Marcus' Alphabetical Adventure (low octane by title)

[Marcus]

Starting this low octane challenge by title:

A: Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell

giddy up

[April]

Hi, Marcus! Glad to see you!

[[deleted user]]

I thought Agincourt was pretty darned good. Cornwell can be a bit patchy, imo, love some of his series, simply can't get into others. But that was a good one.

[Janice, Moderator]

Hey Marcus. Good to see you've grabbed the challenge by the reins and are ready to enter the race. :)

[Marcus]

Hi everyone...I am excited to partake in this challenge. I have my first 10-12 books lined up on my TBR list. Just for the sake of other people's interest, it looks something like this

A- Agincourt
B- Before they are Hanged by Abercrombie OR Best Served Cold by Abercrombie
C- Controlled Violence: On the Field and in the Booth
D- Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
E- The Eternal Husband and Other Stories by Dostoyevsky OR Empire of Ivory by Naomi Novik
F- Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett
G- God No! by Penn Gillette
H- Hogfather by Terry Pratchett OR Horns by Joe Hill OR HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brien
I- Imajica I: The Fifth Dimension by Clive Barker
J- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke
K- Knife of Dreams (Wheel of Time #11) by Robert Jordan
L- The Lies of Locke Lamora
M- The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brien
N- The Name of the Wind- Patrick Rothfus
O- Old Man's Wary by John Scalzi
P- Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton
Q- Quicker than the Eye by Ray Bradbury
R- Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C Clarke OR The Rats and the Ruling Sea by Robert Redick
S- S is for Space by Ray Bradbury
T- Towers of Midnight (Wheel of Time #13) by Robert Jordan
U- Under the Eagle by Simon Scarrow
V- Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
W- The Warded Man by Peter Brett OR The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfus
X-
Y- Ysabel by Guy Gavriel Kay
Z- Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

[Cherie]

Great list, Marcus! You are a sci-fi fan, looks like. Lots of Ray Bradbury. I recoginze many of the titles and have read a couple. My daughters are Robert Jordan fans, but I have not read any of his.

[Janice, Moderator]

Do we have a Ray Bradbury fan amongst us? Are they all 200 pages long? Just checking!

Ah, is there any chance that you'll go back and link all those books? :) Need any cookies for enticement?

[April]

Interesting list, Marcus! I may have to borrow a few titles!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh wow. I like this list! Will be nicking a few of these titles. Thanks!

[Marcus]

I will certainly do another list with links....also would appreciate recommendations for an X book

[Marcus]

Linked list:

A- Agincourt *
B- Before They Are Hanged *
C- If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor *
D- Dead Souls *
E- Empire of Ivory *
F- Frankenstein *
G- The Gambler *
H- H.M.S. Surprise *
I- Interesting Times *
J- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell *
K- Knife of Dreams *
L- Last Argument of Kings *
M- The Mauritius Command *
N- Neverwinter *
O- The Order of Deacons *
P- Pandora's Star *
Q- Quicker Than the Eye *
R- Rendezvous With Rama *
S- Sisterhood of Dune *
T- Towers of Midnight *
U- Uhura's Song *
V- Valentine's Rising *
W- Warbreaker *
X- Xenocide *
Y- Ysabel *
Z- Zoe's Tale *

*=completed

[April]

oh, Marcus! Thank you! This is great!

[Travis]

Do listopia search for books starting with x there are 2 lists available

[Marcus]

X- X-Men: The Return

[Janice, Moderator]

Thanks Marcus, for linking your books. :) It makes it easier for people to look at the books if they are interested. And there are some great books on your list to look at.... and add to my wishlist!

[Cherie]

Marcus, my X book is Xenocide Have you read Ender's Game yet?

[Janice, Moderator]

My X book is The Xibalba Murders.

[[deleted user]]

And some more Pratchet on a list >:-D

[Marcus]

Cherie wrote: "Marcus, my X book is Xenocide Have you read Ender's Game yet?"

Great suggestion! I have read Ender's Game but not Xenocide yet.

Thanks!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Just a heads up that there is Speaker for the Dead in between those two books.

I got all excited when Cherie mentioned it, as I have Ender's as my E book (Lexx had threatened to leave me if I didn't read that book soon. I love book nerd relationships.) and need an X. But I'm not sure if I will have time to read Speaker in between, as I already have far too many S options.

[AmyK]

There is the rest of that series Rusalka and then the whole Shadow saga as well. I haven't read all of those yet though.

[Marcus]

I will occasionally be updating the list above as new ideas arise...and as i realize that some books on my list may not have been over 200 pages :)

[AmyK]

Marcus wrote: "I will occasionally be updating the list above as new ideas arise...and as i realize that some books on my list may not have been over 200 pages :)"

I have changed my books about 10 times in the last week Marcus....it happens to all of us.

[Marcus]

Agincourt- Finished!

On to:

Before They Are Hanged

[Janice, Moderator]

Congrats on knocking off the first book. :)

[Marcus]

Before They Are Hanged- finished! A very fun read...now for the C book....a little non-fiction with some tongue in cheek humor:

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor

[jaxnsmom]

I love Bruce Campbell! Added the book to my tbr.

You've got a great list! When you get to H, Horns is really good. Now I have to go steal some more books :)

[Marcus]

Well, after a bit of a hiatus to complete the read for the month and to participate in the toppler, I'm back on the alphabet and just completed my C book which was really entertaining...If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor

On to the next letter with: Dead Souls

[April]

I'm looking forward to reading your thought on Dead Souls. It is on my TBR shelf.

