Lori's (lkernagh's) 2012 Alphabet Challenge

After some thought - and after probably the consumption of way too much pumpkin spice cheesecake! - I have decided to take the plunge once again. This time I will complete the challenge using author's surnames. Books to fill this challenge will for the most part come from my other challenges for 2012 so I will not be reading them in alphabetical order. This time, I will limit myself to finish the challenge in 2012.

Books by Author's Surname:

A - Appignanesi, Lisa - Paris Requiem
B - Barnes, Julian - The Sense of an Ending
C - Cohen, Leonard - Book of Longing
D - de la Chenelière, Evelyne - Strawberries in January
E - Evans, Stanley - Seaweed on the Street
F - Fforde, Jasper - The Eyre Affair
G - Gombrowicz, Witold - Ivona, Princess of Burgundia
H - Harvey, Alyxandra - Haunting Violet
I - Irving, John - A Widow for One Year
J - January, Brendan - Science in the Renaissance
K - Kal'ee'ay, Karisha - A Brief Madness
L - London, Joan - Gilgamesh
M - McCartney, Paul - Blackbird Singing
N - Naparstek, Aaron - Honku
O - O'Flynn, Catherine - What Was Lost
P - Penny, Louise - The Hangman
Q - Quigley, Dorothy - What Dress Makes of Us
R - Rogauskas, James - Office Haiku
S - Sis, Peter - The Conference of the Birds
T - Thúy, Kim - Ru
U - Uhry, Alfred - Driving Miss Daisy
V - Viel, Tanguy - Beyond Suspicion
W - Wilson, August - Fences
X - X, Sulayman - Bilal's Bread
Y - Yoshimoto, Banana - Kitchen
Z - Zentner, Alexi - Touch

Reading will start on January 1st.

Good luck!

> 2 - Thanks!

The "S" Book - The Conference of the Birds by Peter Sis -



Thank you Kerry (avatiakh) for bringing Sis's illustrated adaptation of the classic 12th century Persian epic poem. While greatly condensed from the original 4,500 lines, Sis has created such a visual treat with his adaptation of the poem and I highly recommend it! It is also such a quick read!

Full review here: (review here - post 44)

The "J" Book - Science in the Renaissance by Brendan January -



This thin primer captures the high points of the decline of the Greek and Roman empires, the rise of the Church during the Medieval Period and the birth of the Renaissance. January presents the history of science in a clean, easy to follow journey designed to wet the reader's appetite to learn more about this fascinating time in history and science in general.

Full review here: (review here - post 45)

The "D" Book - Strawberries in January by Evelyne de la Chenelière; translated by Morwyn Brebner -



What a fun play to read! Evelyne de la Chenelière has written a delightful entertaining romantic comedy set in Montreal with a 1940's or 1960's atmospheric feel to it. With only four characters the play has a dynamic quality to it as the story includes scenes from the present, the past and the dreamlike fantasies of the characters.

Full review here: (review here - post 46)

Good luck with the challenge!

>7 bookwormjules: - Thanks!

The "B" Book: - The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes -



I have never read anything by Barnes before now and I am glad I picked up this one. Reading this I was immediately reminded of the conversational, introspective reminiscing/personal examination approach to story telling used by Carol Shields with her book Unless and to a greater extent by Marilynne Robinson with her book Gilead. Hitting a perfect pitch and just the right length, this is a book I highly recommended. You don't even have to be an armchair philosopher to enjoy it and get something out of this one!

Full review here: (review here - post 58)

The "L" Book - Gilgamesh by Joan London -



Gilgamesh is a sparely written tale of an epic journey and London's debut novel. Longlisted for the Orange Prize in 2004 it is the story of three generations of Clarks - Ada and Frank Clark, their daughters Frances and Edith and Edith's son Jim - spanning two world wars and journeying across half the world from England to Australia and back to Eastern Europe of Turkey, Armenia and Syria. Focusing predominantly on Edith, this is a great story that drew me in slowly and kept my interest in the characters, the plot and the descriptions of Australia and Eastern Europe of the time period.

