Sam's High Octane Alphabet Extravaganza

[Sam]

Unsurprisingly I've already starting planning for this...

Alphabet 1 completed 13/02/13

Alphabet 2 completed 24/04/13

Alphabet 3 completed 27/10/13

Alphabet 4

[Janice, Moderator]

I'll say!

[Sam]

Alphabet 1: Author's Last Name

A - Khatyn by Ales Adamovich read 03/01/13
B - I Chose Caviar by Art Buchwald read 04/01/13
C - Fire People -Op/026 by Alexander Cordell read 08/01/13
D - The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens read 08/01/13
E - Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings read 09/01/13
F - Deer Lake by Andre Farant read 12/01/13
G - Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman read 14/01/13
H - Dead Reckoning. Charlaine Harris by Charlaine Harris read 15/01/13
I - The Legend of Darklore Manor and Other Tales of Terror by Joseph Iorillo read 17/01/13
J - Diary of the Displaced - Omnibus 2 Parts 5-7 "The Broken Lands" by Glynn James read 19/01/13
K - The Walking Dead, Book Eight by Robert Kirkman read 19/01/13
L - After Midnight by Richard Laymon read 20/01/13
M - Ocellus by Andrew McEwan read 23/01/13
N - Red Dwarf Omnibus (Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers & Better Than Life) by Grant Naylor read 26/01/13
O - Sharon Osbourne Extreme: My Autobiography by Sharon Osbourne read 28/01/13
P - The Cobra Event by Richard Preston read 31/01/13
Q - Monster of God: The Man-Eating Predator in the Jungles of History and the Mind by David Quammen read 02/02/13
R - Adam And Eve And Pinch Me by Ruth Rendell read 05/02/13
S - Seven Stories High by Alex South read 05/02/13
T - Dead Run by P.J. Tracy read 07/02/13
U - Tragic Sense of Life by Miguel de Unamuno read 08/02/13
V - Demon Hunter: Saga by Cynthia Vespia read 10/02/13
W - The Children of Llyr by Evangeline Walton read 11/02/13
X - Buying A Fishing Rod For My Grandfather by Gao Xingjian read 12/02/13
Y - 101 Great Ways To Sew A Metre by Rebecca Yaker read 13/02/13
Z - Journals Of The Damned by G. J. Zukow read 13/02/13

26/26 books

[Sam]

Janice wrote: "I'll say!"

It's not my fault...the spreadsheets made me do it ;-D

[Janice, Moderator]

LOL! I know. I should be hard at work already, but I keep reading these threads on the challenge.

[Sam]

Janice wrote: "LOL! I know. I should be hard at work already, but I keep reading these threads on the challenge."

Technically I should be too but there's only ten mins of my day left and if cool new challenges will get posted during the work day...what's a reader to do ;-)

[Pragya]

Always the planner, Sam!

[Cherie]

Janice wrote: "LOL! I know. I should be hard at work already, but I keep reading these threads on the challenge."

LOL!!! I was thinking the same thing, Janice.

[Sam]

I know Judy, they're calling out to me now to finish planning too!

You know me so well Pragya, you should see the planning I've done for my work Christmas cakes!

[Sam]

And the first one is read with Khatyn by Ales Adamovich :-)

[Ava Catherine]

Sam, you inspired me. I have developed my own spreadsheets. I ordered Numbers for Apple and use that program on my laptop to make some beautiful spreadsheets...like yours. It becomes addictive.

Thanks for sharing. : )

[Sam]

I'm glad to spread the spreadsheet bug Connie! And I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one addicted to spreadsheet planning :-)

You'll have to post some pics for us!

[Janice, Moderator]

The first one bites the dust. I see that you rated it 5 stars. What a great way to start the challenge.

I have spreadsheets going as well. And I have an app called Evernote that I keep lists on. Multiple lists everywhere! LOL!

[Pragya]

I want to see how those Christmas Cakes turned out. Pics, Sam!

[Sam]

Aha the spreadsheets are spreading, mwhahahaha before you know they will be everywhere!!!

Pragya assuming this link works https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.ne... you should be able to see them chilling in the fridge prior to being demolished by the vultures at my office!

(if not I'll try and post it up on here)

[April]

Oh, Sam! Those cakes look scrumptious!!

[Sam]

April wrote: "Oh, Sam! Those cakes look scrumptious!!"

