Ritacate alphabet challenge

I've joined a variety of challenges to encourage me to read more widely and to finish some of my books, not just collect new ones!

I freely use a book in all the categories it satisfies. In the DDC challenge I have added books from long past, but for this one I will only count from this day forward. I am adding the books I am currently reading and will bold them and add a date when I'm finished.

I am staying with titles and challenge myself to be done by December 31, 2021.

A - Antigone by Sophocles *2020 October 14

B -The Book Thief by Markus Zusak *2020 December 15

C - Christians Courageous by Aloysius Roche *2020 October 28

D - The Death of Woman Wang by Jonathan D. Spence *2020 December 21

E - Exile Music *2021 January 11

F - The Falcon Always Wings Twice by Donna Andrews *2021 January 11

G - The Gift of the Magpie by Donna Andrews *2021 January 12

H -The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom *2021 May

I - Into Your Hands, Father by Wilfred Stinissen *2020 October 8

J - Joy to the World: How Christ's Coming Changed Everything by Scott Hahn *2020 December 26

K- Kill Me Why? by Ritu Sethi *2021 March

L - Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly *2021 January
- Little Talks With God by St. Catherine of Siena

M - The Midnight Library by Matt Haig *2020 November 15

N - Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen *2021 May

O - One Last Lie by Paul Doiran *2021 March 23

P - The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran *2020 October

Q - 🥳🥳Quilting for Beginners *2021 August🥳🥳 Alphabet finished! 🥳🥳

R - The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy *2021 May

S - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen *2020 October 13

T - They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie *2020 December 20

U - The Unwinding Of The Miracle by Julie Yip-Williams

V - Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the Remarkable… by Stephen Puleo 2020 November 25

W - The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Avila *2021 February 3

X - X by Sue Grafton *2021 June

Y - Yes or No?: Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity by Peter Kreeft *2021 July

Z - Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis

I always try to use reading challenges to nudge me into reading books already in my library, but new books seem to keep showing up at an alarming rate. Have fun with your challenge!

Good luck! :)

>2 jlshall: Oh, so true!

Christians Courageous by Aloysius Roche

I enjoyed this collection of stories of saints, but, especially on the most ancient ones, had hesitation over how much was fact, how much was pious speculation and how much was conversational filler to round out the story. Worth reading as an introduction to several lesser known saints.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

The premise sounded fascinating, a place between life and death where you can experience the lives to which other choices would have led you. I enjoyed the writing, but struggled with what I percieved to be inconsistencies in the execution of the premise.

Nora chose other lives to lead, but didn't really get to lead them since she arrived only with her "root life" personality and memories. How do you work, live, love with people you don't honestly know and no skills for that particular life. How can you be the real mother or wife with no memories of that person. These were said to be actual lives created by each potential choice in every situation, yet when Nora stepped into them, we have no idea where the "real" Nora of that existence went. Even though they were just as real as our Nora, they seemed to have a very secondary status. It was also implied that she could stay in a life that made her perfectly happy. Again, what about the Nora whose life it actually was?

As the book went on I also had a harder time relating to her childish expectation that the perfect life had no problems or her rejection of a life with choice B because the one life she experienced with choice B didn't turn out well.

My tendency to finish books brought me to the end of this one.

Voyage of Mercy: The USS Jamestown, the Irish Famine, and the Remarkable… by Stephen Puleo

I really enjoyed this book. What I knew of the Irish potato famine consisted of those three words and that it was really bad. I'd never realized just how devastating it was.

Mr. Puleo does a wonderful job of weaving together his research and direct quotes into a fascinating story. He covers the roots of the famine, British response (and non- response) and how America became involved. He also follows the personal lives of the main movers and shakers which makes the story much more compelling for me. This was not only America's first humanitarian mission, but the first country to country mission on such a large scale. 👍👍

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Set in early WWII Germany

This story is narrated by death as he tells us about a young girl he met as her brother died. She is on her way to a foster family and we follow her transition to this new life. The story is filled with vibrantly drawn characters, whimsy and pathos, heart wrenching moments and pure delight.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and hope the author has others just as good.

