Bahzah - ROOTing in a Forest of Books

I can do this. Just have to figure out how ;-)

Goal: 31 books owned before Jan 1, 2013 tbr before midnight Dec 31, 2013




Rules or No Rules???
26 books in alpha order by Author... (if I have no books by an alpha author - ex "Z", then I can find an author with "Z" in the name)
5 Wild Cards any time!

2013 ROOTS

*New rule - Can be read in any order!
*Another new rule - no time frames other than sometime in 2013!
*Another new rule - There are NO alpha rules anymore!

There. That feels even better - a lot more freedom ;-)

sorta-Alpha by Author

A
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie completed 4.25 stars

B
The War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

C1
Homer's Odyssey by Gwen Cooper completed 4.2 stars

D
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt completed 4.25 stars

E
Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich completed 5 stars

F or D2 - cheating, but there is an F in the author's name
The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede completed 3.8 stars

G
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green completed 5 stars

H
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney completed 4.5 stars

I
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro completed 4 stars

J
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

K
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

L
Love Again by Doris Lessing

M
Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel completed 4.5 stars

WILD CARD #1 Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte completed 3.75 stars

WILD CARD #2 Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg completed 4.5 stars

sorta-Alpha by author - continued

N
The Bird Artist by Howard Norman completed 3.8 stars

O (well there's an O in the middle of his name)
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Poe 4.5 stars

P
Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett completed 4 stars

Q

R
Doc by Mary Doria Russell completed 5 stars

S
Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides completed 5 stars

T
The Hidden Life of Deer by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas completed 4 stars

U A 'u' in Julia - best I can do!
In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming completed 3.8 stars

V

W
To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf completed 5 stars

X or C2 - okay, I'm cheating
Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll completed 4 stars

Y or C3 - yup, cheating again
Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll completed 4 stars

Z
The Mists of Avalon by Marion ZIMMER Bradley completed 5 stars

WILD CARD #3 Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood completed 3.5 stars

WILD CARD #4 Zarafa by Michael Allin completed 3.7 stars

WILD CARD #5 Packing for Mars by Mary Roach completed 3 stars

wow! I'm happy just picking a number. You go!

Welcome to the fold, Cee! I like your wild cards idea. WE CAN DO THIS!

Welcome to the challenge, you've put an interesting spin on it using the alphabet. I'll be around to "root" you on!

Huh! Visitors! Nice...

Jean - Picking a number wasn't too bad. It's getting my head around this new challenge that will take some effort. I'm going! Thanks for the cheer ;-)

Lynda - Ok. If you say so... we'll do this :}
Will have to get to my shelves and get this going soon...

Judy - Thanks for the welcome.
Actually the alpha authors was Lynda's (Carmenere)idea. I just threw in the wild cards to even out the number.

I did an alphabet challenge, both author and title in 2011. However I had to goscouting the library and second hand bookshops for some letters. i found it a little bit too restrictive though. But good luck!
I have some of those titles languishing on my shelves too.

Hi Helen,
I think I am missing a few of the letters for the authors. I may read two of a few letters to make that up. I really need this to be off my shelf - as it is right now. I think I'll be ok.
Thanks for the wish of luck!

Are you trying again in 2013?

Absolutely. I set myself a goal of 50 off the shelves this year and have just achieved it. So far 76 in all. I have yet to decide on next years figures, but probably something similar. Although I am wondering if I set lower figures maybe I would read some of those 500+ page books.

Cee - Just letting you know that I'll be cheering you on! I joined this challenge, too, but I did not commit to the alphabet. I am hoping to read 40 from my shelves - guess we'll see!

Helen -
Congrats on your 50 read this year!

I did set a lower number for a couple reasons:
* I can pick longer books if I want to
* I can be realistic and likely to meet my goal

Mamie -
Thanks! 40 is good however you achieve it :-) Good Luck!

1st ROOT

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie (4.25 stars)

A good YA book that addresses the problems of Native Americans from a teen's point of view.
Have been wanting to read this for a long while. Success!

WahHOO for you, Cee! Now, just 29 more to go - piece of cake!

Cee, congratulations on your first book! I like your alphabet challenge too. I am aiming for 30, but with no real plan, although I have found listing my candidate books helpful, as it saves (some) dithering.

Thanks Mamie and Susan!
My next book will be a bit longer
Voyage of the Narwhal by Barett
Gotta finish up what I am presently reading first. Actually, since it's been on my shelves for quite awhile, I think I will make it a wild card! Enslaved by Ducks by Tarte - funny book ;-)

Wow, I'm impressed by your plan. I figured I was doing good just joining and actually being able to list a couple I've read from my TBR.

My New Year's Resolution was to reduce my TBR, think that's keepable?

Well, ahhhh....
Will you be adding to your TBR Nicholette? I think mine is growing no matter how much I read.