Thanks April, they were rather tasty even if I do say so myself and they seemed to go down well in the office too :-D

[Sam]

Got two knocked off today with Fire People -Op/026 by Alexander Cordell and The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens :-D

[Alex]

It's cool to see this laid out! Keep up the good work. :)

[Ava Catherine]

Great work, Sam! On the books and the cakes! I am REALLY impressed! All your coworkers must be bonkers over you! : )

Fabulous!!

[Sam]

Thanks both and I'll be letting them know they should be Connie (admittedly the cake baking probably makes up for my maddening personality quirks hehe!)

[Sam]

That's another one down with Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman!

[Sam]

Another one down with Dead Reckoning. Charlaine Harris by Charlaine Harris

But now I'm stuck since The Legend of Darklore Manor and Other Tales of Terror by Joseph Iorillo that I ordered for my 'I' hasn't arrived as yet...

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Hate that!

[Sam]

Rusalka wrote: "Hate that!"

Yup, I'm now at a loss what to do but I'm part of a fortress felling challenge in another group so might focus on that for a bit.

Its more annoying since I can track my order and I know its been processed through Chicago and is on its way!

[Sam]

And the panic is over, my 'I' book has arrived!!!

Woohoo! It's like they sensed my pain :-)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Can you work that magic on my book deliveries please?!?

[Sam]

I can't promise but I'll try and send out vibes of tension, stress and lacking book pain and see what happens! ;-)

[[deleted user]]

Lucky escape there, Sam! nothing worse than waiting for books you're ready to read to arrive

[Sam]

I know Helen, I feel like the reading gods have blessed me today :-)

[Janice, Moderator]

I abhor that feeling when I don't have anything to read. It's almost panic. I should be good for awhile though because I have around 150 books in various formats waiting for me to read them. I'm glad your book arrived with such great timing.

[Sam]

I've got about 190 at the moment too Janice, trouble is there were no authors whose surname began with 'I' so I was in dilemma town!

[Janice, Moderator]

LOL! That would be very annoying, and unnerving. With that many books, who would have thought that the letter "I" would put a wrench in the works.

[Sam]

I know, so much for my ongoing challenge preparations!!

[Janice, Moderator]

Have you got any ideas for J or K? You could always read some Stephen King for K. :)

[Ava Catherine]

Sam, I am so happy to see you knocking these books down! POW!
AMAZING! GO GIRL! ; )

[Sam]

I've already got them decided with Diary of the Displaced - Omnibus 2 Parts 5-7 "The Broken Lands" by Glynn James and The Walking Dead, Book Eight by Robert Kirkman. I had a few options for both of them so they were quite easy :-)

[Sam]

And another one down with The Legend of Darklore Manor and Other Tales of Terror by Joseph Iorillo read 17/01/13

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Hang on. You only got that yesterday!
Stop it! :P

I was checking in to tell you my book finally came too, so thanks.

[Sam]

Don't panic Rusalka, it actually arrived midday the day before yesterday (think the time differences are confusing things) so I didn't read it that quickly...although it was that good I probably would have if Winterwatch wasn't distracting me!!

Oh I'm glad it arrived and that the sending of tension, stress and lacking book pain vibes helped speed things along :-D

[Janice, Moderator]

That's still quickly in my book. :)

[Sam]

What can I say, it was a really good read :-)

[[deleted user]]

So I'm assuming that you'll be whizzing through J & K seeing you're now snowed in? unless they're still to be delivered...

[Sam]

Oh yes I will and through L and M since I have a free weekend and monday off :-)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Snow has it's uses it seems.

[Janice, Moderator]

I will need to amend the statement that only skiers get all excited when it starts to snow. Readers do too.

[Sam]

Oh yes, I love the snow! Not only do I get to read more but theres nothing better than going out to play then coming back in freezing cold and curling up in warm pjs with a cup of tea and a good book :-)

And its about time that the skiers stopped hogging all the snow ;-)

[Rusalka, Moderator]

They have been saying this week that if the temp risings 3-4 degrees we won't have any more snow left in Aus.

Very upsetting, as we go to the snow every year, and everyone goes skiing but I"m rubbish and end up cold and wet. SO I stay back at the lodge, make sure there is dinner and mulled wine ready for them all when they get back (the lodge is on the slopes so they can ski in), and I spend the day curled up on the couch with a book and a beverage under the glass roof with the snow.

[Sam]

Now that sounds like an excellent plan Rusalka, I hope the snow lasts for you so you can put it into action :-)

I dont think ours is going to last much past monday but I'm going to make the most of it while it does :-D

[Kat]

For trade: I will accept 1 day of 40 degrees in exchange for 1 day of -10 with heavy snowfall.