They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

As I started this book I thought Victoria just flying off to Baghdad after a young man was a little unrealistic, but that's the pleasure of fiction, we suspend our disbelief. About two- thirds through I remembered that back in '89 I quit my job and flew off to Germany after a young man with whom I had fallen head over heels in love. 31 years later we're still happily married and he's built me the wonderful library in my profile photo!

Fortunately my exciting adventures did not include any kidnapping, death threats, espionage or the fear that went with them. I'm not sure I actually caught all the nuances of the complicated story, but I enjoyed it all the same.

The Death of Woman Wang by Jonathan D. Spence

China, Shantung province

Professor Spence uses three primary sources to weave together a glimpse of T'an-ch'eng county in seventeenth century China. The book begins with some general history of the wars, rebellions, brigands and natural catastrophes that plagued the country throughout the century and then focuses on specific events between 1668 and 1672.

The Local History of T'an-ch'eng was compiled in 1673 and thus had fresh memories and first-hand experience for the narrated events. Huang Liu-hung, the county magistrate from 1670 -1672 authored A Complete Book Concerning Happiness and Benevolence, "a personal memoir and handbook on the office of magistrate." P'u Sung-ling, an "essayist, short-story writer and dramatist," lived in bordering Tzu-ch'uan country and traveled through T'an-ch'eng in our focus time, so professor Spence included excerpts from his work to round out the more human aspects of daily life in the poor county.

Wow! Life was rough! The corruption, lawlessness, tax evasion make our current American protagonists look like children at play. Today's poor may not be able to hire the best lawyers, but most of our daily life is protected by even-handed laws. My wealthy neighbor can't keep all the proceeds of his work, yet claim it was mine for tax purposes. A person can't just move into my house and get by with it because the police don't want to tangle with his thugs.

I also appreciate the respect for women in our society. My husband can't sell me as a slave, concubine or prostitute for any reason, let alone he needs more gambling money! While widows did have some rights, the law meant to protect them actually had the opposite effect and many just quit fighting.

I really enjoyed this book for the glimpse into another time and culture. As my husband said, it makes you rethink the trauma of not getting data when the wind is wrong!

Joy to the World: How Christ's Coming Changed Everything by Scott Hahn

This seemed a good book to complete my ROOT goal over the Christmas season. Dr. Hahn gives us a deeper look at the Christmas story presented in the Gospels and it's significance both at the time and up to the present day. He looks at all the aspects from Mary, Joseph and the shepherds to the wise men and the king. He looks at the journeys from Nazareth to Bethlehem to Jerusalem and to Egypt. He shows relationships between the Old Testament and New, and gave some historical background on the expectations of the Messiah.

In itself this is a quick read, but I kept jumping to the internet for more information on items he brought up. May we all find that deep joy of being truly and completely loved.

>8 ritacate: I loved The Book Thief too!

Exile Music

I generally enjoyed the writing in this book and the lush descriptions of both Vienna and Bolivia. Unfortunately it also felt like this young Austrian Jewish girl in WWII viewed the world around her through 21st century adult American eyes. '9000 people were arrested; over 1000 of them were Jews.' No further mention of the almost 8000 others who were also falsely arrested. Sadly too many people embraced the Nazi regime, but there were also multitudes fighting against it, both directly and behind the scenes. It seemed like everyone got tarred with the same brush in this book.

And then we had bait and switch as the story of professional Jewish musicians trying to escape Europe became a lesbian coming of age story. I quit reading at the point where it appeared we would be moving into a scene of sexual exploration between two 13 year old girls. I really prefer not to be in anybody's bedroom for graphic details, but especially not that of children.

The Falcon Always Wings Twice by Donna Andrews

Quick and easy, light read. Meg and her wild extended family are hosting a summer Renaissance Faire and once again everyone pitches in to find the murderer among them.

