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26 done and dusted......didn't quite finish in 2013 by 3 days, but started my Z on 30th December.

A - Aitmatov, Chingiz - The Little Soldier
B - Benioff, David - City of Thieves
C - Capote, Truman - In Cold Blood
D - Doyle, Roddy - The Woman Who Walked into Doors
E - Eggars, Dave - What is the What?
F - Fallada, Hans - Alone in Berlin
G - Grey, Anthony - Saigon
H - Horst, Jorn Lier - Dregs
I - Irving, Washington - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
J - Jelinek, Elfriede - The Piano Teacher
K - King, Stephen - The Green Mile
L - Lehane, Dennis - Mystic River
M - Miller, Madeline - Song of Achilles
N - Nesbo, Jo - The Bat
O - O'Brien, Tim - The Things They Carried
P - Powers, Kevin - The Yellow Birds
Q - Quigley, Sarah - The Conductor
R - Roncagliolo, Santiago - Red April
S - Suskind, Patrick - Perfume - The Story of a Murderer
T - Thuy, Kim - Ru
U - Uris, Leon - QBVII
V - Vicchi, Marco - Death in August
W - Wells, HG - War of the Worlds
X - Xiaolu, Guo - 20 Fragments of a Ravenous Youth
Y - Young, Louisa - My Dear I Wanted To Tell You
Z - Zambra, Alejandro - Ways of Going Home

Loved The City of Theives myself too, great start!

Finished by Stephen King....loved it.

No 6 - S - by Patrick Süskind.

No 7 - by Truman Capote.

No 8 - by Jørn Lier Horst.

Ian wrote: "No 6 - S - by Patrick Süskind."

I like this a lot. Odd book but good.

No 9 - forgot one....., so D - by Roddy Doyle.

No 10 - J - by Elfriede Jelinek.

No 11 - L - by Dennis Lehane.

No 12 - P - . Excellent novel about a US soldier who serves in Iraq and then tries to adjust back home given what he saw, endured and did. Half set in Iraq and the balance in Germany/USA......by Kevin Powers.

You're doing great, Ian. I started mine in March 2011 and still have I, Q, U, X, Y and Z... I should hit I this year though.. :0)

No 13 - R - by Santiago Roncagliolo.

No 14 - A - by Chingiz Aitmatov.

No 15 - O - by Tim O'Brien.

No 16 - N - by Jo Nesbø.

This is the recently translated into English, 1st novel in the Inspector Harry Hole series and although enjoyable, I think the novels get better after this one. Rather than being set in Norway, it is set in Australia after a young Norwegian woman is raped and murdered in Sydney. Harry is sent to assist the Oz police and after being sidelined initially, he becomes central to finding the murderer. My enjoyment stemmed not from the plot so much but more from seeing the history of Harry as a character, having read The Snowman first like many people and then backtracking to the Oslo Trilogy. Harry is only 32 in this novel and amongst other things we get to hear about his doomed love for Kristin, his involvement in a fatal car crash that killed his colleague Ronnie and his initial descent into the self immolation of alcoholism. Look forward to seeing the second novel Cockroaches come out in English later this year to complete the picture. Now must read Phantom lol.

Never ending is it, Ian :)

Forgot a few...

17. E - by Dave Eggers.

18. W - by H.G. Wells.

19. T - by Kim Thúy.

20. I - by Washington Irving.

What did you think of it, Ian?

Underwhelmed. It was a quick easy read but not sure why a classic.

My thoughts exactly.

21. V - by Marco Vichi. I really enjoyed this gentle murder mystery set in the sweltering summer heat of 1960's Florence. The joy was mostly in the parade of characters led by Inspector Bordelli with the murder and it's investigation forming the backdrop rather than the substance. As such you could say it is pretty slow paced but that just worked.

22. Q - by Sarah Quigley. This a wonderfully creative evocation of the suffering of the population of Leningrad during the WW2 siege. It is spun within the true story about the creation of Shostakovitch's 7th Symphony and the inspirational playing of it to the world from within the besieged city by a motley collection of starving and exhausted musicians, led by the conductor of the title. I'm not a fan of classical music but I still found this fascinating and a great read.

