More on the book challenge
A few remarks concerning the book challenge I am undertaking:
I plan to read in alphabetical order.
I plan to read mostly fiction.
If the book begins with "The", I will make the next word the "letter" word used for the list. (For example, I could use The Adventures of Tom Sawyer for A, not T.) But I don't think I will do this with "A".
I know I said I was going to try to read all new books. And I do still plan to do that. However, my first book will be A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I read this book once a year, every year, because it is my all-time favorite. So, I am going to incorporate it into this, since the main purpose to this challenge - for me - is that I read at least 26 books this year. A repeat here and there shouldn't be too big of a deal. I am also going to finish reading The Almost Moon, which I started on the plane when we were leaving for our cruise. So, I guess I may just read 27 books for this challenge.
I plan to read several classics that I haven't yet read as a part of this.
My planned list so far:
A - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith) completed 2/10/09 AND The Almost Moon (Alice Sebold) completed 1/11/09
B - Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller)
C - The Choice (Nicholas Sparks)
D - The Deep End of the Ocean (Jacqueline Mitchard)
E - Emma (Jane Austen)
F - Fall on Your Knees (Anne-Marie MacDonald)
G - Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
H - The Handmaid's Tale (Margaret Atwood)
I - Icy Sparks (Gwyn Hyman Rubio)
J - Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
K - The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
L - Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
M - Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
N - No Country for Old Men (Cormac McCarthy)
O - The Other Boleyn Girl (Philippa Gregory)
P - Persuasion (Jane Austen) OR The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver) (I own both, but haven't read either)
Q - The Queen's Fool (Philippa Gregory)
R - Rebecca (Daphne Du Maurier)
S - Snapshots at St. Arbucks* (RG Ryan) OR Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
T - Tar Baby (Toni Morrison)
U - The Uglies (Scott Westerfeld)
V - The Virgin's Lover (Philippa Gregory)
W - What Matters Most (Luanne Rice)
X - Exit Lines (Joan Barfoot)
Y - Ysabel (Guy Gavriel Kay)
Z - Zoya** (Danielle Steel)
I haven't figured out what to do for X and Z. It will probably have to be something with each letter in the title - there just aren't many books that I'd read that start with these letters.
I am still open to suggestions for those, and any other letters for that matter, as this list isn't set in stone.
*I don't know if I want to wait all the way till S before I read RG's book. So, if I tackle that while reading something else, Sense and Sensibility will be my S book. Which would then make 28 books :-).
**I am not really a Danielle Steel fan, but unless something else comes along, that is the only Z title I can find in fiction.
Comments
What a great idea. I've read 12 of the books listed. Gone with the Wind is one of my favourite books! Also The Handmaid's Tale. I hope you enjoy them :)
I don't think you have to read them in order, so don't let that stop you. :)
I'm reading Handmaid's Tale and Love in the Time of Cholera this year, too. :)
Oh, I understand. :)
I have a list of the books I'm reading by challenge and a potential reading schedule of the books I'm reading by month. I'm a little OCD too, and this is its chance to shine. ;)
For X, I'm reading Ink Exchange by Melissa Marr. http://www.amazon.com/Ink-Exchange-Melissa-Marr/dp/006121468X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231077941&sr=1-1 It's the second in a series. If this one is entertaining, I may read the other one too (it's called Wicked Lovely and would fit into the series challenge I'm doing).
This also sounds interesting: http://www.amazon.com/Saves-World-Generation-Everything-Sucking/dp/0143115154/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231077906&sr=1-4
I really like Gone With the Wind, too. I prefer the movie, I think, but I like the book too. :)
You should consider doing that books into movies challenge. At least 12 of those books have been made into movies. We could have the best movie night ever; I have five of them. :)
I preferred the movie of Fried Green Tomatoes, too. I also preferred the movie versions of Beaches and The Godfather. :)
I like the movie of The Other Boleyn Girl, but I think it's because I saw that first and I haven't seen it since I read the book.
X-ing A Paragraph (Edgar Allen Poe) and Xingu (Edith Wharton) - regrettably these are short stories.
Academy X (Andrew Trees) and the Autobiography of Malcolm X (Alex Haley)
Two other recommendations:
For R - Revolutionary Road (Richard Yates) inspired by the book/movie conversation
Just because - Eunoia (Christian Bok). Each chapter is limited to words using a single vowel. Goes along with your letter theme.
Good luck! I'm so inspired by all these readers!
http://www.questia.com/browselibrary/librarytitleZ0.html
this site has a list of books beginning with z. and i started reading a book called zinnia once, but i cant say that i would honestly recommend it. :)
Wonderful choice, girlfriend. Memoirs of a Geisha is a great book, real good. and ofcourse Nicholas Sparks is VERY good too.
Have a great reading year sweetie.
BTW LOVE the pics from the cruise. Haven't been on here for a long time so reading now most entrees, lol.