Sarah's A to Z challenge

[Sarah]

I am going to go book title and then by author if it fills in for a letter I need. I'LL just see where it takes me. January 31, 2013 to January 31, 2014. Not in order.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sounds good Sarah. Welcome to the challenge!

[Sarah]

A - Anna Karenina
1/31/13; 3*
B - Beautiful Ruins
5/7/13; 4*
C - The Caliph's House: A Year in Casablanca
4/27/13; 5*
D - Defending Jacob
4/25/13; 3*
E - Eowyn Ivey wrote The Snow Child
3/30/13; 4*
F - The Fault in Our Stars
3/10/13; 2*
G - Gilead
4/27/13; 3*
H - The History of Love
4/25/13; 3*
I - Insurgent 9/20/13; 2*
J - Adam Johnson wrote The Orphan Master's Son 12/9/13; 5*
K - The Kitchen House
5/25/13; 5*
L - The Language of Flowers
4/17/13; 5*
M - Les Misérables
3/21/13; 5*
N - Patrick Ness wrote A Monster Calls
4/30/13; 3*
O - The Orchardist
6/1/13; 5*
P - Peter Heller wrote The Dog Stars 12/8/13; 4*
Q - Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking 9/18/13; 4*
R - Rebecca 10/6/13; 4*
S - Saving CeeCee Honeycutt
3/6/13; 5*
T - The Time Keeper
4/10/13; 3*
U - The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 1/14/14; 5*
V - Veronica Roth wrote Divergent
8/11/13; 3*
W - Helene Wecker wrote The Golem and the Jinni 11/16/13; 4*
X - Xingu 1/6/14; 2*
Y - The Yellow Birds 1/5/14; 4*
Z - Markus Zusak wrote The Book Thief 10/8/13; 5*

[Cathie]

Lots of good reads, Sarah :-)

[Sarah]

My next A-Z Challenge by Title only - all from my pre-existing personal library. Goal is to clear some bookshelf space.
START - February 18, 2014
FINISH - February 17, 2015

A - Americanah 5/22/14; 5*
B - Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness 6/12/14; 4*
C - The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother 8/5/14; 4*
D - Dad Is Fat 7/28/14; 3*
E - Elizabeth Is Missing ; 3*
F - Faithful Place 6/18/14; 4*
G - The Goldfinch 8/15/15; 5*
H - The Handmaid's Tale 4/3/14; 4*
I - The Invention of Wings 4/19/14; 5*
J - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell
K - Keep Your Friends Close 10/6/14; 3*
L - Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish 7/19/14; 4*
M - Mudbound 1/11/15; 4*
N - Neverwhere 2/18/14; 4*
O - Orphan Train 4/27/14; 4*
P - Purge 6/24/14; 3*
Q - Queen Sugar 1/11/15; 3*
R - The Road 9/8/14; 4*
S - The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry 7/15/14; 5*
T - The Thirteenth Tale 8/8/14; 4*
U - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith 9/28/14; 4*
V - Vinegar Hill 2/4/15; 4*
W - We Are Water 2/28/14; 4*
X - Oryx and Crake (X is in the title) 8/15/14; 3*
Y - You Should Have Known 12/15/14; 3*
Z - Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth 1/29/15; 4*

[Sarah]

I am so bummed right now. I had written down a list of my next three A-Z challenges all to clear books from my shelf and I can't find it. Gotta keep looking. Man it took a lot of work.

[Sarah]

Yes! Found my list.

[Anima]

Great, Sarah, I'm really frustrated when my book lists gone missing :)

[Sarah]

Yeah. I had a huge list of my tbr that I had lost but when I joined Goodreads I was able to add what I remembered and the list has now grown exponentially:)

[Cathie]

Nice new 2nd list Sarah.

[Anima]

I don't know some of the books on your second list, so I will gladly use it as a recommendation :), I loved Neverwhere, one of my all-time favourites.

[Cathie]

Um...Sarah, do you realize you have Xingu on both lists?

[Kristie, Moderator]

Nice job Sarah! I have my second A-Z Challenge ready to go to, but haven't posted yet. I'm working on my third and may steal your idea to pull things off my shelves. I have a bunch of books that I've bought over the years and not read yet.