That sounds really good - have marked it to read for next year's A-Z. Have read a couple of books about Leningrad and enjoyed them both.

I really enjoyed it Sue. I'd only heard about the story of the Leningrad Symphony as it is mentioned in other novels like by Helen Dunmore.

That's one of the ones I read and another by Gillian Slovo.

23 - Y - by Louisa Young.

Brilliant from start to finish. It's had some duff reviews mostly about the reality of the depiction of life back in England during the war, but I thoroughly enjoyed it all, even the romantic bits which is unusual for me. The stuff set in Flanders was first class. At times the madness depicted reached the depths of the insanity of the Francis Ford Coppola Vietnam war film Apocalypse Now, which is difficult to do in words.

24 - U - by Leon Uris.

This potentially had a meaty plot about medical experiments in Nazi concentration camps and a legal case brought against a US author for the libel of a knighted British doctor of Polish extraction. The courtroom drama was really good, but the stuff before it that set up the two main protagonists was woefully melodramatic and had all the depth of a Danielle Steele novel. The character of the war hero American novelist was particularly nauseating.

You're doing fantastic, Ian.. Just the easy ones left, eh? ;)

I've got them Bill but not sure I can read both b4 1.1.2014.

Ian wrote: "I've got them Bill but not sure I can read both b4 1.1.2014."
Oh yes you can ..................

Don't be defeatist. man up and get on with the reading, you don't need to sleep or eat till you finish.
Ian wrote: "I've got them Bill but not sure I can read both b4 1.1.2014."

Oh OK then......

25. X - by Xiaolu Guo.

Quick read that started really well but got a bit repetitive after halfway, so just an OK rating. Tells the tale of a young girl who goes to Beijing to escape the drudgery and inevitability of peasant existence and to seek out a new life for herself.

26. Z - by Alejandro Zambra.

This is a short novel that has many strands including the often fraught nature of father son relationships but the most notable theme is about how different generations of Chileans deal with their recent difficult history.

It is made up of two stories told in alternating chapters. First we get one that starts with a young Chilean boy, who in the aftermath of an earthquake during the time of Pinochet, becomes involved in a mystery involving one of his neighbours in their Santiago suburb. Then we meet the author of that novel about the boy, who is writing his novel just as Chile is on the cusp of electing the first right wing leader since the repressive Pinochet era. The novel moves back and forth between the two stories which at times become entwined as fact and fiction become blurred and also moves about in time as the boy becomes a man and tries to finally solve the mystery he came across as a boy.

I enjoyed this novel and I will be looking out for more of Zambra's work.

Well done, you!!!! Some good reads there. What's the plan now?

Well done Ian, are you doing another one? I'm two shy of completing my A-Z - I always get stuck near the end!

Well done Ian - some great titles among them.

What a fantastic idea Ian. Well done to you and all who managed to read the titles.

Nice one Ian, if Liverpool can apply themselves as well as you could be 2014 is the long awaited homecoming of the 1st division title lol! Ive picked up a U from library so hope to finish soon.

Thanks all. Thinking of doing A to Z of titles this year for a change......and as for LFC winning the title this year, that's a lovely dream but I'll happily settle for 4th and keeping Luis.

Well done for finishing A-Z Ian. How many of those authors were completely new to you?
Good luck with the A-Z of titles. I thought I'd try the same but go for one word titles. (I expect that will make it twice as difficult and I'll live to regret it!!)

All bar Roddy Doyle, Stephen King and Jo Nesbo were new to me Kate. Didn't set out to do as many new ones, but that's the kick I get out of the challenges....they tend to expand my reading choices even if by accident. Good luck with the one word AZ of titles....does sound rather tough.

I did an A-Z challenge of titles in another group and it took me two years. For the 'X' though it was enough to have at least one word in the title with a 'x'

That's cheating lol.