Full review here: (review here - post 78)

The "M" Book - Blackbird Singing by Paul McCartney -



This collection of McCartney's poems and lyrics was a great commute to work read for me as a fun way to start my mornings reading poems that didn't require a lot of mental effort to analyze the meaning of and listening to the songs play in my head when I was reading lyrics.

Full review here: (review here - post 79)

I've been on the fence about a The Sense of Ending, but seeing you compare it to Unless has me more interested in picking it up!

> 11 - Hi Jules, it is a well written and short book so I hope you do enjoy it should you decide to read it!

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The "C" Book - Book of Longing by Leonard /Cohen -



For those that don't recognize the name, Leonard Cohen is a rather famous singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. I do enjoy Cohen's music so when I came across this book in the poetry section of my local library I decided to give it a try.

This is not an easy collection of poetry to review, as reading it was more like reading journal entries complete with line drawings, pictorials interspersed with what I would call mini-blogs of Cohen's thoughts, feelings and impressions. Well overall interesting, this wasn't really for me and might be geared more towards a Cohen fan.

I will close off with one short, pictorial poem near the end of this collection that did capture my interest:

"the road
is too long
the sky
is too vast
the wandering
heart
is homeless
at last"

Full review here: (review here - post 114)

The "A" Book: - Paris Requiem by Lisa Appignanesi -



I found this psychological period thriller to be a compelling, page-turning read. The Belle Époque period is captured well here with the worlds of American money and European titled family treating the reader to a view of the fashionable and political Paris, the morality police and Paris' seedy underbelly of brothels, white slave trade, and antiquated police techniques of racial and familial hereditary as explanations for crimes committed.

Full review here: (review here - post 143)

The "P" Book: - The Hangman by Louise Penny -



When I saw this novella mentioned by Chelle (Gogs81) on her thread, I automatically went and placed a hold on the copy my local library has. For anyone that has been waffling/debating about dipping into Penny's Inspector Gamache/Three Pines series, this is the perfect starting place to see if the series might be something you would enjoy reading. For readers already familiar with Three Pines and its residents, this is a quick, fun murder mystery re-visit to the quaint little village and can easily be read over a lunch break or when someone has an hour or two to spare.

Full review here: (post 160)

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The "F" Book: - The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde -



Unique... yes.
Surreal.... yes.
Fascinating... not so much.
Captivating... hardly.
Fun.... probably for a number of readers but not for me.

Full review here: (post 165)

The "H" Book: - Haunting Violet by Alyxandra Harvey -



I was hoping for more when I picked up this historical YA fiction set in 1872 England. This might be a fun read for anyone looking for a light period piece with elements of formal dress balls, country estates, the peerage, ghosts and rigged seances but beyond that, I wouldn't get your hopes up for a gripping or page turning story.

Full review here: (post 179)

The "G" Book: - Ivona, Princess of Burgundia by Witold Gombrowicz - img src="http://static.librarything.com/pics/ss7.gif">



Originally written in 1935 with the fairytale premise of the prince of the kingdom of Burgundia falls in love with a peasant girl and wishes to marry her, this is a dark, satirical fable of a play. Not exactly a comedy - darkly tragic comic as it may be - this play would fit in nicely with other satirical fables conveying philosophical or political messages. From a psychological perspective, it make for interesting reading as it presents glimpses into the twisted logic and irrational mindsets of the characters as they react to a silent Ivona.

Full review here: (post 186)

The "N" Book" - Honku by Aaron Naparstek -



Honku is a collection of 100 haikus focused on the dark side of America's car culture and transforms annoying moments behind the wheel of the car into zen moments.

The author has the following website: www.honku.org

Full review here: (post 32)

The "R" Book: - Office Haiku by James Rogauskas -



Office Haiku had me giggling and is a great unwinder to read when the absurdities of the modern office are driving you to the brink of .... well, we just won't say to the brink of what!

