Nothing But Reading Challenges discussion

Waiting for Wobble ~ Recommendations Weekend

We can NEVER have too many books on our TBR, right? RIGHT?!?

Like the recent Waiting for Wobble Read-a-Thon, this quick weekend of Recommendations is THEMED. So follow what prompt is given!!

YES there are specific requirements to recommendations, not just any.
Random ones will be deleted.

Today will help you out with Wheel-a-Thon

Wheel-a-Thon can get tricky, when hard letters are within the words and need to be found, sometimes over and over.

Today, recommend at least THREE books for at least FIVE of the most difficult letters for you to find.

Example: Recommend at least 3 books each for the letters A, E, I, O, U. Does NOT have to be these 5 letters, can be any letters that YOU find difficult. I'll even be nice and tell you (confidentially of course) that there are NO Q or Z in the Wobble Wheel-a-Thon!


Recommendations FAQ -
Through this weekend, we're going to recommend books in the hopes of putting a ton more books on our TBR! With recommendations ~
╰⊰✿ Try to recommend something not extremely popular (no Harry Potter!) We want to get new books and with extremely big series/books, people already know about them. Give us something new to want!
╰⊰✿ REMEMBER: Our group is an ALL AGES group. Please no recommendations of a mature nature. Gore and violence is ok (it's in Hunger Games after all) but nothing too over the top and no erotica please.

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I -
O -


K, N, V, X, Y are also tricky for me! So much so that I haven't read enough to come up with 3 to recommend. :( (I could recommend 1 or two for each though...

X, Y, Z are all hard for me, and I don't have three books in any of them to recommend. But:

Q -

O -

My Recommendations:


E ~

K ~

O ~

U ~

V ~

This is such an awesome idea, mods! Thanks! Let's see what I've got.

I-

O-

U-

Y-

I can't think of a fifth letter that I struggle with :/

Ohhhh....this is AWESOME!

Some of the most difficult letters for me have been O and U, so I'll start with those:

Recs for "O"

Author: Maggie Osborne has written some of the best Historical Western Romance out there. Even if you don't care for Westerns, give these two a try. The first book is hilarious and touching just the same:

The Promise of Jenny Jones Loved this heroine. One of my all-time favorite books.
Silver Lining Another fabulous heroine. Lots of character growth in this one.

Author: Ellen O'Connell (which works for "E" books, too!) writes Western Historical Romances full of adventure. Her heroines are always strong women, which I find appealing. She is self-published, yet popular in the genre. Her books may be free to Amazon Prime members. My favorites:

Eyes of Silver, Eyes of Gold Realistic, slow building love.
Sing My Name Angsty romance with HEA.
Without Words Awesome heroine!

"O" books by Title

Old Man's War by John Scalzi.
Science fiction fantasy & space opera fans will love this book. It works as a standalone and I highly recommend stopping here instead of moving on to book 2. You'll be glad you did. : )

Open Season by C. J. Box
Book one of the Joe Pickett series. Joe is a Game Warden and hard-working family man in Wyoming. This crime thriller kicks off the series with a slow build and a fantastic ending that will leave you wanting more. I love these books! If you enjoy the Walt Longmire Mysteries, this is a great series to read between releases.

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
Beautiful story! Two for one contemporary / historical fiction that tells about a young girl who rode the Orphan Train during the Depression Era.

Recs for "U"

"U" books by Title:

If Urban Fantasy is your thing and you've read the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine, check out her Outcast Seasons spinoff. It's fast paced and super creative. Four books, all that work for Title and Series category:



Uprooted by Naomi Novik
YA Fantasy / Fairy Tale Retellings. Another quick paced action adventure novel.

That's all I can think of for now. Good luck to all the teams and Happy Reading!

U books

The Utterly Uninteresting and Unadventurous Tales of Fred, the Vampire Accountant
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry
Unforgivable

Q books (i know it is not in wheelathon)
Quiet Chaos
Quarantine
The Quaker Café

X books ( i think these are harder than Q and Z )
X
Xingu (too short for wheelathon)
X Out Of Wonderland - i really did not enjoy this but they are the only 3 books i have starting with X and i wonder why X is in when Q is so much easier

K Books
Kind of Cruel
Keeper of Tides
The Kitchen House

J books
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
JulietJack!

I have Y books but none i would recommend and Z books i only have 2 but both excellent
Zeitoun
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story


I wonder if we can get 10 or 15 X books recommended on her

Ooh do author's names count? I was only looking at the first letter of a book's title...

For X, I can recommend which I read a couple years ago. I also have these two on my bookshelf at home waiting to be read:

Yup, authors count as well.

Karsyn wrote: "Yup, authors count as well."

