Book Life

The A to Z Book Challenge: What Is It? + Book Suggestions

Last updated on by Abi Johnson

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What is the A to Z Book Challenge? There are so many fun reading challenges you could join, but this one is both an easy and exciting way to help you reach your reading goals and build good reading habits. So if you’re ready to challenge yourself to read more books this year, read on to learn what the A to Z Reading Challenge is and how to join!

Open book on wood table with letters flying in the air above it

What Is the A to Z Reading Challenge?

The A-Z Reading Challenge is a book challenge where you read through the alphabet from A to Z. Most people try to complete this challenge within a year, but you can choose whether you want to complete it in that timeframe or one that is shorter or longer, depending on your personal goals.

Reading through the alphabet from A-Z means choosing a book that starts with each letter of the alphabet, so you’ll be reading 26 books each starting with a different letter.

As you can see, this is a pretty simple challenge to participate in and gives you lots of freedom to choose what type of books you’d like to read. You’ll just need to make sure you’re clear on what rules you’re setting yourself from the start…such as whether you’re including “the” at the start of the book as a letter, or if you’re letting yourself ignore “the” and use the first letter of the main word in the title as your alphabet letter for the challenge.

Additionally, some people make the challenge more doable by accepting books with letters like Q, X, or Z anywhere in the title. There are some titles out there that actually start the first letter of the title with these letters, but it’s comparatively few so, so many people find it easier to let these books slide a little.

Whatever specific rules you set for yourself, you’ll just want to make sure you set your expectations for yourself up front so you aren’t tempted to let every letter slide when you can’t find the “perfect book” for a letter…because then it wouldn’t even be the A-Z book challenge anymore!

How To Join the A to Z Book Challenge

This challenge is one you can do on your own, so to join all you need to do is choose books you want to read that start with A-Z.

If you would like, you can prepare for the book challenge ahead of time by making a list of all of the 26 books you want to read this year.

Or, if you prefer, you can just start reading books and fill them in as they fit the challenge (e.g., maybe you read Murder on the Orient Express because it looked interesting to you. Then, if you haven’t already read another book starting with M, you can check off the letter M on your list!). Each time you read a book throughout the year you can mark off the corresponding letter, then towards the end of the year you can see what letters you have left and try to find books to fit those letters.

Whichever approach you take, all you have to do is check the books off as you read them…and feel free to let us know in the comments what you’re reading for this challenge as well!

Book Suggestions for the A-Z Reading Challenge

Ready to get started with the challenge? Stuck wondering which book to start with? If you’re looking for reading ideas for the A-Z book challenge, then here are several ideas for each letter to get you started!

These are just some of the many, many books you could read while doing this challenge, so it’s just here as a list to get you started and help you out if you can’t think of any books for a particular letter (here’s looking at you, pesky Q and X!). Feel free to read any of the books on this list, or to read any other books of your choice!

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

Q

R

S

T

U

V

W

X

Y

Z

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