Sarah's Low Octane Alphabet Challenge

[Sarah]

Just joined the group and thought I'd also join in on the Alphabet Challenge. I have so many books on my kindle that I haven't read yet so I've decided to incorporate these in to this challenge - Managed to cover most of the letters with them although I will need to buy the odd one here and there too. I've chosen to go with the first letter of the title. As you can see, I haven't come up with anything yet for a couple of letters so any suggestions would be great.
A Assassin's Apprentice READ 5/3
B The Book Thief READ 10/3
C City of Night READ 13/3
D Dead and Alive READ 15/03
E Enclave READ 17/03
F The Firebird READ 20/03
G To the Grave READ 22/03
H The Handmaid's Tale READ 26/03
I Ice Diaries READ 28/03
J Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell ABANDONED MID WAY Jasmyn READ 20/05
K The Kite Runner READ 24/05
L Lost Souls READ 4/06
M The Man Who Broke Into Auschwitz: A True Story of World War II READ 20/07 (started before N)
N Never Let Me Go READ 22/06
O Oryx and Crake READ 23/08
P Pirate Latitudes READ 03/09
Q Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You (started before R) READ 03/10
R Remix READ 26/09
S Sharp Objects READ 05/10
T Timeline READ 14/10
U Un Lun Dun READ 28/10
V Vurt READ 04/11
W Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) READ 08/11
X Exit Strategy READ 14/11
Y Yesterday's Gone: Season One ABANDONED MIS WAY The Yard (started before Z) READ 12/12
Z Zoo READ 12/12

[Janice, Moderator]

Hi Sarah! Welcome to YLTO and to the alphabet challenge. You have a good start on some titles. The Book Thief is one of my all time favorites.

[April]

Love your titles! Especially, Life of Pi as it is one of my favorites!

[Cherie]

Hi Sarah. Great start on your list. Keep looking around at the reporting threads and you will fill out the rest pretty fast. I have to agree with Janice, The Book Theif is great! I have read a couple of your others listed, but some others look good too. I love to see what others are reading and this group is the best for that. AND - your TBR list will never grow shorter!

[Sarah]

Thanks guys...Yes I can tell already that I will never work my way through my TBR list - so many good books!

I've read the majority of Life of Pi before while travelling a few years back but never read the ending so I'm going to re-read it.

I have been looking around for some more titles for the letters I had missed:
D A Discovery Of Witches - changed to Dead and Alive
K The Kite Runner (to buy)
N Never Let Me Go (to buy)
Z Z 2134 (to buy) - changed to Zoo

[Janice, Moderator]

Oh! YES to Discovery of Witches. :)

[April]

Sarah wrote: "Thanks guys...Yes I can tell already that I will never work my way through my TBR list - so many good books!

I've read the majority of Life of Pi before while travelling a few years back but never..."

Sarah, is also a favorite of mine. It seems we may have very similar tastes when it comes to books!

[Sarah]

Yes indeed we do April.

I've had Discovery of Witches on my TBR for absolutely ages so I'm pleased I will get round to it now.

I've managed to get myself sucked in to a series (Women of the Otherworld) so not sure whether to finish the one I'm on and shift my focus to the Alphabet challenge or finish the series then start that. Decisions, decisions!

[Sarah]

Just started with my first letter A - Assassin's Apprentice.

[Janice, Moderator]

Yeah! You'll catch up to me in no time. I've finished A & B. LOL!

[Rachel]

Sarah wrote: "Thanks guys...Yes I can tell already that I will never work my way through my TBR list - so many good books!

I've read the majority of Life of Pi before while travelling a few years back but never..."

the kite runner is an amazing book- hope you enjoy
never let me go is on my tbr and i keep thinking i should add discovery of witches to my tbr so looking forward to hearng what you think of them.

good luck with the challenge!

[Sarah]

Just finished my first letter A: Assassin's Apprentice. According to the challenge thing, I'm 3 books behind of schedule so I had better get on with it!

[Janice, Moderator]

At least you started Sarah. :)

[Neenee]

Your review of Assassin's Apprentice is good and compelling. I am going to put it into my to be read list too.

[jaxnsmom]

I have Ship of Magic by Hobb on my tbr. I've been wanting to read something by him, but I'm afraid I'll get sucked into all the series and never see the light of day again. Now you've got me thinking maybe I should start with this series. It's very dangerous to read other people's threads!

[Sarah]

Thanks Neenee. Yes reading other peoples threads do indeed increase your TBR jaxnsmom.I'm a bit like that with series - once I'm hooked, generally I like to read all of them one after the other. Last year I spent about six months in the Game of Thrones world - was very strange when I then went on to read another book.

Just started my B book: The Book Thief

[Janice, Moderator]

I hope you enjoy The Book Thief, Sarah. I'm looking forward to your comments when you finish.

[Cherie]

Janice wrote: "I hope you enjoy The Book Thief, Sarah. I'm looking forward to your comments when you finish."

I know what you mean about the Game of Thrones world, Sarah. I read them all last year too, and watched the HBO series at the same time, with my daughter, Amy. I think she is still a book behind, but we are waiting for the 3rd season of the shows to start.

I second The Book Theif, Sarah. I thought it was amazing. It was my B book too. :)

[Sarah]

Just finished B: The Book Thief and loved it! I have just started on C: City of Night - the second book in Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series. I read the first one a while back.

[Shirley]

Cherie

Do you think a season of HBO is equal to a book? Will this mean season 3 is book 3?

[Cherie]

I am not entirely sure, but I think they are trying to make each season equivalent to a book. However, they cannot do everything in the books. That said they are hitting the high points. It has been a well done series so far, at least I think so.