Just last name or first and last?

I can only think of 4 letters I have problems with since Q and Z won't come up.

U
Ultraviolet: YA series of 2 books (series is also called Ultraviolet) - I've only read the 1st one so far but it's quite an unusual story
Unholy Ghosts: 1st book in an urban fantasy series
Undead series: series about a shopping addicted Vamprie Queen - I've read the first 2 and they're pretty fun
The Unquiet Bones: 1st book in a historical mystery series
Nicola Upson - Josephine Tey series: historical mystery series featuring the real life 'golden age' mystery novelist Josephine Tey

V
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox: Really well written and not very long for those looking for shorter books
Velocity: For me this is one of the better Dean Koontz books I've read
Val McDermid - anything but they are often about serial killers so can be a bit gruesome
Kurt Vonnegut - Slaughterhouse-Five: I found this to be a pretty easy read although some people find it a bit weird
Valerie Martin - Property & Mary Reilly: good historical fiction novels - pretty short - Mary Reilly is a retelling of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde from a maid's perspective

X
The Xibalba Murders: not a bad mystery set in Mexico I think I would have enjoyed it more if I knew more about Mayan mythology - I don't have much for X
Xinran - The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices & Sky Burial: An Epic Love Story of Tibet: writes non-fiction books involving China and Chinese culture - I found them easy reading for non-fiction

Y
Year of Wonders: a good historical fiction book involving the plague
The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Stories: a bit of a cheat as I've only read the titular story but it was a 5 star read for me and I'd really like to read more from this author
Y.S. Lee - The Agency series: a fun YA historical mystery series
Jane Yellowrock series: I've only read the 1st one but really enjoyed it

Kirsten wrote: "Karsyn wrote: "Yup, authors count as well."

Just last name or first and last?"

For the wheel-a-thon titles, author/translator/narrator first and last names, series names and character first, last and nicknames count.

Y books
Your Planet or Mine - Susan Grant
Yellow Lighted Bookshop - Lewis Buzbee
Year of Wonders - Geraldine Brooks

X books
X Marks the Scot (Bad Boys of the Highlands, #2) - Victoria Roberts
The Xibalba Murders - Lyn Hamilton

E books
Exit Strategy - Lena Diaz
Eva Luna - Isabel Allende
Evans Above - Rhys Bowen (most of series starts with Evan)

J books
Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor - Stephanie Barron (most of series starts with Jane)
Joanna and Ulysses - May Sarton
Julie and Romeo - Jeanne Ray

O books
Old Herbaceous - Reginald Arkell
On the Island - Tracey Garvis-Graves
On the Edge - Ilona Andrews

Looking at my books X will is hard to find there, I don't even have a book that starts with it :/ I've mostly read the books listed below or am looking forward to reading them soon

X: (hero Xavier) (hero Xander) (hero Xante)

I: by Sharon Ihle by Jessica Ingro by Conn Iggulden

U: (heroine Ursula) (hero Morgan Urquart)

O: by Olivia Drake by Olivia Parker (view spoiler)[ by Sophie Oak (WARNING: bdsm & menage book, but added it anyway as it's a great author and series (hide spoiler)]

V: by Angela Verdenius by Rachel Van Dyken

Q: Q is for Quarry

X: X

I: I is for Innocent
Illuminae

V: The Virgin Suicides

U: U Is for Undertow
Uganda Be Kidding Me

X
Xombies: Apocalypse Blues
The Mao Case by Qiu Xiaolong This one's good if you're doing more than one challenge at a time. you can hit both Q and X with the same book!

K
Kirinyaga
Killashandra
Knife
I
Invitation to the Game
The Inverted World
Ice Storm

U
Ultraviolet
Uncharted: The Fourth Labyrinth
Uglies

J
Just Deserts
The Judas Strain
Joust

Marie wrote: "I wonder if we can get 10 or 15 X books recommended on here"

We've met and gone beyond your challenge. This should make things a bit easier when looking for an X book.

J:
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
Before I Met You by Lisa Jewell
Love in a Nutshell by Janet Evanovich




U:
UnEnchanted by Chanda Hahn
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
I haven't yet read Uprooted by I love the author Naomi Novik and I heard the book was great. Definitely on my TBR



V:
Vivian Apple at the End of the World by Katie Coyle - on my TBR but haven't read yet
The Charm Bracelet by Viola Shipman - to read this summer



X

Y:
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson - this is a decent memoir though not really a favorite book but for a foodie and memoir lover it would probably be enjoyable.
Hotel Ruby by Suzanne Young - have not read but will probably read soon

I probably went overboard but I got excited recommending some lesser known books.

