AlphaKIT for 2018

Combos for 2018:

Jan: V, M
Feb : P, J
Mar: F, I
Apr: Y, U
May: Q, K
Jun: G, R
Jul: S, A
Aug: O, D
Sep: B, E
Oct: N, L
Nov: T, H
Dec: C, W

Yearlong: X, Z

UPDATED: New Wiki is here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2018_AlphaKIT

Bring 'em on! :) And thanks for setting this up again. I do love this KIT.

I love this Kit as well and I am ready for the combos!

I'll be doing this KIT again, but I don't usually look at the letters until the mid-way point of the month before, which is usually when I plan my reads!

Here's what random.org gave us:

Jan: V, M
Feb : P, J
Mar: F, I
Apr: Y, U
May: Q, K
Jun: G, R
Jul: S, A
Aug: O, D
Sep: B, E
Oct: N, L
Nov: T, H
Dec: C, W

Yearlong: X, Z

A couple of tough months, but I did check to see if any doubles repeated from this year and I didn't see any.

Comments? Requests/ pleading for mercy to move something?

Hey, my birthday month is also my initials! Love it! :-)

I was initially going to plead for mercy on April since those are the two hardest letters for me to find for some reason. However, after a quick scan of my shelves I found two books that will work so I'm setting them aside for April. :)

Here's another lover of AlphaKIT. Thanks for doing this again, majkia. This year I limited it to mysteries and really enjoyed the added challenge. I might try that again.

Yay, I love the AlphaKIT! Those pairs look OK to me - thanks >5 majkia:!

Ditto to everyone above--I adore this KIT and will absolutely be in again for 2018!

Thank you for doing this again, Majkia. It's my favourite FELINE because it's so easy to look at the shelves and see whether I've got something that fits.

Do you think J for December 2017 and February 2018 is putting them a bit close together?

This year is the first year I've been in Alpha Cat and I really liked it. I took books off my TBR every month! So, on to 2018! Thanks majkia for your work.

I'm planning on using this to pull books off the Orange prize list (winners and shortlist) using the author's name. I want to read more of them this year, so this will help me pick what's next. I think most months are covered, but I don't expect to manage every month.

January is covered, there's a book by Valerie Martin on the list. Double letter score!

You're welcome everyone. :) Glad it is useful for so many. I use it to work through the TBR too. Helps with the too many options months.

I play this like a scratch-card lottery -- did anything I read match the month's letters? Always a fun surprise :)

Wiki is here: http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2018_AlphaKIT

>16 majkia: This link goes to Mystery CAT?

that's what i get for working on several at one time. Fixed.

http://www.librarything.com/wiki/index.php/2018_AlphaKIT

looks good

Thanks for hosting this again!

I adore this Kit, so thank you >1 majkia: again for setting it up!

I have to add... I wonder if even the randomizer knew that the ScaredyKit and the MysteryCat might have crime on our brains as we set things up? I wrote the letters into my list of monthly goals since I try to match the alphakit letters into my other monthly rules, and immediately, what jumped out at me were S & A and B & E respectively.

SA = Special Agent
B & E = Breaking & Entering

Maybe I just watch too much Criminal Minds, but I couldn't help commenting on the match-ups here when I noticed them :) They're giving me a laugh, anyway!

>21 whitewavedarling: :) The mysteries of the magic 8 ball randomizer :)

>21 whitewavedarling: >22 majkia: I am amazed how often we get a meaningful combination which makes the month's letters easy to remember.

>21 whitewavedarling: LOL! Oh, that made me laugh!

So, are X and Z always the year-long letters?
In any case, this looks like fun! Dropping off a star and will participate loosely in 2018.

>25 EBT1002: Yeah. Since they are harder to fulfill they're always the year long ones.

>26 majkia: Got it. Thank you.

I find Z easy enough. Q is the other tough one.

>28 sushicat:, That's what I was thinking! And weirdly, I've actually got more 'Z' in my library than 'Y', though that 'Y' isn't hard to find. Q and X send me searching libraries and used bookstores, though.

I am usually ok with Q, but I read a lot of historical fiction and history, so I can usually find something where the title starts with Queen... :-)

I am still waiting on a book from the library to fit. Depending when it comes for me, I may be reading it into the start of December, but I will get to it!

I still haven't found an X book for this year.

