2025 & 2026 Reading Challenge discussion

THE DEBUT NOVEL CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1st, 2015 - December 31st, 2015

A debut novel is the first novel an author has written. A lot of blood, sweat, and tears go into an author's first novel. And sometimes, an author's first novel is very different from the rest of that author's body of work because she is still trying to find her voice. Or maybe an author started out in a different genre than he ended up in.

In this challenge, decide how many debut novels you would like to read. Short stories that are part of a larger collection (not completely by the author) do not count. Standalone novellas can count if you would like them to.

You can find an author's debut novel by going to his or her author page and looking at publication years. For authors with large bodies of work, click on "Author's Name's Books" (directly above the list of books), then sort by original publication year (which will show the oldest book LAST).

Participants


Adriana
Alisia
Arushi
Berit
Brenna
Brianna
Carine
Caro
Charlotte
ChrisP
Claire P
Cristal
Daisya
E
Elsbeth
Janet
Jacqueline
Jenny *MM*
Joanne♥~Bookworm Extraordinaire
Karena
Kelsi
Laurie
Lois
Lyndi
Maiko
Maria
Mary Pat
Pat
Picolamimi
Stephanie (m30)
Stephanie (m103)
Susan

Participants completed challenge:
Charity

Brianna wrote: "I am going to join this one as well!
I will aim for 40 books!"

Brianna I've added you. Good luck with your goal.

I will try for 10 to start with :)

36/10 Completed

1. by Ransom Riggs Completed February 19, 2015.
2. by Emily Brontë Completed January 25, 2015.
3. by Neil Gaiman Completed March 8, 2015.
4. by Susan Bischoff Completed March 25, 2015.
5. by Charlaine Harris Completed July 20, 2015.
6. by Andy Weir Completed March 5, 2015.
7. by Richelle Mead Completed July 10, 2015.
8. by Gillian Flynn Completed February 11, 2015.
9. by Agatha Christie Completed September 19, 2015.
10. by Jean M. Auel Completed February 28, 2015.
11. by Helene Wecker Completed January 1, 2015.
12. by J.K. Rowling Completed January 3, 2015.
13. by Alan Brennert Completed January 20, 2015.
14. by Sara Shepard Completed March 30, 2015.
15. by Jonas Jonasson Completed April 11, 2015.
16. by Kate Quinn Completed April 29, 2015.
17. by Rosamund Hodge Completed April 30, 2015.
18. by Christina Channelle Completed May 6, 2015.
19. by Samantha Durante Completed May 8, 2015.
20. by Joseph Heller Completed May 13, 2015.
21. by Hannah Kent Completed May 26, 2015.
22. by Jeanette Battista Completed May 30, 2015.
23. by Jasper Fforde Completed May 31, 2015.
24. by Mary Shelley Completed May 31, 2015.
25. by Ruth Frances Long Completed June 6, 2015.
26. by Gail Carson Levine Completed June 9, 2015.
27. by Sonja Yoerg Completed June 21, 2015.
28. by Colleen Houck Completed June 22, 2015.
29. by Erin Morgenstern Completed June 25, 2015.
30. by Marissa Meyer Completed July 7, 2015.
31. by Stacey Lee Completed July 11, 2015.
32. by Darynda Jones Completed July 19, 2015.
33. by Pierce Brown Completed July 22, 2015.
34. by Charles Frazier Completed September 2, 2015.
35. by Joanne Fluke Completed September 10, 2015.
36. by Celeste Ng Completed December 14, 2015.

I will try for 16

A Separate Peace
The Sun Also Rises
Things Fall Apart
Madame Bovary
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging
Wise Blood
The Moviegoer
Appointment in Samarra
Black Beauty
The God of Small Things
Under the Net
Zuleika Dobson
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4
Deliverance
These Is My Words
This Side of Paradise

16/16

DEBUT NOVEL CHALLENGE.
Duration: January 1st, 2015 - December 31st, 2015
Goal: To read 5 books

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

I'll do this one, and go for 12:

1. Everywhere That Mary Went by Lisa Scottoline
2. Tales of the South Pacific by James A. Michener
3. Digital Fortress by Dan Brown
4. The Scarlatti Inheritance by Robert Ludlum
5. The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks
6. At Play in the Fields of the Lord by Peter Matthiessen
7. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
8. A Handful of Heaven by Kristin Hannah
9. Songs of the Humpback Whale by Jodi Picoult

everybody has been added.

I'm in! Since there are so many challenges I'd like to join, I will aim for 5.

I'm in, and will go for 10.

Love Letters to the Dead read 28/2/15

Put me down for 5

I'll start with 10. maybe if it's like this year, it'll be more.

I'll go for 25.

9/25:
1.- Het zwijgen van Maria Zachea: een ware familiegeschiedenis by Judith Koelemeijer (6-1-2015)
2.- Anni Moon & The Elemental Artifact by Melanie Abed (15-1-2015)
3.- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (8-3-2015)
4.- Ten Things I've Learnt About Love by Sarah Butler (13-3-2015)
5.- Seven Days of Friday by Alex A. King (9-4-2015)
6.- Eline Vere by Louis Couperus (23-4-2015)
7.- How to Knock a Bravebird from Her Perch by D. Bryant Simmons (26-4-2015)
8.- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (2-5-2015)
9.- Found, Near Water by Katherine Hayton (26-5-2015)

Ok I will do 5. I select authors with long Bibliography, since I consider that they may be the more interesting ones, to say how they were when they started. If I can do more later on I may try them.