ROOT #2
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green 5 stars

An excellent book! Blew me away.
If you can't/don't want to read about kids with cancer, death, emotional pain, and heavy loss, this is not for you. However, it is written with such honesty and sensitivity that it comes across as a truly amazing story.

OK - so NOW I might read Voyage of the Narwhal. I'm not avoiding that one - just want enough time to savor it. It's like I think I am going to like it so much, I don't want to spoil the anticipation. How silly!

> Bahzah: The fault in Our Stars is one of my favorite books of 2012! i'm glad you loved it.

Hi Cee, hooray for plucking two roots out! At one point I was on the waiting list at the library for The Fault in Our Stars but I think there was eighty or so people in front of me. I decided to wait until it wasn't quite so in demand, hopefully in a couple of months.

ROOT #3 Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte (3.75 stars)

Funny and crazy!

Sounds like Funny and Crazy anyway!

ROOT #4 The Hidden Life of Deer by Eliz Thomas (4 stars)

Lots of interesting observations!

ROOT #5 The SIsters Brothers by Patrick deWitt (4.25 stars)

And I waited to read this one - why? Loved it!
I think there are still a LOT of good ones on my shelves :-)

YAY! The Sisters Brothers was one of my favourites a couple of years ago, so seeing other people enjoy it too makes me very happy indeed :) Hope you find some more gems on the shelves!

Oh! I like that name: rabbitprincess!
Yay! another Canadian friend... I swear I belong in Canada.
Land of my ancestors, land of cold and snow, land of polar bears, and land of the rabbitprincess!!!
Oh yeah. More gems waiting.
Thanks for stopping in :-)

Got Sisters Brothers on my list.

ROOT #6 Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg (4.5 stars)
great book... I love islands, northern locations, and emotional struggles.

Looks like I'm already on WILD CARD #2 since I already had an A author. But, life happens. Since I have so many roots pulled off my shelves already, I'm not too worried. I can still finish the alpha authors... right?

Of course you can!

ROOT #7 War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
fun urban fantasy story - 4 stars

My, my, my! You're plucking those ROOTS at a very nice pace, Cee. Doesn't matter if you change the rules, this is Cee's world and you are the Queen of your empire.

Aww, thanks, Lynda!
I love when I can make up my own rules - and change them at will!
See? I am still flexible in some things ;-)

Well done, your Majesty!

ROOT #8 The Bird Artist by Howard Norman (3.8 stars)

Newfoundland, Canada... one of my fav places to read about.
Simply written, complicated characters

ROOT #9 Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (4.5 stars)

English History - very readable book about King Henry VIII, Thomas Cromwell, and an important turning point in the history of England's government.
Oh so long and LOTS of characters!

That's a book I'll *have* to read as a ROOT! Glad to see you liked it!

'Surprisingly readable' was my impression of Wolf Hall..... I was expecting to be bored but Mantel's portrayal of Cromwell and the period seems to leap off the pages. Glad to see you enjoyed it!

I know. I know. Everyone loved Packing for Mars by Mary Roach and I had to stretch my kindness to give it 3 stars. If I never read another word about poop in my life it will be fine with me!

But worse than that, I am on Wild Card #5 and I was only planning on 4 of those. Well, for some reason the alpha thing is way harder than I thought :(

ETA: Due to using up 5 wild cards already, I had to change my goal to 31 roots this year.

ROOT#16 The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (5 stars)

Awesome read.

No Z roots on my shelf, so I'm using this author with a Z in her name. Fair enough, imo ;-)

I think you are perfectly right to do so.

Yay! Thanks, Connie.
I needed at least one person to affirm my new rule
(which I stole from "samantha_kathy"- self proclaimed expert rule bender
location: Leiden, the Netherlands)!

It's amazing how quickly one can change ones own rules (or add to them) when it proves beneficial ;-)

--> 42 Bahzah: While reading your post, I remembered where my books by Marion Zimmer Bradley are. My books are on the shelves in alfabetical order and I have them at the end of the line togehter with the books of Roger Zelazny. So one more reason to count them under the Z.

ROOT #18 Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney (4.5 stars)

This was a re-read for me - in a different (and excellent) translation.
Enjoyed it immensely more than the first read for school - which I don't remember much.
Rousing tale laced with ethical issues. A real hero - brave, compassionate, clever, expansive, generous, and victorious! Snagged by a dragon in the end - but even kings must die. Afterall, what was he in his 50s??? Nevertheless, Beowulf does it in style.

****************
I'm beginning to far I will not accomplish my rooting as planned this year. Never was much of a gardener :P
I'll plod along.

Happy plodding, Bahzah. And it's the intention that counts. ;-))

Thanks, Connie!