The author has the following website: www.officehaiku.com

Full review here: (post 32)

The "K" Book: - A Brief Madness by Karisha Kal'ee'ay -



After struggling to read this 390 page book, I am now struggling to write the review. Sadly, while the story premise has potential, this was a story in need of an editor, less characters and less confusion in the story telling. Removal of the added subplots that appear to me to do nothing more than provide the reader with something to read - kind of like watching the halftime entertainment during the Superbowl - would also have helped.

This book was provided to me as part of Librarything's Early Reviewer program.

Full review here: (post 46)

The "U" Book: - Driving Miss Daisy by Alfred Uhry -



Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the play, as sparsely written as it is, provides the actors with framework to make something great. The dialogue with its sparing banter is the anchor of the play, no doubt about that, but it is the progression over time and the development of the relationship between Miss Daisy and Hoke where the actors have the ability to make the play really shine. I have never seen the stage version of Driving Miss Daisy but after reading the play, I will be keeping my eyes open for such an opportunity in the future.

Full review on the book page and here: (post 47)

I have been reading and not making any headway on this challenge - I keep reading authors for letters i have already filled in this challenge. Imagine my surprise when I discovered I actually had a book to slot under the letter "E":

The "E" Book: - Seaweed on the Street by Stanley Evans -



Meet Detective Silas Seaweed, a charming ladies man, a Coast Salish native and formerly a member of the Victoria detective squad, now a neighborhood cop. When uniformed branch sergeant George Barton has Seaweed meet him out at billionaire Calvert Hunt's estate, Seaweed finds himself re-examining a 5 year old murder case and is recruited by the billionaire to search for his daughter Marcia who went missing of her own accord some 20 years previously. This trail leads Seaweed into further nasty business with a ruthless pimp, a new unsolved killing to make sense of and an attempt on his own life.

This one had a lot of positives for me - characters, writing style, plot, etc and was a great way to spend a reading Sunday. This is the first book in a currently 6 book series and I look forward to continuing with the series, if anything to find out what Seaweed gets up to next.

Full review on the book page or here: (post 189)

Thanks a lot for the congratulation. It was a lot of fun doing the authors and titles ABC. Now I'm looking forward for my new thread. It won't be so easy.

Good luck and happy reading to you :-). You have a good pace for your ABC.

Finally catching up here. I am impressed with the range of books you have been reading. I love hearing about books other than those I tend to read. Sometimes it even makes me try something new!

Hi Ameise1 and Judy - Thanks for stopping by! I have been a bit remiss about reading books for this challenge but hope to get back to it later this fall and fill in the remaining 9 books I need to complete it.

Judy - LT is a great place for finding new books to read, that is for sure!

Humm.... just realized I have finished my "W" read and forgot to post it here:

The "W" Book: - Fences by August Wilson -



Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1987, Wilson has provided the perfectly flawed and very human character to depict the struggles of African Americans as he uses Troy as the voice to convey what was then and the values that are and should remain important in the liberating and changing times of the 50s and 60s.

A well written play and one that needs and should be performed to fully convey the emotion and angst Wilson intends to be experienced.

Full review here: (post 214)

The "T" Book: - Ru by Kim Thúy -



This beautifully written vignette style story was originally published in French and winner of the 2010 Governor General Award for French language fiction. Ru tells the story of Vietnamese refugee Nguyen An Tinh. A child of a prestigious Saigon family born during the Tet Offensive, the story is a first person narrative of a privileged world shattered by the Communist inspectors, escape to a Malaysian refugee camp arrival in Quebec to an overwhelming foreign world of language and customs and life as an adult traveling back to Vietnam.

A truly memorable read for me.

Full review on the book page and here: (review here - post 46)

The "Z" Book - Touch by Alexi Zentner



Touch is a haunting and yet beguiling story of three generations of a family living in a struggling fictional mining/logging town located in northern interior British Columbia. A place where nature and its elements reigned over the humans that had come to settle and make their fortune panning for gold or just to make a living among the trees at the turn of the 20th century. Sawgamet is place where the mystical beings of native Indian folklore breeze through the trees and rise out of the cold depths of the Sawgamet river. Under Zentner's pen, this magical realism blends into the fabric of the story and helps make this original story a startling, disturbing and yet beautiful read.