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Somehow I'm choosing Holocaust stories. This was so much better than Exile Music. The characters rang more true and three dimensional. They also, mostly, seemed a lot more in keeping with their time. At the end I found out that they were indeed based on real people and the author had read a lot of primary source material to get a real feel for them.

This story focuses on three women: Caroline, a New York socialite with a love for France and helping people, Cassia, a young Polish girl arrested by the Nazis and sent to a women's "re-education" camp, and Herta, an aspiring female physician. The story started just before Hitler invaded Poland and followed the women until about 1957. I am constantly amazed at the resilience of the human spirit in the midst horrific circumstances.

I enjoyed the bonus of Cassia coming from the same town where my husband has family. When we visited 25 years ago I had no idea that the town had had a concentration camp. I'd like to learn more.

The Way of Perfection by Teresa of Avila

This has been TBR for years and it was on our book club list for this year so I have finally read it. I enjoyed this study edition which summarized each chapter and gave interpretive notes within each chapter. I felt it helped me absorb the material even better.

St. Teresa speaks in such a down to earth manner; you almost feel like you're sitting with her over coffee while she chats and goes off on tangents only to return to the main topic. While this is certainly not like reading a novel, it is a relatively easy read. It took longer because of trying to internalize the material rather than just have it pass beneath my eyes. I suspect I could spend a full year in any given chapter trying to practice her teachings on prayer. This is the kind of book where I pray that I absorb what I am ready for, try to soak in it rather than study it and create a bullet-pointed to-do list.

Definitely worthy of being considered a classic.

I'm spending two or three months with my son's family helping with the babies. Due to this my reading time is limited and involves a lot more children's books. So I'm adding an Alphabet for children's titles.

A -
B - Barnyard Dance by Sandra Boynton
C -
D - Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? by Eric Carle
E - The Easter Bunny Is Coming to Texas
F - Frog in the Kitchen Sink by Jim Post
G - Goodnight Loon by Abe Sauer
H - How to Babysit a Grandma by Jean Reagan
- The Hat by Jan Brett
I - I'm Stinky by Kate & Jim McMullen
J - Just Me and My Mom by Mercer Meyer
K -
L - Little Loon and Papa by Tony Buzzeo
M - Madeline's Christmas by Ludwig Bemelmans
- The Mitten by Jan Brett
N - Naughty Kitty! by Adam Stower
O - One Last Lie by Paul Doiron
P - Precious Little One by Andi Landes
Q -
R - Rainbow Colors Peekaboo
S - Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton
- A Spree in Paree by Catherine Stock
T - That's Not My Pony by Fiona Watt
U - Usborne Very First Nursery Rhymes
V -
W - Whoo's There by Charles Reasoner
X -
Y - You Are My Sunshine by Caroline Jayne Church
Z -

Cute idea!

>19 PaperbackPirate: I saw another member was doing multiple alphabets, including children's books. In my memory, hers seemed more young adult classics, Anne of Green Gables, A Wrinkle in Time, etc.

Maybe I just need to feel like I'm reading something when it's taking so long to add anything to my other group lists!

>20 ritacate: I knew I missed a category in my multi-alphabets this year ;)

It is your alphabet - you can count the first letter of the 11th word on the third page of the second chapter of each book if you want to make your alphabet that way :)

>21 AnnieMod: 🤣 yep, I'd have to make it my own since we're mostly reading board books, no chapters here!

Kill Me Why? by Ritu Sethi

I loved the first book when I read it last year. This one seemed disjointed, forced, lacking cohesion. Many interactions did not seem natural. I struggled to the end because I wanted to know who the killer was and when I peeked at the end about halfway through it didn't make sense. I'm curious about the resolution of book 3, but not enough to read it.

One Last Lie by Paul Doiron

Julie_in_the _library, in the Fifty States challenge, recommended this author for his excellent portrayal of the northwoods of Maine. I worked one summer on the Canadian border of Minnesota and reading this book felt like a return to the beauty of that wilderness. I never would have guessed that the northwoods of Minnesota and Maine were so similar. A major difference is the French Acadian influence in this area of Maine. Mr. Doiron provided a good sense of this community and how the single community was split when the international border was set.