[Michelle]

My intension was to only use books from my shelves for my A-Z challenge, but then I would see others post these great books and out I went to get more! I am mostly using previously owned books, but some I have just purchased. My next challenge will truly be from my shelves, except Q and X which I have nothing for. Great job, love your new list!

[Sarah]

Cathie wrote: "Um...Sarah, do you realize you have Xingu on both lists?"

Yes- but they overlap by a month and that is when I plan to use the X for both challenges in Janaury. Plus I have two more A-Z challenges after these already planned and I am so done dealing with X.

[Sarah]

Michelle wrote: "My intension was to only use books from my shelves for my A-Z challenge, but then I would see others post these great books and out I went to get more! I am mostly using previously owned books, but..."

Yeah the only two books not already on my book shelf is Queen and Xingu - oh yeah - and The Zombie Room. I think it is fair for X to just be anywhere in the title.

[Sarah]

Ha ha I forgot my Y - adding it now

[Sarah]

Just changed my M for next year to , was .

[Cathie]

Yay ~ great choice (but then I'm biased), lol

[Sarah]

All are from my home library - mostly. A lot of these books on my shelf come highly recommended:)

[Cathie]

Jonathan Strange is a very good fun mystical read

[Sarah]

6 to go before the new year

[Anima]

Great, Sarah, keep going :)

[Sarah]

Almost done with The Orphan Master's so then there were four - I actually have until through January to finish to give me a one year challenge.

[Sarah]

Making some changes to my list to include some books I rather read this year.

[Sarah]

I have until the end of January - two more to go cause am about to finish

[Nancy]

I am really impressed with your book lists. I am currently reading Goldfinch. It is a great book. Your challenge is inspiring.

[Sarah]

Cool;-)

[Sarah]

Starting and I am done with my first A-Z challenge. Also starting my second one with

[Sarah]

Done with my first A-Z challenge. Next book will be for the start of my next one - by title.

[Misha]

congrats Sarah, way ahead of time :-)

and all the best for the new one :-)

[Sarah]

Misha - no I am not nearly that good. My first challenge was Jan. 2013 to Jan. 2014 - it took me the whole year. Now I am starting my challenge for this year:-)

[Kristie, Moderator]

Congrats on finishing, Sarah!

[Sarah]

My A-Z Challenge for 2015 and 2016, all from my bookshelf, by author's first name
Feb. 1, 2015 to Jan. 31, 2017

A - Anthony Doerr wrote DONE 5/16/15, 5*
B - Betty Smith wrote
C - Chad Harbach wrote
D - Diane Ackerman wrote
E - Edward P. Jones wrote DONE 2/22/15, 5*
F - Flannery O'Connor wrote
G - Gregory David Roberts wrote
H - Hilary Mantel wrote
I - Ishmael Beah wrote
J - John Steinbeck wrote
K - Kazuo Ishiguro wrote
L - Louise Erdrich wrote
M - Milan Kundera wrote DONE 5/9/2015, 4*
N - Nancy E. Turner wrote
O - Oscar Wilde wrote
P - Philip Roth wrote
Q - Daniel Quinn (Q by last name) wrote
R - Richard Adams wrote
S - Salman Rushdie wrote
T - Truman Capote wrote DONE 3/15/2015, 3*
U - Ursula Hegi wrote
V - Vladimir Nabokov wrote
W - Wallace Stegner wrote
X - Alex Haley (x is in the name) wrote
Y - Yōko Ogawa wrote - DONE 2/10/15, 4*
Z - Zora Neale Hurston wrote DONE 4/25/15, 4*

[Kristie, Moderator]

Nice list, Sarah. I can never stick to my list when I plan it ahead. I usually end up swapping out a few books. Q is going to be tough to find something you want to read.

[Misha]

read 3 out of your list, Midnight's Children was a great one, albeit a slow read. happy reading :-) :-)

[Sarah]

Well I have to admit I didn't finish last year's challenge by one book - - it is a monster of a book and I started but still need to finish.