The great indie author reading challenge

Last updated on April 21, 2021

My wife and I read constantly; she’s more of a fantasy reader, but I gravitate toward sci-fi and fantasy, of course, as well as horror and mystery, thriller, and suspense (MTS) stories. We challenge ourselves and broaden our literary horizons, so to speak, with reading challenges.

Our first challenge was a simple author-name challenge, and we’re currently completing another author-name challenge concurrent with a thematic one… I’m a hair behind on the thematic one because of one specific challenge: to read the longest book on your TBR. Mine happened to be Harlot’s Ghost, by Norman Mailer. It was a fantastic book, just one that happens to clock in at around 423,000 words!

For the next one, I want to put together another author-name challenge, but one that’s focused on my fellow independent authors!

So, here’s the plan:

I’m going to ask for recommendations from the #WritingCommunity on Twitter, then create a list based on the authors’ names: first, middle, last; anything goes!

The only rule is this: it’s first come, first served. I mentioned our genre preferences above, but I’m willing to read anything, as long as it’s independently published. (I prefer Kindle Unlimited books, for what it’s worth!)

Here’s the list, as it stands so far. As I get more titles, I’ll update this post. Once it’s complete, I’ll get started. After I finish a book, I’ll post a review to Amazon, Goodreads, and here on my blog. (I can’t make any commitments on my wife’s behalf!)

• A: Algernon, S. R.: Warming Season (4)
• B: B. Fox: Paper Castles (5)
• C: Chukwudi, Michael: Undeserved (6)
• D: D. R. Bailey: The Confessional Killings (13)
• E: Elouali, Sabrine: “Where Darkness Meets Light” (19)
• F: Frankel, J. S.: Catnip (2)
• G: Grybaski, Nik: Black Danube (11)
• H: Henderson, Nathaniel: Centricity (18)
• I: Izzibella Beau: Revelations (25)
• J: Jim Hamilton: Before the Fall (8)
• K: Katz, Sarah; Apex Five (1)
• L: Leader, Morton R.: History is a Lie (20)
• M: Maurizzio Zamudio: Luna 1 (7)
• N: Newberg, Sean: Weird Short Stories (3)
• O: Otto, Erik A.: Detonation (15)
• P: Pavelle, Anya: The Moon Hunters (24)
• Q: Quinn, Bryan: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (14)
• R: Roman, David: “The Ethical Game” (10) (blog posts) Rob Bliss: American Birthright & Other Stories (17)
• S: Sabik-Jaffe, Carol: First Night (12)
• T: Tanweer Dar: The Demon (23)
• U: Uwazie, Somto Jefferson: “Hearts and Spears” (22)
• V: Leonova Lubov: Ghost: A Murder Mystery (26) *
• W: Wildwater, Julie: Tommy (9)
• X: Tiffany Christina Lewis: Helpless (27) **
• Y: Young, Ross: Dead Heads (21)
• Z: Zoe Broadnax: The Golden Dragon (16)

* I had a devil of a time finding an author whose first, middle, or last name began with a “V”, so I chose someone whose surname ends with one.

** Same as with “V”, except, for “X”, I chose someone whose story collection sounds very appealing to me!

Once I finish a book, I’ll link the review as well. Wish me luck!