Alphabet Soup Challenge (2014)

[Melissa]

Yaaaaay!!!! I just finished the challenge with V is for Vengeance by Sue Grafton. Now I have to see if I can work on my first Bingo.

[Aitziber]

James wrote: "P - Porno, Pussey!"

Man, Pussey! Now that's a comic I haven't thought about in a while. And coincidentally, I've also read Porno.

Hopefully I'll be able to read in German someday, too!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Excellent Job, Melissa!!! One more pot of Alphabet Soup completed!!

Great Going, Steffie! The end of the alphabet is always the toughest for which to find titles. Lots if good suggestions and links throughout this thread, though. :)

Airziber and James-
I see You guys are bonding over Porno and Pussey. Seriously? Way to live the stereotype! Lol. :)

[Aitziber]

Renee wrote: "Excellent Job, Melissa!!! One more pot of Alphabet Soup completed!!

Great Going, Steffie! The end of the alphabet is always the toughest for which to find titles. Lots if good suggestions and lin..."

Hahaha, what stereotype?

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Finished!!! Woohoooo!
Final letter = U with Uncle Tom's Cabin during Read-athon.

[Kassandra]

Woot! Big congratulations Renee!

[Melissa]

Yah!!!! Renee finished her big kettle of Soup!

[James]

Finished U today: Ein Urwald im Mumintal
That leaves N, R, V, W, X, Y and Z.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Great going, James!

[Melissa]

Great work, keep dicing and chopping James!

[Kassandra]

Finished E today with Eleanor & Park - now only 5 left to go!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Excellent Choice for E, Kassandra. I love that book!

Btw, "someone's in the kitchen with Dinah" comes from Uncle Tom's Cabin. Actually, I was surprised at how many colloquialisms and references lead back to that book. I mention this because that song runs through my head every time I check in here. And especially when I read Melissa's comments. :D So Funny!

[Kassandra]

Renee - I had no idea that's where that expression came from. Thanks for sharing, I'm going to use that as my quirky piece of trivia this week :)

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Cool! Dinah was a high-spirited cook at one of the plantations.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Actually, just people she ordered around. She was quite a lively character, but one whose ultimate fate the reader never learns, since Uncle Tom is owned on several plantations.

[Melissa]

Renee wrote: "Excellent Choice for E, Kassandra. I love that book!

Btw, "someone's in the kitchen with Dinah" comes from Uncle Tom's Cabin. Actually, I was surprised at how many colloquialisms and references l..."

I, also did not know this expression was from Uncle Tom's Cabin. Great trivia!

Sandy, who are you hoping is in the kitchen with Dinah and what does he look like?

[Karen]

Just 5 more to go - K, Q, U, V, X. A little creative book selection in my near future I think :)

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Karen-
I highly recommend my Q, U, X reads:
Quiet, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Xingu.

All were interesting and thought provoking.

[Becca]

Another challenge I just discovered! I think I'll fill this one in as I read books that fit.

Love the idea of an A-Z Author Challenge!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Feel free to backfill. There will still be letters you haven't covered and can pick for.

[Becca]

Renee wrote: "Feel free to backfill. There will still be letters you haven't covered and can pick for."

I always fill like I am cheating if I backfill. :-) For me the point of a challenge is to read something new.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Good for you! I'll be cheering you!

[Karen]

Renee wrote: "Karen-
I highly recommend my Q, U, X reads:
Quiet, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Xingu.

All were interesting and thought provoking."

Thanks Renee. I'm pretty sure I will read Kindred for K as I have been wanting to try that for a while now. I was looking at An Untamed State for U as I really want to try Roxanne Gay's work, but I will certainly check these out

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Oooh. Both look like great choices!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Perhaps you're finishing late, but now we're all hungry again. :) Great Gong!

[Karen]

Sandy wrote: "Karen, how did you like A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? I still need a "T" book, and it is a toss-up between this and Tide Road or Three Weeks."

I quite liked it, although it certainly had its grim parts. It's really a story of a family through the years but gives a nice feel of society at the time. Like Gone with the Wind minus the bitchiness and the grand love affair...

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

You can do it!

[Melissa]

Go, Sandy!!!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Yes! You've still git one month to go!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I did a short story for Y. The Yellow Wallpaper. But others found actual books.

How did you like Kept In The Dark?
I've been reading the Pallisers and I find I just live Trollope.

[Aitziber]

Sandy wrote: "Yes, I've been considering The Yellow Wallpaper because it is short, but I'm afraid that the story might upset me. (I don't do well reading about mental health issues.) Maybe you could give me some idea just how "crazy" the story is? "

The Yellow Wallpaper is balls to the wall insane, but for what it's worth, it didn't trigger my own mental health hangups. (Seize the Day and Death of a Salesman, though, I found extremely upsetting.) Frankly, I find The Yellow Wallpaper weirdly uplifting, in that she finds some kind of comfort.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Sooo close! Go, Little Engine! Go!

[Melissa]

The finish line is in sight!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Last call for updates on the 2014 Alphabet Soup Recipes before they go into the archive! (You can still update there if you wish.)

[James]

Didn't manage to read books for the last five letters... maybe this year.

A - Adieu Sweet Bahnhof, Action Sorgenkind, Airpussy
B - Der Brenner und der liebe Gott
C - A Child's Life and Other Stories
D - The Death-Ray, David Boring
E - Englische Geschichte, Das Erbe, Eichmann in Jerusalem: ein Bericht von der Banalität des Bösen
F - Faschistische Ideologie, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, Der Feind aus alten Tagen
G - Geschichte des Zionismus, The Ghost Writer
H - Heads Or Tails
I - In Plüschgewittern, Im Schatten keiner Türme, Ice Haven, Im Land der Frühaufsteher
J - Jamilti, Julio's Day, Jahrestage
K - Kälteschlaf, Kritik und Wahrheit
L - Liebe schaut weg, Love & Rockets, Leviathan und Schwarze Spiegel, A Long Way Down, LTI
M - Mode und Verzweiflung, Make Me a Woman, Der Mann, der kein Mörder war, Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei
N - NW
O - On Loving Women
P - Porno, Pussey!
Q - Quodlibet
R - Raw Volume 2 Number 2: Required Reading for the Post-Literate
S - Summer Blonde, Sandburg
T - Tel Aviv Berlin
U - Ein Urwald im Mumintal
V -
W -
X -
Y -
Z -

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

You did a great job, James! The last letters are the hardest. Good luck this year!