E:

author Erin Celello

author Ernest Cline

author Jennifer Echols

author Renee Ericson

author Kathryn Erskine

For the letter I:

The In Death series Nora Roberts alter ego, romance/mystery set in future NYC

I got this off NetGalley and really enjoyed it. It's YA and I just thought it was an interesting concept.

Fun series





author Irin Carmon

Recommendations for J:

Jesus Freaks series

Memoir by Wil Wheaton. He reads the audio if you are more of an audio person.

author Jonathan Ames

author Jennifer Finney Boylan

Recommendations for K:

One of my fav YA series

Katie Alender

author William Kent Krueger

U recommendations:



The Uglies series

(also works for author last name E)



Y recommendations:

My recs are;


J
YA/ Dystopian
The Jewel by Amy Ewing
Autobiography/Memoir
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen: How One Girl Risked Her Marriage, Her Job, and Her Sanity to Master the Art of Living by Julie Powell
Chick Lit
The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler

K I really don't have many K books!
Cozy Mystery
Killer Insight by Victoria Laurie

O
YA/Contemporary
One by Sarah Crossan
Chick Lit
Outrageous Fortune by Lulu Taylor
YA/Contemporary
One True Thing by Nicole Hayes

U...I also don't have many!
YA/Fantasy
Uprooted by Naomi Novik

V
YA/Mystery
Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver
Mystery/Paranormal
The Vanishing by Wendy Webb

W
YA/Mystery/Paranormal
When by Victoria Laurie
Autobiography/Memoir
Welcome to My World by Johnny Weir
YA/Contemporary
What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

Okay so that's 6...whoops. I don't have anything on my list for X!

A
- I wrote to the author on Twitter after I read this to tell her how much I loved it and she actually wrote me back!


E
- Very powerful, emotional story

I


O


U

I always have trouble with D

by Ruth Reichl
by Tony Hillerman
by Anita Diamant


And E
by Mark Dunn
by Katherine Neville
by Elissa Elliott


Adding some I books
by Katherine Roberts
by Sue Monk Kidd
by Mary Simses


And some J's
by Cathy Lamb
by Stephen King
by Richard Bach


And finally ~ V
by Ami McKay
by Anne Rice
by Emma Straub

I went through my 5 star reads & came up with these...

B
Big Stone Gap
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Bitter in the Mouth
Boone's Lick



N
Neanderthal
The Name of the Rose
The Namesake



O
The Opposite of Everyone

Ok so..
U -- Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, Until We Reach Home, and Uprooted

W -- War Horse (32,000 + words), The Wonder Garden, What's So Amazing About Grace?

K -- No More Dead Dogs by Gordon Korman, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hoseini, and The Bullet by Mary Louise Kelly

I have read all of these and liked them!

I didn't realize that this was a multi-day thing, so I'm late with my Day One recs. Sorry!

Here are some letters that I know others - sometimes including me - have struggled with:

Q -- Quick, Amanda's The River Knows; Quick Bite A (title); Questioning Miss Quinton, The (title)

U -- Garden of Lies (lead female: Ursula); Undead and Unwed (title); Urban Shaman (title)

V -- V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic (author first intial/name: V for Victoria); Vampire's Mail Order Bride, The (title); Veil, The (title)

X -- Grave Surprise (character: Xylda; she's also in book three); God Save the Queen (MC nickname: Xandra); XVI (I know I'm not the first to recommend this, but it's the only X title book that I can ever recall reading and enjoying)

Z -- Zen Cho's Sorcerer to the Crown (author name); Zinnia (title); Zombies Sold Separately (title)

I hope it's okay that not all are title-based. I didn't notice in the instructions anything saying that standard spell-it-rules did not apply. :-)

Here's a few that might be less well-known

A - The Abigail Affair, The Accidental Sorcerer, Absolute Power, Across a Moonlit Sea

E - Echoes, Edge of Dreams,

I - Inda, If You Only Knew, If Tomorrow Comes

O - Old Nathan, One Kick, One Shot

U - Under My Skin, Under the Desert Moon, Under Witch Aura

V - Valor's Choice, The Vampire With the Dragon Tattoo, Velveteen vs. The Junior Super Patriots

Z -

Y -

X -

V -

Q -

O -

K -

I -

G -

F -

E -

I chose some of the letters that have the highest point score in Scrabble, so hopefully you guys find these tricky, too!

F -

J -

K -

V -

W -

Shanna_redwind wrote: "Marie wrote: "I wonder if we can get 10 or 15 X books recommended on here"

We've met and gone beyond your challenge. This should make things a bit easier when looking for an X book."

indeed we have i thought only titles were counting forgot it included authors etc

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E

I

O

U

W