.
M – Moloka’i by Alan Brennert is an impressive look into the islands lepers in Hawaii were sent to in the past. Midnight Sun by Stephanie Meyer is a book I waited about ten years for it to exist and there was no way I wasn’t stepping back to my 13-year-old self to read it.
N – Nimona by Noelle Stevenson is a funny, heartwarming, and slightly terrifying graphic novel about what drives people to evil (and what “evil” really is).
O – One Year of Ugly by Caroline Mackenzie is an impressively complex and varied story of undocumented immigrants in Trinidad and the sh*t they have to deal with after becoming indebted to a smuggler.
P – The Pun Also Rises by John Pollack is a re-read for me that blew me away as though it were the first time. You can read this book about puns and find new bits every time.
Q – The Queen’s Assassin by Melissa de la Cruz is a Fast Forward Friday book that ended up being just okay.
R – Run Away by Harlan Coben is a book was gifted that is outside my usual reading habits (as it’s a msytery/detective kind of read) but was SO good!!!
S – Stand-In Saturday by Kirsty Moseley is a fun lighthearted romance in Scotland that made me laugh when I needed it.
T – Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo is a culture-blend baby-mama kind of drama that was the book that convicned me to sign up for Book of the Month. To Sleep in a Sea of Stars by Christopher Paolini is the new release I never knew I needed and one of the few books set in space that I’ve read and fully enjoyed.
U – The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol 1 by Ryan North and Erica Henderson is my new favorite superhero and the comic series I’ve fallen in love with. Unbound by Dina Gu Brumfeld is a look at historical Shanghai through the Japanese takeover during the war.
V – Verity by Colleen Hoover is a spicy creepy psychological drama with way more sex than I expected.
W – White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo is a revelation in problematic behaviours and systemic issues as well as personal ways to grow in terms of race relations (aka ways I might accidentally be racist despite my best efforts). William Shakespeare’s Star Wars by Ian Doescher is the only way I’ve ever enjoyed Star Wars: in iambic pentameter!
X – X by Ilyasah Shabazz and Kekla Magoon is a novelization of Malcolm X’s life before he was Malcolm X, co-written by his daughter.
Y – The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson is a book lent to me by a friend that totally lived up to the hype.
Z – Zahra’s Paradise by Amir and Khalil is a graphic novel exploring the pain of the missing people and manipulations after the fraudulent elections in Iran in 2009.