The Next Best Book Club discussion

My first goal is to read 100 books this year, which I'm not too worried about. To make things a little more tricky I'm currently attempting to read a book for each letter of the alphabet...twice, so I read an "A" title as well as an "A" author.

So far my lists look like this (what I've finished):

Titles
A- Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
B- Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale
C- Crispin The Cross of Lead by Avi
D- The Duchess of Malfi, Fourth Edition by John Webster
E- The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
F- The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien
G- The Golden Age by Kenneth Grahame
H- Harrowing the Dragon by Patricia A. McKillip
I- Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
J-
K- The Know-It-All One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A.J. Jacobs
L- Light of the Oracle by Victoria Hanley
M- The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy
N- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Vol. 4 by Hayoa Miyazaki
O-
P- The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
Q- The Queen of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner
R-
S- The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith
T- Two-thousand One: A Space Odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke
U- Unexpected Magic Collected Stories by Diana Wynne Jones
V- Villette by Charlotte Bronte
W- The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson
X-
Y-
Z-

That is a funny way Megan! But might give yous ome surprise choices too! I have only read the Tolkien book from your list.

I had to run unexpectedly earlier, so I didn't get to post my authors list, so here it is.

A- Austen, Jane; Mansfield Park
B- Beddor, Frank; The Looking Glass Wars
C- Card, Orson Scott; Speaker for the Dead
D- Dickens, Charles; Great Expectation
E-
F- Fforde, Jasper; The Eyre Affair
G- Gray, Elizabeth Janet; Adam of the Road
H- Hiaasen, Carl; Hoot
I- Ibbotson, Eva; The Star of Kazan
J- Jones, Diana Wynne; House of Many Ways
K- Keats, John; Lyric Poems
L-
M- Millay, Edna St. Vincent; Early Works
N- Nesbit, E.; Five Children and It
O- O'Dell, Scott; Sing Down the Moon
P- Plato; The Trial and Death of Socrates
Q-
R- Rowling, J.K.; Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
S- Sanderson, Brandon; The Hero of Ages
T- Twain, Mark; A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
U-
V-
W- Walpole, Horace; The Castle of Otranto A Gothic Story
X-
Y-
Z-

I'm really excited for when I get fewer and fewer letters left, so my reading choices will have to get more specific, instead of just whatever looks good. I think I may find some things I wouldn't otherwise have read.

That's awesome! I never thought to do an alphabet theme!! What a great idea!

Yeah, I'm really enjoying it. More fun than just checking books off a never-ending list. (Although I do that too).

When I finish these alphabets, I think I might focus on my owned-to-be-reads, but I don't know if I'm strong enough to put myself on a book-buying ban, though I really should. :(

Just added The Sunday Philosophy Club (really good), I had to rearrange a bit, since I already had a book on S (Sing Down the Moon), but everything still fits.

Recently added

23. The Duchess of Malfi
24. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians

Megan,

What did you think about The Light of the Oracle?

hmmm, good question. I liked it over all. I got bogged down in the middle, and I felt that Clea and the Feathers were a little preposterous. Only a sociopath would attempt to drown a girl, and never break emotional stride. And I don't know, a sociopath can't be that easy to write, even they have to be driven by something...I think I'm beginning to ramble.
I read The Seer and the Sword last year and liked it much better, but still, I did like The Light of the Oracle.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, though you are right, The Seer and the Sword was very, very good, much beter than The Light of the Oracle!

Have you read Healer's Keep, her other story?

It's on my list, sadly my list is really long. Actually, my Mom just started it (she recomended The Seer and the Sword to me), so maybe I'll read it when she's finished.

Have you read it, and if so, what'd you think?

Megan wrote: "Recently added

23. The Duchess of Malfi
24. Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians"

How was the duchess of Malfi?

Sweet idea!

I liked Healer's Keep, marvelous idea, though it is a bit more like The Light of the Oracle than The Seer and the Sword (though one of the main characters is "the Seer's" daughtr) all in all a good book!

Good to hear.
Jeane, I really like the Duchess of Malfi, it wasn't what I expected and that's always nice.

I just finished number 25 for this year, Great Expectations, which possibly replaces Hard Times as my favorite Dickens nove.

26. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
...sadly it doesn't fit in my alphabet, but now I can start Xenocide which will cover me on X.

27. The Mayor of Casterbridge

(and I lied before, I got Speaker for the Dead into the alphabet after all)

28. The Queen of Attolia

Such a great book! If anyone's looking for reccomendations it's high on my list (though you'd have to read The Thief first, which is also very good).

29. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

LOVE that book!!
YAY!! Enjoy?

Harry Potter is great. I listen to it everyday lol

haha, yeah, this is the part where I guiltily admit that that's at least the fifth time I've read it. The only book in the series I haven't read over is The Deathly Hallows, but I figured I'd start back at the beginning and read all seven.

You should read all seven indeed. The last one is pretty different of course, but I don´t think any of the HP is bad (ok, maybe Chamber of Secrets is a little bad lol).

For you don´t feel alone is the love, I just bought a new copy of Order of the Phoenix lol

30. The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson

31. Mansfield Park by Jane Austen
32. Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
33. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
34. Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
35. Calling on Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

did you like Mansfield Park?

Ummm, yes and no. It definitely wasn't my favorite Jane Austen, but it was still good. I guess since I sort of disliked both the hero and the heroine by the end of the book it could be called her most realistic. I liked it, but, I don't know, I'm still holding little grudges against the characters.

36. Talking to Dragons- Patricia C. Wrede
37. Book of a Thousand Days- Shannon Hale
38. The Know-It-All- A.J. Jacobs

Recently finished
39. Adam of the Road- Elizabeth Janet Gray
40. The Invention of Hugo Cabret- Brian Selznick
41. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies The Classic Regency Romance - Now with Ultraviolent Zombie Mayhem!- Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith

42. Firebirds Rising An Original Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy- ed. Sharyn November
43. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- J.K. Rowling
44. Villette- Charlotte Bronte
45. The Eyre Affair- Jasper Fforde
46. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban- J.K. Rowling
47. Breakfast at Tiffany's- Truman Capote
48. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire- J.K. Rowling
49. The Looking Glass Wars- Frank Beddor
50. A Thomas Jefferson Education Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century- Oliver Van DeMille
51. Myth & Middle-Earth Exploring the Medieval Legends Behind J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings- Leslie Ellen Jones
52. The Graveyard Book- Neil Gaiman
53. Alphabet of Dreams- Susan Fletcher
54. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- J.K. Rowling