Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge discussion

A book by an author with the same initials as you

I already had this prompt in the past, so I automatically know that I want to read Lisa Genova's most recent and first nonfiction release, Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting.

You can get creative if you have a middle name (or names) you could use rather than your "first name" or a maiden name you could use... Or even a first and middle initial.

No listopia, but here is a list of authors on Wikipedia, alphabetized by last name that might help! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...

I have the same initials as Barbara Hambly. I've read her two Star Wars novels. Does anyone have a recommendation from her other works?

Arthur Conan Doyle for me - more Sherlock! Hooray!

I have nothing on my Goodreads TBR with the initials SB, and not a lot of familiar-to-me authors come up on a Wikipedia search. I researched a little and I might read something by either Stephen Baxter or Steven Barnes, both of whom write sci-fi/fantasy.

Sarah wrote: "I have nothing on my Goodreads TBR with the initials SB, and not a lot of familiar-to-me authors come up on a Wikipedia search. I researched a little and I might read something by either Stephen Ba..."

A few from my GR shelves with SB initials:
Steve Berry writes thrillers
A Long Way Home by Saroo Brierly (the film was retitled Lion and starred Dev Patel)
Courage to Soar: A Body in Motion, a Life in Balance, a memoir by Simone Biles
Winter Loon by Susan Bernhard
The Visitors by Sally Beauman

Brandon wrote: "I have the same initials as Barbara Hambly. I've read her two Star Wars novels. Does anyone have a recommendation from her other works?"

I enjoyed her Benjamin January mysteries (book 1 is A Free Man of Color), but they're a little different from her usual SFF. I also remember liking Stranger at the Wedding but I haven't read it in 10+ years.

Going with The Redemption of Wolf 302: From Renegade to Yellowstone Alpha Male

Thanks, Jen!

Sarah, Steven Barnes wrote the novelization for Star Trek: Far Beyond the Stars. People in the Trek Lit community say that it is good and does justice to the episode.

Sarah wrote: "I have nothing on my Goodreads TBR with the initials SB, and not a lot of familiar-to-me authors come up on a Wikipedia search. I researched a little and I might read something by either Stephen Ba..."

I also have two books by Samantha M. Bailey on my TBR list. She writes thrillers.

Having a hard time finding T.K. other than Under A Whispering Door and the other book by T.J. Klune.

Carl Sagan is one that I can think of for me. Not thinking of any other C.S initials at the moment.

I can't find a book with the initials LH, does anyone have any ideas?

Charlotte wrote: "Carl Sagan is one that I can think of for me. Not thinking of any other C.S initials at the moment."

The Queer Principles of Kit Webb by Cat Sebastian springs to mind!

Charlotte,

You could stretch the meaning to include C.S. Lewis, as it doesn't say the initials have to be in the same place.

Curtis Sittenfeld is one from elsewhere on the PopSugar recommendations for this year (Eligible, modern retelling of a classic).

I used BookBrowse to look up authors by last name. It's a little less overwhelming than going through the Wikipedia list of authors.

I found Brian Herbert on that list, too, so if I strike out with Hambly, I can just read something by him.

Lía wrote: "I can't find a book with the initials LH, does anyone have any ideas?"

I did a quick scan of my shelves and found one book: Whiskey Rebellion by Liliana Hart.

Wikipedia yielded more options:
- Lisi Harrison (author of The Clique and other YA books)
- L.P. Hartley (20th century English novelist who wrote about family and society)
- Lynley Hood (nonfiction writer who covers New Zealand crime stories)
- L Ron Hubbard (founder of Scientology and writer of some mediocre sci-fi)
- Langston Hughes (poet and writer who was a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance)

As for myself - I have the initials PP. There's Phillip Pullman, of course, except that I unfortunately don't like his writing!

Wikipedia offered up the childhood mainstay of Amelia Bedelia (Peggy Louise Parrish), an Irish poet, and a Hungarian Jesuit writer from the 1600s.

My Kindle has Desert Flowers by Paul Pen. I do not recall what is about, but I suppose it's what I must go with!

Lía wrote: "I can't find a book with the initials LH, does anyone have any ideas?"

Lillian Hellman jumps out, she's a well-known 20th century playwright with some excellent material (and as they're plays, they're fairly short!)
Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho
Linda R. Hirshman writes nonfiction.
Or Libbie Hawker, if you like historical fiction!
I also have Njinga of Angola: Africa's Warrior Queen by Linda Heywood on my TBR, I believe it's a biography.
The Lost Dreamer by Lizz Huerta
Lucy Holland has Sistersong, which I believe is a retelling of King Lear, as well as a new book due in autumn 2023.

Tracy wrote: "Having a hard time finding T.K. other than Under A Whispering Door and the other book by T.J. Klune."

Thomas Keneally wrote Schindler's List, or there's always T. Kingfisher!

Also Tony Kushner.

Not sure whether to go with my legal intials or my informal one haha.

Anyone have any suggestions for either AS or AM?

Charlotte wrote: "Carl Sagan is one that I can think of for me. Not thinking of any other C.S initials at the moment."



Cosmos is one of my all-time favorite books!!

Brandon wrote: "I have the same initials as Barbara Hambly. I've read her two Star Wars novels. Does anyone have a recommendation from her other works?"

Her Benjamin January series is very good.
A Free Man of Color

I think I will be going with The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart.