I can recommend picking slim volumes. Works very well for me. ;-)

#19 Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides (5 stars)

What on earth took me so long to read this one? Excellent book!
Riveting. Well written. WW II. Phillipines. Bataan Death March, imprisonment, and daring rescue. Highly rec.

Great advice, Miss Watson!

My next one looks somewhat slim and a Booker prize winner:
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

I have added Ghost Soldiers to my Amazon wishlist. I don't tend to read nonfiction but this one sounds very interesting and right up my alley.

May I suggest reading Fires on the Plain? It's about the Japanese occupation of the Philippines and it follows one soldier and the degradation of his being. It's a marvelous book and out of all the times I've recommended it, I've never had anybody tell me that they weren't just as fascinated as me.

Hi Lilisin!

Thanks for the rec Fires on the Plain - I will definitely add that to my wish list.

Nice to see you here! It astonishes me the people that pop in here. I had originally thought it would just be a place to keep track of books I've been passing over and finally got around to reading.
When I look at the ones I've read so far - wow! I'm glad I did. So many great books on my shelves - just not enough time to get to them all!

I'm glad to see you'll be adding it to your wishlist. I hope it gets added to your nightstand pile even sooner! ;)

I must admit that this is the first time I've seen your thread so I'm glad I clicked on it. I tend to have certain people that I follow due to similar reading tastes but every once in a while I try to click on new threads to see what I can find. LT really is great for that. And yes, writing about my reading has really added an extra quality to the experience.

ROOT #20 The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro (4 stars)

Apparently I missed some of the nuances of this book. (Could it have been the lingering effects of anesthesia???) However, I did enjoy it very much. I understand there is a movie of this book which I very much want to see now starring Anthony Hopkins & Emma Thompson.

Claudia, I loved this book. One of my top reads this year!

Hurrah for #20 ROOT, Cee. I loved the book and you've got to see the movie. Anthony Hopkins is a wonderful Stephens. (I think that was his name, right?) It's been awhile and I'm old, nuf said.

If I am to have half a chance of rooting out 31 books this year, I have to abandon all rules. You have to be flexible in old age - lol

The alphabet, unfortunately, did not fit my needs this time around. So, I'm cheating just a wee bit... or really, as much as I need to.
If I don't have an author for a letter, I will substitute any book on my shelf that has been there more than a year.

So,
I finally read #22 Alice in Wonderland and #23 Through the Looking Glass that have been waiting, oh so long.

Delightful! And so much better than the much shortened and simplified Disney versions. Silly and fun... lots of imagination and riddles ... great illustrations by John Tenniel in the version I read.
I thoroughly enjoyed these as an adult.

Hurrah for bending the rules!

Ha! That's putting it nicely. I think I actually blasted the rules to smithereens! Oh well... what is it they say about what rules were made for??? LOL

Hi Claudia, I am trying to stick to my 2x alphabet challenge, both author and title. I had pre- selected most of my books but I can see some fatties might get substituted by some thinner ones to achieve my goal.

Wishing you more luck than I have had this year, Helen. I still might make it if I keep breaking rules! Ha!

#24 The Day the World Came to Town by Jim Defede (3.8 stars - some have rated this 5 - it's heartwarming)

An easy to read, feel-good book about 38 commercial airplanes diverted to Gander, NF, Canada on 9/11 and how the small town handled the challenge.

#25 The Works of Edgar Allan Poe by Poe 4.5 stars

I have no idea how long I have had this book on my shelves - but the pages are a bit discolored. I always said I would read it "someday". And, I did!

I have no idea how my goal got to be 31!!!??? That's an odd number.
I was trying to read alpha authors but it wasn't working. I think I added too many wild cards. Still not working.
Not sure I read any more "already on the shelf books" this year. But... I still have eyes and the books are still waiting. There's always next year in my world ;-)

>61 -Cee-: hmm, a pattern? 3.8 stars, 38 airplanes....

I 'nudged' my rules a bit too, and allowed myself to read books that I've read previously but can no longer remember. Age does have such great benefits--not only are you allowed to break rules, but you also don't really need to buy new books, since you can't remember so much of what you've read!

LOL. Ipsoivan. But I totally agree with your theory about age!

Thanks to all who encouraged me throughout the year and gave me permission to bend my rules. Even cheating, I failed to make my goal. LOL Still... I did pretty good and did pull a few more roots than I thought I would.

I officially give up for 2013. I think I will keep track of my patiently waiting 'books on the shelves' that I read next year - but will set no goals and see if that works at all.

Bahzah, do you have a thread where I can follow your reading?

http://www.librarything.com/topic/160815

Will be starting a 2014 thread soon...

Your thread is where? Would like to follow your reading too - if any are in English - lol

http://www.librarything.nl/topic/162056 for 2014

http://www.librarything.nl/topic/154394 for 2013

And I may not read in English, but most books I read are translated from English to Dutch.