>31 jeanned:, My go-to 'X' books of late have been the Inspector Chen mystery series by Qiu Xiaolong, which starts with Death of a Red Heroin; I've read the first two, and loved both. It also occurred to me recently that an ongoing option could be Piers Anthony's Xanth series, which I've always meant to read, if it worked for the series title to start with X :)

A quick YA book is X: by Ilyasah Shabazz is an option for X.

I'm planning to read The Autobiography of Malcolm X for X in 2018 but the Inspector Chen series is intriguing.

I'll second >32 whitewavedarling: and Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen series. I've only read Don't Cry, Tai Lake, which was very good.

>32 whitewavedarling: I read the first Qiu Xiaolong and quite enjoyed it. I will look for others. Also, can we use the series title? That would get me going on Xanth for sure.

>36 jeanned:, I don't know--I was wondering that at one point, too, but I guess I figured it was just as acceptable as using letters that are within titles and authors' names, which I've seen folks do... >1 majkia:, what do you think?

>37 whitewavedarling: I always tell folks to use the rules they want to. Use the letters in a way that works for you and makes you enjoy the challenge more!

>38 majkia: I love that approach.

>38 majkia:, Awesome--I kind of thought that was the approach :) >36 jeanned:, Looks like a series title works just fine in that case!

>40 whitewavedarling: Yippee! And thank you!

>37 whitewavedarling: That’s a much easier way of getting things done. I might actually succeed doing it that way. I’ve tried unsuccessfully to use the first letter of either the family name or the title (excluding articles).

>42 sushicat:, Yep, I know it would be easier, and may go to it someday; I always use the first non-article word of the title or the family name, but I think a series title makes sense, too. I've been left searching for Q, X, and Z on a number of occasions--even Y a few times--but so far I've found them, even if I haven't always had time to read them in the given month lol :)

>41 jeanned:, Maybe we'll have to do a Xanth month/groupread one of these days, and then everyone will likely have an X!

It's a small thing but I'm excited to read Magpie Murders in January. Double score.
:-)

>44 EBT1002: oh. that would work for ColorCAT too! Hmm...

>44 EBT1002: Oh, what a great idea!

UPDATED: New Wiki is here: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2018_AlphaKIT

January thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/277799

Yearlog letter thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/277800

>48 majkia:, not sure if it just me, but both of the links are going to the year-long letter thread.

fixed. Link to January is: http://www.librarything.com/topic/277799

I thought that those following the Alphakit might appreciate my almost finished baby blanket. 26 letters, the two blank squares are for the baby's name and date of birth. Due 31st December, so not long to go now - and I'm finished ahead of schedule!



Each letter does denote what is around it, but some of them are a bit tenuous, but isn't that part of the fun of the category challenge, some of them are shoe-horned in?

>52 Helenliz: Beautiful!!!

Oh lovely!

>52 Helenliz: What a treasure!

>52 Helenliz: Gorgeous!

What a pretty quilt!

>52 Helenliz: lovely!!

Lovely. Another reader on the way?

Beautiful! Lucky baby!

Thank you all! >59 Robertgreaves: it's for a friend's child, and (s)he will read if I have any thing to do with it!

Wow, that's gorgeous -- what a wonderful gift!

>52 Helenliz: - What a lovely quilt!

>52 Helenliz: That quilt is gorgeous, a real work of art!

Sorry to hear Sue Grafton died. She was not well enough to write the planned Z is for Zero.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/mystery-writer-sue-grafton-...

I’m so bummed by this news. I’m looking forward to reading Y. Think I’ll save it so I can savor it.

Greetings,

I have a question: is there a tag(s) that we could/should use on the books we read of this KIT?

I personalty love the tag feature, and think it would be fun if we had a tag for the KIT, for the year, and for the month. Not that it would be mandatory, but it seems like a fun idea.

>67 dreamweaver529: I tag my reads AlphaKIT, but feel free to keep them separated by year if you like that.

>67 dreamweaver529: I'm tagging mine #AlphaKit and #AuthorM.

I tag mine as "January AlphaKit: M", changing the month and letter as appropriate.

March thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/286804

April thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/288451

>74 majkia: thanks!

I'm having a tough time getting March titles...

>75 fuzzi: Wait til next month...

>76 majkia: yes, U & Y are particularly difficult!

May's thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/290085

June thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/291318

July thread is up:http://www.librarything.com/topic/292448

>80 majkia: thanks!

http://www.librarything.com/topic/292448

August thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/293612

October thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/296230

>84 majkia: thank you.

November thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/297519

December thread is up: http://www.librarything.com/topic/298750