Not a science fiction tale as my local library has categorized it but a very good tale all the same.

Full review here: (post 83)

The "I" Book - A Widow for One Year by John Irving -



Irving knows how to create well developed and interesting life-like characters. His attention to detail is strong and consistent. He has a wry humour I really like that he projects through his characters and he is very good at getting into the mindset of his characters.

If you are curious to read my ramblings about this one - it had its good points and its bad points not unlike a roller-coaster ride - full review can be found here: (post 108)

The "Y" Book: - Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto - translated from the Japanese by Megan Backus -



Kitchen is comprised of two short stories - Kitchen and Moonlight Shadow. Both short stories contain a similar theme: A female young adult grieving the loss of a loved one. The focus of both stories is on the expression of grief and the ability to see grief through the eyes of a sufferer and find the light at the end of the tunnel.

What I really liked about these stories is the honesty the emotion is portrayed in. The stories contain elements of wit and poetic beauty with the unwavering viewpoint of a young adult.

Full review here: (post 158)

The "X" Book: - Bilal's Bread by Sulayman X -



This is a really intense, emotional and at times very heart-breaking read. Told from Bilal's point of view, the reader experiences everything from community rejection and scorn, sexual abuse, rape, religious fundamentalism and threats to differences in social values/belief systems, homosexuality and what love is really supposed to feel like.

Highly recommended, provided you read it with a box of kleenex and a pillow by your side: the kleenex for the scenes you uncontrollably cry through and the pillow so you can punch something soft when your anger reaction requires venting.

Full review on the book page or here: (review here - post 199)

That's an interesting choice of the X book (and I admit that I had never even heard of that author). My poor TBR does not like me checking people's threads...

I came across the "X" book browsing my local library shelves, otherwise it is highly unlikely I would have picked it up to read or even come across it.

I hear you..... threads are soooo dangerous to TBR piles/lists! ;-)

The "O" Book: - What Was Lost by Catherine O’Flynn -



This predominantly 'slice of life' story that is part mystery, part ghost story was a compelling read for me. While the story tends to stray from its original course, there is a purpose to the straying. What really worked for me is how the story unfolds – slowly, layer by layer – to the surprising conclusion.

For a debut novel, this is an excellent read and I can honestly say that I will never look at a shopping mall in the same way again.

Full review can be found here: (review here - post 214)

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Good news is I have just two more letters left to complete my Author Surname Alphabet Challenge - "Q" and "V". I said was going to see if I could complete this challenge in one calendar year and I am on track to do so!

I keep my fingers crossed for you :-). Good luck!

Thanks!

Great books. I loved What was Lost when I read it a while ago. Good luck finishing!

Thanks judylou!

The "Q" Book: - What Dress Makes of Us by Dorothy Quigley -



This little book - roughly 150 pages long, including a bunch of half page illustrations - was the perfect ebook download from the Project Gutenberg website. Originally published in 1897, this fashion critique/commentary is entertaining reading.... if for nothing more than the audacity with which Quigley attacks the fashion faux pas of her fellow lady, and man.

Overall, a fun, quick and entertaining look at late 19th century fashion advice.

Full review can be found here: (post 235)

The "V" Book: - Beyond Suspicion by Tanguy Viel - translated from the French by Linda Coverdale -



This isn't a hard-boiled crime novella. It is more a poetic sleeper of a story - where the surface has the tranquil beauty of a calm sea in its lyrical prose but below the surface lurks dark, menacing undercurrents of greed, passion and conceit.

Full review can be found here: (post 237)

I have now finished my Alphabet Challenge. It was as much fun the second time around as it was the first time. Good luck to everyone working on their challenges!

you did it :-)

Well done!!!!

I will keep on with my challenge, but I have no deadline, so drop in sometimes!

Thanks Ameise1 and judylou - I will be around and will stop by from time to time to see how everyone else is filling their alphabet!

CONGRATS!! Finishing in one year is awesome.