The 52 Book Club: 2025 Challenge discussion

10. Author’s last name is also a first name

For our tenth prompt, we’re looking for an author whose last name (surname) could also be considered a first name. Some examples of last names that are also first names are Lincoln, Harper, Jackson, Carter, Franklin, Blake, Kelly, Hudson, etc. This may be the author’s legal last name or a pseudonym that they publish under.

This prompt will be subjective and vary depending on region, language, and/or personal experience. As always, if you think a book fits the prompt, it does!


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Orbital just won the Booker Prize. Author is Samantha Harvey.

A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall

Enlightenment by Sarah Perry

I have 3 books by Øystein Morten that I haven't read yet, Morten is a first name in Norway.

I will probably read Agatha Christie because I’m working through that challenge, but it may be:
City of Girls
Passing

I agree Agatha Christie is an obvious choice, a few on my TBR are:
Dead Man's Folly
Sad Cypress

Also thinking of:
Walt Disney: An American Original by Bob Thomas
The Black Tower by P.D. James
Aim High: Chart Your Course and Find Success by Deborah Lee James

Books I've read and recommend:
Digging to America by Anne Tyler
My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
A Howl In The Night by Jerry Brandon
The Mystery of the Crimson Ghost by Phyllis A. Whitney

Unromance by Erin Connor

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

I am going with The War Girls by V.S. Alexander

Here’s a back-list option: Mary Stewart!
I have had her Arthurian series for decades, but only ever read the first book, “The Crystal Cave.” She also wrote “The Moon-Spinners” which is the basis of the classic Disney film starring Haley Mills.

The Alice Network

I'll slot Ben Phillippe's A Field Guide to the North America Teenager here.

R L Stine, Stine is a short form of Kristine in Norway.

We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter

Ruth wrote: "Here’s a back-list option: Mary Stewart!
I have had her Arthurian series for decades, but only ever read the first book, “The Crystal Cave.” She also wrote “The Moon-Spinners” which is the basis of..."

Good suggestion! I have not read these but have wanted to for some time.

I am thinking of Kristin Hannah, Emily Henry, or Cristina Lauren

Lewis Caroll I’ve checked would count and if anyone wants to tackle Narnia C S Lewis

There are so many authors with last names that could also be first names -
Anything by:

Emily Henry
Kate Morton
Kristin Hannah
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Fiona Davis
Joshilyn Jackson
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Anne Tyler
simone st james
Philippa Gregory
Megan Miranda

Elizabeth George
Sophie Hannah
George Eliot
James Joyce

Here are my TBR Shelf choices:
1) Book Lovers, Last Name Henry
2) The Club Everyone's Dying to Join, Last Name Lloyd
3) Breathe In, Cash Out, Last Name Henry

Wrong Bed, Right Guy- Katee Robert

Reading Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny. She's a favourite of mine and my 1st book of 2025.

The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny. She's a favourite of mine and my 1st book of 2025.

I’ve chosen The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence, should be good ,last book in the series comes out later this year.

My 1st book this year... Appalachian Siren : Backwoods Splatterpunk. ..by Leslie Kurt.....interesting, bloody, weird...nice way to start the new year...new genre for me

I will be reading All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda


HAPPY READING!!

Just finished The Beautiful Mystery by Louise Penny for this prompt.

Who Killed Bob? by Stephen Craig

I read A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas

For this prompt I choose Free Food for Millionaires by Jin Min Lee. Lee is the Korean family name and can also be a first name.

For this prompt, I just finished The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler, a detective story set in the late 1930s. :)

The Gun Seller

Hugh Laurie

I’m reading The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Time to Shine by Rachel Reid

ruthless vows by rebecca ross

Filthy Rich Fae by Geneva Lee

The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

The Logoharp: A Cyborg Novel of China and America in the Year 2121 by Arielle Emmett

Reading a book by Neil Degresse Tyson

The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

Coach, Devney Perry - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dangerous Davies by Leslie Thomas

I chose The Haunting of Hill House
Curious to see how faithful the series was!

I’m reading Three Men in a Boat

Accomplishing the Impossible by Russell M. Nelson

The Lost Passenger by Frances Quinn