1.Isabel Allende her first novel is La casa de los espíritus
2.Agatha Christie her first novel is The Mysterious Affair at Styles
3.Irvine Welsh his first novel isTrainspotting
4.Issac Asimovhis first novel is Pebble in the Sky
5.Roald Dahl his first novel is The Gremlins

THE DEBUT NOVEL CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1st, 2015 - December 31st, 2015

I'll start with 10 and see how it goes

Caro wrote: "Ok I will do 5. I sellect authors with long Bibliography, since I consider that they may be the more interesting ones, to say how they were when they started. If I can do more later on I may try th..."

Nice selection, Caro! Happy reading!

all updated to here.

THE DEBUT NOVEL CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1st, 2015 - December 31st, 2015
12/12

1. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder (1/1)
2. Jackaby by William Ritter (1/1)
3. The Ghost Bride: A Novel by Yangsze Choo (1/28)
4. Every Dead Thing by John Connolly (3/10)
5. The Bat by Jo Nesbø (5/25)
6. The Martian by Andy Weir (7/8)
7. The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick (7/8)
8. Circus Mirandus by Cassie Beasley (7/15)
9. Church of Marvels by Leslie Parry (7/18)
10.The Memory Painter: A Novel by Gwendolyn Womack (7/20)
11.Safekeeping: A Novel by Jessamyn Hope(7/22)
12.The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley (7/23)

I'm going to start with 5 for this challenge.

1. The Martian read 1/8/2015
2. Still Alice read 1/30/2015
3. Patron Saint of Liars read 2/12/2015
4. The Homecoming of Samuel Lake read 2/26/2015
5. Dead Politician Society read 3/1/2015
6. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity 3/17/2015
7. Early Decision: Based on a True Frenzy read 3/17/2015
8. The School of Essential Ingredients read 3/19/2015
10. The Weight of Blood read 4/6/2015
11. Shakespeare Saved My Life: Ten Years in Solitary with the Bard read 4/6/2015
12. Stolen: A Letter to My Captor read 4/13/2015
13. Cold Comfort Farm read 5/10/2015
14. The Art of Fielding read 6/2/2015
15. Love Walked In read 6/12/2015
16. Our Endless Numbered Days read 6/13/2015
17. Dirt Work: An Education in the Woods read 6/28/2015
18. The Girl on the Train read 7/5/2015
19. Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil read 7/16/2015
20. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared read 8/26/2015

Increasing my goal from 5 to 10 (3/14/2015)
Increasing my goal from 10 to 20 (4/22/2015)

20/20 completed
Challenge completed!

I've added you Susan

Elsbeth wrote: "Caro wrote: "Ok I will do 5. I sellect authors with long Bibliography, since I consider that they may be the more interesting ones, to say how they were when they started. If I can do more later on..."

Thank you! It does seems as an interesting selection

Zara wrote: "all updated to here."

Hi Zara, I don't see my name on the participant list. Could you update me, please?

I've added you Maiko.

Hmm... I like that I can read any author's debut book not just one's from 2015. I'll challenge myself to read 5 for now. Thanks Zara (:

I would like to sign up for 5 and possibly more later. I may also steal some book ideas from other members... Carrie by Stephen King is definitely on my list!

I'm in :D! I love reading the first book written by an author :D!

I have only one question: are poetry books allowed? =)

This is a great challenge, I'm always curious about debut novels so you can count me in. I'm gonna go for 10 books for now. And I think I might try to actually make at least half of it as recent as possible so I could discover some new authors.

I would love to sign up for 20 for now.

all updated. welcome everybody and good luck.

I'll try for 5 since I've got so many challenges going. I may add more later.

5/5 completed

1. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin ✔ 2/10/15
2. The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers ✔ 8/28/15
3. The Secret History by Donna Tartt ✔ 7/5/15
4. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe ✔ 2/4/15
5. At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien ✔ 1/21/15

Laurie I've added you. Welcome and good luck

I'm in and sign me up for 5 boos

Carine I have added you. Welcome and good luck

I'll take 15 books for now

Laurie wrote: "I'll try for 5 since I've got so many challenges going. I may add more later.

0/5 completed

1. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
2. [book:The Heart is a Lonely Hunter|37380..."

Great choices Laurie. I thought The Secret History was amazing and I really liked Go Tell It on the Mountain. The other three are on my TBR list.

Janet wrote: "Laurie wrote: "I'll try for 5 since I've got so many challenges going. I may add more later.

0/5 completed

1. Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
2. [book:The Heart is a Lone..."

Thanks. I am so ready for January to get here to start on these challenges.

I'm not doing this challenge, but this list/introduction of a bunch of 2015 debut authors looked relevant!

Sign me up for 5 please!

Will The Martian by Andy Weir count in this challenge? It is not his first book but his first published book

Sign me up please. 12 for me :)

I need to have a proper look through the books that I'm already planning to read in 2015 but think I'll probably manage at least 15 for this challenge.

I start with 5

Karina wrote: "I'm not doing this challenge, but this list/introduction of a bunch of 2015 debut authors looked relevant!"

Love this list! Thanks for posting!

I'm in, not sure what Im reading yet, I'll have to look over my other challenges and TBR list! Please put me down for 10 for now! Thanks!

THE DEBUT NOVEL CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1st, 2015 - December 31st, 2015
(0/10)

I'm in for 6.

Please add me, I'll try for 10.

THE DEBUT NOVEL CHALLENGE
Duration: January 1st, 2015 - December 31st, 2015

I'll start with five and see how it goes.

I'm in for 10!~

I'll go for 5. Starting with : Good Omens by Neil Gaimen

Edited message 19

2/12 completed.