I enjoyed this mystery as light reading. I am trying to add more substance to my cotton candy reading diet, but still need regular doses of mysteries. Overall the plot was interesting, the pace was good and I was invested in the outcome. I appreciated the lack of typos (for a while it seemed every ebook I read had skipped the editing phase!) My one frustration was that the main character, Mike, developed theories out of thin air. The plot revolves around the reappearance of a warden's badge from the 1930s and the disappearance of an undercover warden in the early 2000s. Mike assumes the badge has made his mentor review the disappearance even though we've been given no connection between the two situations and Mike himself has wondered what connection there may be. In another instance, based on a coy photo of a woman, he assumes she is sleeping with someone and that is what led to future events. Again, it could be, but it's a major leap of an assumption and we were not given any other info that would suggest that.

I was all excited to check Maine off my list, only to realize after reading this that I already had a Maine book. BUT, I needed an O for this challenge!

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

I''m on a classic literature kick and expected drooping heroines in all seriousness as they looked for the most propitious match. The narration of this book was a riot! While it reflected a similar time and society as Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, the narrator gave it a completely different tone. The book drew me in immediately with:
"Her mother had three sons before Catherine was born; and instead of dying in bringing the latter into the world, as anybody might expect, she still lived on - lived to have six children more - to see them growing up around her and to enjoy excellent health herself."

X by Sue Grafton

I enjoyed this book. When I last read a book from this series, ten years ago or more, I did not enjoy it, but this one I did. Don't know I've mellowed or the main character!

This is another title that is linking wrong. Does anyone know how to correct that? Sometimes it works when I copy and paste from the book page, but not always.

>26 ritacate: Click on others next to the touchstone (under the message on mobile, next to it on desktop). Find the correct book in the list and click on it. Books with common and/or short names often have issues like that - the system is trying to assist you and picks the most likely title for the title based on popularity.

Yes or No?: Straight Answers to Tough Questions about Christianity by Peter Kreeft

Probably owned about 15-20 years

I am Christian. I would say I am firmly Christian, yet somehow found this book disappointing. The reasons did not seem nearly as strong to me as it seemed they were meant to be. An example is page 108 where he says if it took millions or billions of years for us to evolve to the most advanced and most conscious life form and there were no life after death, the universe would be absurd.
And on page122 he says if there is no life after death, then life is meaningless in the long run.

This reminded me of working in my huge and wild flower garden one day. I suddenly realized neither of my children will probably move here and after I die my garden will be overgrown, plowed under or razed for a housing development. What a waste! Why should I bother? And then I realized I bother because it gives me joy. I find joy in working the earth, I find joy in seeing the beauty. If it gives further beauty beyond my death, so much the better, but even if it's torn up immediately I have found great joy there and thus it is not meaningless.

Quilting for Beginners

Final book for my first Alphabet!

I'm a self-taught quilter and suspect there are many tips and ideas I don't know, so I figured its about time I read a couple how-to books. Our local used book store just had a bag sale and I threw in several quilting and cook books to assess at home.

This is a book for the absolute novice; it starts with a diagram and explanation of the sewing machine. Definitely being donated back when I'm done. And then a funny thing happened.

As I read through the projects I liked the book more and more. The projects are simple and straightforward, but give you something nice when you're done. They are not dated or niche like quilted jackets and pendant jewelry (not my taste, that book's going back! ) The directions are so clear that I feel like I'm 3/4 done with the projects just by reading the instructions. I will keep this for awhile and for a project or two.

This book has earned its keep beyond being a Q to finish off my Alphabet challenge!

Congrats. :) Ready to start a new one? :)

Congratulations!

>30 AnnieMod: & >31 PaperbackPirate: thank you. While not on the same level as solving world hunger, I'm quite excited that I finished this within the time frame I set for myself. I think I will start a new Alphabet on a new thread by authors' last names.