[Shirley]

Cherie wrote: "I am not entirely sure, but I think they are trying to make each season equivalent to a book. However, they cannot do everything in the books. That said they are hitting the high points. It has ..."
Thanks

[Sarah]

I have just finished C: City of Night, the second book in the Frankenstein series and have just started the third book Dead and Alive which happens to be a D which is lucky.

[[deleted user]]

It's great when that happens, the follow on book also follows on in the challenge - so very jammy!

[Sarah]

Helen wrote: "It's great when that happens, the follow on book also follows on in the challenge - so very jammy!"Definitely! It is a shame the next two in the series don't follow suit too. The 4th book starts with an L so I could fit that one in but the 5th book is selfishly another D!

[Sarah]

Just finished D: Dead and Alive which was really good - the best of the series so far. Now I'm starting E: Enclave. I couldn't get it on Kindle so ordered an actual book - first one I've read in a while!

[Sarah]

Just finished E: Enclave so I'm on to F: The Firebird. I've managed to catch up a bit now and the challenge "meter" says I'm now on track which is good!

[jaxnsmom]

The Firebird sounds interesting, I've added it to my tbr. Let us know what you think of it.

[Sarah]

jaxnsmom wrote: "The Firebird sounds interesting, I've added it to my tbr. Let us know what you think of it."

Well I started it yesterday morning and already I'm at 60% - I can't put it down. I'm really enjoying it. It is a nice mix of paranormal fiction and historical fiction. I'm off to look what other books Susanna Kearsley has written.

[Neenee]

Another book into my tbr. Thanks, Sarah!

[Sarah]

Just finished F: The Firebird - such a lovely story - I'd say it is one of my favourite books. Just found that there is another book with some of the same characters in which I am going to check out - Sophia's Secret (also puclished as The Winter Sea). But for my next letter is G: To the Grave

[Janice, Moderator]

I've hadSusanna Kearsley on my radar for a while but have yet to read any of her books. I've added The Firebird as well as a couple other of her books to my wishlist. This one does sound intriguing.

[Sarah]

Just finished G: To the Grave which I really enjoyed and now I'm on to H: The Handmaid's Tale.

[Shanna_redwind]

Here's a few suggestions that you may like

T:
Through Wolf's Eyes
Tunnel in the Sky

U:
Uglies. I enjoyed this one more than I expected to.
Under the Dome

X:
Exile's Honor This wasn't my favourite Mercedes Lackey book, but it was alright and it works without reading the others in the series.

[Sarah]

Thanks Shanna for the recommendations. Under the Dome looks interesting so I've added that to my TBR. I have Uglies on my TBR already - I had forgotten about that one so it looks like I have a U now! I already have a couple ideas for T but cannot decide on them yet.

[Sarah]

Finished my H book - The Handmaid's Tale which was really good. Now I'm on to I: Ice Diaries. After that I'm going to have a break on the alphabet to participate in the April Challenge.

[April]

Sarah wrote: "Finished my H book - The Handmaid's Tale which was really good. Now I'm on to I: Ice Diaries. After that I'm going to have a break on the alphabet to participate in the April Challenge."

The Handmaid's Tale was an excellent book! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[Neenee]

Way to go, Sarah!! Almost 9 books in only a month. You're going to finish the challenge in no time.

[Sarah]

Thanks April and Neenie. Yes I am speeding my way through them quite quickly which is good. Perhaps I should have opted for high octane?!? Maybe next year.

[Sarah]

Weirdly, each book I have read has linked in some way to the next, whether it is a character name, an object, place, a quote/phrase etc. For example, in To the Grave, it talked about the term Mayday, used by pilots/seaman when in distress and how it came from the French M'Aidez. This was then also mentioned in The Handmaid's Tale. Very bizarre!

[Sarah]

Just finished I: Ice Diaries. A great book. So now I'm holding off to start 11/22/63 on Monday for the April Challenge.

[Sarah]

I seem to have lost a bit of momentum with the alphabet temporarily. Took a gap to read do the April Challenge, then the Toppler, then a Buddy Read, and now a book that was on my Toppler list but wasn't picked. THEN I will start my J book.

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm having the same issue, Sarah. Only I'm stuck at D.

[Sarah]

I'm back on the alphabet again now, so I'm starting the tome Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell for J.

[Marnie]

I have had that on my bookshelf for a while. It is sooo heavy that I will need to read it at home and I do a lot of my reading outside the house. Hope you enjoy it.

[Sarah]

Wow - Jonathan Strange is really slow going. I'm about half way through and I really need a break from it so that's what I'm going to do. It does mean I can't progress with my alphabet for a bit but at least I can read something more enjoyable and then come back to that afterwards. I'm going to read the Sookie Stackhouse new release Dead Ever After which comes out tomorrow, then the group read Five Quarters of the Orange, Neuromancer for this month's Sci-Fi challenge, and Matched which is a buddy read in another group. THEN I will come back to Jonathan Strange and resume the alphabet.

[Sarah]

Finished the group read and the new release - still waiting for my sci-fi read from the library so I've decided to move on to my K book although I've not finished J as yet. I am reading The Kite Runner for K.

[Marnie]

The Kite Runner is intense but beautifully written. Have a great read.

[Esther]

Sarah wrote: "Finished the group read and the new release - still waiting for my sci-fi read from the library so I've decided to move on to my K book although I've not finished J as yet. I am reading The Kite Ru..."

Read it during the last toppler. I liked it. Enjoy.

[Sarah]

OK I've decided to abandoned Jonathan Strange and have replaced it with Jasmyn instead which I just picked up at the library, so I've put my K book on hold so that I can start my new J book. Let's hope it's an easier read!