Brandon wrote: "Charlotte,

You could stretch the meaning to include C.S. Lewis, as it doesn't say the initials have to be in the same place.

Curtis Sittenfeld is one from elsewhere on the PopSugar recommendation..."

I did consider this! Thanks all for the suggestions! I appreciate it!

I feel fortunate that Mitch Alb has the same initials as me and there are several of his I have not yet read but own!

Charlotte wrote: "Carl Sagan is one that I can think of for me. Not thinking of any other C.S initials at the moment."

Courtney Summers
Connie Schultz
C.J. Sansom
Ciannon Smart
1914 by Charles B Smith
The Daily Show: An Oral History as Told by Jon Stewart, the Correspondents, Staff and Guests by Chris Smith
and my personal favorite, Craig Schaefer

Ashleigh wrote: "Not sure whether to go with my legal intials or my informal one haha.

Anyone have any suggestions for either AS or AM?"

AS:
Ashley Shuttleworth
Adam Silvera
Assata Shakur
Aisha Saeed
Adam Sass
Andrea Stewart
Hope Never Dies, an Obama-Biden mystery by Andrew Shaffer

AM:
Arthur Miller
A Rising Man, historical mystery by Abir Mukherjee
Anchee Min
Alex Michaelides
Anna-Marie McLemore
Alan Moore has a ton in the way of comics
The Millionaire and the Bard: Henry Folger's Obsessive Hunt for Shakespeare's First Folio by Andrea Mays
Arkady Martine

You could always re/read a BabySitters Club book, by Ann M Martin!

Pooja wrote: "As for myself - I have the initials PP. There's Phillip Pullman, of course, except that I unfortunately don't like his writing!

Wikipedia offered up the childhood mainstay of Amelia Bedelia ([auth..."

I also found a comic in my TBR called [book:Infidel|38812871] by Pornsak Pichetshote, Pooja!

Agatha Christie for me!

Finally the year I am going to reach for something by Louise Penny.

I have a Jess Walter on my bookshelf that I will probably read since it hasn't been read.

Does anyone know of an author with the initials KB? I'm not really sure how to find new authors by just their initials. The only author I've found so far is Katie Bailey but her books don't really interest me. I'm interested in pretty much any genre except straight romance.

I went to my TBR list and sorted by author to find my initials. For KB I have Kimberly Belle whose books seem to be thriller-y

Laura wrote: "Finally the year I am going to reach for something by Louise Penny."

Start at the beginning and savour every one. Love those books so much.

This is good timing! I just put several Raymond Chandler books on my list.

I'm trying to think of other NF authors with the RM initials.

I really like the Rick McIntyre book I mentioned but I kind of want to go a different route since I'm too familiar with Rick's work.

Ken Kesey is the first author to come up, so I might try One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. There's also Ken Kalfus, who I've never heard of before. I'll explore him if Kesey doesn't appeal.

Does anyone have any suggestions for SD apart from Sylvia Day? Even a Classic is welcome.

Shaina wrote: "Does anyone have any suggestions for SD apart from Sylvia Day? Even a Classic is welcome."

Stephen R Donaldson? I've never read any of his books, but I think they tend toward fantasy.

KW was difficult but found: Billy Liar by Keith Waterhouse. Also, on the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list.

FPD is hard.

I may skip the P (sorry mom) and read some Dostoievsky? Or I may skip my 1st name and read Daniel Pennac.

These days, I mostly go by one name online (Metro or M) so I feel like that's both too easy and I'm very fortunate that I can just grab anyone with an M initial and get away with it.

Plus I can't find anyone with my real initials on my shelves (JC) so I'm going to go with that.

If there are any other EB folks out there, here is what I ended up with:
Ellen Butler
Elly Blake
Elizabeth Blackwell
Elizabeth Bailey
Eli Brown

There are a bunch more but I'll probably end up reading something from one of these authors.

RIP other double Ws -_-
Guess I'm reading Leaves of Grass

Looks like I'm stuck with Rick McIntyre. I'm having a hard time finding the initials of RM or VM.

This was tough, finding an author with the initials JR. None that I read regularly fit. But I found one. How I Met Your Brother by Janette Rallison. Oddly enough, it was already on my Kindle. Probably one my mom bought that she shared with me.

Kass wrote: "Does anyone know of an author with the initials KB? I'm not really sure how to find new authors by just their initials. The only author I've found so far is Katie Bailey but her books don't really ..."

Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death

I am struggling with the initials KF. The only writers I have found only have their writing in another language, and I can't find anywhere to buy it online, either.

Kristin wrote: "Kass wrote: "Does anyone know of an author with the initials KB? I'm not really sure how to find new authors by just their initials. The only author I've found so far is Katie Bailey but her books ..."

I did a little digging and found these authors with KF initials... I've never heard of these folks before but maybe there is something here that you might like?

Kimberley Freeman
Kate Furnivall
Kristina Forest
Kim Fay
Kim Fielding

Does anybody know any authors with the initials of JW?

Jessica wrote: "Does anybody know any authors with the initials of JW?"

John Wyndham?

Jessica wrote: "Does anybody know any authors with the initials of JW?"

I have these three on my TBR:
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward
Beijing Confidential: A Tale of Comrades Lost and Found in the New Forbidden City by Jan Wong
The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford

That last one might be a bit of a niche topic, but maybe your niches are the same as mine :)