[Tejas Janet]

Re: "If Chins Could Kill:Confessions of a B Movie Actor..."

Have added it to my TBR list. Looks entertaining! This past summer I read a lot of humor books while I was recovering from a bad foot injury. Laughter really is the best medicine!

[Marcus]

Finished Dead Souls. It feels good to be dabbling in some Russian lit for a change (see my brief review of the book for more details) but for now its back to a fantasy/historical fiction hybrid in a series that I have really enjoyed so far with:

Empire of Ivory

[Janice, Moderator]

Your next book looks intriguing, Marcus.

[Marcus]

Finished Empire of Ivory already! It was such a fun read that I couldn't stop...onward to the F and G books and a little change in genre with:

Frankenstein and
God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

[Marcus]

Finished Frankenstein. Taking a break to read The Phantom of the Opera for the March challenge and then it's on to:

God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales

for a bit of a venture into humor/nonfiction

[Marcus]

Finished a surprise entry: The Gambler which makes two Russian Lit entries in my alphabet to date...thanks free Kindle books :)

While I have three very difficult choices for my H book, it shall be:

H.M.S. Surprise

It's been a while since I visited the world of Aubrey and Maturing in Post Captain and I really needed a sea adventure right now. I'll try and get to Horns with one of the monthly challenges if I can

[Cherie]

Marcus, whiile I was looking up books for the Neglected Classics, I found several books by Joseph Conrad that are sea adventures. Just FYI if you were interested. :)

[Marcus]

Cherie wrote: "Marcus, whiile I was looking up books for the Neglected Classics, I found several books by Joseph Conrad that are sea adventures. Just FYI if you were interested. :)"

I will definitely take a look into that :)

Thanks!

[Marcus]

Thanks for the recommendations! Those all look great :) I like anything to do with island life or the sea...hence my guilty enjoyment of Jimmy Buffett novels like: A Salty Piece of Land

[Ava Catherine]

Oh, Marcus, are you a fellow Parrothead? Loving that Jimmy Buffett. What I wouldn't give to be on a beach right now sipping a margarita listing to a little Buffett music. Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere, right? lol

Your list is impressive and you are rolling right along!! ; ) I agree that Kidnapped is a great adventure story, and Treasure Island is a wonderful sea adventure if you haven't read it yet. Melville is always great, and Judy had given you fabulous suggestions. In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick is a true story of the adventure that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick. It is one of the best sea adventures I have ever read.

[[deleted user]]

Hardly adventure, but a definite nautical there would be Attention All Shipping A Journey Round the Shipping Forecast - subtitle "a journey round the shipping forecast". The shipping forecast is a UK institution, the seas around the UK are divided into sea areas, and this book he aims to visit each one, describe it, where it is, how it got its name. Having grown up in a sailing village, it's one of the things that's always been there - it's posted at the harbour every day and the names used to intrigue me.

[Marcus]

Connie wrote: "Oh, Marcus, are you a fellow Parrothead? Loving that Jimmy Buffett. What I wouldn't give to be on a beach right now sipping a margarita listing to a little Buffett music."

Yup!! I love the Buffett. I could def use a little sun and fun right about now.

Thanks all for the reading recommendations!

[Cherie]

Marcus wrote: "Thanks for the recommendations! Those all look great :) I like anything to do with island life or the sea...hence my guilty enjoyment of Jimmy Buffett novels like: A Salty Piece of Land"

Thanks for your suggestion too, Marcus. I have not read any Jimmy Buffett before (am I the only one in the country???), so I will give A Salty Piece of Land a try!

[Marcus]

Finished: H.M.S. Surprise Just what the doctor ordered.

Working on: Interesting Times

[Marcus]

Finished Interesting Times which turned out to be one of my favorite Discworld books so far in the series (im reading them in order)

Now I've started:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

and
Knife of Dreams

[Sarah]

I have picked Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for my J read too although I still have H and I to read before I start that hefty tome. What do you think of it so far?

[April]

I may have to add Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell to my TBR. Oh ,heck....why wait? I'll just add it now! I'll never live long enough to read all these books!

[[deleted user]]

Marcus wrote: "Finished Interesting Times which turned out to be one of my favorite Discworld books so far in the series (im reading them in order)"

Ahh, yes. Twoflower & his revolutionary pamphlet "What I did on my holidays". It throws a whole new light on the chore of viewing your next door neighbour's holiday snaps!

[Marcus]

I would say that Jonathan Strange is interesting so far. I'm about halfway through the long book and while it's not my favorite, I do understand it's appeal. You may like it more than I do but I think it's just a bit slow moving for me being so lengthy. I tend to like long books if there is a lot of action to pull you along so it doesn't seem like such a slog but at the halfway point of the book, not a whole lot has happened yet. Maybe the second half with pick up a bit...fingers crossed.

[Cherie]

Marcus wrote: "Finished Interesting Times which turned out to be one of my favorite Discworld books so far in the series (im reading them in order)

Now I've started:
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell

and
Knife of D..."

I have all of the Diskworld books on my e-reader, but I got bogged down in other things and have never gotten back to them. I think I read the first one three times before I got done with it. :)

[Cherie]

April wrote: "I may have to add Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell to my TBR. Oh ,heck....why wait? I'll just add it now! I'll never live long enough to read all these books!"

I haven't gotten to that one yet either, April, and I know what you mean about the book list.